PC Adm: Err Msg: Notice 56: Error Deleting User Address

• Microsoft Mail for PC Networks, versions 2.1, 3.0, and 3.2

SYMPTOMS

When a Mail administrator tries to delete a user from the Postoffice Address List (POL) using the Mail Administrator (ADMIN.EXE) program provided with Microsoft Mail for PC Networks, the following error message may appear:

   Notice 56
   Error deleting user address in Postoffice Address list.

CAUSE

This problem occurs if the POL has a missing or corrupted record for the user (for example, if the UserID is missing from the POL). The cause of the problem can be one of the following:

1. The user is a local user, and the record is missing from the ADMIN.NME file; however, the access (ACCESS.*) files contain information about this user.

2. The user record is present in the POL but is corrupted.

3. The user is an external postoffice user added to the POL. The user record is present in the POL; however, the record is corrupted.

RESOLUTION

The POL information is contained in the ADMINSHD.NME and ADMIN.NME files. These two files should always have the same exact size, date, and relative time.

The following are corresponding workarounds for the above causes. These steps are geared for the Mail administrator:

1. If the user is a local user and the record is missing from the ADMIN.NME file, copy the POL to your Personal Address List (PAL), add the user there, and then copy your PAL to the POL.

   The following procedure assumes that the administrator mailbox still exists and the 8-digit hexadecimal ID (hexid) is 00000000. If you are using an account other than 00000000, substitute the 8-digit hexid for that account for 00000000.

   a. Obtain the user's mailbox name. From the Administrator program

         Config menu, choose Password. Note the postoffice and network
         names.
   

   b. At the MS-DOS command prompt, change to the NME subdirectory of

         the Mail database.
   

   c. Make a backup of the POL by typing the following command:

            copy admin.nme admin.old
   
      d. Make a backup of your PAL by typing:
   
            copy 00000000.nme 00000000.old
   
         If 00000000.NME is a 0-byte file, copying may not work. You can
         safely skip this step.
   
      e. Copy the POL to the PAL by typing:
   
            copy admin.nme 00000000.nme
   
      f. Move up one directory level from the NME subdirectory (by typing
         CD..).
   
      g. Start the MS-DOS Mail client and sign in using the admin mailbox
         by typing:
   
            mail admin -p<password>
   
      h. From the Address menu, choose Enter. At the prompts, type in the
         mailbox, postoffice, and network names you noted in step a
         above. (If you have other address types, choose the Microsoft
         Mail type and the Admin program will then prompt you for the
         above.) Type in the data noted from Step 1. It will bring up the
         alias. Press the ENTER key.
   
      i. Quit out of the Mail client.
   
      j. At the MS-DOS command prompt, change to the NME directory of the
         Mail database.
   
      k. Copy the PAL to the POL by typing:
   
            copy 00000000.nme admin.nme
            copy 00000000.nme adminshd.nme
   
      l. Move up one directory level from the NME subdirectory (by typing
         CD..).
   
      m. Start the Administrator program. You should now be able to
         delete the problem user account.
   
      Once you have successfully deleted the user account, delete the
      ADMIN.OLD file and copy 00000000.OLD to 00000000.NME. (If you
      skipped step d above, you do not need to copy 00000000.OLD to
      00000000.NME.)
   
   

2. If the user record is present in the POL but is corrupted, perform the following steps:

   a. Send to Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS) the access

         (ACCESS.*) files and the ADMIN.NME file.
   

         A support engineer will verify information in the access file,
         correct the record in the ADMIN.NME file, and return your
         ADMIN.NME file to you.
   

   b. Copy the corrected ADMIN.NME over ADMINSHD.NME. You should be

         able to delete the user.
   

   Note: Do not make any modifications to the POL between the time you send the ADMIN.NME and the time you receive the corrected ADMIN.NME from PSS.

3. If the user is an external postoffice user added to the POL and the user record is present in the POL but is corrupted, send to PSS the ADMIN.NME file and the xxxxxxxx.USR file for the external postoffice the user is on.

   To find out the xxxxxxxx number, perform the following steps:

   a. Type out the NETWORK.GLB file. Find the 8-digit number of the

         network the user is on.
   

   b. Type out that 8-digit.XTN file. This file should show the

         8-digit numbers for the external postoffices. Find the 8-digit
         number of the postoffice the user is on. That number is the USR
         file needed by PSS.
   

         With the ADMIN.NME and xxxxxxxx.USR files, the PSS engineer will
         verify the information in the USR file, correct the record in
         the ADMIN.NME file, and return your ADMIN.NME file to you.
   

   c. Copy ADMIN.NME to ADMINSHD.NME. You should be able to delete the

         user.
   

   Note: Do not make any modifications to the POL between the time you send the ADMIN.NME and the time you receive the corrected ADMIN.NME from PSS.

MORE INFORMATION

If the steps above do not work, try one of the following:

1. Double-check the spelling of all problem names, along with the network and postoffice names. Often the type number is corrupted to 00, and the name will be blank or will contain garbage characters.

2. Obtain and use the ACCTONME utility included in application note WA0641, "Database Maintenance Utilities," which you can obtain from Microsoft Product Support Services. There are some side effects to using this utility that are explained in the ACCTONME.TXT file included with the utility.