This article describes several methods that you can use to
work around an issue in which you cannot delete a Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
or Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 mailbox store.
When you try to delete a mailbox store from a server that
is running Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003, you may receive the following error
message:
One or more users currently use this mailbox
store. These users must be moved to a different mailbox store or be mail
disabled before deleting this store.
This issue occurs if there are mailboxes that are homed on
the store that you are trying to delete. You cannot delete a mailbox store if
there are any users who have mailboxes that are homed on that
store.
The following sections offer a different method to
find the mailboxes that are homed on a mailbox store. When you have determined
that a particular account owns a mailbox on a particular store, you can either
move the mailbox or disable the account.
Method 1: Use the LDP tool to search for mailboxes that are on a mailbox store
Start Ldp.exe.
Click Connection, and then click
Connect.
Enter the name of a domain controller, and then click
OK.
Click Connection, and then click
Bind.
Enter the user name, the password, and the domain name of
an administrative account, and then click OK.
On the View menu, click
Tree.
Make sure that the Base DN box is blank,
and then click OK.
If the Base DN
box is not blank, clear its contents, and then click
OK.
Right-click the container that you want to search, such as
the CN=Users container, and then click
Search.
Click the Filter box, and then type the
following:
(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(msExchHomeServerName=/o=ORGANIZATION
NAME/ou=ADMINISTRATIVE GROUP
NAME/cn=Configuration/cn=Servers/cn=SERVER-NAME-TO-REMOVE))
Click Subtree, and then click
Run.
When you have identified which users have mailboxes on this
store, you can use Active Directory Users and Computers to move the
mailboxes to a different store or to delete the user's mailbox.
Method 2: Use the LDP tool (Ldp.exe) to browse for mailboxes that are on a mailbox store
You can use the LDP tool to find all the accounts that have
mailboxes on a particular mailbox store. This tool is included with the
Microsoft Windows 2000 Support Tools package.
To use the LDP tool to
find all the accounts that have mailboxes on a particular mailbox store, follow
these steps:
Start Ldp.exe.
Click Connection, and then click
Connect.
Enter the name of a domain controller, and then click
OK.
We recommend that you enter a domain controller
in the root domain of the forest.
Click Connection, and then click
Bind.
Enter the user name, the password, and the domain name of
an administrative account, and then click OK.
On the Browse menu, click Search.
Click
to select the "DC=domainname,DC=local" by Base DN check box.
Click
the Filter box, and then type the following text:
(msExchHomeServerName=*Exchange Virtual Server Name*)
Click
Subtree, and then click Run.
Identify
the users who have mailboxes on this store. Then, use the Active Directory
Users and Computers snap-in to move the mailboxes to a different store or to
delete the mailboxes.
For more information about how to use the LDP tool, see the LDP
documentation in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit.
For more information about how to find
data by using the LDP tool, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
224543
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/224543/
)
Using Ldp.exe to find data in the
Active Directory
Method 3: Use Active Directory Users and Computers to browse for mailboxes that are on a mailbox store
Start Active Directory Users and Computers on a computer
that has Exchange System Manager installed on it.
In Active Directory Users and Computers, click
View, click to select the Advanced Features
check box, and then click OK.
Click View, and then click Choose
Columns.
In the Modify Columns box, click
Exchange Mailbox Store in the Hidden Columns
list, click Add, and then click OK to add the
Exchange Mailbox Store to the Displayed
Columns list.
An Exchange Mailbox Store
column appears in Active Directory Users and Computers that shows the mailbox
store that a user has a mailbox on.
When you have identified which users have mailboxes on this
store, you can use Active Directory Users and Computers either to move the
mailboxes to a different store or to delete the user's mailbox.
Method 4: Use Active Directory Users and Computers to search for mailboxes that are on a mailbox store
Start Active Directory Users and Computers.
Right-click the domain that you want, and then click
Find.
Click the Advanced tab, click
Field, point to User, and then click
Exchange Home Server.
In the Condition list, click Ends
with, type the name of the Exchange computer, and then click
Find Now.
If you are prompted to add the current criteria to your
search, click Yes.
When you have identified which users have mailboxes on this
store, you can use Active Directory Users and Computers either to move the
mailboxes to a different store or to delete the user's mailbox.
The mailbox search results appear in the bottom pane.
Method 5: Use the LDIFDE tool (Ldifde.exe) to create an export file that contains the mailboxes that are on a mailbox store
At a command prompt, type an LDIFDE command that resembles the following. Then press ENTER. ldifde -d "DC=ROOT,DC=COM"
-f c:\output.txt -r
"(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(msExchHomeServerName=/o=ORGANIZATION
NAME/ou=ADMINISTRATIVE GROUP
NAME/cn=Configuration/cn=Servers/cn=SERVER-NAME-TO-REMOVE))"
Quit the command prompt.
Start Notepad or some other text editor, and then load the
Output.txt file that you created in step 1 to view the mailboxes that are on
the mailbox store.
When you have identified which users have mailboxes on this
store, you can use Active Directory Users and Computers either to move the
mailboxes to a different store or to delete the user's mailbox.
For more information about the LDIFDE tool, type the
following command at a command prompt on a computer that is running a product
that is listed in the "Applies To" section: