I had SBS 2003 with Exchange installed on D drive. Now, C drive crushed due to defective hard disk. After CHKDSK repairing, I can start Small Business Server 2003, but most services are not able to start at all. I belive the system files were corrupted. Finally, I did recovery by a C image from few years. Now, the windows is running normal and Exchange services are started. I had trouble to access mailbox and public folders. If a user existed in the previous image of C, I can access the mailbox, otherwise, I could not. I also could not see the public folder and address book. I know this is related to permission issue caused by different Active Directory (old C image with current Exchange on D drive). I remember that I did similar thing few years ago and got help from Microsoft support guy. Unfortunately, I didn't write it down and could not recall at all now. I think to recover the crushed C drive is hopeless. So, the only way is to modify the Exchange permission to allow users to log into mailbox and access public folder and address book. Please help me to solve this issue. Thanks in advanced.

Do you have System State backup recently of AD? This would resolve issue but it gets messy if you do not since AD objects that were created after the last restore image will not be in AD. This includes users, exchange objects, security permissions, etc. MVP Exchange Server

Thanks John. No, i don't have. that's why I need to reset the Exchange permission to allow current AD to access mailbox. I know it is possible from my previous experience. Thanks again!

Quote: “If a user existed in the previous image of C, I can access the mailbox, otherwise, I could not” For the users who don’t exist, please check if the current mailbox status is “Disconnected” (Red-Cross) via ESM (Exchange System Manager). If yes, please reconnect them to other AD user object Resources: Understanding Mailbox GUIDs James Luo TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com Please remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Thanks a lot, James! Yes, i reconnected mailbox. see following images http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pFlG2YzafBEzFJ_Nnxa7Rec-Ude6O7c6TkdepouwqswOlbZD9DfdIEeWX2cmltGF3p2ZxHi_u3qQOe6UFPm5elg/2010mailbox-3.JPG?psid=1 http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p8L1g_vDT5pE5FGafDiOsjPNuCNlmlCm03dXXXMZl6Km5dgZdtAR3r-ltzPYh1m0OgKU_0VLV9wiI_d0dvdWpjQ/20110511mailbox-2.JPG?psid=1 But I have two more questions. 1. why the one mailbox shows NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM and I could not reconnect it. How can I connect it? 2. my public folder doesn't show up in my outlook when I connected. How can i correct this kind of issue? http://public.bay.livefilestore.com/y1pIsREYzaEo8q_QAfaDpeLK843EwKnJSDSq5Jaz4qbvk9W9K92LhcxE5cQ2SfY9cycgYoUotdG-Mv6nz-cjt4kJg/PubFolderStore-PubFdrInstns-1-2.JPG?psid=1 Thanks again for your help, James! BTW, I thought I will get an alert after i set up, but I didn't until today saw your post.

Thanks a lot, James! Yes, i reconnected mailbox. see following image (seems that I could not post an image). But I have two more questions. 1. why the one mailbox shows NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM and I could not reconnect it. How can I connect it? 2. my public folder doesn't show up in my outlook when I connected. How can i correct this kind of issue? is there way I can email you the image about my public folder instances, or is there a place to post? Thanks again for your help, James! BTW, I thought I will get an alert after i set up, but I didn't until today saw your post.

Thanks a lot, James! Yes, i reconnected mailbox. see following image. But I have two more questions. 1. why the one mailbox with red underline shows NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM and I could not reconnect it. How can I connect it? 2. my public folder doesn't show up in my outlook when I connected. How can i correct this kind of issue? Thanks again for your help, James! BTW, I thought I will get alert after i set up, but I didn't until today saw your post.

Thanks a lot, James! Yes, i reconnected mailbox. see both images. But I have two more questions. 1. why the one mailbox with red underline shows NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM and I could not reconnect it. How can I connect it? 2. my public folder doesn't show up in my outlook when I connected. How can i correct this kind of issue? Thanks again for your help, James! BTW, I thought I will get alert after i set up, but I didn't until today saw your post.

Thanks a lot, James! Yes, i reconnected mailbox. see following images But I have two more questions. 1. why the one mailbox shows NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM and I could not reconnect it. How can I connect it? 2. my public folder doesn't show up in my outlook when I connected. How can i correct this kind of issue? Thanks again for your help, James! BTW, I thought I will get an alert after i set up, but I didn't until today saw your post.

Quote: “why the one mailbox shows NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM and I could not reconnect it. How can I connect it?” This mailbox is also lost user object, right? Please right-click the “Mailboxes” node, click “Run Cleanup Agent” button, and then check the mailbox status again Please run ExBPA against the server for health check Notes: For post the picture on the forum, please refer the procedure in this threadPlease remember to click Mark as Answer on the post that helps you, and to click Unmark as Answer if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Thanks James. i will check it and will let you know the result. How can i resolve the public folder issue?