Exchange 2000 mailbox/information store location on HD?

Yes, the database and logs (by default) are under the exchsvr folder.

So, I should be able to just copy that over to a new exchange installation if necessary? And everything will be restored as before?

First, ensure that you are not running any Exchange Services when you copy files.  Here are a few links that may help.

How to Protect Exchange Data from Hard Disk Failure: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;328794
XADM: How to Move Exchange 2000 to New Hardware and Keep the Same Server Name: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;297289
XADM: White Paper - Disaster Recovery for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;326052

Ok. That second article is incredibly confusing. Seems that I cannot just copy over the exchsvr folder to another server (with the same server name, domain, etc etc). Or can I?

Has this been done before? If it has, I need to know how to get it to work.

Guys. I'm not giving out points for a few msft knowledgebase articles that I could find via Google.

I need someone who has done this before to give me some tips/hints on how to do this correctly. If you need more info, I'd be happy to provide it.

Thanks.

Turns out I may not be able to save the system. I will have to do a disaster recovery via Veritas Backup Exec. However, that only recovers the data up to last Wed. The server was up and functioning for 2 days after that with users using Exchange. But, backup was not working during those last 2 days. That brings me back to my original question.

If I successfully restore the server back to how it was last Wed, I want to "update" the Exchange server information with the data I have from the following two days. I was able to obtain this data by literally copying it off of the HD (the /program files/exchsvr directory) onto a CD. So now I need to get that data (which is more recent than the tape backup data) onto Exchange.

If I am to look at the articles - which of the articles would best suit my needs? And, yes, all of the server info will be exactly the same as before.

Thanks.

dstoker - I accepted your response, but I still need some follow through if you wouldn't mind. Thanks.

Based upon your current situation, I would suggest reading http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/exchange/2000/support/dbrecovr.mspx.  Here is a brief listing of the process that you should follow.

1. Reconfigure hardware that is similar to the original hardware.
2. Create logical drives that closely match the original configuration.
3. Reinstall the operating system.
4. Restore full drive backups.
5. Restore system state backups.
6. Reinstall Exchange 2000 by using the /disasterrecovery switch.
7. Copy the Transaction Logs to the new server.
8. Restore Exchange 2000 databases.

Once the database is restored and the services are running, the Transaction logs will automatically replay into the restored database.  All of your transaction logs should be intact since the last full backup.  However, if you happen to be running circular logging, you will not be able to recover information since the last full backup as the transaction logs more than likely have already overwritten themselves.

I ended up okay. Restored the OS from tape. Copied over the "program files/exchsrvr" directory to where it was. Called Microsoft tech support (which ROCKS) and 1.5hrs later after a bunch of defrags,etc I was back up. All is good! For now, at least.

Thanks for your hlep.