XADM: Access Denied Error When Starting Exchange Administrator

When you start the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program you may receive the following error message: You also receive this error when you try to run Microsoft Exchange Server Setup.

The error occurs when the Administrator program cannot access the application event log because the data type is incorrect.

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys And Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it.

To resolve this issue verify that the entries in the registry key exist and the values are correct. If not, modify the registry key.

1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe), and go to the following registry key:

         HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EventLog
         \Application\File:REG_EXPAND_SZ:

2. Verify that the registry value exists. Create it if necessary.
3. Verify that it is assigned the REG_EXPAND_SZ data type. Change the data type if needed.
4. Verify that the string assigned is the full path to the Appevent.evt file. The default value is "%SystemRoot%\System32\Config\AppEvent.Evt" (without the quotation marks). Edit the string if necessary.
5. Quit Registry Editor.