Exchange 2003 dial tone database restore method
Suppose one day your large mailbox store get corrupt, then it will take a large amount of time to
restore it from backup. Using dial tone database restore method you allow users to connect to a
new blank or empty mailbox store and then restore the database from backup.
Creating the Dial-tone Database
To create a dial tone database we have to first dismount the actual database. Next step is to move
the Mailbox Store files (that is Priv1.edb and Priv1.stm) from the MDBDATA folder (by default
located under C:\Program Files\ExchSrvr\Mdbdata) to another location on the server. We’re now
ready to create the dial-tone database; this is done by right-clicking the Mailbox Store we
dismounted earlier, then selecting Mount Database. Exchange will now prompt that it will create
a new blank database. Click yes to continue.
We have now created a dial-tone database which is an empty one. With this database users can
send and receive mails to each other but cannot view old mails. The next step is now to create a
Recovery Storage Group and restore the database. After restoring the database the next step is to
swap the files. Next go to System Manager, Properties of each Mailbox Store, select the
Database tab and check mark This database can be overwritten by a restore.