Hi There, I am new to Exchange Server 2003. I have a windows 2003 server with SP1 ...I Installed Exchange 2003 correctly..did forestprep and domainprep and started to create a MAIL-ENABLED user account by going into Active Directory Users and create a new user. It poped a windows in which it asked "Create an Exchange mailbox" so I've unchecked the option and clicked on Next..it created the user sucessfully...then I've right clicked on the username in Active Directory Users and selected "Exchange Tasks" from the submenu and selected "Establish Email Address" then selected "SMTP-Address" option and provided the external email address...and clicked on OK but there is a another textbox I can see under Alias which says "Associated Administrative Group" ..I've read the books and it says that this shouldnt be asked if you are making "mail-enabled user" ...so please help me to understand why is it asking and whats this...or what step i am missing or is it normal? Thanks

Hi, It is normal behavior if the Exchange organization works in Mixed Mode (can support pre-Exchange 2000 servers). You can change operation mode by opening ESM, right click Organization name and click Properties. In 5.5 mixed mode, every contact and group is assigned to a specific admin group/exchange 5.5 site. In native mode, all contacts and groups automatically get the LegacyExchangeDN of the default first AG, which is the AG in which the first Exchange 200x server was installed. Mike

Mike, I really appreciate that you answered me..I thought my question was pretty basic and thats why i am not getting a reply from anyone ...Glad that you explained. Thank you.