I would like to share a useful software I used some days back. As a Microsoft MVP – Exchange Server, I have received the product for a full featured evaluation version and thanks for the manufactures for such a wonderful product. I found a wonderful review 9.5 out of 10 and thought of using it for the first time.

One of the product from Stellar, I would like to introduce you is Stellar Repair for Exchange tool, which is basically can be used to restores the users’ mailboxes on the Exchange Server when you face some corruptions at the mailbox/database level. The tool can be used to repair the database and enables saving the repaired mailboxes as individual Outlook PST data files, Live Exchange or Office 365

See the product in box..let’s open and explore for more now !!!

Installation: Windows 10/ Windows 8.1 / 8 / Windows 7 / Windows Vista / Windows Server 2012 / Windows Server 2008 is found as supported for the installation.  The software takes less than 30 seconds to install and only 50 MB of the disk space.

Downloadable Exe is available here for a trial

I was curious to know about Stellar Repair for Exchange Recovery software, as the manufacturer alleges that this tool has got the ability to restore the corrupt mailboxes of the individual users by repairing the Exchange Server database file in an efficient manner. I wanted to ensure that if the software is user-friendly and suitable to be used by a beginner. Since the Exchange Server has an administrator to handle the clients’ mailboxes, what are the phases that require the software usage? I wonder! How the corruption affects the mailboxes and the changes the nature of the mailboxes – are the major points that I aimed to clear up with this review.

Well, I began practicing the software on Test System 1 and what I noted is it did not take much time to install. I navigated to Start > All Programs > Stellar Repair for Exchange > Stellar Repair for Exchange, and the software opening landed on the following screen:

On the Select EDB File screen, the software provided two options – Open EDB File and Find EDB File – to start with.

• Open EDB File – Select this option to browse the location of the corrupt EDB file on your computer.
• Find EDB File – Select this option if you are not aware of the location of the corrupt EDB file on your computer.

To begin repairing the corrupt EDB file, I clicked the Start button provided right below the Exchange Server Type. Further to that, the software provided two scan options – Quick Scan and Extensive Scan.

• Quick Scan – is a faster scanning option that does the job quickly and is efficient in most cases of corruption.
• Extensive Scan – is comparatively slow, but is recommended for getting better results.

Clicking the OK button instructed the software to initiate scanning the EDB file in the selected scan mode. Subsequently, the screen showing scan in progress (see the screenshot below) appeared.

Based on the size of the EDB file (since multiple mailboxes are there in the file), the software might take a while to finish scanning and repairing. Subsequently, a preview window opened and made a preview of each item in the individual mailboxes available.

The software created a tree of the mailboxes to the left, while expanding a mailbox in the tree listed all its folders right below it. As I selected a folder in a particular mailbox, it revealed its contents to the right. A preview of the individual emails was available.

“Amongst the significance of showing a preview of the individual mailboxes, the one I’m highlighting is that it enables recovering selected mailbox out of the EDB file. A check box in front of each folder facilitates to do it.”

After the preview is done, the next step was to save the recovered mailboxes. The Save option in the toolbar enabled doing it. As I clicked the “Save” option, a pop-up box opened, which enables selecting the destination & file formats.

The software saved the recovered mailboxes as shown in the screenshot above.

Note: The software saves the recovered mailbox in PST format, i.e. the Outlook data file, which is Outlook importable.

I then began testing the software on Test System 2 and the software took even lesser time in its installation. I could clearly say that the installation time was significantly lesser as compared to that on Test System 1.

I ran the software for the same EDB file, but then I chose the Find EDB File option to check out the efficiency of the software is in locating the required database file. I must say the software did well.

Based on the same tests on Windows 8 machine, I noticed that the software performance is subject to the system configuration. I observed the following facts about Stellar Repair for Exchange:

• The software is efficient in searching, scanning, and repairing the Exchange data files.
• The software shows preview of the items in the mailboxes.
• The software enables selected mailboxes recovery.
• The saved PST files are Outlook importable.
• The software compatible with Exchange Server 2019 / 2016 / 2013 / 2010 / 2007 / 2003 / 2000 & 5.5

Ease of Use: Stellar Repair for Exchange software is a lightweight tool for Windows platform. The software quickly searches and repairs the EDB file and lets you to see the preview of individual items. Its simple and user-friendly interface makes the repair task easier and the user can save the PST file at a desired location. Moreover, the PST file is Outlook importable.

Pros:

• Simple and user-friendly interface
• Recovers mailboxes easily and efficiently
• Supports an array of operating systems
• Lightweight and Less resource consuming tool

Con:

• The software is pricy.

Conclusion: Stellar Repair for Exchange software is a ‘must-have’ tool for an Exchange Administrator, especially in the absence of a recent backup. In fact, the administrator is responsible for taking care of the mailboxes of all the users. In case the Exchange Server is down or corrupt (let us say), the administrator can restore the mailboxes by repairing the EDB file.