If you encounter problems restoring Exchange 2000 databases to the original server, or to the server to which you have restored the original server's configuration, you can restore Exchange 2000 databases to an alternate Exchange 2000 server. However, you should only restore Exchange databases to an alternate server as a last resort.

The alternate Exchange server to which you restore Exchange databases must meet specific criteria. For example, Exchange 2000 service packs and hotfixes that you install on the alternative server must match those of the server where the Exchange database back ups were performed.

For more information about how to restore Exchange 2000 databases to an alternate server, see the technical paper Exchange 2000 Server Database Recovery (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=6273).

The information in this article applies to:

• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition
• Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition
• Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Premium Edition
• Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, Standard Edition
• Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server