Techie Assumed Boss Knew What They Were Talking About and Killed Exchange by Deleting Data
The Register, Monday, September 28th, 2026
A reader recalls following a boss's advice to delete Exchange log files late on a Friday, taking email down.
In The Register's 'Who, Me?' column, a reader dubbed 'Phil' recalls a new job maintaining a large, centralized Exchange server, where late on a Friday email slowed to a halt because the server had run out of space, mostly due to a full log file directory.
Unsure of the right fix at that scale, Phil followed the boss's confident advice to delete data, which broke Exchange entirely.
The tale illustrates the risk of snap decisions on Friday afternoons and of assuming the boss knows best.