I use Exchange 2003 in Windows Server 2003 platform. Recently, the hard disk is running out of space. So I deleted off the old mails in some mailboxes (Permanenetly deleted off from the delete folder in Ms Outlook). But the harddisk space is not increased at all. The Exchange server is installed in D:\Program Files\Exchsrvr. Where can I check?

Hi,Please view this post first:http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchangesvradmin/thread/0e488ca5-bbd4-420f-8bcf-d59e59dad752/You can find the answer by yourself.Frank Wang

You'll need to do an offline defrag of the DB to get back that space from the DB. However you'll need 110% space of the DB in order to do it. Are there any transaction logs that can be backed up and removed from the server?Mark Morowczynski|MCT| MCSE 2003:Messaging, Security|MCITP:ES, SA,EA|MCTS:Windows Mobile Admin|Security+|http://almostdailytech.com

The folder D:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\ABCDE.log contains many log files dated from 8/3/2008 until now. The size of it is 1.34GB. The folder D:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA also contains a lot of log files, plus EDB files and STM files. I'm not sured if these log filescan be backed up and removed.I tried to run the Disk Defragmenter but it showed the message that "Disk Defragmenter requires at least 15% usable free space", but now my harddisk has only 8% freespace.

Try running either a Full Backup or an Incremental. This will purge the logs after they have been successfully backed up. Mark Morowczynski|MCT| MCSE 2003:Messaging, Security|MCITP:ES, SA,EA|MCTS:Windows Mobile Admin|Security+|http://almostdailytech.com

Hi,Agree with markmorow, now you need to do a full backup to purge transaction logs like E00xxxx.log which is located in D:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\MDBDATA. How to Back Up Exchange Server 2003 Databaseshttp://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa996506(EXCHG.65).aspxSecond, you need to do a offline defragmetation to reduce the size of database.http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchangesvradmin/thread/75273abb-56bc-4e6f-b84c-f28aab2843faBy the way, the offline defragmetation is not same as Disk Defragmenter. Frank Wang

Do you mean that, once the Full Backup is done, all the transaction log files will be purged? The folder D:\Program Files\Exchsvr\MDBDATA contains a lot of log files. Another folder D:\Program Files\Exchsvr\COMPACTEXC.log also contains a lot of log files. I wonder if I can delete them off manually. When I do a offline defragmentation, what should I do before that, like ensuring noone log into the email, stopping any Windows server services?

Hi Boon, First log on to the server, look for Event Id's 1221 & Event Id 9668, 1221: will give you the exact figure as to how much free space can be reclaimed & Event 9668: Will give you the exact figure as to how much is the space utilized by the database & what is the free space available. After that you have to dismount the store ( Dismounting the store will end all client connections to thestore & database)& run a eseutil/mh to find the store which you have dismounted has been succesfull. Once after the that run a eseutil/d corresponding with the database path name starting with inverted coloumns. One the defragmentation is completed you can run a integrity check on the defraged database. Once all this activity is completed mount the store. For all this make sure you have 110% of free space on the drive. Also have a look at this technet artice : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb123761(EXCHG.65).aspx

In order to do an offline defragmentation, what files do I need to run the Eseutil utility? There are five database files, namely priv1.edb, pub1.edb, tmp.edb, priv1.stm, pub1.stm. Among them, priv1.edb and priv1.stm occupy most of the space. And in what sequence?

I did not run either full backup or incremental backup. But I manually moved the log files from D:\Program Files\Exchsvr\MDBDATA and D:\Program Files\Exchsvr\COMPACTEXC.log to other drive. The Exchange server continues to run stably, everything seems all right. I am wondering if this is the right way, and also if I can delete these log files permanently.