The Exchange System Attendant service starts to quickly increase its memory usage in Exchange 2000 Server (911289)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server

SYMPTOMS

On a computer that is running Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, you experience the following symptom:

The Exchange System Attendant service (Mad.exe) starts to quickly increase its memory usage. After about 12 to 24 hours, you may have to restart the Exchange System Attendant service to resolve the problem.

CAUSE

This problem may occur when the Exchange System Attendant service tries to publish free/busy information in the Exchange 2000 Server public folder store. Specifically, this problem occurs if the following conditions are true:
  • The Exchange System Attendant service opens a free/busy message to update relevant information and to then save that message to the public folder store.
  • After the Exchange System Attendant service has opened the free/busy message, but before the Exchange System Attendant service saves that message, another process modifies the free/busy information in that message.
In this situation, the Exchange System Attendant service does not successfully save the message. Additionally, because of how this error condition is handled, the thread that handles this message goes into an infinite loop. The Exchange System Attendant service leaks memory for every iteration of this loop.

RESOLUTION

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services telephone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:Note In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

Prerequisites

Because of file dependencies, this update requires Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (SP3). For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

301378 How to obtain the latest Exchange 2000 Server service pack

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other hotfixes.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.
File nameFile versionFile sizeDateTimePlatform
Madfb.dll6.0.6617.98524,28808-Dec-200523:11x86

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server.

Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/26/2006
Keywords:kbQFE kbfix kbExchange2000preSP4fix kbbug kbpubtypekc KB911289 kbAudITPRO