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Checking other users email

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Zugdud

IS-IT--Management
Feb 26, 2003
158
US
Hi is there a way to view and read other users email using exchange administrator 5.5?

Thanks
 
The server and clients are set up to use exchange server as the mail protocol if that helps, not pop or imap
 
Also the exchange server has service pack 4
 
You can use the Exchange Admin to grant access to another mailbox (unless you are already have admin rights already ) and then it can be viewed / accessed with Outlook:
File
Open
Other Users Folder
Inbox or Calendar or whatever folder

or... you can add the mailbox to your (or a) profile in Outlook:
Tools
Services
MS Exchange Server
Properties
Advanced
Open additional mailbox

But be careful... these actions are logged and will track your actions... whether this is for good or evil.
 
Thanks we got that to work. The user seems to be deleting and completely cleaning out his sentmail/outbox/and deleted messages though. Is there a way to set up server side logging that we could review?
 
I'm not sure exactly what you want to log, but this Technet article has saved some tails for my users in the past.



======================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5
- Microsoft Outlook 97, versions 8.03, 8.04, used with:
- the operating system: Microsoft Windows 98
- the operating system: Microsoft Windows 95
- the operating system: Microsoft Windows NT
- Microsoft Outlook 2000
- Microsoft Outlook 98
- Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry.
Before you edit the registry, make sure that you understand how to restore it if
a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, see the "Restoring the
Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic
in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY
=======

When items are deleted from a folder in a mailbox, those items are first
transferred to the Deleted Items folder of that mailbox. The items can then be
deleted from the Deleted Items folder. This provides a measure of protection in
case of accidental deletion. After the items are deleted from the Deleted Items
folder, the items can still be recovered if the Exchange Server 5.5 computer or
Exchange 2000 Server computer has been configured to retain deleted items.

For additional information about configuring a computer to retain deleted items,
click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge
Base:

Q246283 XADM: Set Deleted Mail Message Retention Time in Exchange Server 5.5

You can also permanently delete items without first moving them to the Deleted
Items folder. This procedure is called a "hard delete." The following are three
examples of a hard delete:

- An Outlook user uses the SHIFT+DELETE key combination to delete a message.

- You use an IMAP4, POP3, or another type of client that does not first move
the message to the Deleted Items folder.

- An Outlook user who works offline with an offline folder file (.ost) deletes
the message from the Inbox (or other folder) and then empties the Deleted
Items folder before the .ost file is synchronized with the server. This
produces a "hard delete" of the item from the Inbox (or other folder) on the
server.

By default, the ability to recover deleted items is only enabled on the Deleted
Items folder in a user's private folders, so items that are "hard deleted"
cannot be recovered.

MORE INFORMATION
================

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may
require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee
that problems that result from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be
solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, see the "Changing Keys and
Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete
Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in
Regedt32.exe. Microsoft recommends that you back up the registry before you edit
it. If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, Microsoft also recommends
that you update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

To enable Deleted Item Recovery on mail folders other than Deleted Items (such as
Sent Items, Drafts, Outbox, and Inbox), the following registry entry needs to be
made:

1. Add the DWORD value DumpsterAlwaysOn=1 to the following registry key of the
administrator's Outlook client:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Options

This can be done either at the administrator's computer or the user's computer.
After this value is added, the Recover Deleted Items option becomes available
for all the other mail folders mentioned earlier. The user can recover deleted
items from these folders. This procedure can become tedious if it is done on all
user workstations. An easier solution is to make this registry modification on
the administrator's computer and then have the administrator open the affected
user's mailbox as an additional mailbox. The administrator can then recover
deleted items from the user's mailbox mail folders.

NOTE: For an administrator to open another user's mailbox and recover items in
the user's private folders, the administrator's Windows NT account must be
granted the permission of User for that user's mailbox object. Next, the
administrator must create a profile for that user's mailbox or add that user's
mailbox to their profile as follows:

1. In Control Panel, double-click Mail.

2. Click the Services tab, and then double-click Microsoft Exchange Server.

3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Add to add the mailbox to your
profile.

Differences for Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000
-------------------------------------------

In Outlook 98, this option is available only for mail folders (Deleted Items,
Drafts, Inbox, Outbox, and Sent Items). Therefore, items that are "hard deleted"
from non-mail folders like Contacts, Notes, and so on, cannot be recovered. In
Outlook 2000, however, this option is available for all folders, and so recovery
from non-mail folders is also possible, provided that the DumpsterAlwaysOn=1
DWORD registry value has been added to the registry as explained earlier. For
additional information, click the article numbers below to view the articles in
the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q228934 XCLN: Understanding Deleted Item Recovery

Q180117 XADM: Recovering Deleted Items from a Public Folder

Q175263 XADM: Clients Cannot Recover Items After Item Recovery Is Enabled

Q188637 XADM: How to Determine the Size of Recoverable Items in the IS

Additional query words: Retention Recovery dumpster missing gone dissapear outlook ol97 ol98 ol20

======================================================================
Keywords : exc55
Technology : kbOutlookSearch kbExchangeSearch kbZNotKeyword2 kbOutlook97Search kbZNotKeyword3
Version : :5.5,8.03,8.04
Issue type : kbhowto
=============================================================================
Copyright Microsoft Corporation 2002.
 
I want to log all in going and all outgoing traffic, If user x sent a message on 7/3/03 at 10:05 AM I want to be able to find it and look at it reguardless of if he has deleted it or not, is this possible? exchange 5.5 sp 4
 
Yes that is possible you need to set up a mail archive mailbox account. I hope that helps!
 
If July 3 is within your "deleted item retention period", then yes. If it isn't, then how are your backups? If you are doing "brick-level backups" (individual mailbox at a time), then it is easy to restore just a mailbox. If you (like most, I think) are doing database backups, you'd have to restore the entire database to a "recovery server" that has to be named and built exactly the same and absolutely NOT ON THE LIVE NETWORK. My guess is that the items you're looking for should still be in the database, tho, and the Q article I posted above should get what you're looking for.
Frank
 
The "Recovery Server" does not have to be exactly the same as the exchange server. The server name can be different, then it doesn't matter if it is live on the network.

Only the exchange setup has to be the same. Just install Exchange on another machine but when installing DO NOT JOIN EXISTING ORG. Say you are creating a new one then give EXACTLY the same ORG and Site info as existing Exchange Server.

You can then restore the info store to that machine and use the consistency adjuster and a directory import to make it look just like the other one (at least with my backup program I can't redirect a restore of the directory).

 
Ooops. Corrected. I was looking at the docs that MS Prof Svcs had created for us, but I verified in Technet the server doesn't have to be named the same... that is just the procedure we have in place.
 
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