Top 10 Database Mounting Issues and Their Solutions

Got a problem getting your databases in Exchange 2000 Server and later to mount? There are several conditions that can:

• Cause your Exchange databases to not mount, even though the Exchange Information Store service still starts

• Prevent the Information Store service itself from starting, which would leave databases unmounted

In most cases, the application log of the server running Exchange provides enough information to continue troubleshooting the problem and find the root cause. Those events are typically logged with a source of either MSExchangeIS (Microsoft Exchange Information Store) or ESE (Extensible Storage Engine).

Find out the how to address these issues, numbered in the order of greatest impact, by reading the Microsoft Knowledge Base articles listed on this page.

1. Exchange reaches the 16-gigabyte (GB) limitation.

See Article 828070: Exchange Mailbox Store Does Not Mount When the Mailbox Store Reaches the 16-GB Limit.

2. File-level antivirus software deletes or modifies the transaction log files.

See Article 819553: "An Internal Processing Error Has Occurred" Error Message When You Try to Mount a Database.

3. Permissions in Active Directory directory service are modified.

See the following articles in the Knowledge Base:

• Article 283179: Information Store Does Not Start with Service-Specific Error 0 (Zero)

• Article 318098: Exchange Information Store Does Not Start on a Member Server 

4. Hardware issues are preventing your databases from mounting.

See the following articles in the Knowledge Base:

• Article 327334: Event ID 474 Error Indicates a Hardware Failure

• Article 314917: Understanding and Analyzing -1018, -1019, and -1022 Exchange Database Errors

5.Exchange needs rights that Group Policy does not have.

See Article 314294: Exchange 2000 Error Messages Are Generated Because of SeSecurityPrivilege Right and Policytest Issues.

6.The wrong organization or administrative group names are displayed after disaster recovery.

See the following articles in the Knowledge Base:

• Article 280652: "Event ID 1088" Is Logged and Store Fails to Mount

• Article 324606: How to Use Legacydn.exe to Correct Exchange Organization or Administrative Group Names

7.After Exchange disaster recovery, Exchange databases do not mount if the Information Store service is not updated to the service pack level of restored databases.

See 326017: Information Store Service Does Not Start After You Install Service Pack 1 on a Clustered Server.

8. Exchange has run out of hard drive space.

See Article 294318: Error Occurs When You Try to Mount a Database.

9. Databases do not mount after /disasterrecovery setup.

See Article 285169: Information Stores Do Not Mount After You Use the /disasterrecovery Switch.

10.Hard disk NTFS file system permissions have been modified.

See Article 307242: Information Store Does Not Mount with 0xfffff745 and -2235 Errors.