HUGE problem here... 1

[peteygnyc]

Hi! I just wanted to say upfront that you guys are incredibly knowlegable and have helped me in the past with issues on servers. I am hoping you guy can help me with this one.
I have a Windows 2003 SBS server running Exchange 2003. I need to know if this is a change in 2003, a flaw, or just a problem with my box. I also have a 2000 server as well. The 2000 server runs Exchange 2000. On that box, the mail messages are stored in a folder called MBX in individual folders for each user. This enables an admin to go in and manually delete an email if it is locking up the system on the client side. Does Exchange 2003 have that feature? I did not set this box up (an inept consultant who no longer works for my company did) and I have no idea where this box is storing mail. I thought it would be in the Msg Store\MBX folder but I can't for the life of me find it. Can anyone tell me if it is at all possible to delete individual emails from Exchange 2003?
Also, is it normal to see the user account info in Server Manager but not Active Directory Users and Groups?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[PScottC]

For security and a number of other reasons Exchange 2003 does not show the "M:" drive like Exchange 2000 did. Here's how I would remove a corrupted email.

1) Open outlook client. Disable auto-preview and preview pane. Right-click on offending email and choose delete. Empty deleted items.

If that fails, or the Outlook client hangs, do this:

2) Take the mailbox store offline and run "eseutil /g priv.edb" to check for database corruption. If corruption is found copy the priv.edb and priv.stm files to a backup folder. Run "eseutil /p priv.edb" on the production copy of the DB. Run "eseutil /d priv.edb".

3) After running integrity check (and possibly repair and defrag) run "isinteg -s <servername> -fix -verbose -test alltests". (select the offline mailbox store when prompted)

When you remount your DB, the offending email will be gone or repaired.

I suggest that you put the exchsrvr\bin folder in the system path before doing steps 2 and 3. This will allow you to run the commands directly from the folder that contains the DBs.

PSC

Governments and corporations need people like you and me. We are samurai. The keyboard cowboys. And all those other people out there who have no idea what's going on are the cattle. Mooo! --Mr. The Plague, from the movie "Hackers

 

[YukimuraSonada]

ut he has a good point....is it possible to go into a particular user's mailbox and pluck out specific emails server-side?

 

[PScottC]

The only way to open the mailbox would be through one of the normal interfaces (MAPI, IMAP, POP3, or OWA). Unless of course you want to get into Exchange DB engineering?

Typically the problem that Pete is describing is caused by corruption in the Exchange database. It is better to fully repair the DB than to try a piecemeal fix. If you're seeing your Exchange DB corrupt over and over again, that suggests a larger disk corruption issue and the DB needs to be moved to another physical drive.

PSC

Governments and corporations need people like you and me. We are samurai. The keyboard cowboys. And all those other people out there who have no idea what's going on are the cattle. Mooo! --Mr. The Plague, from the movie "Hackers