We are having an issue Removing a non existent Member server from exchange 2003 ent running on windows server 2003 R2 sp2. This action is required for the pre-installation of exchange 2010 so we are trying to migrate and it will not allow us because a non existent member server is showing in exchange system manager.

I'm sorry to hear that. To help you, it would be useful to know what you've done.Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."

The environment existed with an old exchange server under Exchange Manager whenrunning the 2010 Prep Analyzer Tool. I have removed two associated email accounts but cannot remove this server as a member. So in short no much at all except researching how to clean this up without much insight.

Okay, please post the complete information. If you're referring to messages in a tool, please post the complete message.Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."

Firstly, thank you for all your time and support concerning this matter. Okay, we have an 2003 Ent exchange server running on 2003 R2 SP2 server. Under the Administrative Group there is a folder called Servers. Under this folder exists three servers, to include the existing primary master exchange server (Basic), a non-existent old server entry (Basic) and our OWA web mail (Front-end) server. In the process of running 2010 Exchange Prep Analyzer Tool, an error showed with this non-existent server thereby disqualifying the current exchange server from migrating to 2010 exchange. Our goal is to remove the older server entry which does not exist so a successful 2010 Prep Analzer report is deemed content to move forward with the 2010 migration. Moving forward please ask specific questions as this will help me provide the level of details necessary to resolve this issue quicker. I am at an impass concerning this issue with little to go on. Again, thank you.

You can simply delete the server from Exchange System Manager. However, you should read this first, even if it isn't the last server in your organization because some of the advice applies to any server you might remove. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb288905(EXCHG.80).aspxEd Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."

Ed, I read this article and tried to delete the entry by going through "All tasks" and "Delete Server" but failed to work for me going through the procedure. When I attempt to remove the server I get an error that "One or more users currently use a mailbox store on this server. These users must be moved to a mailbox store on a different server or be mail disabled before uninstalling this server;" Facility: Exchange System Manager ID no: c103f492 Exchange System Manager So which users and where are they deleted from under this Server entry? I am deciding whether or not to use the ADSI tool to remove this entry with all the connotations of using this tool.

Some user (or users) in Active Directory has a mailbox defined on that server. If that user has never logged on to the server, then the mailbox wouldn't show up in the databases under the server. Start deleting the databases under that server. When one fails, you will know which database is preventing you from deleting the server. Then you'll have to search AD to find which user is on that database. You need to get the distinguishedName (DN) for that database, and then search users in your AD for one that has that DN in their homeMDB attribute. You can use LDP to do that. When you find the user, remove the Exchange Attributes. If you don't know how to do that, I'm sure someone has documented this procedure out there because this comes up all the time, but I'll leave it to you to search for it.Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."

Some user (or users) in Active Directory has a mailbox defined on that server. If that user has never logged on to the server, then the mailbox wouldn't show up in the databases under the server. Start deleting the databases under that server. When one fails, you will know which database is preventing you from deleting the server. Then you'll have to search AD to find which user is on that database. You need to get the distinguishedName (DN) for that database, and then search users in your AD for one that has that DN in their homeMDB attribute. You can use LDP to do that. When you find the user, remove the Exchange Attributes. If you don't know how to do that, I'm sure someone has documented this procedure out there because this comes up all the time, but I'll leave it to you to search for it.Ed Crowley MVP "There are seldom good technological solutions to behavioral problems."

Firstly, thank you for all your time and support concerning this matter. Okay, we have an 2003 Ent exchange server running on 2003 R2 SP2 server. Under the Administrative Group there is a folder called Servers. Under this folder exists three servers, to include the existing primary master exchange server (Basic), a non-existent old server entry (Basic) and our OWA web mail (Front-end) server. In the process of running 2010 Exchange Prep Analyzer Tool, an error showed with this non-existent server thereby disqualifying the current exchange server from migrating to 2010 exchange. Our goal is to remove the older server entry which does not exist so a successful 2010 Prep Analzer report is deemed content to move forward with the 2010 migration. Moving forward please ask specific questions as this will help me provide the level of details necessary to resolve this issue quicker. I am at an impass concerning this issue with little to go on. Again, thank you. From my experience, installing Exchange 2010 does not require removing a previous version Exchange server. Could you please copy and paste the exact report of Prep Analyzer Tool? It would help us research. Besides, I'd suggest you refer to the article below: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822931 Hope it is helpful.Fiona Liao TechNet Community Support

Hello, Any udpate?Fiona Liao TechNet Community Support

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