Overview

When you run the rules wizard and try to apply a rule to certain mailboxes, the rules wizard will return the following error:

Failed to log in to <MAILBOX> with hr = 0x80004005

Environment

• GFI MailEssentials 
• Microsoft Exchange 2003

Root Cause

When you delete a user from Microsoft Active Directory, the mailbox will be marked for deletion. However, it will not be removed from the Microsoft Exchange Information Store. The Rules Manager will still detect such mailboxes but the rules will not be applied.

Resolution

To solve this problem, you would need to remove deleted users' mailboxes manually. This can be done as follows:

1. Open Microsoft Exchange Systems Manager.
2. Change to Administrative Groups > First Administrative Group > First Storage Group > Mailbox Store > Mailboxes.
3. Right-click Mailboxes and select Run Cleanup Agent.
4. You would notice that the mailboxes that the rules manager has problems accessing will have an icon with a red cross. Right-click the mailboxes with the red cross and select Purge.
5. After purging all the mailboxes that do not have a user, close Exchange System Manager.
6. Run the Rules Manager.