exchange mail meltdown

[vfret]

I'm running NT 4.5 with exchange 5.0. There was a problem in the past where somebody was using this server to relay Spam. I became familiar with this as being a past problem and shut down relaying by requiring authentication. Also, in the not so distant past, this server was hit with the so big virus. The problem is, hundreds of emails are being generated on the fly and clogging the out folder or que in the imcdata directory. They keep regenerating as fast as I can delete them. I had to delete the old out folder and create another one because every time I clicked on the folder in the left pane of explorer, The system would freeze up due to the 10000 plus emails in that folder. I thought I had cured the problem when I found the sobig virus. The hard drives are just being pounded with activity due to this problem. Whenever I shutdown the exchange mail connector in services, it stops. But when I turn it back on...meltdown and the CPU usage goes to max. I thought when you shut down relaying this can't happen. Anybody else have this problem? I’ve experience this before and was able to correct the problem. What am I missing? Help before my client fires me.: PS. I'm not sure what service pack for exchange is applied. confused:

[vass0922]

nt4.5? No such thing...
Exchange 5.0 ... from back in early 90's?


Do you possibly mean Exchange 5.5, and NT4?



Have you tried unplugging the network when you start services?
That way you can find out if the mail is coming from inside or outside.

Sounds like you may have an outlook client that needs some serious updates.

[vfret]

Your right. What I ment to say was Back Office SBS 4.5 and Exchange 5.5

I tried disconnecting the server from the network and the problem still exists. When I view the task manager, MSEXCIMS.EXE and store.EXE are using most of the processor.

[vfret]

I have removed the server from the network while restarting the internet mail service and the problem still exists.

[vass0922]

It maybe still clearing the queues...
Unless you whack the DB I'm not sure of another way to clear the internal queues.

Other option is to create a batch file that runs every minute to clear the directory until it finishes.
come back in an hour and see if its cleared or still going.

[vfret]

every so often it stops sending mail. I clean out the que and restart and it works for awhile. This has been going on for about 4 days. Any idea what's causing all of these emails? I tested and I'm positive there is no way to relay but the emails keep coming. What puzzles me is it does it when the entire box is removed from the network.