Problem creating mailboxes!! address list service error.
When I try to create a mailbox for a new or an exciting user in EMC /Mailbox I get the following error message. Summary: 1 items. 0 succeeded, 1 failed. Elapsed time: 00:00:01AdministratorFailedError:An Exchange 2007 server on which an address list service is active cannot be found.Management Shell command attempted:Enable-Mailbox -Identity:'TEST.dk/Users/Administrator' -Alias:'Administrator' -Database:'CN=Mailbox Database,CN=First Storage Group,CN=InformationStore,CN=TEST-NT-EXC2007,CN=Servers,CN=Exchange Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT),CN=Administrative Groups,CN=Demo,CN=Microsoft Exchange,CN=Services,CN=Configuration,DC=TEST,DC=dk'Elapsed Time: 00:00:01 Does anyone know what address list service is and how I can fix it? I have another exchange 2007 beta2 running in another test forest without any problems. Regards, Kenneth Madsen, Denmark
December 6th, 2006 3:34pm

I have run into this same issue, have you made any progress on your end? This post is the only I can find about this issue.Thanks,Eric York, US
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December 21st, 2006 1:22pm

Hi Eric, Yes I found til problem. The problem was that Exchange 2007 couldnt find the global catalog because the name of the server was more that 15 letters. It seam like it uses Netbios to find GC, witch is strange because I have heard that the new Exchange server didnt use Netbios anymore. I renamed the domain controller (GC), ran netdiag /fix from the support tools on the domain controller. After doing that Exchange will come with an error when opening the MC but you will be able to change what server it should contact. I hope that helps your problem. Kenneth Madsen, Denmark
December 21st, 2006 2:12pm

Hi, I had the same problem, but it had nothing to do with the lenght of the computername. I solved the problem by moving all the active directory roles to the global catalog domain controller on which I installed exchange 2007 (schema master, RID master, PDC master and Infrastructure master), rebooted the server, and everything worked just fine.
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January 26th, 2007 2:08am

I can add another possible cause for this problem - using a virtual server with a non-unique SID.
January 27th, 2007 9:13am

I have this same problem. I have tried moving the AD roles as suggested in one of the replies but problem persists. Does anyone know how you setup the RUS on Exchange 2007 Server?
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January 27th, 2007 6:36pm

Just as a note, we've been running into the same"address list" errorand have monitoring this Forum. We noticed if wechecked the Services, the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service was stopped. It appears tostop randomly; more often than not it is stopped after restarting the server. After starting the service, the issue did not re-occur. If anyone has any suggestions, it would be appreciated. We're running Server1 (Windows 2003 release 1 - FSMO), Server2 (Windows 2003 Std Server x64 SP1 "new") with Exchange 2007 installed from released version of CD installed on Server2.
February 1st, 2007 6:29pm

I found the same scenario on my new Exchange 2007 server; that the System Attendant service was stopped. Restarted it and I could create my mailboxes, etc. I have not dived into this very deep, but will watch this thread. Thanks, David
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March 27th, 2007 10:24pm

I have the same problem on our new Exchange 2007 server. I also noticed that the System Attendant service was stoppet. I started it manually from ControlPanel-Services, and I could create mailboxes, etc. I also hope that this will make my GlobalAddressList load the new accounts (some mailboxes are missing)... Thanks, Simon
March 29th, 2007 4:09am

Yes i faced the same problem. My work around was to set a "recovery option" to the Exchange System Attendant Service. I set the servcie to restart after the 1st failure and my problem is solved. However, I have no clue why this service stops in the first place. We need to do a deeper daignosis of the same. Ashutosh S Karkhanis Askari Infotech www.askari.co.in
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April 4th, 2007 9:24am

Same problem is encountered with the Exchange Sytem Attendant Service. The service is set to automatic but does not start during boot sequence. This also causes conflicts receiving email to alias addresses.
April 19th, 2007 8:42pm

We had the same issue and Simon Skotheimsvik's solution along with o Set-EmailAddressPolicy "Default Policy" -IncludedRecipients AllRecipientsFixed the issue. I hopt this helps.
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May 2nd, 2007 10:36am

I also had the same issue, restarting the system attendant that for some unknown reasons stops resolved the issue.
May 7th, 2007 2:10pm

Same problem, same sys attendant solution
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May 14th, 2007 12:59pm

I also had the same problem with the system attendant stopped. Did the recovery service thing. This seems to have solved the problem.
June 8th, 2007 3:06pm

Setting the recovery option did not solve the problem
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June 22nd, 2007 2:31pm

Hrm... have you run the usual checks? I would run dcdiag against each of your DCs and confirm that they're fully functional. dcdiag /v /sERVERNAME > log.txt Run netdiag on each of them as well. TS into each and run netdiag > log.txt. Next run, "netdom query fsmo" - ensure that all the roles of DCs are accessible, responding, and functional. Anything interesting?
July 7th, 2007 2:33pm

Hey! The Microsoft Exchange System Attendant seems to stop whenever it feels for it. As a tip you should make sure it runs and if it doesn't start it! As a fallback you should also set it to Restart the Service in the event of First failure. Hope this helps... Code Snippet Error: An Exchange 2007 server on which an address list service is active cannot be found. Regards, Satheesh Varadharajan www.satheesh.net
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July 13th, 2007 6:02am

I had a similar problem - I was unable to stop the service though. To fix this, I searched for mad.exe in task manager (under processes), and ended it. The service then stopped, and restarted (as I had specified it do this in the event of failure).
July 23rd, 2007 8:00pm

Yep, the system attendent.
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August 15th, 2007 6:51am

Same as everyone else. It appears the System Attendant had stopped. I was on the phone with Microsoft and they just restarted it and moved on, but I set the service to automatically restart on subsequent failures. Something is definately in need of fixing in SP1. I experienced various problems with addressing of the users because of it, which was frustrating me to no end.
August 16th, 2007 1:04pm

Sid-IS thanks for the post. That solved it on my 2007 exchange server! Thanks Again!
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September 7th, 2007 4:26pm

I still have the problem after following the previous steps. In my case I am using the 32 bit evaluation edition in a coexistence scenario with Exch 2003 in a laboratory. I receive the previously mentioned error upon creating a user in the EMC of Exchange 2007. Also, no user which was created previously in Exchange 2003 can access their mailbox in OWA from Exch 2007, although all the mailboxes have been moved to that server. The message appears to be one of not having permissions to open the mailbox. The System Attendant service is stopped and I cannot restart it, I just see a message about how some services remain inactive until they have some work to do. Also set the recovery option to no avail. Just checked the Application log, and there were 2 events - MSExchangeSA 1004 (Microsoft Exchange System Attendant failed to start. ) and 1005 (Unexpected error The clocks on the client and server machines are skewed. ID no: 80090324 Microsoft Exchange System Attendant occurred. ) These events led me to the knowledge base article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/274447which has not resolved my problem either. Anyone have any ideas?
September 11th, 2007 3:14pm

Might be a good idea to run the Exchange Best Practices Analyzer! I just ran it to see if it gave me more details on the time sync error. Turns out the time on the DC and on the Exch 2007 were exactly one hour out. The DC had daylight saving time on, but the Exch server didnt. Sorted that out, and re-synced the time. Bobs your uncle, hows your father, managed to start the System Attendant and Information Store services without any bother. Sweet!!!
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September 12th, 2007 1:02pm

Hi folks,Restarting the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service has really helped. Now it is possible to create mailboxes fornew and existing users without any error message. Thank you very much.
September 25th, 2007 10:02am

When the SA is running all is well, but how do I "fix" the mailboxes that did not move at first? it says they are already moved over, but they are not working. users see empty mailboxes in outlook. also, anyone found out why the service stops in the first place? i've enabled advanced logging on the SA and will reply back with any info. enable advanced logging: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb738153.aspx
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October 29th, 2007 12:57pm

It also worked for me thanks, I disconnected a mailbox and when I tried to reconnect the mailbox I just got a error message. Started the Exchange System Attendant service and after that the reconnoction worked just fine. Thanks for the tip. //Rob
November 9th, 2007 3:57am

I had the same problem and by starting the System Attendant service my Exchange is working well. Thank you very much! Reza
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November 10th, 2007 2:30am

fwiw, this solved my problem. i was trying to migrate one mailbox from 2003 to 2007 and getting the above error. starting the service listed above corrected the problem. thanks!
January 11th, 2008 3:17pm

Thanks - resolved same issue.
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January 30th, 2008 3:19am

And if you have a clustered maibox setup make sure the system attendant service is up and running on the resource!
February 21st, 2008 4:18am

Try restarting the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service on your exchange server. If its not running then start it. Mine claimed to be running, and I get the same error. A restart fixed the error.
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February 22nd, 2008 2:10am

I had the same problem, i wasn't able to create new mailboxes, restarted Microsoft Exchange System Attendant Service and all is okay now, but still want to know why the service stops. Thanks for the tip.
March 1st, 2008 3:10am

Thanks for the tip. I had the same problem, started the system attendant service and was able to create a mailbox. Ray
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March 7th, 2008 7:37am

All, I ran into the same issue on my Exchange 2007 home lab..... Microsoft has a KB article describing the same solution (restarting the system attendant).. It's option # 4 of article #940845.http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940845Restarting the System attendant enabled me to move mailboxes....... Happy hunting.... -Aziz
March 13th, 2008 11:38pm

I am having this same error except it happens only when I am running the Exchange managment Console from my workstation. I know it is a firewall problem as it goes away when I disable the windos firewall on teh exchange system. I have not found the port(s) used by this MMC. Anyone know?Thanks,Chris
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March 17th, 2008 2:23am

I had same problem, my system attendant service was stopped. I restarted it worked
March 31st, 2008 7:17am

David Lighty wrote: I found the same scenario on my new Exchange 2007 server; that the System Attendant service was stopped. Restarted it and I could create my mailboxes, etc. I have not dived into this very deep, but will watch this thread. Thanks, David I also solved the problem by starting the system adendent service. imu420
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March 31st, 2008 7:22am

Exchange System Attendant Instance Resource was offline in the cluster administrator (mailbox servers clustered). Brought it online and started the system attendant service and it fixed the issue. Thanks, Sujeet Nuthulapaty
May 2nd, 2008 3:06pm

try to restart the Exchange Server system attendance Service, that should do.
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May 8th, 2008 8:48am

Starting the Exchange System Attendant fixed my problem. Thanks!
May 20th, 2008 10:10am

When not showing all addresses in you Global Addresslist (Posted somewhat earlier )you should check the following which has to do more with OAB but my guess is that it's the same issue: In the general tab of the addresses not showing up in your GAL the is the field E-mail address... the address typed in there MUST be the same E-mail address as in you Exchange tab under default SMTP address... if not it will disappear from your OAB and maybe the GAL too. More info here: http://exchangepedia.com/blog/2007/02/offline-address-book-mystery-of-missing.html
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June 9th, 2008 6:58am

This worked for me also. I made no other changes to the Exchange server. We had replaced a Domain Controller recently which had the same computer name but a different SID. I found that the Exchange System Attendant was not running. I started it and was able to create new mailboxes. Thanks, JS
June 12th, 2008 3:24pm

Ditto. ACTION: Creating mailboxes on Windows 2003 R2 w/SP2 running Exchange 2007 w/ SP1 ERROR: 'an exchange 2007 server on which an address list service is active cannot be found' ISSUE:Microsoft Exchange System Attendant servicewas stopped FIX:click START> RUN >services.msc [ENTER] > Microsoft Exchange System Attendant > StartPREVENTION: Set the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service to 'Restart the Service' on the Recovery Tab for First & Second failures
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June 24th, 2008 3:04pm

I had a problem creating mailboxes, recipient policies, and moving mailboxes, and it all came down to the address list error! I read every forum, and tried everything! Then I just deleted a recipient policy that some other tech created, and bam everything worked. We are moving from exch 03 to exch 07. The recipient policy was for a user that no longer is with us, and so it errored because it was trying to look for the SID of the user, and that user was deleted 6 months ago. If you have multiple recipient policies, I'd delete all except the default policy, if nothing else works.
June 27th, 2008 12:56pm

I have the same issue with my Exchange server. I could not create mailboxes. I checked my services and found out that the System Attendant services was stopped. I restarted the service and i could create my mailboxes. thank you David. But does anyone knows why the System Attendantservice stopped even when it has been set to automatic start up? Regards, NerdNero
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July 9th, 2008 7:53am

Thanks
July 10th, 2008 4:37am

I had the same problem with distribution lists, but low and behold the System Attendant wasnt running. It was set to automatic was not started for some reason. I started the Attendant and it worked fine.
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July 14th, 2008 4:11pm

Thank you, our system attendant service was also stopped . Once started adding my public folder database completed successfully.
August 12th, 2008 6:24pm

This solved the problem. Still curious why the service stopped. Thanks for the tip!
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October 27th, 2008 5:33pm

Restarting the system attendant solved the issue for me also, but digging into it, the service is supposed to restart after 2 mins on 1st, 2nd and 3rd attempts and it's set to 'automatic' so it does start after restarting the server. Does anyone know why the service keeps dropping? Thanks, Ozz.
November 5th, 2008 3:35pm

Thank you for the solution.
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December 2nd, 2008 2:32pm

Sid-IS wrote: Just as a note, we've been running into the same"address list" errorand have monitoring this Forum. We noticed if wechecked the Services, the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service was stopped. It appears tostop randomly; more often than not it is stopped after restarting the server. After starting the service, the issue did not re-occur. If anyone has any suggestions, it would be appreciated. We're running Server1 (Windows 2003 release 1 - FSMO), Server2 (Windows 2003 Std Server x64 SP1 "new") with Exchange 2007 installed from released version of CD installed on Server2. Thank you, this solved my problem.
December 3rd, 2008 10:57am

hi, thankyou. Excellent. Works for me now, too. Just to wait for the next glitch . /Matthias
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December 10th, 2008 8:56am

Dr. Fraggle said:Hi, I had the same problem, but it had nothing to do with the lenght of the computername. I solved the problem by moving all the active directory roles to the global catalog domain controller on which I installed exchange 2007 (schema master, RID master, PDC master and Infrastructure master), rebooted the server, and everything worked just fine.Hi,I've encountered a similar problem on MS Exchange Server 2007 running on Win Server 2003 SP 2 as a Virtual PC 2007 guest machine. Being a newbie, it would be appreciated if you gave me some navigation instructions.
December 24th, 2008 4:02am

Dr. Fraggle said:Hi, I had the same problem, but it had nothing to do with the lenght of the computername. I solved the problem by moving all the active directory roles to the global catalog domain controller on which I installed exchange 2007 (schema master, RID master, PDC master and Infrastructure master), rebooted the server, and everything worked just fine.
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December 24th, 2008 4:02am

If your environment is in a cluster, you need to bring the System Attendant online in Cluster Administrator too. While the service was restarted in Services.msc, you need to bring this service onlinefor the Cluster Administrator too. I had this problem while trying to move a mailbox from mailbox databases.Just a note. regards,Paulo Almeida.Paulo Marcos
February 13th, 2009 9:30am

I had this exact same issue, but a different resolution than just restarting the system attendant service.We are running a CCR Exchange 2007 environment and using SCR to replicate to our DR site. This weekend we ran a failover test to the DR site and then failed back. The failback was not perfect and DNS was not updated with the new information and the computer account for our exchange cluster stayed disabled in AD. I caught the DNS issue on failover night, but didn't figure out that the computer account was disabled unitil I got the same message as above.Go into AD find the computer account for your Exchange Cluster, right click and Enable the account. I restarted the system attendant service for good measure and then waited about 15 minutes for the changes to propagate. This worked for me.
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April 7th, 2009 2:44pm

I found the same thing - it turns out that when you register Exchange exceptions in the SCW, you get different results depending on whether you installed Exchange 2007 RTM and upgraded to SP1 or installed Exchange/SP1 together. More details on my blog:http://johnckirk.livejournal.com/275365.html
June 8th, 2009 1:49pm

Make sure the System Attendant service is running
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June 19th, 2009 12:45pm

Utilizing a combination of all the great advice given in this forum, I fixed the error by opening up Services, right-clicking on the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant and choosing Restart from the mouse menu. That fixed it for me and I was able to create a new mailbox.
September 23rd, 2009 4:18pm

FYI, One of our school administrators had the following Error Message on Exchange Server 2007 when attempting to add a new mailbox: Error: Access to the address list service on all Exchange 2007 servers has been denied. After reading this forum thread, and not being able to solve the problem, I discovered that the user that was trying to create a new mailbox was NOT a member of the Exchange Organizational Administrator group in Active Directory. Added them to this group and, voila, no more error message! Just adding this "fix" in case someone else runs into this same issue.
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October 6th, 2009 10:46am

we also faced the same issue on our new Exchange 2007 server; that the System Attendant service was stopped. Restarted it and I could NOT create my mailboxes though i restarted the server also, but still i am not able to create new mail boxes, is there any other way...? any one can help us..
February 1st, 2010 8:39am

restarting system attendant service has worked for me since my GC's name was less than 15 characters and all other symptoms were OK.
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March 16th, 2010 10:40am

In my case - Starting the stopped System Attendant service made no difference. Nor did rebooting the Exchange node. I then went to Failover Cluster Management and saw that Exchange System Attendant Instance (xxxxx) was the only offline service out of all of them. Bring this servive online worked for me. Regards, Morné van Huyssteen
May 25th, 2010 3:40am

The most Critical aspect for a running exchange env , the DSA confirm the dc and gc are fine dns is intact!it resolves the isues!
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June 9th, 2010 4:52am

I checked to see if the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant was stopped and it was. I started it back up and added the new mailbox without any problems at all. Thanks for the info!!!
September 17th, 2010 10:42am

I have similar error in my VM server and I was able to resovled by restarting the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service.
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October 4th, 2010 11:25pm

Thanks that solved my issue;
December 6th, 2010 3:43pm

Well, I didn't read each submission, but I have the real, step by step, solution for this exchange issue. Most commonly, this will come up when running Exchange on the same machine as a Domain Controller. For some reason this caused two vital mail services to stop at each shutdown. error: An Exchange 2007 server on which an address list service is active cannot be found. begin by > start > Administrative Tools > Services | now expand the "Name" field so you can see the entire name of all services listed. You will now scroll down to services beginning with "Microsoft Exchange". The 2 services you will want to start are "Microsoft Exchange Information Store" and " Microsoft Exchange System Attendant". Click the link for said service and look to the left for a start link, click and repeat for the next service. Thats it! No Restart Needed, if you do restart, you may have to perform the process all over again. Good Luck, All Preston, Seattle WA
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February 23rd, 2011 11:00pm

Solved my issue too. Thx a lot
March 7th, 2011 8:20am

this forum helped me, Thanks for everyone. I started the service Exchange System Attendant - it was in "STOP".
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March 27th, 2011 7:59pm

I found the same scenario on my new Exchange 2007 server; that the System Attendant service was stopped. Restarted it and I could create my mailboxes, etc. I have not dived into this very deep, but will watch this thread. Thanks, David Same as David. Found the Exchange System Attendant service was stopped. Started it and was able to create the mailbox.
April 26th, 2011 11:51pm

Just as a note, we've been running into the same "address list" error and have monitoring this Forum. We noticed if we checked the Services, the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service was stopped. It appears to stop randomly; more often than not it is stopped after restarting the server. After starting the service, the issue did not re-occur. If anyone has any suggestions, it would be appreciated. We're running Server1 (Windows 2003 release 1 - FSMO), Server2 (Windows 2003 Std Server x64 SP1 "new") with Exchange 2007 installed from released version of CD installed on Server2. This worked for us. We have had to do this on several occasions. Even after a restart I noticed the service was not started. I am going to change the default action from Automatic to Automatic (Delayed Start) and see if that resolves the issue. Check this option first as it is an easy fix versus some of the other solutions. If this fix doesn't work then move on to the other ideas here. (But this fixed us every time.)
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May 24th, 2011 6:55am

I had the same Problem. What worked for me: I noticed my Microsoft Exchange System Attendant was not running. Restarted the service and wola! It is working now.Dbworks
January 19th, 2012 5:12pm

As in my case, we have Exchange 2007 SP3 and SA service always seen to be in running condition on the Mailbox Server in question. This error is experienced in one or two Mailbox servers very often. We used to restart the SA service or reboot the server which instantly used to resolve the issue. But again after couple of months, the error re-surfaces. This is very much annoying. Have already logged a PSS case, but unfortunately MS also couldn't have provided a PERMANENT solution to this issue yet, being over 2 months. God knows the future well...
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March 1st, 2012 11:18am

Hey! The Microsoft Exchange System Attendant seems to stop whenever it feels for it. As a tip you should make sure it runs and if it doesn't start it! As a fallback you should also set it to Restart the Service in the event of First failure. Hope this helps... Code Snippet Error: An Exchange 2007 server on which an address list service is active cannot be found. Regards, Satheesh Varadharajan www.satheesh.net I do not agree with the above as the above is not a permanent solution, rather it acts as a temp workaround, as this is a common workaround which every one does to avoid this error for a while and get their work go on. I have opened a PSS case finally getting no permanent solution. Let's hope is MS can fix so. Thanks !!
March 19th, 2012 10:26pm

Hi Thanks a lot..Problem fixed..Now i can create new mailboxes.. Prabhu IT Administrator Kuwait.
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April 22nd, 2012 1:06am

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