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Microsoft Outlook 2000 used to have a limitation of 2GB on its PST file size and you'l probably corrupt it if incoming emails keep getting into it. But that all changed in Microsoft Outlook 2003 as it goes up to 20GB now ( per Microsoft Support Website )

Having a 20GB PST file on a computer may seem peanuts as you can even get 500GB Hard disks out in the market. Nonetheless, its good to have a small pst file as the bigger it gets, the slower your Outlook may load up. So here's some tips to make your life easier and your Microsoft Outlook PST files smaller.

1. Sperry Software Attachment Save Add-In for Microsoft Outlook

Save space in your Outlook Inbox (or any other Outlook folder) by removing the file attachments off your email and saving them to a Windows folder as the email arrives. Eliminate tedious hours of labor with customizable rules that allow you to save and remove email attachments from certain people, only when certain subjects are present, only when certain attachment filenames are used or choose to save all attachments. Also, you can scan all your previous email messages for attachments, not just new ones that come in. This feature is perfect for your Sent Items folder, where a copy of all the attachments you've ever sent are hanging around taking up valuable space. You can then compact your Outlook PST files, making Outlook operate safely and more efficiently.

Too bad you'll need to shell out $29.95 first since Sperry Software does not offer a free trial version. Look at the Attachment Save Add-In for Microsoft Outlook site
http://www.sperrysoftware.com/Outlook/Attachment-Save.asp

2. Mapi Lab Attachments Processor for Outlook Version 3.11

Attachment Processor is a powerful multifunctional manager of attached files in the Microsoft® Outlook® messages. Some of its features include the following :

The program can automatically extract attachments from the incoming messages and save them to your hard disk (extracted attachments are replaced in the incoming message with a link to the file on the disk or a text file with an attachment description as well and a link to it. Automatically pack the attachments by ZIP in the outgoing messages. create self-extracting archives and password-protected archives. automatically pack by ZIP all incoming attachments or only specific attachment types. Automatically unzip all incoming attachments.

You can download a free trial version of the Attachments Processor for Outlook by Mapilabs (1556 KB) here