Microsoft KB Archive/158526

= XADM: .Pat Files in Mdbdata and Dsadata Directories =

Article ID: 158526

Article Last Modified on 10/28/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Exchange Server 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Exchange Server 5.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q158526



SUMMARY
You might find the following files when examining the contents of the Mdbdata directory:

Priv.pat

Pub.pat

Likewise you might find this file in the Dsadata directory:

Dir.pat

These files are created during the online backup process.



MORE INFORMATION
Patch files (.pat files) are created when doing an online backup of the Exchange databases. These temporary files get created as soon as the backup process begins; they contain whatever transactions take place during the online backup. This way the Edb.log can be copied during the backup while transactions are written to the patch files. The *.pat files are also copied to the hard disk drive and replayed when a restore is done.

It is safe to delete these patch files if these two conditions apply:
 * There is no backup taking place.


 * There is no startup recovery in process after a restore.

Keywords: kbusage KB158526

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