XADM: Information Store Stops Unexpectedly and Cannot Be Repaired

• Microsoft Exchange Server, version 5.5

SYMPTOMS

The information store stops unexpectedly and you are not able to restart it. An error message similar to the following may be displayed when you attempt to restart the information store:

Server specific error 4294966278 (JET_errReadVerifyFailure).

RESOLUTION

Before you perform the following steps, perform an offline backup of the Exchange Server databases and log files. Also, you may want to set up an Exchange Server computer to recover information from the directory service contained in the Dir.edb file. For additional information about setting up a disaster recovery Exchange Server computer, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q177635 XADM: How to Set Up a Disaster Recovery Server for Dir.edb

1. Use the Chkdsk.exe program with the /F switch to fix any errors on your hard disks. To do so, at a command prompt, type chkdsk /f drive, where drive is the hard disk you want to check, and then press ENTER. For example, to fix any errors on drive C, at a command prompt, type chkdsk /f c:, and then press ENTER.



2. Remove the log files for the information store by moving them to a different folder, and then start the information store. The log files are Edb.log and Edbxxxxx.log, where xxxxx is a series of hexadecimal digits (for example, Edb00001.log). The log files for the information store are typically located in the Exchsrvr\Mdbdata folder on the drive that Exchange Server is installed on.
   
   If an error message similar to the following is displayed when you start the information store, copy the log files back to the folder where they were originally located, and then proceed to step 3:




Server specific error 4294966746 (JET_errDatabaseInconsistent).

3. Use the Eseutil.exe utility with the /R switch to recover the Exchange Server databases. If a -1018 error (JET_errReadVerifyFailure) is returned, proceed to step 4.



4. Use the Eseutil.exe utility with the /MH switch to check the consistency of the public and private information stores. To do so, type the following commands at a command prompt, pressing ENTER after each command:

   eseutil /mh path\pub.edb
   eseutil /mh path\priv.edb

   where path is the location of the information store database files. For example, if the database files are located in the Exchsrvr\Mdbdata folder on drive C, type the following commands:

   eseutil /mh c:\exchsrvr\mdbdata\pub.edb
   eseutil /mh c:\exchsrvr\mdbdata\priv.edb

   If the Eseutil.exe utility indicates that the databases are not consistent, proceed to step 5.



5. Use the Eseutil.exe utility and the Microsoft Exchange Information Store Integrity Checker (Isinteg.exe) to repair, defragment, and check the integrity of the public and private information stores:



1. At a command prompt, type eseutil /p /ispriv, and then press ENTER.



2. If log files for the information store exist, remove them by moving them to a different folder. For more information about the log files, see step 2.



3. At a command prompt, type eseutil /d /ispriv, and then press ENTER.



4. At a command prompt, type isinteg -pri -fix -test alltests, press ENTER, type y when you are prompted to do so, and then press ENTER again. Repeat this step until no warnings, errors, or fixes are reported.



5. At a command prompt, type eseutil /p /ispub, and then press ENTER.



6. If log files for the information store exist, remove them by moving them to a different folder. For more information about the log files, see step 2.



7. At a command prompt, type eseutil /d /ispub, and then press ENTER.



8. At a command prompt, type isinteg -pub -fix -test alltests, press ENTER, type y when you are prompted to do so, and then press ENTER again. Repeat this step until no warnings, errors, or fixes are reported.



6. Start the information store. If it starts successfully, perform the following additional steps:



1. Disable circular logging for the information store database files.



2. Run Performance Optimizer.



3. Verify that e-mail clients can connect to the Exchange Server computer.



4. Perform an online backup of the server.

MORE INFORMATION

When circular logging is enabled, the server automatically overwrites the oldest transaction log files after the information they contain has been committed to the database. This reduces the amount of disk space required to store the log files, but it prevents you from performing differential and incremental backups, and it may also prevent you from using the log files to repair a damaged database. Circular logging is disabled by default.

Additional query words:

Keywords          : exc55 
Version           : winnt:5.5
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbprb 

Last Reviewed: August 12, 1999