If you want to use Windows 2000's Ntbackup to back up and restore Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 (you must upgrade Exchange Server to Service Pack 3--SP3--and Windows NT must be running SP6a), I highly recommend that you obtain the Ntbackup bug fix that Microsoft released in March 2000. This update corrects a list of problems that surface when you attempt to restore part or all of your Exchange server with Ntbackup. Some of the more notable errors are
- errors running the Exeback2 utility when you restore files to the location from which you want to replay the log files
- a warning message about the edb.log files when you run the Exe98 tool
- an error when you attempt to cancel the restore operation
- a backup file count of 0, regardless of the actual number of files you're backing up or restoring
- files skipped during a restore operation
- an Ntbackup hang when you attempt to restore an Exchange server with the Restore Wizard
Without this bug fix, an Exchange Server restore operation will most likely fail. According to the Microsoft article "Updated Version of Ntbackup.exe Fixes Several Problem Interactions with Microsoft Exchange" (http://support.microsoft.com/support/ kb/articles/q253/9/10.asp), the initial release of Win2K's Ntbackup might also corrupt the active Exchange Server database when a restore operation fails. Although I'm sure Microsoft will include this update in Win2K SP1, the service pack might not be available at publication time, so be sure you install the Ntbackup hotfix before you use Ntbackup to back up or restore your Exchange server.