Topic Last Modified: 2006-05-23

The Microsoft® Exchange Server Analyzer Tool queries the Win32_PerfRawData_SMTPSVC_SMTPServer Microsoft Windows® Management Instrumentation (WMI) class to determine the value for the BadmailedMessagesNDRofDSN key. The value of this key represents the number of delivery status notification (DSN) messages sent to the Badmail directory because they were undeliverable. The Badmail directory is used to store undeliverable messages. For information about some of the other Badmail WMI counters, see the Exchange Server Analyzer articles, SMTP message failure warning - BadMail messages general failure and SMTP message failure warning - BadMail messages hop count threshold.

There are counters that increment when a message is sent to the Badmail directory for other reasons, including a bad pickup file, no recipients, and triggered via event.

The Exchange Server Analyzer also queries the Win32_PerfRawData_PerfOS_System WMI key to determine the value for SystemUpTime.

If the Exchange Server Analyzer determines the value for the SystemUpTime key is greater than 0 and that the result of the value for BadmailedMessagesNDRofDSN divided by the value for SystemUpTime is greater than 1000, a warning is displayed.

This warning indicates that an average of 1,000 or more DSNs per day are stored in the Badmail directory because they could not be delivered. Messages in the Badmail directory must be manually deleted. It is recommended that regular review and deletion of messages in the Badmail directory be a part of regular Exchange Server maintenance. Allowing the Badmail directory to grow without restrictions could consume all available disk space, and in turn cause Exchange databases to dismount.

To correct this warning

  • Examine the messages in the Badmail directory to determine if the DSNs are intended for internal or external recipients. Messages in the Badmail directory are stored in ASCII format, and can be opened and viewed in Notepad or another text editor.

    • If the DSNs are intended for internal recipients, it indicates a message flow problem. Troubleshooting this issue will depend on the specific numeric code returned with the DSN.

    • If the DSNs are intended for external recipients, it may indicate that your Exchange Server is being used as a mail relay. Troubleshooting this issue will also depend on the returned numeric code.

For more information about delivery DSN numeric return codes, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 284204, Delivery status notifications in Exchange Server and in Small Business Server.

For information about how to control and configure relay options, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article 313395, How To Examine Relay Restrictions for Anonymous SMTP Connections and Filter Unsolicited E-mail Messages in Exchange 2000 Server.

For more information about database dismounts due to insufficient free disk space, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article 321825, Databases Become Dismounted Because of Lack of Disk Space.