[Money Penny]

I have a problem with a users mailbox where Outlook complains that "You have exceeded the size limit on your mailbox" when they try and synchronise their laptop

Advice from Microsoft (e.g. MS KB article ID 913112) is to backup their email using Outlook or Exmerge and then delete the mailbox, create a new mailbox and import their email into it.

I am not a BB admin and did not setup and install their BB server but have inherted looking after it so I need to ensure that when I do this their BB will keep working.

Can anyone point me to a step by step guide or whitepaper that explains how to make sure the new mailbox will have their BB configuration working when I do what is recommended by Microsoft?

I assume that their BB will loose all their old emails, etc. But keen to make sure it keeps going and that I don't solve one problem and create another. I am hoping that I don't have to recreate their profile and settings and muck around with the handset, but if I have to do that then knowing that upfront will be handy (as I will have to refresh myself on how this is done again, having only setup one new handset before).

Any help would be most gratefully received!

[blackberry1]

Not enough info to say anything actually:

What is the size of the mailbox
What it the mailbox quota limits for the user
What the version of Outlook
What is the version of Desktop Manger

If MS told you to do what it did,it seems the mailbox may be corrupted and this may have nothing to do with the Blackberry or BES

In that case post the question on an Exchange forum or wait for an over generous Exchange Admin help you out here

[juwaack68]

If a user has exceeded their mailbox quota there is nothing you can do about it. The user needs to clean up their mailbox. Tell them to delete messages, archive messages, whatever it takes to get below the limit.

[naviwilliams]

...here, here! Have them EMPTY the Deleted Items folder. What users (since I support 170 users on Exchange and a BES server) fail to realize is that EVERYTHING under their name in Outlook (Mailbox - My name here) is classified as their account. So, they end up putting stuff in deleted items, and think it's won't count towards their mailbox limit.

Once done, do a manual archive of the SENT items, as well as all the other folders. Then, right click on the line mailbox - my name here, and go to properties, and FOLDER SIZE, is it now below the limit? (whatever your server limit is...), if yes, all should be well. And lastly, set the archive rule to automatically process for you...

[blackberry1]

" EMPTY the Deleted Items folder" LOL

If that be the case Money Penny should be banned from posting questions here < just kidding>

[Money Penny]

OK I guess I should have been clearer about what I know and what I wanted help with.

I am experienced with Exchange admin (having installed and supported many sites) but a total newbie when it comes to BB and BES! Cannot dedicate enough energy to become a BES expert (looking for someone to fit that bill here in Melbourne).

The problem has been diagnosed by myself and so far looks like corruption, it is NOT mailbox limits (there are none) as it is the Mailbox Cleanup tool on his laptop that is causing the problem (Exchange 2003, Outlook 2003, all latest patches). BES version 4.0.4.5

Have recreated his OST once but problem is back. He has nearly 4GB of email so it's a lot but not the biggest mailbox I have seen. He only has the problem on his laptop not his desktop (unsure if his desktop works in cached mode, something I need to check today).

I can easily backup, delete and recreate his mailbox... but I am unsure what I need to do from the BES side to ensure his BB keeps working after I do this.

So after BES details on what to do once I have recereated his mailbox and restored all his mail and folders (may not restore hidden folders, etc).

[blackberry1]

Can you provide a little more detail to what do you mean when you say synchornize Blackberry

What are you trying to synchronize?
Address Book
Calendar
Memos
Tasks
?
What is model of the unit
What is the desktop Manger
What is Outlook version?
If using Exchange Cache ,mode- Disable it or cretae a seconday profile with Exchange Cache Mode disable

At what point while running Intellisync you get this error message?
Try to disable "Email Reconcile" from within synchronization settings

Since he is on BES Email reconciles wirelessly so does PIM with 4.0

[richardsbd]

blackberry1 - your failure to grasp the OP's (original poster) intended question is amazing - all your questions back to her just obfuscate the issue.

Money Penny is asking what (if any) steps are required to 'resume' communication between the BlackBerry handheld and the newly-created mailbox (using the same smtp address, presumably).

I administer a 'few' BB7290s, and depend on another group for BES support, but I'd suspect that the handheld may be 'orphaned' at the point where the original mailbox is deleted, and should (worse case) need to be re-Enterprise Activated (the user would be removed at the BlackBerry Manager and re-added, then the device re-activated).

Hopefully other hands-on BES admins can chime in here...

[blackberry1]

Brian- Thanks for pointing that out,now read the below

OP's Orignal Post

I have a problem with a users mailbox where Outlook complains that "You have exceeded the size limit on your mailbox" when they try and synchronise their laptop

(What does the above mean to you? or to the Other Hands On BESAdmins)
My questions are 100% relavent

I can easily backup, delete and recreate his mailbox... but I am unsure what I need to do from the BES side to ensure his BB keeps working after I do this.

So after BES details on what to do once I have recereated his mailbox and restored all his mail and folders (may not restore hidden folders, etc).


While you were answering the , what if ..i do this part of ,her question.I was still focussed on the root cause of the issue and how to resolve it without going for the worse case scenario(as you have put it)

While your response is valid for if she tries to restore the mailbox using Exmerge or ESutil may risk losing the BlackberryHandhledInfo Hidden folder or atleast corrupting it

Just like you my intend is to help the OP and I do not appreciate you making a comment on my post,I will rather let the OP do that..

Thanks

[Zro]

Originally Posted by Money Penny

Have recreated his OST once but problem is back. He has nearly 4GB of email so it's a lot but not the biggest mailbox I have seen. He only has the problem on his laptop not his desktop (unsure if his desktop works in cached mode, something I need to check today).

Not going into the BES side, cause that seems to have been answered.

Working with BlackBerry1 to help try and find the root cause so it doesn't happen again, what is the size of the OST? If it's reaching the 2gig limit (after compression and whatnot...or does Outlook do a 4 gig total pst/ost file limit?) I'm wondering if that's the issue.

Simply removing the user, deleting and recreating the mailbox, then adding the user back to the BES and re-activating may just be a temp fix and have the issue come up again.

Zro

[Money Penny]

Wow I obviously gave way too much info in the original posts as I am not after Exchange or Outlook help at all (unless someone has seen this exact fault and knows a better solution than Microsoft?).

But thanks for the feedback anyway. All posts are useful, even if just to point out I could have worded things much better (not enough sleep!).

I really just want to know how to get the BB up and running again easily after I restore the mailbox and if it will lose all his old emails off it in the process.

Outlook 2003 has a 20GB PST and OST size limit so that is not the problem.

I agree that the fix I am doing may not solve it but it is all Microsoft are giving me to go for at the moment so I have to try it. Hardware failure and badly configured virus scanner a while ago could have caused corruption so this may well work (by excluding the corrupted messages when restoring using Exmerge or Outlook PST).

Going to just do it tomorrow and from the post above I am sure I will stumble my way through re-enabling his BB (have warned the user that it might not be working staright away).

Cheers

PS: I think I need to change the user name I use around the place as people always assume I am of the fairer sex

[blackberry1]

Well!

In that case,after to restore the mailbox,try rebooting the BES or just running handheldcleanup -u from the Utility folder.There is a very slight chance that user status would change to running on BES.It all depends how your restore goes.

If the BlackberryHandheldInfo hidden folder is restored,we should be fine.

You may have to remove the user from the BES and do a fresh activation.

(As suggested by Brian,in an earlier post)

[Money Penny]

Thanks, what does it mean if the status changes to "running"?

Chances are the hidden folders will not be restored.

[Money Penny]

As an update I ended up not having to go through with this. After thinking about the fact that it was a 4GB limit problem I decided to take another look at the laptop and discovered that the previous IT company had set it up with a FAT32 partition!!! I couldn't believe it, have not seen anyone professional do that in years.

Converting to NTFS resolved the problem of the 4GB limit and the user now has no problems. Glad that I did one last check, and have added that back to health checklist for all systems from now on.

Thanks for all the help.