Cannot Uninstall Exchange Server 2003
August 19, 2008 by John Tran · Leave a Comment
If you are trying to uninstall Exchange Server 2003 and you get the following error,
The component ‘Microsoft Exchange Messaging and Collaboration Services cannot be assigned the action “Remove” because: -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.
- Launch MMC
- Add Snap In -> ADSI Edit
- Right Click on ADSI Edit and select Connect to
- Select Domain under Select a well known naming context and click OK
- Right Click on Doman, select New -> Query
- Under Name type Mail User Search, under Root of Search Click on Browse and Select Domain, Click on Edit Query, under field choose User -> Exchange Home Server. Under Conditions select Ends With, this is important as I could only find the user under this condition. Under Value type the Exhange Server name. Click Add, then OK
- Click OK
You should see all the users that have their mailbox on the Exchange Server that you would like to remove. Delete all users and then go back to the Exchange Server and remove Exchange through Add and Remove Programs in Control Panel.