Argh! Frustrating Exchange 2007 issues!

/usr

I'm beginning to get extremely frustrated.

Trying to install Exchange 2007 on a brand new Windows Server 2003 machine. I've gone through most of the steps and I'm running the "readiness check" that comes with Exchange.

It keeps refusing to continue due to the fact that our domain is still in mixed mode (not a problem, I can fix that easily enough) AND it's telling me the Exchange organization is also in mixed mode, and that there are existing installations of Exchange 2003 that need updated to SP2.

We don't use Exchange. The only installation I can find is in the Add/Remove programs of one of our servers. However, the machine contains to Start menu entries and is not running Exchange. I can't even uninstall it when I try, because it doesn't even seem like it's installed.

Unfortunately, this software does not tell me what machine it's seeing that Exchange 2003 is located on...

Can anyone help me with this? I'm begging you...

sprkymrk

On the machine that seems to have traces of Exchange 2003 on it, you can try using this:

Windows Installer CleanUp Utility

If that doesn't work, there is a more laborious procedure here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/833396

Could there be a workstation with the Exchange Tools installed that it is detecting? I've never used Exchange 2007.

/usr

Honestly, it's the strangest thing I've seen. Somewhere on the network, something is holding onto machines that HAVE HAD Exchange installed.

Example.

The machine I was working on today. I had it named "Proliant" and went through the motions of installing Exchange 2003 on it. I realized (stupid mistake) that I had installed the 32 bit OS rather than the 64 bit.

So, I formatted, reinstalled, and renamed the machine. Fast forward to my existing issue.

When going through the Exchange 2007 setup, it sees two servers with Exchange 2003. One is the server that shows Exchange in Add/Remove programs, but has no other traces of it. The other, is the same machine I'm trying to install 2007 on, but it's still saying there is a machine called "Proliant" with Exchange 2003 on it...which is impossible, since the very machine it's referring to has since been formatted and renamed.

To make it worse, the machine that does show traces of Exchange 2003, has no cd-rom drive for me to go through the motions of an install/uninstall.

It's frustrating, and I'm honestly at a point where I don't know how to get Exchange 2007 to stop seeing these installations that do not exist.

dtlokee

I would imagine if Exchange 2003 was ever installed all the AD schema extensions will remain even if you uninstall Exchange. Something I would try would be installing an Exchange 2003 server and upgrading the organization to native, deleting any old server objects then remove it (or install SP2) and see if that helps. I am not sure how this would all work out, I haven't tried it, just a random thought I had.

/usr

That's something I've considered.

However, Exchange 2007 refuses to let you continue with the install unless ALL instances of Exchange 2003 are upgraded to SP2.

Since one instance of Exchange 2003 that it sees does not even exist on the network, that's kind of difficult.

I mean...are we honestly talking about recreating the entire domain just to get 2007 to install?

We've never even really had Exchange installed and in use, is the frustrating thing.

/usr

8:37 AM and I'm already aggravated.

No traces of the name "PROLIANT" in the registry of the main DC.

Does anyone know where Exchange 2007 would be pulling it's list of "existing" Exchange servers from?

Or how I could find out without paying MS $250 for a support call?

Silver Bullet

Here are a couple links that describe how to remove exchange. Look them over and see if you can find where it may be.

http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/Remove-Exchange-server-entire-Exchange-organization.html

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273478