XADM: High Store.exe CPU Utilization During IS Maintenance

A single thread in the Store.exe process is utilizing 90%-100% of the CPU processor time. This high utilization coincides with the start of Microsoft Exchange Information Store (IS) Maintenance window (as configured by the IS Maintenance Schedule) and does not stop unless the Information Store Service is cycled or the computer itself is cycled.

One of the checks during the IS Maintenance schedule is that of Public Folder expires. During the IS maintenance run, the System (or Site) Folders are also checked. These include the Offline Address Book, the Schedule+ Free Busy folder, and the Organization Forms. In particular, the Schedule+ Free Busy folder has a default 7 day expiry on it so it is checked during the expiry period of IS Maintenance. The function performing the expiry check on the Schedule+ Free/Busy folder encounters a second copy of the folder in the deleted folders table and this causes the function to remain in a tight loop causing the high CPU utilization.

To resolve this issue a rebuild of the Site folders is necessary. To rebuild the Site folders, follow these steps:

1. Obtain a copy of the utility Guidgen.exe. This utility is available in the Microsoft Developers Network under the product samples. If you do not have access to this utility, Contact Microsoft Product Support Services. The Guidgen utility will randomly generate a globally unique identifier (UID) that will be used to rebuild the site folders.
2. Run Guidgen and select Option 4, Registry Format.
3. Click New GUID.
4. Copy or write down the new GUID number from the RESULT box. This number is needed in Step 10.
5. Run the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program in "raw" mode. To do this, go to the command line, change to the Exchsrvr\Bin directory, and type admin /r.
6. Select the Configuration container of the Site you want to rebuild and highlight the Information Store Site Configuration object.
7. Select File, Raw Properties.
8. In the Object Attributes window, scroll down to the Site Folder GUID attribute and select it.
9. Click Editor.
10. Replace the existing GUID number with the one generated in Step 2 (the value should be entered in hexadecimal) and then click OK.
11. Click the SET button. After doing this, make sure the Edit Value and Attribute Value are the same.
12. Click OK to close the dialog box.
13. Stop and restart the Information Store service with the Networks tool in Control Panel.

The re-creation of the Site folders will delete any existing content. To re-populate the Site folders with data see below:

Repopulating the Site Folders with Data

Offline Address Book

To repopulate the offline address book Site Folder:

1. Run the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program.
2. Select the Configuration container and get the Properties on the DS Site Configuration object.
3. Click the Offline Address Book tab and click Generate Offline Address Book Now.

Schedule+ Free Busy Information

The Schedule+ Free Busy Information Site Folder will be repopulated as users log on to Schedule+ and generate changes. During this period some users' Free Busy information will be temporarily unavailable.

Organizational Forms

If there was an Organizational Forms Site Folder, it must be re-created using the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program.

1. Run the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program.
2. Click Tools, click Forms Administrator and click New.