Rebuilding NT just from files....

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Hello all.

I got a really messed up problem...

I recently "lost" an NT4 server. Disk died, RAID failed, total death. This
disk also had an Exchange 5.5 server installed. I sent the disk to a data
recovery center. Aparently they are able to recover all the files that were
on the disk, both NT and exchange. However, I'm not getting an "NT 4 server,
with Exchange"; what I am gettting is just a pile of files...

My question is: are these files any good? Can I access my old Exchange
mailboxes and recover the messages, attachements, etc? Or am I wasting
time/money?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Yes, you can recover exchange with the files, you will have to re-build the
server and re-install exchange, then copy the databases, when you have the
files like that it's called an off-line backup, the microsoft KB has details
on what files you need, then you have to do an eseutil to get it going again.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

"Marvin P. Winterbottom" wrote:

> Yes, you can recover exchange with the files, you will have to re-build the
> server and re-install exchange, then copy the databases, when you have the
> files like that it's called an off-line backup, the microsoft KB has details
> on what files you need, then you have to do an eseutil to get it going again.

Just been reading a bit about that (not ebouigh timt to read everything
yet...).

Can you tell me if I would have to recreate all the mailboxes, or just the
basic exchange server?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Just install Exchange, the mailboxes are in the priv.mdb file, which could be
pretty big, I have 60 users and it's 10 gig, they would have to somehow get
that one file on multiple cd's?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

"Marvin P. Winterbottom" wrote:

> Just install Exchange, the mailboxes are in the priv.mdb file, which could be
> pretty big, I have 60 users and it's 10 gig, they would have to somehow get
> that one file on multiple cd's?

All is lost... doom doom doom...

The priv (and pub) files are the only 2 they couldn't recover... 🙁

Thanks for the help anyway. I hope I won't need these tips for the future! 😉

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsnt.misc (More info?)

Sorry to hear that. In a case like this, a good backup is the way to go.