How to use Exchange Server 5.5 or Exchange 2000 Server to recover items that are not first transferred to the Deleted Items folder in Outlook

This article describes how to recover deleted items that are not first transferred to the Deleted Items folder of a user's mailbox.

Typically, when you delete an item from a folder in a mailbox, that item is first transferred to the Deleted Items folder of that mailbox. You can then remove the item from the Deleted Items folder. This provides a measure of protection in case you accidentally delete an item. After the items are removed from the Deleted Items folder, you can still recover them if Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 or Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server has been configured to retain deleted items.

For additional information about how to configure Exchange Server to retain deleted items, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: You can also permanently remove items without first moving them to the Deleted Items folder. This procedure is known as a "hard delete." The following are three examples of a hard delete:

• A Microsoft Outlook user presses SHIFT+DELETE to remove a message.
• You use an Internet Message Access Protocol 4 (IMAP4), Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), or another type of messaging client that does not first move the message to the Deleted Items folder.
• An Outlook user who works offline with an offline folder file (.ost) removes the message from the Inbox or from another folder and then empties the Deleted Items folder before the offline folder file is synchronized with the server. This produces a hard delete of the item from the folder on the server.

By default, the ability to recover deleted items is only enabled on the Deleted Items folder in a user's private folders. Therefore, items that are removed by using a hard delete cannot be recovered.

To enable Deleted Item Recovery on mail folders such as the Sent Items folder, the Drafts folder, the Outbox folder, and the Inbox folder, follow these steps.

Important This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

1. Configure Exchange Server to retain deleted items. For additional information about how to configure Exchange Server to retain deleted items, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   246283  (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/246283/ ) Set deleted mail message retention time in Exchange Server 5.5
2. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Options
4. Right-click the Options subkey, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type DumpsterAlwaysOn for the DWORD name, and then press ENTER.
6. Double-click DumpsterAlwaysOn.
7. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
8. Quit Registry Editor.

You can do this either at the administrator's computer or at the user's computer. After you add this value, the Recover Deleted Items option becomes available for the Sent Items folder, the Drafts folder, the Outbox folder, and the Inbox folder. You can recover deleted items from these folders. Because you may not want to configure this registry setting on each computer, you may want to make this registry modification on an administrator's computer only, and then have that administrator open the affected user's mailbox as an additional mailbox. The administrator can then recover deleted items from the user's mailbox mail folders.

Note For an administrator to open another user's mailbox and to recover items in the user's private folders, the administrator's Windows account must be granted the permission of User for that user's mailbox object. Next, the administrator must create a profile for that user's mailbox or add that user's mailbox to the administrator's profile. To do so, 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. In Control Panel, double-click Mail.
2. Click the Services tab, and then double-click Microsoft Exchange Server.
3. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Add to add the mailbox to your profile.

Differences for Microsoft Outlook 98 and Microsoft Outlook 2000

In Outlook 98, this option is available only for mail folders (Deleted Items, Drafts, Inbox, Outbox, and Sent Items). Therefore, items that are removed from non-mail folders like the Contacts folder, the Notes folder, and other folders by using a hard delete cannot be recovered. However, in Outlook 2000 this option is available for all folders. Therefore, recovery from non-mail folders is also possible as long as the DumpsterAlwaysOn=1 DWORD registry value has been added to the registry. For additional information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: