How to Uninstall Microsoft Exchange 2007
Microsoft Exchange is an essential tool for controlling the mail servers situated on a local area network. Exchange servers are sometimes required to be removed completely from the active directory, for example, when the server is old and needs to be upgraded, or when it needs to be migrated to a different server.
We need to follow the following steps in order to uninstall the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
• Before removing, assign all the tasks being performed by the current server to other servers, so that the network is not down. A separate server needs to be designated as the router server, so as to continue running all the existing services. All those roles can be later allocated back to the Exchange server after a new install.
• First of all, the entire mailbox enabled user community need to be disconnected from the system. This can be done using the active directory user controls. Then move this mail server entirely to another system.
• All the currently running services need to be stopped before it can be removed. There are a number of common services like instant messaging, different protocols used for transaction through mails, information and administration services, the routing engine etc.
• A registry editor is required to remove some of the registry values which are not automatically removed. This is essential as a future installation might not work properly if it finds those registry values present in the system. This will also stop the running services if they cannot be stopped manually.
• If the Exchange 2007 server is installed on an admin site, the server object needs to be deleted from the admin program.
• Next, run the Exchange System Manager to remove all the administrative groups. There are several server attributes that needs to be removed manually, which is required for a future installation to come out successful.
• The domain controller where the Exchange server was installed needs to be removed as well. It is shut down and then restarted to remove the Exchange organization from the active directory. Adequate time is required for this process to complete.
• The default Exchange 2007 setup program comes with the /removeorg switch, which can be used to uninstall it completely from the active directory. This command can be run from any server, and it will remove all the Exchange servers from the system.
• Ensure all the previously connected computers to the network can connect to the new server. Finally, remove the administrator server from the system.
The step by step procedure for removing Exchange 2007 is easy but a tedious procedure. Special care needs to be taken to ensure nothing goes wrong, as if some error occurs, it is difficult to reinstall Exchange server on the same computer.
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