asked on

Upgrade Exchange 2003 Standard to 2003 Enterprise

Hello,
We're running Exchange 2003 Standard SP2. The IS size is approaching 75gb, so we are planning an upgrade to Exchange 2003 Enterprise. I have read other posts regarding the upgrade process and it seems straightforward... run setup.exe on the Enterprise disc and choose "reinstall".

I'm just wondering if any of the following configs on my Exchange server could cause a problem...
1. We have GFI MailSecurity and MailEssentials installed on the Exchange server. Will they be affected by the upgrade or have an effect on the upgrade process?
2. We have a second server running GFI Faxmaker that points uses an SMTP Connector on the Exchange server. Will this be affected by the upgrade or have an effect on the upgrade process?
3. My predescesor installed Outlook 2003 on the Exchange server. Will this be affected by the upgrade or have an effect on the upgrade process?
4. I have good backups of the IS and System State of the Exchange server. Should anything else be backed up "just in case"?

I'm planning on doing the upgrade this Saturday night, so I want to make sure I've accounted for all possibilities.

Thanks.
Scott

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

MATTHEW_L

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

gouldandlamb

ASKER

Thanks for the response Matthew L. I have no idea why Outlook is on the Exchange server. The "Last used" date in Add/Remove Programs is July 2006. Like I said, my predescesor installed it (and he did quite a few other bone-headed things). I've heard and seen the documentation advising against having Outlook on an Exchange server. My concern now is uninstalling Outlook... do you think it will cause any problems?

MATTHEW_L

I have heard problems with MAPI after uninstalling Outlook. I definatly think getting it off of there is a good idea though.

gouldandlamb

ASKER

If uninstalling Outlook could cause MAPI problems, would the upgrade/reinstall to Enterprise resolve those problems?

MATTHEW_L

I have fixed problems related to outlook on an Exchange server by removing outlook and running a re-install of Exchange.

SOLUTION

Sembee

membership

This solution is only available to members.

To access this solution, you must be a member of Experts Exchange.

Start Free Trial

gouldandlamb

ASKER

Thanks for the input guys. I'll follow Sembee's order of events.
Any idea how long it *SHOULD* take for the Enterprise upgrade?

Sembee

Exchange 2003 install takes about 30 minutes, so as it hasn't got to install much, it shouldn't take that long. However then you have the service pack on top - but even so, you should be able to get things done in an hour.

Simon.

gouldandlamb

ASKER

Excellent.
Thanks again for your help Matthew and Simon!

gouldandlamb

ASKER

Well the process went flawlessly on Saturday. Thanks again for your assistance.

I uninstalled Outlook 2003 and then rebooted, upgraded to Exchange Enterprise and finally reinstalled SP2, all without a hitch. I must say however, that the Enterprise upgrade is a bit missleading... I was expecting the "Reinstall" option to be available much earlier in the process... I was a bit hesitant to choose the "Install first Exchange Server" option, knowing that I already had one. At any rate, I finally got to the component installation, chose "Reinstall" and let it do its thing.

The last issue I have is... I'm still geting Event 9688 in the Application Log, stating that the database size is 72gb and approaching the 75gb limit. Is this because the upgrade to Enterprise didn't change the Registry keys limitting the size of the database? Is it now just a matter of changing (or removing) the database size entries in the Registry?

Sembee

I will confess that I haven't done a standard to enterprise upgrade on SP2 for a while. Removing the registry keys is the first thing I would do, as all that is happening is that those keys are being read to see what the entry says. Remove them and then cycle the server. If the upgrade didn't occur properly then without the keys the store will simply fail to mount. Put them back in and it will.
Does ESM report Enterprise Edition?

Simon.

upandrun3

After I upgraded to Enterprise and then attempted to install Service Pack 2 I got a message. It said that a previous version of Intelligent Message Filter is already installed and needs to be removed. Here is what I did to fix that.

Manual Removal of IMF v1 or v2

1. Stop all Exchange services, including the Information Store, System Attendant, SMTP, services, plus any Exchange antivirus applications.
2. Rename the folder "MSCFV1" or "MSCFV2" in C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\bin
3. Rename the file C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\bin\ContentFilter.dll file
4. Open Regedit and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange key.
5. Export a copy of that key for backup purposes.
6. Delete the "ControlFilterVersion" subkey from the registry.
7. Restart the server.
8. Install/Reinstall Exchange 2003 SP2.