XADM: Errors When You Attempt to Access Public Folders (201047)

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to access replicas of Microsoft Exchange Public Folders from a Microsoft Exchange Client (Microsoft Exchange Client - Microsoft Outlook), you may receive one of the following error messages:

The folder could not be opened. The contents of this public folder are currently unavailable. Either the Microsoft Exchange Server computer servicing this public folder is down or the public folder has not been replicated to this site. See your administrator.

-or-

Unable to display the folder. The contents of this public folder are currently unavailable. Either the Microsoft Exchange Server computer servicing this public folder is down or the public folder has not been replicated to this site. See your administrator.

-or-

Unable to expand the folder. The set of folders could not be opened. The contents of this public folder are currently unavailable. Either the Microsoft Exchange Server computer servicing the public folder is down or the public folder has not been replicated to this site. See your administrator.

You may receive the following error message when you attempt to access the properties of the Public Folder(s) from the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program:

The folder could not be opened. The contents of this public folder are currently unavailable. Either the Microsoft Exchange Server Computer servicing this public folder is down or the public folder has not been replicated to this site. See your administrator.

When you view the replicas on the Instances of the Public Information Store, the Public Folder(s) generating the error(s) appear on the right side in the "Folders on this Information Store" dialog box.

CAUSE

Replication between the Home Server and the Public Folder has not completed or Replication has failed. Running Mtacheck.exe from the drive:\Exchsrvr\Bin directory (where drive is the drive letter where the Exchange System Files are located) with a /RP parameter on a server in the organization might also cause this behavior because one of the functions Mtacheck.exe performs is to remove public folder replication messages from the Message Transfer Agent (MTA).

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, after replication schedules have been confirmed and the normal replication cycle has passed, if the replicas are still unavailable, examine the Event Viewer application log first for public folder replication errors. If there are no errors, try removing and re-creating a replica of this public folder on your server. To do this, perform the following steps:

Choose the Public Information Store on the Replica Server.
From the File menu, click Properties.
Click the Instance tab, remove the replica(s) of that folder(s) on your server, and then click OK.
Wait until the replica of the Public Folder(s) has been removed.
Click the Public Information Store on the Replica Server.
From the File menu, click Properties.
Click the Instance tab, add the replica(s) of that folder on your server, and then click OK.

The properties of the Public Folders should now be accessible from the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program and from the client.