Troubleshooter--Moving the MTA Queue

How do I move my Exchange Message Transfer Agent (MTA) queues to a different disk?

This move is easy if you're using Exchange Server 5.5. Just run the Performance Optimizer, let it test your disks, then specify where you want the MTA queues to go (regardless of whether that location is the one that the Performance Wizard recommends). The procedure for Exchange 2000 Server is more complicated, because this version no longer has a performance wizard to automate such tasks. Here's what to do:

1. Using the Net Stop msexchange mta command or the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Computer Management snap-in, stop the MTA service.
2. Make a backup copy of the existing MTA data (probably \program files\ exchsrvr\mtadata).
3. Use a registry editor to look at the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeMTA\Parameters\MTA Database Path registry subkey, which is your MTA database's current location. The corresponding value for the MTA processing directory is \Parameters\ MTA Run Directory; if you want to move the Run directory, you can move it at the same time you move the databases.
4. On the new target path, recreate the same directory structure—including permissions—as the original.
5. Copy all the *.dat files from the original directory to the new one. If you're also moving the Run directory, move the remaining files to the new MTA Run directory.
6. Edit the HKEY_LOCAL_MACH-INE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeMTA\Parameters\ MTA Database Path and HKEY_ LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchange MTA\Parameters\MTA Run Directory registry subkeys to make them point to the new paths.
7. Delete the old Mtadata directory, then run \program files\exchsrvr\bin\ mtacheck. If Mtacheck reports no errors, you're good to go; otherwise, fix any errors it reports.
8. Use the Net Start msexchange-mta command to restart the MTA.