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Q152918: XCON: MTA: Mail Delivery Slow and Disk Space Consumed

Article: Q152918
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): winnt:4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbusage
Last Modified: 29-MAR-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 4.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

Microsoft Exchange Message Transfer Agent (MTA) operations become very slow and
mail delivery appears to stop. The following Event might be written to the
Applications event log:

  Event ID: 9411
  Source:   MSExchangeMTA
  Type:     Error
  Category: Field Engineering
  Description:
  The MTA is terminating because the disk where MTADATA is located has
  less than 10 MB of space, or an error occurred while trying to check for
  free space on the disk. If disk space is low, free up some disk space
  and restart the MTA. NT Error code returned: 0(non-zero indicates an
  error while checking for free space)[BASE IL TIMER 3](16)

CAUSE
=====

The Microsoft Exchange Server can experience a problem in which the MTADATA
directory begins to fill with numerous files. The files appear to be normal .DAT
files except for their sizes. The file sizes become progressively larger and can
reach sizes greater than 20 megabytes. If this goes unnoticed, the files will
fill the available disk space.

STATUS
======

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server
version 4.0. This problem was corrected in the latest Microsoft Exchange Service
Pack. For information on obtaining the Service Pack, query on the following word
in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

  S E R V P A C K

WORKAROUND
==========

The MTACHECK utility will eliminate these erroneous files and allow the MTA to
return to normal operation. Instructions for this utility are included in the
Microsoft Exchange Server Administrator's Guide, chapter 17. For additional
information about this utility, please see the following article in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:

  Q148284 XCON: When and How to use the MTACHECK utility

Additional query words: spurious linear growth looping messages

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbusage 
Technology        : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange400 kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : winnt:4.0

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