SYMPTOMS
In Exchange Server 4.0, 5.0, and 5.5, when you start the Exchange Server message transfer agent (MTA), you may receive the following error message:
Could not start the Exchange Message Transfer Agent service on
\\server_name.
Error 2140: An internal Windows NT error occurred.
The following stop error message may be logged in the Application event log in Event Viewer:
Event ID 9400 MSExchangeMTA
An MTA fatal error has occurred. The file file_name.TPL could not be
opened. [BASE MAIN BASE 1] (16)
The MTA cannot start at this point.
In Exchange 2000 Server, the MTA Stacks service may stop responding and you may receive the following error message:
Could not start the Microsoft Exchange MTA Stacks service on local_computer. The service did not return an error. This could be an internal Windows error or an internal service error. If the problem persists, contact your system administrator.
There may be no events logged in the Application or System event logs.