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MDT/OSD and ConfigMgr/SMS list separation

For the longest time, topics on the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and Operating System Deployment have been bundled into the ConfigMgr/SMS community email list.  Over time, the popularity of MDT/OSD have grown such that it is now time to separate the topics into two different email discussion lists.  We attempted to separate the lists a year or so ago, but the chatter back-and-forth didn’t warrant it at that time.

Today, we have separated the topics.  If you want to discuss MDT/OSD please sign up for the new list at the following link:

http://www.myitforum.com/lists/#MDT/OSD

Congrats to the MDT team at Microsoft for developing such a useful tool and working long hours to make MDT 2010 such a success and a must-have Microsoft technology.

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Increasing the maximum size of the Exchange 2003 Information Store

I’ve had to do this a lot recently, so I thought I’d make a permanent place-holder for the information on how to manipulate the server registry to allow Exchange 2003 to work with an Information Store larger than 14GB.  Exchange 2003 SP2 added the ability to configure database size limits.

To modify the size limits for either the mailbox/private store or the public store…

  • On the computer that is running Exchange 2003 SP2, click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
  • Click one of the following registry subkeys, as appropriate for the store that you want to increase:
    • For a mailbox store, click the following registry subkey:

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\Server name\Private-Mailbox Store GUID

    • For a public folder store, click the following registry subkey:

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\Server name\Public-Public Store GUID

  • On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
  • In the New Value #1 box, type Database Size Limit in Gb, and then press ENTER.
  • Right-click Database Size Limit in Gb, and then click Modify.
  • Click Decimal, and then type an integer from 1 to 75 in the Value data box.
    Note These integer values represent the maximum size of the database in gigabytes (GB). For example, a value of 75 represents a database that has a maximum size of 75 GB.
  • Click OK, and then exit Registry Editor.
  • Restart the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
    2. At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

      net stop msexchangeis

    3. After the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service has stopped successfully, type the following command, and then press ENTER:

      net start msexchangeis

  • Examine the Application log to verify that the database size has been set successfully. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Click Start, click Run, type eventvwr, and then click OK.
    2. In the Event Viewer tool, click Application.
    3. Double-click event ID 1216 to verify that the database size has been set successfully.

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    Its *NOT* better to shut down Windows before shutting down Outlook!

    I wrote this little blog piece recently, based on a recommendation on a MSDN blog.  Here’s the original link…

    http://blogs.msdn.com/deva/archive/2008/06/04/outlook-performance-outlook-data-file-pst-or-ost-file-issues.aspx

    and, the original quote:

    If you see this issue frequently, and you have to exit Outlook shortly before you shut down your computer, it may be better to shut down Windows while Outlook is still running. Also it's recommended that you do this instead of exiting Outlook and then shutting down Windows shortly after that.

    Well, I’ve tested this little *ahem* nugget, and it doesn’t work for me.  I’ve also (since the post) heard from others who have heard this stated by Microsoft before, who have also tried it.  It didn’t work for them, either.  In fact, this little “nugget-of-a-tip” may cause your Outlook PST and OST to corrupt quicker and more often.  So, it’s a nugget of something, possibly, just not a nugget of a tip.  <==Think about that phrase.  You’ll get the meaning eventually.

    Also, a commenter to my original post said this:

    “I have to disagree with this one.  I heard this with 2003 and with 2007. We tried with 2007 and it created more corruptions than solutions with our users.  We retracted this statement from our users a little while ago.”

    Let’s see if we can get the original poster to add a disclaimer to that post, or at least explain it a little more.  A nice “do not try this at home” would be great.