Exchange 2000 FAQs

Every month, Ben Schorr and I write a Q&A column for The .NET Magazine. I decided to put an index of the questions that we cover here.

• Should we wait until Exchange 2003?

• We are trying to deploy a customer service application that uses custom subfolders in users mailboxes, but it does not work.

• Our security office insists we install a antivirus client on all Exchange servers; is this right?

• Can I change the SMTP headers that are seen by the outside world?

• Can a single small newsletter take up a lot of space in the information store?

• Do I have to install Exchange System Manager on all administrator's computers?

• Why are we seeing a lot of messages in the SMTP virtual server's \BADMAIL directory?

• We just created an ADC CA and ran it for the first time; it replaced our names in Active Directory. Is this normal?

• Can I use the EFS to encrypt files or is there a better way to protect the Exchange data files?
  
• How much storage should I allocate for my user's mailboxes and how often should I defragment the stores?
  
• Is the 16GB limit imposed by Exchange 2000 Server (not Enterprise) effective on the EDB or STM file?
  
• Any words of wisdom before I start my Exchange 2000 migration from Exchange 5.5?
  
• What about the next version of Exchange?
• We want to catch all inbound messages to a specific domain and send them to a single mailbox.


• We have a single mailbox for inquiries to our sales department. How do I configure the sales people so that they can reply to any message, but the reply address will be the sales mailbox?


• How do I get rid of the errors when IIS starts on an Exchange server and red-and-white error icons that show up in Internet Services Manager?

• We are unhappy with Exchange 2000 clustering.  Help!

• How can I add a disclaimer to all messages going to the Internet?

• How can I find which service pack level my Exchange servers are using?

• What is the deal with the Windows 2000 /3GB switch?  Why am I getting Event ID 9582 errors?

• I have a distribution list that has both X.400 and SMTP recipients in it. If the SMTP service is down, will the X.400 recipients get their messages?

• Why are searches different once full-text indexing is enabled?

• We received a virus even though we have virus scanning turned on at the client and at the server; how is this possible?

• How can I force users to empty their Deleted Items folders?

• We deleted a mailbox, but that user has meetings scheduled for a conference room and now we can't delete the meetings. Help!

• What is the Exchange 2000 STM file?

• How many Windows 2000 Active Directory domain controllers and/or global catalog servers do I need for Exchange?

• If each Exchange 2000 server has an SMTP Virtual Server, then what the heck is the SMTP Connector used for?

• Why would I want to create additional Exchange 2000 public folder trees?

• Which version of the Active Directory Connector do I use?

• My company changed names recently.  How do I receive SMTP mail at both my old and new SMTP domains?

• I am noticing a lot of SMTP mail sitting in the SMTP queues that is destined for the same domain, such as YAHOO.COM; most mail gets through but some gets NDR'ed. What's the deal?

• Once we switched to Exchange 2000 from Exchange 5.5, I notice that about once every two weeks the stores dismount and I have to delete some log files?  Shouldn't Exchange purge old transaction logs? I thought circular logging took care of this.

• My Exchange 2000 Instant Messaging (IM) clients are getting periodically disconnected. Any ideas why?

• Why can't I create an additional Exchange 2000 Routing Group?

• Why can't my users using Outlook delete appointments in resources they scheduled on the Exchange 2000 server?

• How can I do a full-text index of PDF attachments using the Exchange 2000 full-text indexing feature?

• How do I change the logo that shows up in the upper left hand corner of the Outlook Web Access (OWA) screen in Exchange 2000?

• Where are the PAT (patch) files that used to show up in the information store directories during an Exchange 2000 online backup?

• We need to set limits on our mailbox storage?  Can you offer me any tips?

• What is the best way to export messages out of a mailbox?

• What is Exchange 2000 online maintenance?  How do I know that it has completed?

• Someone told me about a special entry I could put in my address book that would stop e-mail based viruses from spreading.  What is this entry?

• I'm trying to install the Microsoft Exchange 2000 Instant Messaging service and it says I need an SRV record?  What is that?

• I have several different Exchange 2000 organizations that I need to replicate together in to a single global address list (GAL); how do I use the Site Replication Service or the Active Directory Connector to do this?

• Some of my user's e-mail is being returned and they get a message that my Exchange 5.5 Internet Mail Service (IMS) is on an Open Relay list or a RTBL (real time black hole list). What is this?

• How do I give an outside sales person an e-mail address in my Global Address List?  I can't find the Custom Recipient object like I had in Exchange 5.5.

• How do enable users using OWA (Outlook Web Access) to login to Exchange 2000 OWA using a UPN (user principal name) rather than a user name and domain name?

• After a recent power failure, many of the Exchange servers did not start properly. How can I make sure my servers start in the proper order?

• We don't seem to have enough disk space for our transaction logs? Can you guys make some recommendations?

• One of our users moved to another city so we moved her mailbox, but now all of public folder messages are marked as unread for that user even though she has read them? Can you explain?

• When I look at the Mailbox Rights button, sometimes I see SELF and sometimes I see the administrative groups and server also. Why?

• I want to forward mail sent to one of my users to an outside mailbox. How can I do this?

• Viruses are driving us crazy!  What do you guys recommend?

• My boss wants to receive e-mails that were sent to former employees. How can I do that?