MTA data files 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: 2007-01-17

The Microsoft® Exchange Server Analyzer Tool queries the Win32_Directory Microsoft Windows® Management Instrumentation (WMI) class to determine the value of the FSName key for the Exchange message transfer agent (MTA) data folder. 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

  • .chk files

If you encounter this error, you must move the MTA data folder to an NTFS drive. Alternatively, if the drive on which the MTA data folder is stored is formatted as a file allocation table (FAT) drive, you can use the convert.exe command-line tool to convert the drive to NTFS.

To move the Exchange mtadata folder

  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 the storage group property page, next to the System path location field, click Browse.

  4. Type the new path for the mtadata folder, and then click OK.

  5. Click OK.

As an alternative to this 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 more information about using the convert.exe command-line tool to convert a FAT partition into 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).