I am looking at how to Purge our Emailstore on an Exchange 2003 server. I know I can do a dismount and remove the store that way. However I am looking to do this while the server remains online. Is there a safe effective way to do this?

What exactly do you mean by "purge"?

There is an Email Store mailbox that resides on Exchange server that is no longer needed. Its 53gb in size. I asked to purge this mailbox.

If you are sure that all the mailbox's have been moved from it then right click on it and select remove, then you can delete the actual files.ThanksWillWill Shepherd - MCSE/MCITP/MCTS (Windows 2008,Exchange 2007,OCS 2007)

Ok, so its a single mailbox, not the entire store? If so, and you really do not want to keep it, I would simply delete and purge it per:http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998119(EXCHG.65).aspx Deleting a MailboxIf its the entire store, then dismounting and deleting the files on the disk and remounting to get a clean, new store as you mentioned earlier is the best way. ( Assuming you want to dump the entire store)

Not sure what do you mean but if you mean a Mailbox (Not the Mailbox Store DB) with 52 GB in size then Just Right click on the User Account in DSA.MSC and Click Exchange Task, Select Delete Mailbox and select Next and Finish. It will disconnect the mailbox from user account. Now go to ESM locate the mailbox under particular Mailbox Store (It will be in Disconnected state). Right click on that mailbox and Click Purge to immediately mark it for deletion. However by doing this you will not be clearing 52 GB of space. The mailbox will be in Dumpster till it retention period is over. Hope this helps. Thanks.Vishal Ramnani | MCITP - Exchange 2007 | MCSE Messaging | MCTS - Win 2008 Config

I asked for some clarification on this, so now hopefully I can provide the proper details. There is a User in ADUC called "Email Store" the description in AD is "Stores all Messages going through this Domain" Within Exchange System Manager under "Mailboxes" the account is listed there just like a regular Exchange account. though its 53gb in size. It has been decided that that this account is no longer required therefore I can "Purge" it. I can delete mailbox in exchange using the Task Wizard, then purge it after completeing the wizard?

To purge, please follow the previous link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa998119(EXCHG.65).aspx