Database does not mount, and you receive error 0xfffff05b after you apply SP3 to Exchange 2000

After you install Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (SP3) or later, the information store database does not mount.

This issue may occur when you upgrade any pre-SP3 version of Exchange 2000 Server to Exchange 2000 Server SP3 or to any later version. For example, if you try to upgrade Exchange 2000 SP2 to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, you may experience this issue.

You may find events similar to the following in the application log of Event Viewer:

Event Type: Error
Event Source: ESE
Event Category: General
Event ID: 505
Description: Information Store (2028) An attempt to open the compressed file "drive:\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA\priv1.edb" for read / write access failed because it could not be converted to a normal file. The open file operation will fail with error -4005 (0xfffff05b). To prevent this error in the future you can manually decompress the file and change the compression state of the containing folder to uncompressed. Writing to this file when it is compressed is not supported.

Event Type: Error
Event Source: MSExchangeIS
Event Category: General
Event ID: 9519
Description: Error 0xfffff05b starting database "First Storage Group\Mailbox Store (EXCHANGE)" on the Microsoft Exchange Information Store. Failed to attach to Jet DB.

Note In Event ID: 505 (Description Section), drive refers to the drive on which the Exchange information store database is installed.

This issue may occur when you apply Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 to an Exchange 2000 server that contains an information store database that is compressed by using NTFS file system compression. This issue may also occur when you upgrade an Exchange 2000 Server computer to Exchange Server 2003. Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 and Exchange 2003 prevent compressed information store databases from mounting.

Files that are managed by extensible storage engine (ESENT or ESE) are not designed to be stored on a compressed drive. The extensible storage engine depends on sector independence for log-based recovery, and compression of files invalidates sector independence. Compression should not be turned on for volumes hosting ESE databases, or any database that uses write-ahead logging.

Before Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3, compressed information store databases were allowed to mount. However, corruption can result in any Exchange 2000 information store databases or information store logs that have been compressed by using NTFS compression.

With Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 and later, compressed information store database files of 128 megabytes (MB) or fewer are automatically decompressed. When database files grow to larger than 128 MB, the database does not mount and the error messages are generated in the Application Log. Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 and Exchange Server 2003 prevent compressed databases larger than 128 MB from mounting.

Because the public information store database may be smaller than 128 MB, it may mount. However, apply all the steps in the "Resolution" section of this article to all Exchange 2000 Server or Exchange Server 2003 information store databases that are in a compressed folder, regardless of whether they can be mounted or not.

For additional information about corruption of Exchange information store databases because of NTFS compression in earlier versions of Exchange, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To resolve this issue, you must decompress the folders where the information store databases and logs reside, defragment the databases, and then perform an online Exchange-aware backup of the Information Store storage groups where the databases and logs reside. To do this, follow these steps.

Dismount the databases

Note Perform this procedure only if the databases are still mounted.

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. In the left pane, double click your Administrative Group, and then double-click Servers.
3. Double-click the appropriate storage group.
4. Right-click Mailbox Store (ExchangeServerName), where ExchangeServerName is the name of your Exchange server, and then click Dismount Store.
5. Click Yes.
6. Right-click Public Folder Store (ExchangeServerName), where ExchangeServerName is the name of your Exchange server, and then click Dismount Store.
7. Click Yes.

Decompress the folder where the databases and logs reside

1. Open Windows Explorer.
2. Right-click the folder that contains the Exchange information store public and private databases or log files, and then click Properties.
3. Click to clear the Compress contents to save disk space check box, and then click OK.
4. In the Confirm Attribute Changes dialog box, click Apply Changes to this folder, subfolders and files, where folder is the folder in which the databases or logs reside, and then click OK.
   
   A progress indicator appears. It shows the decompression process. Microsoft recommends that you monitor this indicator because confirmation messages may appear during the decompression process.
5. Click OK.
6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 for every folder where compressed Exchange 2000 information store databases or compressed information store log files reside.
   
   Note If the folder is not compressed but you are receiving the Event ID 505 and Event ID 9519 in the Application Log, the information store database itself (for example, Priv1.edb or Priv1.stm) may be compressed. In this case, you must follow these steps:
   1. Open the property sheet of the file itself (such as Priv1.edb or Priv1.stm), click Advanced.
   2. If the Compress Contents to save disk space check box is selected, click to clear it.
   3. Click OK two times.
   You must do this for every information store database that is compressed and every information store log that is compressed.

Perform offline defragmentation of databases

An offline defragmentation of the databases generates a new database table. The old database table may have become unstable because of compression.

Note 110 percent of the database file size is required as free space on the drive before the database file can be defragmented.

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

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open dialog box type cmd, and then press ENTER.
3. At the command prompt, type cd exchsrvr\bin and then press ENTER.
4. Type eseutil /d drive:\exchsrvr\mdbdata\PrivateStore.edb, where drive is the drive on which Exchange private information store database is installed and where PrivateStore.edb is the name of your private database file, and then press ENTER.
5. Type eseutil /d drive:\exchsrvr\mdbdata\PublicStore.edb, where drive is the drive on which the Exchange public information store database is installed and where PublicStore.edb is the name of your public database file, and then press ENTER.
6. Quit the command prompt.

For additional information about how to complete a defragmentation by using the Eseutil utility, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Remount the databases

1. Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click System Manager.
2. In the left pane, double-click your Administrative Group, and then double-click Servers.
3. Right-click Mailbox Store (ExchangeServerName), where ExchangeServerName is the name of your Exchange server, and then click Mount Store.
4. Click OK.
5. Right-click Public Folder Store (ExchangeServerName), where ExchangeServerName is the name of your Exchange server, and then click Mount Store.
6. Click OK.

Perform an immediate, online Exchange-aware backup of the storage groups where the databases and logs reside

For additional information about how to perform an online Exchange-aware backup of Exchange 2000, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

For additional information about Jet databases and compressed drives, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: