The pre-requisite check was all green, but on the first step of the actual installation of Exchange 2010 (using the GUI, on a domain with an Exchange 2007 SP3u3v2), I receive this error in the setup log: Having searched for similar error identifiers I am not met with any solutions, any ideas? NOTE: tp-adc-01 is the domain controller. My user has Enterprise Admin, Domain Admin, Exchange Install, Exchange Org Admin, Org Management and Schema Admin DOUBLE NOTE: This is a standard level domain, no forest or enterprise level, just the single schema. [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0409] [2] Adding access control entries to the security descriptor for the object CN=Configuration,DC=mydomain,DC=CO,DC=NZ. [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0409] [2] The appropriate access control entry is already present on the object "CN=Configuration,DC=mydomain,DC=CO,DC=NZ" for account "mydomain\Exchange Servers". [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0409] [2] Taking ownership of CN=Deleted Objects,CN=Configuration,DC=mydomain,DC=CO,DC=NZ. [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0440] [2] [ERROR] Active Directory operation failed on tp-adc-01.mydomain.CO.NZ. This error is not retriable. Additional information: Access is denied. Active directory response: 00000005: SecErr: DSID-03152492, problem 4003 (INSUFF_ACCESS_RIGHTS), data 0 [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0488] [2] [ERROR] The user has insufficient access rights. [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0519] [2] Ending processing initialize-ExchangeConfigurationPermissions [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0519] [1] The following 1 error(s) occurred during task execution: [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0519] [1] 0. ErrorRecord: Active Directory operation failed on tp-adc-01.mydomain.CO.NZ. This error is not retriable. Additional information: Access is denied. Active directory response: 00000005: SecErr: DSID-03152492, problem 4003 (INSUFF_ACCESS_RIGHTS), data 0 [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0519] [1] 0. ErrorRecord: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADOperationException: Active Directory operation failed on tp-adc-01.mydomain.CO.NZ. This error is not retriable. Additional information: Access is denied. Active directory response: 00000005: SecErr: DSID-03152492, problem 4003 (INSUFF_ACCESS_RIGHTS), data 0 ---> System.DirectoryServices.Protocols.DirectoryOperationException: The user has insufficient access rights. at System.DirectoryServices.Protocols.LdapConnection.ConstructResponse(Int32 messageId, LdapOperation operation, ResultAll resultType, TimeSpan requestTimeOut, Boolean exceptionOnTimeOut) at System.DirectoryServices.Protocols.LdapConnection.SendRequest(DirectoryRequest request, TimeSpan requestTimeout) at Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.PooledLdapConnection.SendRequest(DirectoryRequest request, LdapOperation ldapOperation, IAccountingObject budget, Nullable`1 clientSideSearchTimeout) at Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADSession.ExecuteModificationRequest(ADObject entry, DirectoryRequest request, ADObjectId originalId, Boolean emptyObjectSessionOnException) --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADSession.AnalyzeDirectoryError(PooledLdapConnection connection, DirectoryRequest request, DirectoryException de, Int32 totalRetries, Int32 retriesOnServer) at Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADSession.ExecuteModificationRequest(ADObject entry, DirectoryRequest request, ADObjectId originalId, Boolean emptyObjectSessionOnException) at Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADSession.SaveSecurityDescriptor(ADObject obj, RawSecurityDescriptor sd, Boolean modifyOwner) at Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Tasks.DirectoryCommon.TakeOwnership(ADObjectId id, RawSecurityDescriptor sd, ADSystemConfigurationSession session) at Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Tasks.InitializeConfigPermissions.InternalProcessRecord() at Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.Task.ProcessRecord() [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0519] [1] [ERROR] The following error was generated when "$error.Clear(); initialize-ExchangeConfigurationPermissions -DomainController $RoleDomainController " was run: "Active Directory operation failed on tp-adc-01.mydomain.CO.NZ. This error is not retriable. Additional information: Access is denied. Active directory response: 00000005: SecErr: DSID-03152492, problem 4003 (INSUFF_ACCESS_RIGHTS), data 0 ". [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0519] [1] [ERROR] Active Directory operation failed on tp-adc-01.mydomain.CO.NZ. This error is not retriable. Additional information: Access is denied. Active directory response: 00000005: SecErr: DSID-03152492, problem 4003 (INSUFF_ACCESS_RIGHTS), data 0 [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0519] [1] [ERROR] The user has insufficient access rights. [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0519] [1] [ERROR-REFERENCE] Id=CommonGlobalConfig___faf991c2f0874a8dba67f91db0ea193e Component=EXCHANGE14:\Current\Release\Shared\Datacenter\Setup [05/02/2011 08:35:11.0519] [1] Setup is stopping now because of one or more critical errors.

I installed Exchange 2010 using DOMAIN\Administrator which worked beautifully. My initial user account may have had conflicting permissions problems which prevented the installation from going ahead. Thanks for all the clear thoughts. Yes, both Exchange servers are running 64-bit.