Microsoft releases Free 'PST Capture' Tool for Exchange

Microsoft has released a tool for finding and exchange Outlook PST files into modern Exchange environments. The tool, called "PST Capture," installs an agent to track the file location, which is the personal e-mail folders of Exchange e-mail users.PST capture tool can identify PST files and import them into their user email accounts hosted by exchange online or exchange server 2010.

Microsoft Exchange users "made it clear that PST import is an important area for us to focus on moving forward," wrote Ankur Kothari, a Microsoft senior product manager for Microsoft Exchange

Tracking PST files has become a problem for organizations trying to manage e-mail archives. The files often need to be tracked to ensure compliance with an organization's e-mail retention policies, for instance. Not finding the files also represents a problem for organizations that want electronic discovery capabilities for legal purposes.

Microsoft claims that Exchange 2010 offers more efficient and lower cost storage than earlier version of the product, leveraging direct attached storage instead of storage area networks (SANs). The tool can help bring over the older .PST files to Exchange 2010, and it helps with e-mail indexing in Outlook clients.

"Keeping with the Exchange 2010 theme of large, low-cost mailboxes, pulling a user's old personal archives back into their mailbox not only brings these emails back into the control of the Exchange Admins, but it also increases user productivity as all of these emails will now be index "We put Red Gate's tool through further feature development and a rigorous testing.

Process that included beta testing with customers, passing through our internal product security gates, and overall quality assurance," Microsoft's announcement stated. "It's now ready for prime time and available as a free download here!" and searchable through both Outlook and Outlook Web App," a Microsoft blog claims.
Microsoft recommends installing the PST Capture Central Service and the PST Capture Console on a dedicated computer.The dedicated computer also needs to run Outlook 2010 on x64 hardware, but that's only required for the dedicated computer and not for other PC clients.