You receive an error message when you use the Exmerge tool to retrieve a list of mailboxes from a recovery storage group in Exchange Server 2003

Consider the following scenario. In Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, you use the Exmerge tool to extract mail from the mailboxes that are located in a recovery storage group. Then, you try to retrieve the list of mailboxes that reside on a selected server. In this scenario, you receive the following error message:Additionally, when you run the Exmerge tool, you may not see all the mailboxes that are displayed when you view the recovery storage group in Exchange System Manager.

If you view the ExMerge.log file, you will see the following error:

This issue occurs if the original user account for a mailbox has been deleted. When you run the Exmerge tool against the recovery storage group, the tool searches for the msExchMailboxGuid attribute of the user account that was originally connected to the mailbox. If the tool cannot find the attribute, it returns the error that is described in the "Symptoms "section.

To work around this issue, move the affected mailbox into the original mailbox store. To do this, follow these steps.

Step 1: Dismount the recovery storage group mailbox store

1. Start Exchange System Manager.
2. Expand Servers, and then expand the appropriate recovery storage group.
3. Right-click the affected mailbox store, click Dismount Store, and then click Yes. Wait for the process to be completed.

Step 2: Run the Eseutil tool against the recovery storage group database

1. Start a command prompt.
2. Move to the Drive_letter:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Bin folder.
3. Type Eseutil /mh path of the recovery storage group database file, and then press ENTER. For example, type the following text, and then press ENTER:
   type eseutil /mh c:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\RSG-1\Mailbox Store (Server_Name).edb
4. In the output, verify that "Clean Shutdown" appears in the State line.

Step 3: Create a new storage group

1. Start Exchange System Manager.
2. Right-click Server_Name, point to New, and then click Storage Group.
3. In the Name box, type an appropriate name, and then click OK.
   
   For example, type Temp Storage Group, and then click OK.

Step 4: Create a new mailbox store under the new storage group

1. Right-click the new storage group that you created in step 3, point to New, and then click Mailbox Store.
2. In the Name box, type the name of the original mailbox store, and then click OK.
3. When you are prompted to mount the database, click No.
4. Right-click the mailbox store object, and then click Properties.
5. Click the Database tab. In the Exchange database box, note the path of the database file. For example, this path will resemble the following path:
   C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Storage_Group_Name\Mailbox_Store_Name (Server_Name).edb

Step 5: Copy the database from the Recovery Storage Group folder to the new mailbox store folder

1. Under the Recovery Storage Group container, right-click the mailbox store object, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Database tab. In the Exchange database box, note the path of the database file. For example, this path will resemble the following path:
   C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\Recovery_storage_group_name\Mailbox_Store_Name (Server_Name).edb
3. In Windows Explorer, open the folder of the database file that you noted in step 5b. Then, copy the two files that have the .edb and .stm file name extensions to the folder of the new storage group. The folder that you noted in step 4d is the folder of the new storage group.

Step 6: Reconnect the affected mailbox to a new user account

1. Under the new storage group that you created, right-click the mailbox store, and then click Mount Store.
2. Click OK.
3. Right-click the Mailboxes container, and then click Run Cleanup Agent.
4. In the Mailboxes container, right-click the disconnected mailbox. Then, click Reconnect.
   
   Note A red "X" will appear on the disconnected mailbox.
5. Click the appropriate user in the Select a new user for this mailbox dialog box.

Step 7: Move the affected mailbox back to its original mailbox store

1. In the right pane, right-click the affected mailbox, and then click Exchange tasks.
2. In the Exchange Task Wizard that appears, click Next.
3. On the Available Tasks page, click Move Mailbox under Select a task to perform. Then, click Next.
4. On the Move Mailbox page, click the appropriate server in the Server list. Then click the original mailbox store in the Mailbox Store list.
5. Click Next.
6. Configure a method to use to handle any corrupted messages that are found during the move. Then, click Next two times.
7. Exit Exchange System Manager.

If you create a new user account that has the same name as the original account, the error that is described in the "Symptoms" section will still be returned. This behavior occurs because the msExchMailboxGuid attribute of the new user account will be different.

For more information about how to recover data by using the Exmerge tool, visit the following Microsoft Web site: