Dear all, At first I want to deploy Exchange 2007 to my Windows 2003 native domain "abc_123.com" which already have Exchange 2000. I've run the Exchange 2007 /perpareAD and try to install Exchange 2007. But there is DNS domain name issue with underscore "_". I try to run domain rename tool to rename the domain name as "abc123.com" but the domain rename tool not support with the domain which has Exchange 2000 installed. Now, I planned for upgrade to Exchange 2003 first, then rename domain and transit Exchange 2003 to 2007. I want to ask that cause I've already run Exchange 2007 setup /prepareAD, do I need to run Exchange 2003 /forestprep and /or /domainprep? Any potential problem for it? If so, is it possible to rollback changes for Exchange 2007 /perpareAD? Thanks A LoT. Patrick Mak

Hi Patrick, Domain rename operations are not supported when Exchange Server 2007 is installed in a Windows Server 2003 domain but in your case Exchange 2007 is not installed so I feel you can still rename the domain. About rollback of schema and AD prepare, which is not possible to do but, Exchange2007 schema also includes the Exchange2000 and Exchange2003 schema extensions so you can still install the Exchange 2003 since schema is already updated during Exchange 2007 PrepareSchema. After domain rename you may need to run preparead and prepareshema for Exchange 2007 and I would suggest you to do this rename first testenvironment first. Here are some of the references The Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service does not start on a computer that is running Exchange Server 2007 after you rename a Windows Server 2003 domain How to Prepare Active Directory and Domains

Dear customer: To proper assist you to troubleshoot the issue, lets focus on the error when you try to install Exchange server 2007 first. If we could resolve it, you dont need to upgrade to Exchange 2003. Please help collect the following information: 1. Send the screenshot of the error when you are installing Exchange server 2007? 2. Send the setup log file which located in <system drive>\ExchangeSetupLogs\ExchangeSetup.log to v-rocwan@microsoft.com for analyze. 3. Open <system drive>\ExchangeSetupLogs\PreReqs folder, send the newest .xml and .log files to me. Thanks for cooperation. If you have any question, please feel free to let me know. Rock Wang - MSFT