Delete Organization Microsoft Partner Network Member' title='Delete Organization Microsoft Partner Network Member' />Use the PST Collection tool to find, copy, and delete PST files in your organization. You can use the Microsoft PST Collection tool to search your organizations network for PST files. The tool helps you get an inventory of PST files that are scattered throughout your organization. After you find PST files, you can use the PST Collection tool to copy them in a central location. Having PSTs in a one place then allows you to import them to Exchange Online mailboxes or a single Exchange Online mailbox, where you can then apply the rich set of compliance features in Office 3. This includes importing PSTs to users archive mailboxes, searching for specific messages in the PST files that you imported by using e. Discovery search tools, retaining messages by using e. Discovery holds and Office 3. Exchange Online. After youre confident that the PST files that you collected have been successfully imported to Office 3. Another thing you can do with the PST Collection tool is prevent users from creating new PST files and changing the existing PST files that you find on your network. These block capabilities let you find, collect, and import a known set of PST files to Office 3. PST files in your organization. How the PST Collection tool works. Heres a quick overview of the process of using the PST Collection tool to find, control, collect, and delete PST files in your organization. Find PST files on your network   When you run the tool to find PST files, you specify a location, such as an organizational unit that contain Active Directory objects for client and server computers. You can also search specific machines or network file shares. When you run the tool, a lightweight Collection Agent is installed on the target computers. This agent searches the target computer for PST files and then sends information back to the PST Collection tool about any PST file it finds. Delete Organization Microsoft Partner Network Member' title='Delete Organization Microsoft Partner Network Member' />The tool creates log files that contains information about the PST files that were found in the specified locations. These files are used when you run the tool in later steps. Prevent users from creating new PST files and editing existing PST files   The tool creates a Group Policy Object GPO with settings that prevent users from creating or changing PST files. This GPO is applied to every user in your domain. This optional step helps you lock down the PST files that were found in Step 1, so that you can collect, import, and delete them without having new PST files created or the existing PST files changed. Copy PST files to a collection location   This lets you collect the PST files in one location so that you can import them to Exchange Online mailboxes by using the Office 3. Import service in Step 4. When you run the tool in the collect mode, each Collection Agent copies the PST files from the target machine the agent is installed on to the collection location. Import PST files to Office 3. After youve copied the PST files to one location, youre ready to import them to Exchange Online mailboxes. Get certified for Microsoft technology and products. Explore our online developer computer courses and exams, and take your career to a new level. Use the search and purge feature in the Office 365 Security Compliance Center to search for and delete an email message from all mailboxes in your organization. Delete PST files   After the PST files that you found and collected have been imported to Exchange Online mailboxes in Office 3. PST Collection tool to delete the PST files from the original locations where they were found in Step 1. Return to top. Before you begin. Follow these steps to download the PST Collection tool to your local computer. Download the PST Collection tool. In the pop up window, click Save Save as to save the PSTCollection. Tool. zip file to a folder on your local computer. Extract the PSTCollection. Tool. zip file to a folder on your local computer the default folder name is PSTCollection. Tool. To run the PST Collection tool in any mode Find, Block, Copy, or Delete, you have to be a member of the Domain Administrators group in your Active Directory domain. Return to top. Step 1 Find PST files on your network. The first step is to run the PST Collection tool to find PST files in your organization. You can use the tool to search the following types of locations. Organizational units OUs in an on premises Active Directory domain. The tool searches all the machines that are contained in the specified OU. Client and server computers. The tool searches the specified machines. Network file shares. The tool searches the specified network file shares. See the description for the Locations parameter in table in the following procedure for examples of the syntax to use for each of these location types. Important You have to the run the PST Collection tool in the Find mode before you can perform other actions such as blocking, collecting, or deleting PST files. Open a Command Prompt run as administrator on your local computer. Go to the PSTCollection. Tool folder or the folder that you extracted the PSTCollection. Tool. zip file to. Change to the Data. Collector. Master directory. Run the following command to find PST files in a specified location. Data. Collector. Master. Data. Source Pst Mode Find Job. Name lt Name Locations lt Locations to search for PSTs Log. Location lt Location to store log files Configuration. Location lt Location to store configuration files The following table describes the parameters and their required values when you run the Data. Collector. Master. PST files. Parameter. Description. Examples. Data. Source. Specifies the type of data to search for. Currently, you can use the PST Collection tool to search for PST files. Data. Source Pst. Mode. Specifies the type of operation that the tool will perform. Use the value Find to locate PST files in the specified locations. Note that the tool can find and get information about PST files that are open in Outlook and PST files that are connected to Outlook profiles. Mode Find. Job. Name. Specifies the name of the PST Collection job. You will use this same job name when you run the PST Collection tool to block, collect, and delete the PST files that are found when you run the tool to find PST files. The job name will also be added to the log and configuration file names. Job. Name Pst. Search. Locations. Specifies one or more locations to search for PST files. If you specify more than one location, use a semi colon to separate individual locations. Be sure to surround the individual values of this parameter with double quotation marks. Here is the required identity value format for the types of locations that you can search. OUs   Use the distinguished name DN to identify OUs for example OUNorth. America,OUNWRegion,OUITServices,DCcontoso,DCcomImportant You cant specify the built in Computers container for example, CNComputers,DCcontoso,DCcom because it isnt an organizational unit. Machines   Use the DN or the fully qualified domain name FQDN to identify client and server machines on your network for example DN CNFILESERVER0. CNComputers,DCcontoso,DCcomOr. FQDN FILESERVER0. Network file shares   Use a UNC name to identify network file shares for example, FILESERVER0. Users Locations CNFILESERVER0. CNComputers,DCcontoso,DCcom CNFILESERVER0. CNComputers,DCcontoso,DCcom Log. Location. Specifies the folder that the log files will be copied to. If the folder doesnt exist, it will be created when you run the tool. Log. Location c usersadmindesktopPSTCollectionConfiguration. Location. Specifies the folder that the. This file contains information about each PST file that is found when you run the tool. Computer Training Computer Certifications. Microsoft Azure. Learn from the experts about Azure Virtual Machines and virtual networks, platform as a service Paa. S, automating. with Power. Shell, and migrating to the cloud. Office 3. 65. See how Office 3. Windows Server. Gain the skills to power the next generation of cloud optimized networks, applications, and web services. Look at networking, storage, and virtualization. Install Recessed Lighting Without Attic Access Video Inc. CXAMLLearn C programming and XAML from the pros. C is simple but powerful and lets you create Windows apps and. XAML simplifies UI creation. Web development. 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