Exchange SP2 Installation Problems

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Joe Posted: Wed, May 3 2006 10:08 PM

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Hi,

I've experienced this problem with three different SBS 2003 servers.

When I install Exchange 2003 SP2 it fails to stop the EXIFS service and this causes the installation to fail.  I did think it could be related to GFI Mail Essentials or Security but I've uninstalled both and it still fails.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Joe

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David Overton replied on Thu, May 4 2006 1:14 AM

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Joe,

I have not seen this and I can see no comments about it on support.microsoft.com, so I have asked internally what further info we need from you to help diagnose the issue.

thanks

David

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Joe replied on Thu, May 4 2006 4:57 PM

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David,

Thank you for looking into this problem.  It has been troubling us for sometime now.  We are at a loss as to why these three servers are doing this.  All three were built by the same engineer during a three month period last summer and he is no longer with the company.

What ever information you require I will post.

Thanks,

Joe

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David Overton replied on Thu, May 4 2006 5:02 PM

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Joe,

the quick answer is obviously to do a "net stop exifs" before runnign the upgrade,  but this does not do a root cause analysis.

thanks

David

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Joe replied on Thu, May 4 2006 8:15 PM

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David,

Attempted the net stop exifs as you suggested but the service could not be stopped.

Microsoft Windows [Version 5.2.3790]
(C) Copyright 1985-2003 Microsoft Corp.

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator>net stop exifs
The following services are dependent on the EXIFS service.
Stopping the EXIFS service will also stop these services.

   Microsoft Connector for POP3 Mailboxes
   Microsoft Exchange Information Store

Do you want to continue this operation? (Y/N) : y
The Microsoft Connector for POP3 Mailboxes service is stopping.
The Microsoft Connector for POP3 Mailboxes service was stopped successfully.

The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service is stopping......
The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service was stopped successfully.

The EXIFS service is stopping........
The EXIFS service could not be stopped.

Is there a way to kill the service once i've stopped IS and POP3 connector or would that be inadvisable.

Joe

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David Overton replied on Fri, May 5 2006 5:28 PM

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Mark Stanfill, PSS guru inside Microsoft sent me the following to your problem:

To get the SP installed you could disable the EXIFS driver in the registry (start to 4 in HKLM\System\CCS\Services\EXIFS),  set the MsExchangeSA and MsExchangeIS to manual to avoid a lengthy restart, then reboot, once it is backup, set the MsExchangeSA and MsExchangeIS to Auto (don’t start them), then switch the EXIFS driver back to the correct value for startup (start = 2). At this point try to install the service pack.

This will definately work, but it is a bit of a sledge hammer.  The most likely cause is A/V software, which can do nasty things, but you would need to do your own research on that.

ttfn

David

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Joe replied on Fri, May 5 2006 7:43 PM

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David,

Will give Mark's procedure a go over the weekend.  Your comment on AV has got us thinking as all three servers were installed over a couple of month around 12months ago.  It is quite possible that the engineer who did the installation has used the same av package/version.  Time to investigate.

Thanks again.

Joe

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Joe replied on Mon, May 8 2006 9:38 PM

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David,

the procedure worked a treat.  Earlier I attempted an install with the AV services disabled but that didn't help.

Time to look at the second server now.

Thanks,

Joe