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Exchange transaction logs are being written to a non-NTFS partition

[This topic is intended to address a specific issue called out by the Exchange Server Analyzer Tool. You should apply it only to systems that have had the Exchange Server Analyzer Tool run against them and are experiencing that specific issue. The Exchange Server Analyzer Tool, available as a free download, remotely collects configuration data from each server in the topology and automatically analyzes the data. The resulting report details important configuration issues, potential problems, and nondefault product settings. By following these recommendations, you can achieve better performance, scalability, reliability, and uptime. For more information about the tool or to download the latest versions, see "Microsoft Exchange Analyzers" at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=34707.]  

Topic Last Modified: 2007-11-01

The Microsoft Exchange Analyzer Tool queries the Win32_Directory Microsoft Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) class to determine the value of the FSName key for the Exchange transaction log file path. If the Exchange Server Analyzer determines that the value for the FSName key does not equal NTFS, an error is displayed.

Microsoft does not support the storage of Exchange data files on non-NTFS volumes. The Exchange data files include all of the following files:

  • .edb files

  • .stm files

  • .log files

  • .dat files

  • .eml files

If you encounter this error, you must move the transaction logs to a folder on an NTFS drive. Alternatively, if the drive on which the transaction log directory is stored is formatted as a FAT drive, you can use the convert.exe command-line tool to convert the drive to NTFS.

To move the transaction logs on Exchange 2000 Server or Exchange Server 2003

  1. Open Exchange System Manager.

  2. Expand Administrative Groups, expand your administrative group, expand Servers, right-click your storage group, and then click Properties.

  3. On theGeneral tab, under Transaction log location, click Browse.

  4. Enter the path to the new location for the log files, and then click OK.

  5. Click OK.

To move the location of an Exchange storage group's transaction log files for Exchange Server 2007

  1. Follow the guidance in the core Exchange Server 2007 documentation, "How to Set or Change the Location of Storage Group Log Files" (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=80702).

As an alternative to the above procedure, if the drive on which the files are stored is formatted as a FAT drive, you can use the convert.exe command-line tool to convert the drive to NTFS. For information about using the convert.exe command-line tool to convert a FAT partition to an NTFS partition, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article 214579, "How to Use Convert.exe to Convert a Partition to the NTFS File System" (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=3052&kbid=214579).