How to Open PST Files: Simple Email eDiscovery for Small Law Firms

17 September 2018 by Anith Mathai eDiscovery pst small-law-firm email
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Summary: Use GoldFynch’s PST Viewer to open PST files. It’s quick, easy-to-use, and free! And it’s better than opening it in your own Microsoft Outlook, because Outlook may modify metadata.

To stay competitive, you’ve got to be able to handle email eDiscovery. And that means PST files.

Modern business runs on email. And you’ll find that most of your clients use Microsoft Outlook to handle their email. Outlook stores your emails, attachments, calendar events, etc., as a PST (Personal Storage Table) file – i.e., a file with a .pst extension. (Learn more about PST files).

GoldFynch’s free PST Viewer is the simplest way to open and view PST files.

Here’s why it’s the best PST software for your small law firm:

  1. It’s free. So, open your PST file and decide what you want to do with it, before paying for any specialized software.
  2. Use it through your web browser. Just go to the webpage and drag-and-drop your PST files into your browser. So, no need to download and install anything.
  3. Your PST file opens instantly. No waiting, no long processing time. Access thousands of emails in seconds.
  4. Your files stay private. You use the PST viewer via your internet browser, but your PST file never leaves your computer. So all your information remains confidential.

And soon, GoldFynch will be launching an MBOX viewer too. (MBOX files are Gmail’s equivalent of PSTs.)

But most importantly, GoldFynch’s PST Viewer ties in with GoldFynch eDiscovery software.

Traditional email applications (like Outlook) are great at sending and receiving email. So, you could theoretically use them to open PST files. But these applications are limited when it comes to eDiscovery. For example, what if you want to tag certain emails so that you can find them easily, later? Or, if you want to redact information? Or, ‘produce’ emails and send them to opposing counsel for review? You can’t do these things with Outlook. But you can with eDiscovery software like GoldFynch.

GoldFynch can do things that regular emailing software can’t.

Here are 5 examples:

1. GoldFynch makes email attachments ‘searchable’

To build a case, you’re going to need to search your email. And Outlook can search for keywords in the body of your email. But it can’t search email attachments like zipped files or container files like mbox and pst. So, it’s easy to overlook them. Even when they have critical information. In contrast, GoldFynch processes attachments and makes their content searchable. So, with a single search, you can find keywords, dates, etc., in both the email body as well as the attachments.

2. GoldFynch preserves metadata that can help you win cases

When you create a document on your computer, the application you’re using (e.g., Microsoft Word) records a bunch of information about it. Things like who created it, when they created it, when it was last opened, etc. This ‘data about data’ (i.e., metadata) is a digital footprint which tracks the history of the document. All files have metadata embedded in them, but you won’t see it unless you know where to look. Here are examples of email metadata:

  • Who created the email, and when it was created.
  • When it was sent.
  • Whom it was sent to (‘cc’ and ‘bcc’), when they received it, and whether they read it.

So, when you want to find an email your client sent to a colleague last January, your software scans the ‘date’ metadata field of all your emails. This information is valuable, right? It can help make or break your case. But metadata is fragile. Even a simple thing like forwarding an email modifies its metadata. That’s why you need eDiscovery software like GoldFynch. Outlook modifies metadata. GoldFynch and GoldFynch’s PST Viewer don’t. Learn more about metadata.

3. GoldFynch lets you tag and redact privileged email

When you’re dealing with large numbers of emails, you’ll undoubtedly get some with sensitive information. For example, things that need to stay between only you and your client. Or trade secrets that they can’t allow competitors to get their hands on. So, when you ‘produce’ emails to send them to opposing counsel, you’ll need a way to keep out privileged data. GoldFynch lets you redact information and mark whole emails as ‘privileged.’ And it takes just a click to tag an email. Which makes it much easier to keep them out of production. Or to review them later.

4. GoldFynch keeps things organized with easy Bates stamping

A key part of producing documents in giving each page a Bates stamp. Traditional email applications don’t let you do this, and that’s a problem. But with GoldFynch, Bates stamping is quick, easy and automatic. And you do it with a single click.

5. GoldFynch gives you unlimited storage space

Email applications like Outlook download your email onto your computer. This makes it easy to read them at your leisure. But it limits you to the size of your hard drive. In contrast, GoldFynch is in the Cloud. Which means unlimited storage space. What’s the Cloud? Well, it’s thousands of interconnected servers (high-performance computers) that work together to give you storage space and processing power. And the more people there are in the Cloud, the less the costs for each. That’s the beauty of cloud economics. So you get cheap, unlimited storage and computing power. Learn more about Cloud-computing.

6. GoldFynch does more than just email eDiscovery.

It’s a complete eDiscovery package and has some cool features for small law firms like yours.

  • You don’t need to install anything. It runs in the Cloud, and you use it through your web browser. Plus, your trial case is free. So, you can start working immediately. No sales calls or emails. And no credit card.
  • You can work from anywhere. All you need is an internet connection.
  • It’s easy to use. Just like all the other powerful-but-simple apps you use.
  • It’s secure. Your data is backed up on multiple Cloud-servers with bank-grade security and encryption.
  • You get the best technical support. Its designed, developed and run by the same team. So, the technical support isn’t outsourced. Which means prompt and reliable service.
  • Most importantly, it’s affordable. Just $27 a month for a basic case. That’s far less–every month–than the nearest comparable software. And hundreds of dollars cheaper than many others.

Intrigued? To find out more about Goldfynch:

For more about eDiscovery for small law firms, check out these articles.

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