I have an existing Windows 2000 (SP4) domain with exchange 2000 (SP3). I am trying to add a new server Windows 2008 with exchange. While trying to prep the 2000 server with the adprep /forestprep command we keep getting the error adprep was unable to extend the schema. We are running the command from the windows 2008 server CD. We have searched the internet and keep running into road blocks because everything references Server 2003. Please help a frustrated IT person....

Lets break this into two parts so that we dont get confused:1. Extend the AD 2000 schema to support AD 20082. Extend the AD schema to support Exchange 2007. 1- open schema management on the 2000 box and you have to mark the schema as able to be updated. I believe there is an "allow updates" (or something like that) checkbox within schema management. if you cant find it ill look and post back.2- exchange 2007 requires AD 2003 sp1 so dont try that until you upgrade your DCs or introduce a 2003 DC. also understand that exchange 2000 cannot use AD 2008, so 2003 sp1 is the common denominator there. Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

see Scenario 2 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325379. this will ensure exchange 2000 works when you extend the ad schema. Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

How can I upgrade my DC to 2003 without a purchased copy of the OS? Am I able to get a copy from Microsoft because I purchased 2008?

Yes you can use the "license" for 2008 to run 2003 instead. You have to check with your vendor to get a media kit for the 2003 disks, or a link to the download. if you use something like eopen i believe you can download the iso from there. Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

btw, i havent gotten my licensing masters from microsoft university ;) so if youre worried you should contact your sales person. Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

I don't think anyone can get a licensing degree, it'w way to complicated:) But when I want to add the new 2008 server what can I do with the 2003? The reason I ask is because I wanted to just use the 2000 server as a member server after to run his other programs on. Thanks for all you help!

You can get as creative as you want but youve got to make sure you do things in the right order:1 - do the "scenario 2" thing in the previous link to fix "mangled" attributes2- upgrade active directory to 20033- install exchange 20074- move mailboxes and public folders5- remove exchange 20006- install active directory 2008Ive done this a few times now and once i actually promoted 2008 AD early and just kept it in a seperate site from the Exchange 2000 servers, then moved them back once exchangee 2000 was gone.here is more info: http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/08/16/446709.aspx#2 is required because its the earliest version of AD that exchange 2007 can support while also being the latest version that exchange 2000 can. if you want to use a temporary workstation/vm/server for this purpose thats fine too, just read the article above for more detail. Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

I am working off a mirrored drive of their system on a temporary server in our office. Could I just do the mirgration from this HD and then remove the exchange off the 2000 that is in production? The only problem I have is the exchange databases is on a seperate hd on the server that is in production at this time.

What does that mean "workingoff a mirrored drive". Literally a RAID-1 Mirror? I'm not sure how this helps anything. the supported path is my above mentioned 6 steps. Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

We created a software mirror on the server to an identical drive and then broke the mirror and brought the other drive back to our office. We have the identical server he is using at our office. Trying to cut down on downtime for him and see if we can get the bugs worked out of the installation we were having.

the above 6 steps involve no downtime other than when the users mailbox is moved from e2k to e2k7. If you are attempting to migrate "stuff" from their production AD to a ghost copy of the same AD you are asking for a world of headaches. unless you have a very small user group with a small amount of storage your best off doing the above. otherwise maybe build a new forest and migrate users that way. But using an image of their existing server will probably not help you do anything as it pertains to the migration. Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator

We are just trying to get passed the adprep before we go do this on his server. We did what you said earlier in this thread, we have ran the script but we are confused on how to verify that it worked and took the dashes out of the name. They seem to be still showing up.

Do you have a screen shot of what it should look like? After we run the script.

We have began the installation for windows 2003 on the 2000 server. Do you know of any incompatability issues with windows 2003 R2 and Exchange 2000? It is coming up when we run the check compatitibilty with the server using winnt32.

i already mentioned the compatibility issues in my link above regarding "mangled" attributes. Mike Crowley A+, Network+, Security+, MCT, MCSE, MCTS, MCITP: Enterprise Administrator / Messaging Administrator