I'm trying to repair my Exchange 2000 database files using ESEUTIL, but I admit I don't understand MS article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/317014 I suppose I need to specify "3 character logfile base name" but what is it exactly?? I've run ESEUTIL /r and this is what I get: Usage Error: Missing logfile base name specification. Operation terminated with error -1003 (JET_errInvalidParameter, Invalid API parameter) after 0.0 seconds. I wonder who are those guys that wrote those MS articles....

the log file base name specification is Exx and xx can be 00,01,02,03your current log file has the name Exx.logxx is the storage group number

Hi, See below bold text , You need to put base logfile name where you are going to perform recovery thru eseutil. As J-H said in Exx --> XX indicate storage group number. Exp : Suppose you are going to repair storag group SG4 then see its base log filename as its should be e03 In this situation you need to fire command as below c:>\eseutil.exe /r /e03 Note : No need to give /e003 base log filename if you are firing eseutil command in same location where log file resides ************************************************************************ RECOVERY: DESCRIPTION: Performs recovery, bringing all databases to a consistent state. SYNTAX: ESEUTIL /r (3 character logfile base name)[options] OPTIONS: zero or more of the following switches, separated by a space: /l<path> - location of log files (default: current directory) /s<path> - location of system files (e.g., checkpoint file) (default: current directory) /i - ignore mismatched/missing database attachments /o - suppress logo ************************************************************************ Anil

to be very simple... you just need to give the prefix of your logfile without extension... Like this.c:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\bin>eseutil /r E00Arun Kumar | MCSE - 2K3 + Messaging | ITIL-F V3

Anil and J-Hs explanations is very solid, but if Software recovery (/r) didnt solve the issue, please use the "Eseutil /p" to repair the database, please check J-H and my replies in your other threads: Should I defrag first or check integrity first? Should I use "eseutil /p" (repair) or "isinteg" to a corrupted database?

eseutil /p would the last resort anyway. the /p will recreate the logs anyway so all you need is the edb and stm. I would advice to restore the database from tape instead of running /p first. But all else run the /p and then run exmerge to export to pst and then create a new db and import it back in.

Thanks to you for your explanations. After reading a lot of MS articles during the last two days, I also managed to understand finally what it is. Actually, the problem comes from MS articles, which once again, is very unclear and inconsistent in itself or between articles. For example, that explanation from Anil comes from this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/317014. And I had read this article not less than three times beforehand. The problem in that part is that it's not clear what "recovery" it was talking about. But after I've read another MS article, by chance, that I at last understood that this so-called "recovery" is actually a "force commit from log files to database files". I really wonder who wrote those very incomprehensible articles.... Oh, by the way, since my database files are all in "clean shutdown" states, I actually didn't need this "recovery"... They could have written more clearly in their articles...