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If you run your system using the Ed Crowley Never Restore Method(tm), you will likely never have to restore a single mailbox. (No guarantees, but it has worked for us.)

1. Implement deleted item recovery for 30 days or more. MAPI Users will be able to restore anything THEMSELVES that they have deleted for at least that long.
2. Don't delete mailboxes right away. Hide them, remove SMTP addresses, make the departing user's boss the mailbox owner, and enter the termination date in the Notes field. Then wait at least 30 days.
3. To restore a message purged from Deleted Items, use Outlook to select the Deleted Items folder, then select Tools, Recover Deleted Items. By default, Outlook will only recover items purged from the Deleted Items folder. However, the "dumpster" keeps items deleted from all folders for the specified retention period. To make Outlook recover items purged from any folder, including public folders, see the TechNet Knowledge Base article Q178630.

The sad fact is that for nearly all backup programs, to restore a single mailbox you have to back up a single mailbox. Do this for more than a few mailboxes and your backup becomes very time and tape consuming.

Last Updated by Simpler-Webb on 8/7/2003 1:59:40 PM (QID #1192)
Categories: Exchange 5.5/The Ed Crowley Never Restore Method |