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Removing Exchange 2003 from an organization RRS feed

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    Hello,

    Our organization had only one Exchange 2003 server and we already migrated to Exchange 2010 server.
    I would like to remove the Ex2003 from our organization and use the hardware for a different function. But all that I found on the Internet is removing the first Legacy Exchange server and the last legacy exchange server from an organization. If we had only one Exchange server, which process should I follow?

    Just a note, the EX2003 server was off for a few months while the EX2010 was running all that time. I'm sure that if I just format the server and reinstall the OS on it, no one would ever know that it was gone, but I want to remove all traces of it from Active Directory before getting rid ot it.

    I appreciate any help in this regard,

    Thank you,

    Monday, March 5, 2012 2:09 PM

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    Hi

    If you are running fine with the Ex 2003 server switched off them you have probably moved all the required public folders etc over ot 2010 correctly.  The best way to remove Exchange 2003 is using Add/Remove programs to uninstall the server while it is connected to the network.  This process will clean up AD for you.

    Cheers, Steve

    Monday, March 5, 2012 2:33 PM
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    Hi Steve,

    Thank you for your quick reply.

    It's that simple after everything is moved over to the EX2010? Are you sure it will remove all traces of Ex2003 from AD?

    Monday, March 5, 2012 3:28 PM
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    If the uninstall completes succesfully then yes.  I should say though that this doesn't always happen and you may have to remove the server using ADSIedit, but the uninstall is the place to start.
    Monday, March 5, 2012 3:41 PM
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    I will start with Add/Remove Programs to uninstall it then see what happens.

    Thank you,

    Monday, March 5, 2012 3:56 PM
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    Ok, I can't use the Add / Remove Programs to uninstall Exchange Server 2003 without receiving any errors and using ADSIEdit seems a little too dangerous...

    I did find one user that his mailbox is on the mailbox store of the server I am trying to remove (that's why I'm getting the errors). That user is SystemMailbox. I would like to use Exchange Tasks to delete the mailbox of that user, so I can try the Add / Remove Programs again, but no tasks are showing in the list of available tasks (probably because all the EX2003 services are currently disabled).

    Which services do I need running in order to get the list of available tasks to show me some tasks? How do I do that without interfering with the operation of our EX 2010 server???

    Thank you,

    • Edited by arie01 Monday, March 5, 2012 6:55 PM
    Monday, March 5, 2012 6:54 PM
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    Is the System Mailbox the only one listed against that server?  You should be able to remove Exchange 2003 even if the system mailbox remains.  You will need at least the System Attendant and Information Store services (including dependants) running to perform mailbox operations.

    What errors do you receive when you run the uninstall?

    Monday, March 5, 2012 8:04 PM
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    Yes, the SystemMailbox is the only one listed (well, I actually went user by user and verified it on the Exchange General tab in AD).

    I get the following error when I try to run the uninstaller:

    "Setup encountered an error while checking prerequisites for the component  "Microsoft Exchange Messaging and Collaboration Services":
    0x80072030 (8240): There is no such object on the server".

    Thank you,

    Monday, March 5, 2012 8:31 PM
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    Have a look at "Step B" under "Method 2" in this article to move the postmaster mailbox: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283089
    • Proposed as answer by Sophia Xu Wednesday, March 7, 2012 2:33 AM
    • Marked as answer by Sophia Xu Thursday, April 5, 2012 2:48 AM
    Monday, March 5, 2012 8:36 PM
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    Ok, so I restarted all the necessary Exchange services and tried to access the Exchange tasks for the SystemMailbox  and it kept telling me that there were no tasks available.

    Looks like my only choice is to use ADSIEdit. Hopefully nothing gets screwed up...

    Thank you all for your help.

    Tuesday, March 6, 2012 4:06 PM