Hi. I was wondering why our Exchange 2003 Server's Information Store Service does not start automatically after a reboot. It starts fine when manually invoked but never starts automatically.

Have you seen below articles? http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940845 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944752Vinod |CCNA|MCSE 2003 +Messaging|MCTS|ITIL V3|

I need a solution for Exchange 2003, not 2007. Unless they have the same mechanism but is not documented as being applicable in the links to the articles you provided.

Can you post the exact errors in the event logs you see when it fails to start?

I would except the logs have been cleared since the last time the server was rebooted several months ago. There's nothing you can tell me without the log entry?

Hi,Are there any errors generated. LIke Andy mentioned, we would need the EventIDs and Details if any during boot of failuresNitin Gupta (gupnit) | MVP - Exchange | http://www.nitingupta.in/blogs

It makes it harder, without it, yes. That being said, I would run ExBpa against the server:http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=DBAB201F-4BEE-4943-AC22-E2DDBD258DF3&displaylang=enKnowing when it started, the SP/Hotfix Level of Exchange, the exact error in the logs and listing any 3rd party programs also installed on the server can help us better troubleshoot.It could be a timing issue, dependency issue etc....

Hi You mean server was rebooted Several Months ago !!!! ???? So how come you are sure that Services are not restarting automatically now !!! Sorry but confused here !Nitin Gupta (gupnit) | MVP - Exchange | http://www.nitingupta.in/blogs

Because the last time we rebooted it...... the service didn't start automatically. I had to manually start Store.exe. I have just been too busy to investigate until now.

Perfect. I'll check out that utility and will let you know what it finds. Thanks!

Hi. I ran the tool. One of the errors it found is that the Exchange Server in question is a VM. It provided an article number which I read but I'm still unsure if this scenario is supported by Microsoft. The Exchange server in question is a Windows Server 2003VM running on ESX. Is that supported?

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2005/10/31/413382.aspxSupport for Exchange on Microsoft Virtual Server Microsoft supports Exchange Server 2003 running on hardware virtualization software (virtual machines) only when all the following conditions are true: The hardware virtualization operating system is Virtual Server 2005 R2 or a later version The version of Exchange Server that is running on the virtual machine is Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) or a later version The Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 Virtual Machine Additions are installed on the guest operating system Exchange Server 2003 is configured as a stand-alone server, not as part of a Windows cluster The SCSI driver that is installed on the guest operating system is the Microsoft Virtual Machine PCI SCSI Controller driver

Thank you!