I am running Windows 7 and received the same error message Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. The set of folders cannot be opened. Errors have been detected in the file C:\Users\Private\Documents\Outlook Files\Private.pst. Private is my account name. I have other accounts on the same PC and Outlook functions perfectly. I have searched for the file scanpst.exe and it is nowhere to be found on my PC.
I have also tried the following instructions: First of all go to Start\computer and upper left corner menu select TOOL, select FOLDER OPTION in the new window select VIEW tab and select SHOW HIDDEN FILES ,FOLDERS,DRIVER click ok. Let me tell you, when you click on Start, then on Computer, there is NOTHING in the upper left corner for TOOL. These instructions were worthless.
I would appreciate any assistance you might provide.