OL2002: Administrators Cannot Prevent Users from Creating Outlook Data Files

Administrators cannot prevent users from creating or accessing Outlook data files (personal folders [.pst] files). There are not any policies available that prevent access to the Outlook data files or to its various user interfaces.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The English-language version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later: After the fix is installed, the English version of this fix will have the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

How to Modify the Registry to Activate the Fix

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.


You must add or modify a registry to activate the fix. To do this:

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook
3. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:
   Value name: DisablePst
   Data type: REG_DWORD
   Value data: 1
4. Quit Registry Editor.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 2 (SP-2).