Again, I had a very bad surprise installing a critical patch for my 64 bit Exchange 2007 SP1. After restart I found out in event viewer that 2 services simply can't start in a "timely fashion": The Microsoft Exchange File Distribution service failed to start due to the following error: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion. and The Microsoft Exchange Service Host service failed to start due to the following error: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion. I can however start them manually. Please can you help me ? Any advice appreciated. Best regards.

Hi Fabri, Is there any error in enven log you get? Please post if you get anyone. Besides you can check below KB article, basically it happens when you install update rollups but you can check in your case also. Exchange Server 2007 managed code services do not start after you install an update rollup for Exchange Server 2007 - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944752/en-us

Hi Amit and thanks for reply.Those 2 error message are from system event log (source: Service Control Manager) and for each one there is this other error below:Timeout (30000 milliseconds) waiting for the Microsoft Exchange File Distribution service to connect.I installed update rollup on 22 October but the update didn't ask for restart so I was not able to see the error until the installation of another update (958644) asking for restart.Here are the steps I did following your link:1) The support article says that the cause is server can't connect http://crl.microsoft.com/pki/crl/products/CSPCA.crl. The exchange server is in a DMZ, so it could be the cause. I temporarily enable outbound access (tried surfing url via Internet Explorer) and restarted the server. No luck however, same errors.2) The resolution section of the article is split in 2 parts: one for framework 3.5 and one for previous versions.I so installed framework 3.5 SP1 and tried to follow that part: "Create configuration files"Looking for 3 services:Microsoft.Exchange.AntispamUpdateSvc.exeMsExchangeFDS.exeMSExchangeTransport.exeI can't find the first: Microsoft.Exchange.AntispamUpdateSvc.exePlease note that this Exchange Server is installed as CLIENT ACCESS, serving OWA users.Do I have to create:MsExchangeFDS.exe.configMSExchangeTransport.exe.configadd into the suggested XML lines of the article and save in same place of services ?What about Microsoft.Exchange.AntispamUpdateSvc.exe missing service ?Thanks for your time.

Hello Fabri, CAS server is not supported in DMZ zone and it should be installed in AD environment. Only Edge Server role should be placed in DMZ. Yes, Microsoft.Exchange.AntispamUpdateSvc.exe can be available on Hub/Edge transport servers only. So as per article you can create other tow files and check. If you get any further error after starting those services then check below thread which is similar to your case after installation of KB958644/MS08-067 http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=4060087&SiteID=17

Amit, I forgot to add that CAS Server is part of a domain. We only open communications for exchange and domain services.According to you do I have to create 2 config files in place of exe services ?Best regards.

Just to say that creating two config files for services fixed it.I hope (-__-) for the future that microsoft updates won't break working things ...Thanks Amit.

Hi Amit, Just wanted to extend my thanks as well! Got the fix from MS, only it says exchange was not installed, lol. Then I found your article! Upgraded .net to 3.5 from 2.0 changed the files and wll worked! Thanks alot!!!