Okay, I think I royally screwed this up. I have a mailbox that was created as a resource account (it was going to be an automated RSVP account). Worked on it for a while and had all kinds of problems so I was going to start from scratch and redo everything. In the process of getting rid of this test, I deleted the active directory user object for the resource mailbox, and now I can't access any properties at all of the mailbox. Every time I try to disable, remove or even edit the properties of the mailbox, I get an error similar to: "Action 'Disable' could not be performed on object 'JEL'--the operation couldn't be performed becuase obect 'domain.com/ou/users/JEL' couldn't be found on dc1.domain.com. It makes me a little nervous because in addition to not being able to delete this, I now see that my Exchange 2010 server is using our very oldest Win2003 domain controller even though there are two other shiny new W2008r2 DC's running. But that's another problem. Any ideas how I can just get rid of this? It's stuck and nothing I do seems to pry it loose or let me set any attributes anymore. Curt Kessler Franklin Loan Center

Unless I'm mistaken the mailbox should automatically be deleted after the AD account is deleted. The fact that your Exchange server is using the older W2K3 DC may be why it hasn't cleared yet.TBrennan

Is there any way to set a 'preferred DC' for a server? I can't get rid of the old box just yet, I keep running into things still left on it to migrate (someone else built it long ago). I hate that it's so central to the network, but it's necessary for now. Curt Kessler Franklin Loan Center

1. Be patient, the mailbox will be removed and be in a disonnceted state, and then deleted after the retension period. 2. Use setadserversettings to set your preferred DC/GC - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd298063.aspx. Make sure your new DC are GC too and I assume they are in the same AD site as exch.Sukh

You were right! my patience was rewarded...it just took a lot longer than I expected and made me freak out a little! Thanks for your help and the way to set the preferred server.Curt Kessler Franklin Loan Center