XADM: Disabling Per-user Read/Unread Properties on a Public Folder after Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 2

As of Service Pack 2 for Exchange Server version 5.5, it has become possible to disable the Read/Unread properties on a specific Exchange Server public folder.

If a public folder has thousands of messages, the folder may appear slow to respond to user requests. For additional information regarding public folders slowness, please refer to the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

With the Information Store Viewer (Mdbvue32.exe), you can view or set details about a user's message storage files, which consist of the private information store, the personal folder file (.pst), and the offline folder file (.ost). The Information Store Viewer shows the properties available for each message, how you can use them, and in what format they appear. For example, you can use the Information Store Viewer to determine why a message can be saved but not sent. This tool uses the files Propvu32.dll, Statvu32.dll, Tblvu32.dll, and Xvport.dll.

This tool is most useful when you're troubleshooting problems with Microsoft Product Support Services. When using this tool, you should have knowledge of the messaging application programming interface (MAPI). For more information, see the MAPI Programmer's Reference.

Use the Mdbvu32.exe utility to add this property to a public folder by following these steps:

1. Choose MDB and OpenMessageStore.
2. DB-Open IPM subtree
3. Select your public folder.
4. Select Property Interface.
5. Choose SetProps.
6. Type 66c5 in the PropID(Hex) field and PT_BOOLEAN in the Prop type field.
7. Type 1 in Prop Data, and click Add.
8. Select the new entry, and click Call.
9. Click Close.
10. Back at the Property Interface page, click SaveChanges, and click Close until you can log off the store back at the MDB menu.
11. Click Close to exit.
12. Stop and restart the Microsoft Exchange information store service.

When the information store service restarts, all messages should be displayed as "unread" in this public folder.

NOTE: This procedure must be performed separately on each public folder that exhibits symptoms as described in Q188631.