I moved a user from one server to another last night and I noticed that after the process, most of the items in the account moved but 63 and at the end of the process, the mailbox on the source server did not get deleted. It has been disable and marked for deletion, but not completely. As a matter of fact, this has been happening with a few mailboxes out of almost 1500 so far. I restored the data to the original recovery storage group but the trick is, how do I get that data when the active mailbox is on another server. Paul

Before you do a move, I would do a backup of the DB first.

I did back it up and I restored it to the Recovery storage group but seeing the account now resides on another server, what is the best way to get that data that resides on the old server in the recovery group. thanks Paul

What version of Exchange? The source mailbox should be deleted unless you're running into the old stub mailbox left behind issue from while back which was fixed with a hotfix. Verify move mailbox logs to see if the missing messages were skipped due to corruption and also event 9354 which indicates source mailbox was deleted. You can also turn up additional eventlogging for mailbox moves. set-EventLogLevel =93MSExchangeIS\9002 System\Move Mailbox=94 =96Level Expert The old stub issue on 2003 A stub object is left behind in the source database for certain users after a move mailbox operation is complete in Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940012 After you restore to RSG, connect to a dummy account and export the contents to pst then import pst into new mailbox.James Chong MCITP | EA | EMA; MCSE | M+, S+ Security+, Project+, ITIL msexchangetips.blogspot.com

It is 2003 and I would say that article does look like what I am experiencing. They are stub mailboxes I would have to say. I can connect to a dummy account even though there will be two mailboxes with the same name. paul

I think you will run into a conflict with the legacydn if there are two mailboxes and you try to connect. If that is the case you will have to temporary swap the legacydn so you can connect it to a dummy account.James Chong MCITP | EA | EMA; MCSE | M+, S+ Security+, Project+, ITIL msexchangetips.blogspot.com

Hi Paul, Any update for your issue? Regards! GavinPlease 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.

I left the stub mailboxes alone and set the retention to two days. I have a copy of the DB but after comparing the restore and the moved data, I think move copied the data but just did not delete some of the messages. I checked the patch and I am past the file versions. The only problem I could see is if one of the uses complained they needed some data that was left behind. I would then have had to delete the stub and move the account back to it's original server and db or I found an article about changing the recovery storage group attribut in ADSI that would point to the db the user is now on. I had once moved the db to a live storage group and mounted if for a user that had been deleted a while ago to recover the data. Don't know if that would work. thanks All Paul

Yes you can move the DB to a live storage group, DB are portable with 2003 but with some restrictions. There are three methods for moving Exchange databases to different storage groups or servers: Restore an Exchange-aware online streaming backup of the database, redirecting the restore location to a different server For this method to work, the new server must be configured with a storage group and logical database whose names are identical to those on the original server. For example, you make an online backup of a database with the logical name “Mailbox Store (Server A)” in storage group “Server-A-SG1” on Server A. You may then create a storage group called “Server-A-SG1” on Server B, and then create a database in that storage group called “Mailbox Store (Server A).” You restore the online backup, changing the restore location to Server B, and the backup will be restored to the matching storage group and logical database names on Server B. Restore an Exchange-aware online Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) backup of the database Exact methods for doing this will vary depending on vendor capabilities and limitations in restoring database files to other than their original locations. Consult with your backup vendor for specific instructions. Copy Exchange database files from the current path location to the path location for a different logical database, storage group, or server If you use this method, the logical storage group and database names do not have to match, but the database filenames must match those defined in the destination. You may rename database files as necessary to make them match. For example, database files named “Priv1.edb” and “Priv1.stm” are associated with the logical database “Mailbox Store (Server A)” in storage group “Server-A-SG1” on Server A. You create a Storage Group called “Server-B-SG1 on Server B, and create a database called “SG1-MB1” in that storage group. The file paths listed for the SG1-MB1 database are “F:\Databases\SG1-MB1.edb” and “F:\Databases\SG1-MB1.stm.” You copy Priv1.edb and Priv1.stm from D:\Databases on Server A to F:\Databases on Server B. You then rename Priv1.edb to SG1-MB1.edb and rename Priv1.stm to SG1-MB1.edb. How to Restore a Streaming Backup to a Different Server http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa995898(EXCHG.80).aspxJames Chong MCITP | EA | EMA; MCSE | M+, S+ Security+, Project+, ITIL msexchangetips.blogspot.com