Deleting a "Bad" Message from the MTA Queue in Exchange Server

When a message becomes stuck in the Microsoft Exchange message transfer agent (MTA) queue, it may be necessary to delete the message in order to restore the operability of the MTA.

When a message becomes stuck in the MTA queue, the Windows NT Application Event Log may display an event similar to the following: To delete the message and restore the operability of the MTA:

1. Stop the MTA. There are two ways to do this:
   
   In Control Panel Services, click Server Manager, click Computer, and then click Services.
   
   -OR-
   
   Run the following command at an MS-DOS prompt:
   net stop msexchangemta
2. Make a copy of the Mtadata directory. This will provide means for restoring the directory in the event an incorrect file was removed. Microsoft support engineers may request this directory if you call in for further assistance.
3. After stopping the MTA service, open a command prompt. In the Exchsrvr\bin directory, carry out the command for MTACHECK. The minimum command line should be:
   mtacheck /v /f c:\mta.txt
   The output file can be redirected to any drive with any file name. Verify that the referenced .dat file in the event error exists in the mtacheck log. If this is a .dat file in the MTA Work Queue, ensure that it does correspond to that queue (0100002B).
4. Note the "object at fault." This identifier points to a .dat file in the "exchsrvr\mtadata" subdirectory. If the event log does not identify the object at fault, it may be possible to identify the problem object by correlating the time/date stamp of the message in the MTA queue with that of a given .dat file. However, care must be exercised because there may be many .dat files with the same time/date stamp. If there are multiple files with the same time/date stamp, examination of the files with a text editor may reveal the problem .dat file.
   
   Note The name of the problem .dat file can be identified. You can change the first "06" of the number after the �object at fault� that is described in the event log to "db." Then, you can add the rest of the number to the end. For example, if you receive the error message that is similar in the Symptoms section, you would change the .dat file that is associated with this problem to the following:
   db00006b.dat
   Note that the number of the .dat file always start with "06".
5. Access the "bad" *.dat file, and then move or rename the file.
6. Open the command prompt again and run the MTACHECK utility from an MS-DOS prompt.
7. Start the MTA.
8. If the event errors still continue, or the MTA will not restart, call Microsoft Technical Support for further assistance.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: