Information store does not mount with 0xfffff745 and -2235 errors

When you start a computer that is running Microsoft Exchange2000 Server or Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, or when you try to create a blank Exchange database, all the information store databases may not mount successfully, and you may receive the following error message in Exchange System Manager: The following error messages are logged in the Application event log:
If you are using Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 2 or later, event source ESE98 is replaced by event source ESE. Additionally, the 0xfffff745 value may also be represented by the 0xfffff743 value. In this case, event ID 470 contains error -2237 instead of error -2235, and you may also see the following event before the other events:

This issue occurs if Exchange cannot create or access the files in the folder that the TMP system environment variable specifies. For example, this issue occurs if the TMP environment variable is mapped to a remote drive or to a storage area network (SAN), and that mapped drive or SAN is no longer available. This issue can also occur if Exchange does not have full control permissions from the root of the drive down to the transaction logs and databases. This issue can also be caused by an incorrect registry setting regarding the TMP or TEMP environment variable.

To resolve this issue, verify that both the TMP environment variable and the TEMP environment variable point to a valid location in Windows. To do this, follow these steps:

Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.

1. Click Start point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click System, click the Advanced tab, and then click Environment Variables.
3. Under System variables, click TEMP, and then click Edit.
4. If a valid path does not appear in the Variable Value box, type a valid path for the TEMP variable, and then click OK. For example, type %systemroot%\Temp, and then click OK.
5. Under System variables, click TMP, and then click Edit.
6. If a valid path does not appear in the Variable Value box, type a valid path for the TMP variable, and then click OK. For example, type %systemroot%\Temp, and then click OK.
7. Click OK two times to close the System Properties dialog box.
8. Restart the computer.

By default, the following path is specified for both the TMP and the TEMP system environment variables: Exchange must access this folder location by using the SYSTEM account. You must assign the local Administrators group or the SYSTEM account Full Control permissions to the Temp folder. It is not sufficient to assign Full Control permissions to the Domain Admins group. To view these permissions:

1. Right-click Start, and then click Explore.
2. Right-click the Temp folder that is specified in your system environment variable, and then click Properties. Typically, this is %systemroot%\Temp.
3. Click the Security tab.
4. In the Name list, click SYSTEM, and then view the assigned permissions that appear in the Permissions list.

If permissions to the Temp folder are correct, verify the permissions on each drive that contains the Exchange database files or the Exchange log files. The SYSTEM account must have Full Control permissions at the root of the drive and at each folder that contains Exchange database files or the Exchange transaction log files. For example, if you have transaction logs in the C:\Exchsrvr\Mdbdata folder, the SYSTEM account must have Full Control permissions to the root directory of drive C, to the Exchsrvr folder, and to the Mdbdata folder.

To determine whether the problem is caused by incorrect registry settings, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type in Regedt32.exe, and then click OK.
2. Locate the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment
3. Locate the TMP (or TEMP) name in the right pane. This key should be of the REG_EXPAND_SZ type.
4. If either of the keys is incorrect, back up the Environment subkey and then delete the TMP and/or TEMP value on the right.
5. Click Start, then click Run, type in Sysdm.cpl, and then click OK.
6. On the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables.
7. In the System variables list, verify that the value(s) you deleted in step 4 is not present in the list.
   
   Note You may have to scroll down to see the TEMP / TMP variables.
8. Click New. In the Variable Name box, type the names that you deleted in step 4. For example, type C:\Winnt\TEMP.
9. Click OK three times, and then restart the computer.

The -2235 and 0xfffff745 errors in the error messages in the "Symptoms" section are equivalent terms. These errors are also equivalent to the following Extensible Storage Engine (ESE) error message:JET_errSLVFileAccessDenied, which means "Cannot access SLV File, the SLV File is locked or is in use."

Note An SLV file is a super-long value file that is known as an .stm Exchange database file (for example, Priv1.stm or Pub1.stm).

For additional information about ESE codes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: