Restore deleted items from tape 2

[fs483]

Hello,

I have a customer that deleted some emails a few days ago. They have since emptied the deleted items. We have backups of the Information store through Backup Exec. What is the correct method in restoring only the deleted items folder for one user. The user also doesn't remember when the emails were deleted. I probably can apply this process with each of the tapes I have right ?

Thank you
anthony

 

[tangostar]

yes you can restore the inbox of the individual user assuming that the emails were on the server during the backup period.

 

[Marcs41]

Several things:

If they cannot remember when they deleted it, have fun, as you don't know how far to go back then.
If they don't know how old the original mail was, same thing.
It also depends on you backup scheme, always full, incremental, diffirential..

But, most importantly, as with most backup solutions, the VERY FIRST step you always have to perform after setup is to test the restore system! If you wait until you rellly need it, you could very wel discover you backups are all wrong! You do not want to be in that situation if it concerns a mission critical database or so!

Marc
[sub]If 'something' 'somewhere' gives 'some' error, expect random guesses or no replies at all. Please specify details.
Free Tip: The F1 Key does NOT destroy your PC![/sub]
How Do I Get Great Answers To my Tek-Tips Questions? See faq222-2244

 

[fs483]

We always run a full backups. I'm going to wait until the customer explicitly requests us to recover the lost emails. How would I proceed. I've been reading up and want to get prepared when/if the customer asks for it.

Thanks,
anthony

 

[mcnuttlaw]

I assume you are using Veritas "Backup Exec"? If so, you should be able to drill down to the individual mailbox folders when restoring.

What I do to make sure these restored emails are not mixed in with the user's current emails is to restore the emails to a dummy Exchange account. Backup Exec allows redirection to a different Active Directory account during restoration.

From there, give the user access to this dummy account by enabling dual access in their Outlook (their main account plus the dummy account) within the Advanced Profile settings on the user's desktop. What will appear in the folder tree is their account and the dummy account. If all looks well, then simply drag the desired emails from the dummy account to the default account an delete the account from Active Directory when finished.

 

[fs483]

Customer has requested but thanks for the reply. I'm glad some of our customers have Backup Exec. I just got a quote for another customer and boy is it expensive... It costs 918$ CAD just for the Exchange Agent... The software itself is over 3000$...

 

[Marcs41]

That price alone could justify a move to a full 2003 (SP1) environment, using just Windows Backup.
Restoring just made easy ..

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2003/RMD.mspx

Marc
[sub]If 'something' 'somewhere' gives 'some' error, expect random guesses or no replies at all. Please specify details.
Free Tip: The F1 Key does NOT destroy your PC!
How Do I Get Great Answers To my Tek-Tips Questions? [/sub]See faq222-2244

 

[fs483]

Thanks Marc41... I have a few customers who are on Exchange 2003 with SBS2003. I'll look into it.

 

[Titleist]

akwong,
I've set the "Deleted Item Retention" for 180 days on our Exchange box. I've never had to restore an individual email as the client can find it themselves. You can set it to whatever duration you want depending on the size of your Imformation Store(because it will grow).

john