Exmerge the Eradicator !!!!!

So once again I am pushed to the limits of sanity (hehehe) not really,, just wanted to start this next excerp that way....

Being a network admin has many challenges and also giving 850 email account to kids can also prove trying,, very trying,, at times, take for example my last conquest over eminent evil.

One of the students here finally figured out how to use email correctly, rather bulk email correctly and thought that it would be a "hoot" to send a picture of a little child giving the finger with the caption STFU NOOB !!! to every high school student with an email account, greatly breaking the AUP policy for technology use we have implemented here.

Soooo, I am sitting in the office when the "bat phone" rings,, yes I have a bat phone,

It is a concerned staff member letting me know of the impending danger lurking within the evil shadows of Internet email, and what awaits unsuspecting young minds should this be unearthed... ( getting a little carried away here,, but it is funni )

Time once again for the cape and leotards,, however this time I don my trusting utility belt as well.

When discovering what was happening with the email system and needing to remove 850 email messages at once I begin to feel the pressure mounting, sweat slowly coming from my brow,, but wait,, alas,,, deep in the belt,, beyond the used klenex,, past that old Oreo cookie I keep for emergencies, (why the hell I keep this thing in the same compartment as the used klenex, I'll NEVER know).. there,, there it is,,, EXMERGE !!!!!!
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Serious time >>

I need to give props where due and this one goes out to Shawn Davis for heading me in the right direction here..

Exmerge is a GREAT utility embedded within Microsoft Exchange Server that can not only help with a rebuild of Exchange, migration of Exchange, or in this case, removal of unwanted messages.

Located in the %install directory% of exchange >>
My case E:\program files\exchsrvr\bin

There it sits, waiting, like your trusty friend Robin, waiting to pull you from the 7th level of Interenet Hell... (hehehe)

When running this utility be very careful of what you are doing and MAKE SURE YOU READ as you go along,,,

My scenario >>
Running Exhange 2000 server
Windows 2000 Server SP4

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Make sure that you read all the information listed ... VERY CAREFULLY..

1.	Start the ExMerge wizard.
2.	On the Procedure Selection page, click Extract or Import (Two Step Procedure) , and then click Next.
3.	On the Two Step Procedure page, click Step 1, and then click Next.
4.	On the Source Server page, type the name of the server under Microsoft Exchange Server Name, and then click Options.
5.	On the Source Server page, click Options.
6.	On the Data Selection Criteria page, click User messages and folders on the Data tab.
7.	On the Import Procedure tab, click Archive data to target store. This option copies the e-mail messages to .pst files, and then deletes the e-mail messages from the source mailboxes.
8.	When you receive the warning message, click Yes. The Source Server page reappears.
9.	On the Source Server page, click Options.
10.	On the Message Details tab, do one of the following: • Type the subject of the e-mail message, and then click Add. Select the search method that you want to use in the Subject string compare criteria drop-down list, and then click OK. • Type the name of the attachment, and then click Add. Select the search method that you want to use in the Subject string compare criteria drop-down list, and then click OK.
11.	On the Source Server page, click Next.
12.	On the Mailbox Selection page, select one or more mailboxes from which to extract the e-mail message, and then click Next.
13.	In the Default locale drop-down list, select the appropriate language, and then click Next.
14.	On the Target Directory page, if you want to change the location of the .pst files, click Change Folder. Otherwise, click Next.
15.	On the Save Settings page, click Next to start the extraction process.
16.	After the extraction process is complete, open a few mailboxes to make sure that the message is removed. NOTE: As a safety precaution, ExMerge does not delete messages from the System Attendant mailbox. You must manually delete these messages.
17.	After you determine that the message is removed from all mailboxes, delete the .pst files in the C:\Exmergedata folder

Microsoft has a great knowledge base article on this>>
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;328202

Once this has completed, I then go back to a couple of students email account to verify that the messages / attachments are now gone.

I have not tried using the exmerge utility against message with NO message header, as this will take all messages that way, so be VERY careful prior to running this program.


Finally, I can breath a heavy sigh of relief as once again all is well within my network domain, I can feel the earth's rotation start....... that and I just let a HUGE FART !!!!!

Time to relax,, sit back and enjoy the rest of the day,, eating the Oreo cookie I have been saving,, tastes like boogers... oh well..

Thats my story and I am sticking to it...

biz