XCON: MTA Stops Unexpectedly or Stops Transferring Messages (174600)

SYMPTOMS

You may experience one or more of the following symptoms:

The message transfer agent (MTA) may stop unexpectedly and an event similar to the following may appear in the event log:

      Source: MSExchangeMTA
      Event: 2051
      Description: A fatal internal MTA error occurred. Contact Microsoft
      Product Support Services. An illegal GET from element <xxxxxxxx>
      occurred at offset <yyyy>

When you send a message with high importance, the MTA may stop transferring messages. The messages you send appear in the MTA queue, but they are not sent to the intended recipients.
Event ID 1097, Event ID 2124, or Event ID 2171 may appear in the application log.

CAUSE

These problems can occur when the Dbserver.sch file that is included with Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 is installed on your hard disk, even though you have applied Exchange Server 5.0 Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2. This can occur for either of the following reasons:

When you applied Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2, the Dbserver.sch file was not updated.
-or-
When you applied Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2, the Dbserver.sch file was updated properly. However, after you applied Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2, the Dbserver.sch file was replaced with the version of the file that is included with Exchange Server 5.0.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem, reapply Exchange Server 5.0 Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2. If the problem still occurs, rename the Dbserver.sch file in the Exchsrvr\Mtadata folder on your hard disk, and then use one of the following methods to obtain a new copy of the file:

Copy the Dbserver.sch file from your Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 (depending on the Service Pack you have applied) compact disc or disks to the Exchsrvr\Mtadata folder on your hard disk.

-or-

Decompress the self-extracting Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 file that you downloaded from an online service (if you have not already done so), and then copy the Dbserver.sch file from the resulting Mtadata folder to the Exchsrvr\Mtadata folder on your hard disk. To decompress the Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2 file, type <filename> -d at a command prompt, and then press ENTER.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to obtain Exchange Server 5.0 Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

159820 XGEN: How to Obtain Exchange Server 5.0 U.S. Service Pack 1

168858 XGEN: How to Obtain Exchange Server 5.0 U.S. Service Pack 2