Lost Mailbox Data

[Phizzle]

I have a client that opened 2 instances of their Exchange
mailbox. When they closed the second instance all the
data in their mailbox was missing. Now the inbox and all
the sub folders are empty. Is there any way to retrieve
the lost data and why did this happen?
(Running Exchange2000 w/ SB Server and Outlook 2K)
Thanks for the help!

Philip

 

[ReddLefty]

I doubt that you "lost" the data. It sounds more like he was using a local PST and he disconnected himself from it, leaving the default as your Exchange Inbox, which will be empty at the start if all of it was being downloaded to the local .PST.

Check the users Hard Drive for a .PST file. Look at the dates, it should be of the day you "lost" the data. By default, it's in the users profile (Documents and Settings) under the name OUTLOOK.PST .

If everything matches what I just wrote, simply add his personal folders back to his outlook profile.





"In space, nobody can hear you click..."

 

[Phizzle]

Well...there aren't any .pst files on that machine. Both locations have only Exchange Server for the service(s) (as well as Outlook Address Book and Personal Address Book). The mailbox on the server is empty and I can't seem to find a .pst file anywhere that has the data.

Any more suggestions?

Thanks again!

 

[ReddLefty]

Has the user tried to configure their own Outlook somewhere else like at home or another computer?

By default, the older Outlook versions setup a PST and when you add Exchange Server, it will use the current setup, which is download all froms server Inbox to local PST.

or

The user could of also archived everything by mistake, but you would have traces of a PST somewhere. Again, maybe a users home computer or second computer they tried to configure themselves.

These are just possiblities. I have a hard time believing that Exchange Server would 'loose' data just like that. Exchange Server is made for opening more than one session per mailbox. I think it's quite a bit more robust. I would try and have the user walk you thru what he/she did. It may help you find this mystery.



"In space, nobody can hear you click..."

 

[Phizzle]

One more thing...the workstations have different OS's. The one w/ the second instance is running Win98 and the other is 2K. Not sure if this has anything to do w/ it or not. I've scanned the drives and the server for any .pst files, but without any luck thus far. (If neither workstation had the personal folder service installed, could it even create a .pst file?)

I'll keep trying...
thanks again,
Philip

 

[ReddLefty]

Ok, running out of options.

Do you have any retention time set on your server? If so, you can check the users Recover Delete Items in the options of his Delete Items. If everything is in there, then the user DID delete his stuff, intentionnaly or not.

When you say the subfolder are empty, do you mean the default ones or the ones the user create also empty, but the folders still exists? If so, it sounds like ALOT like archiving.

If everything is gone, check his mailbox size and see if it's very small.

I'm guessing you checked the event logs and found no errors in the database integrity checks that runs nightly.

Last option, restore the users mailbox and keep an eye on it.

Another thing just came to mind, your sure it wasn't Outlook Express on one machine? Also, the possibility he was hacked and someone dumped his email comes to mind...



"In space, nobody can hear you click..."