I am having to reinstall my Windows 2003 Active Directory. The array got screwed up and all of my backups are bad. Once I get Active Directory setup, how do I reconnect my existing Exchange 2003 server to Active Directory? Will I have to reconfigure Exchange? Where does Exchange store all of its settings, in the AD tree? If so, everything is lost. Thanks for any help you can offer me.

Once I get Active Directory setup, how do I reconnect my existing Exchange 2003 server to Active Directory?No. It is not possible.Will I have to reconfigure Exchange?Yes, you need to reconfigure Exchange.Where does Exchange store all of its settings, in the AD tree? If so, everything is lost. Yes, all exchange attributes are taken from the AD and the exchange container (Right from organization level) will be present there. Ok. To overcome the problem, what you can do is:- Install the AD with the same domain name and etc.,- Once AD part is done, install exchange right from scratch. (/forestprep, /domainprep & setup). While going with process, go ahead and provide the old organization name, AG name if you remember.- Now, you can mount the stores and check if you can mount it. If not, you can check the name of the previous organization and AG names using the find /i command with the old database.Also check with:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/296788- Nagesh

You need to make sure that the domain name is the same and exchange org and servername is the same.

I was not able to restore AD from a backup. I recreated my AD environment yesterday and now want to tackle my Exchange issue. Should I uninstall the current Exchange that is loaded or just install over the top of it? If install over the top, do I overwrite files?Thanks,Jeff

Jeff,You need to take a copy of the database files and log files and keep it in another location for safety.Uninstall exchange server and install exchaneg server from scratch with the same org name, AG name and you will be able to mount the old database and resolve it.- Nagesh

Hi Please ensure the hostname and IP address is the same as the bad DC.Create the DNS recorder about the new DC.You can restore the Active Directory from the System state you backuped.Use the way of DisasterRecovery to install exchange server 2003 and patches.TksBobo