gdozier
asked on
Exchange 2000 - Users unable to access recent emails with both OWA and Outlook
All Exchange services and IIS are running with no errors in event viewer; information stores mount fine; users can connect to their mailboxes with both OWA and Outlook. The problem, however, is that messages received over the past two to three days are inaccessible and users are unable to open the message. It appears in their inbox and the subject is readable but attempts to open are futile. Within Outlook, there is no error message at all; using OWA users are simply presented with a 500 Internal Server Error page.
Messages that were already inside the inbox (and other folders) open fine (with both Outlook and OWA) provided they were received prior to the 2-3 day window mentioned above
Users are receiving email from both inside and outside the org; they can compose and send new mail successfuly both internally and externally; but again, new mail received cannot be opened.
I've tried everything I know; I've searched everywhere and if the answer exists then my tired eyes have simply overlooked it by mistake.
I am assigning a high point value as my client, while not losing email exactly, still is having issues responding to his customers...
One other point - Attempting to move or delete the unaccessible message results in a permission error...
Permissions on what exactly?
Thanks to anyone able to assist!!
Messages that were already inside the inbox (and other folders) open fine (with both Outlook and OWA) provided they were received prior to the 2-3 day window mentioned above
Users are receiving email from both inside and outside the org; they can compose and send new mail successfuly both internally and externally; but again, new mail received cannot be opened.
I've tried everything I know; I've searched everywhere and if the answer exists then my tired eyes have simply overlooked it by mistake.
I am assigning a high point value as my client, while not losing email exactly, still is having issues responding to his customers...
One other point - Attempting to move or delete the unaccessible message results in a permission error...
Permissions on what exactly?
Thanks to anyone able to assist!!
ASKER
I ran eseutil with the "/d" switch and have already run "isinteg" with the "-fix -test - alltest" switches - I'll try running "eseutil /p" now as I have no other options...
make sure to have a copy of ur MDBDATA folder before u run eseutil /p.
u can also use exmerge with archieving option(this will leave behind all the corrupted emails),then delete everything in ur mdbdata folder(also using outlook pst
all ur public folders)and restart ur exchange(this will give u a brand new database)
and using exmerge import all ur data back.
i am not 100 sure but it maybe that some of ur log files got corrupted and did not get
committed to exchange data.
eseutil /ml log file name will check that specific log file for corruption
for %a in (E00*.log) do eseutil /ml %a | find /i "corrupt" >> badlogs.txt
will check all ur log files for corruption and out put it the text file.
u can also use exmerge with archieving option(this will leave behind all the corrupted emails),then delete everything in ur mdbdata folder(also using outlook pst
all ur public folders)and restart ur exchange(this will give u a brand new database)
and using exmerge import all ur data back.
i am not 100 sure but it maybe that some of ur log files got corrupted and did not get
committed to exchange data.
eseutil /ml log file name will check that specific log file for corruption
for %a in (E00*.log) do eseutil /ml %a | find /i "corrupt" >> badlogs.txt
will check all ur log files for corruption and out put it the text file.
ASKER
I will check your log file(s) for corruption; followed by the exmerge process if necessary
Backed up the necessary folders / Ran the eseutil /p followed by isinteg -s <server> -fix -test alltests
No change at this point.
Backed up the necessary folders / Ran the eseutil /p followed by isinteg -s <server> -fix -test alltests
No change at this point.
wow.so eseutil /p did not fix ur problem either.
ASKER
nope - eseutil /p didn't make a dent in the issue - and I have run this only in dire circumstances - but it has always worked in the past...
Seems like something is scanning the damn mail folders - hence this entry in event viewer (Unexpected error 0x8004010f occurred in "EcVirusScanOneMessage".
For more information, click http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp)
but I currently have ALL antivirus and anti-spam utilities and services stopped and even disabled! This may be the cause of the issue but I cannot locate the source.
Even went and checked the active sessions to see if a user with a mapped drive might be scanning the prohibited folders but there are no active sessions or connections...
I'm really stumped on this one... 16 damn years working with this crap and I'm apparently not any smarter!! :)
Thanks for your help thus far and I'm open to any other ideas you might have...
Still going to check the log files for corruption but don't know where to go if I find any corruption...
Seems like something is scanning the damn mail folders - hence this entry in event viewer (Unexpected error 0x8004010f occurred in "EcVirusScanOneMessage".
For more information, click http://www.microsoft.com/contentredirect.asp)
but I currently have ALL antivirus and anti-spam utilities and services stopped and even disabled! This may be the cause of the issue but I cannot locate the source.
Even went and checked the active sessions to see if a user with a mapped drive might be scanning the prohibited folders but there are no active sessions or connections...
I'm really stumped on this one... 16 damn years working with this crap and I'm apparently not any smarter!! :)
Thanks for your help thus far and I'm open to any other ideas you might have...
Still going to check the log files for corruption but don't know where to go if I find any corruption...
sorry old man every day is a brand new day with exchange no matter how many years experience.
few things u must remember
no matter what AV did it did not quarantine ur log files
u pass the eseutil /P and isinteg test(u did pass without error?)
ur stores are mounted
i checked on the error and u are right u may have been scand by AV (symantec?)
if so according to symantc isinteg should do the job.
try on one mailbox.create a new mailbox and using exmerge pst his mailbox and import it into new mailbox and see if all the messages are exported and also if u can open all the messages.if this works then u can go ahead and do it on all ur mailboxes.If u think ur mdbdata folder is still being scanned then disconnect ur exchange from network because exmerge may also fail if AV is running.
i am just shouting all these instruction at u and anytime u get sick of me just say so.
PS:eseutil /mk will tell u up to which log files have been committed.
few things u must remember
no matter what AV did it did not quarantine ur log files
u pass the eseutil /P and isinteg test(u did pass without error?)
ur stores are mounted
i checked on the error and u are right u may have been scand by AV (symantec?)
if so according to symantc isinteg should do the job.
try on one mailbox.create a new mailbox and using exmerge pst his mailbox and import it into new mailbox and see if all the messages are exported and also if u can open all the messages.if this works then u can go ahead and do it on all ur mailboxes.If u think ur mdbdata folder is still being scanned then disconnect ur exchange from network because exmerge may also fail if AV is running.
i am just shouting all these instruction at u and anytime u get sick of me just say so.
PS:eseutil /mk will tell u up to which log files have been committed.
ASKER
okay - so none of the above have worked. I ran the eseutil /ml to check the log files for corruption and there apparently is none.
I created a new mailbox for User A - exmerged the data from the current mailbox and subsequently imported this data into the new mailbox for User A - only messages from the time prior to this issue are visable and none of these can be opened...
Is this a database issue or a transaction log file issue? Best guess is good enough as I do not no where to go from here...
Is there a way to create a new database? Will upgrading to Exchange 2003 be of any help at this point? Or will an upgrade simply carry forward the existing issue?
Any ideas from anyone? I suppose restoring from backup is an option but doing so will negate messages received from Friday through the restoration time...
I'm going to run eseutil again on the database and see what happens...
I created a new mailbox for User A - exmerged the data from the current mailbox and subsequently imported this data into the new mailbox for User A - only messages from the time prior to this issue are visable and none of these can be opened...
Is this a database issue or a transaction log file issue? Best guess is good enough as I do not no where to go from here...
Is there a way to create a new database? Will upgrading to Exchange 2003 be of any help at this point? Or will an upgrade simply carry forward the existing issue?
Any ideas from anyone? I suppose restoring from backup is an option but doing so will negate messages received from Friday through the restoration time...
I'm going to run eseutil again on the database and see what happens...
ASKER
Nothing short of a complete rebuild of the server resolved the issue.
I am in favor of awarding some amount of Points to Vahik since time and effort were obviously expended. Since the issue resolution wasn't received, however, I am not in favor of awarding all 500 points assigned to this issue.
I will, nonetheless, abide by and concur with the points decision of the moderator...
Thanks again for a great site and willing participants!!
I am in favor of awarding some amount of Points to Vahik since time and effort were obviously expended. Since the issue resolution wasn't received, however, I am not in favor of awarding all 500 points assigned to this issue.
I will, nonetheless, abide by and concur with the points decision of the moderator...
Thanks again for a great site and willing participants!!
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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ASKER
I'm not sure I understand it either but rebuilding the server and subsequently restoring the Exchange databases and tranaction log files corrected the issue. Of course, there were the normal steps to be taken as with any Exchange restoration but once the stores were mounted all data was immediately accessible to the users along with the ability to send/receive successfully. I did take the additional step of using ExMerge to copy the data into individual PST files for the users just in case the restore didn't work - this proved to be additional work - but still wouldn't proceed without performing this safeguard.
I, too, had never seen - and hope to never again! - this type of scenario.
again, many many thanks to you for your time and effort!
If I can ever assist, please feel free to ask...
I, too, had never seen - and hope to never again! - this type of scenario.
again, many many thanks to you for your time and effort!
If I can ever assist, please feel free to ask...
u can use eseutil /p option and then isinteg to see if ur problem will be solved(drastic measure but sometimes no other choice left).