To work around this behavior, choose one of the following methods.
Method 1: Move all Exchange mailboxes to a different Exchange 5.5 server
Move all Exchange mailboxes from the Exchange 5.5 server that has a dot in the server name to another Exchange 5.5 server that does not have a dot in the server name. To do so, follow these steps on the Exchange 5.5 server that has a dot in the server name:
- Click Start, point to Programs, point to Microsoft Exchange, and then click Microsoft Exchange Administrator.
- Connect the Exchange Administrator program to the other Exchange 5.5 server.
- Click the mailbox or the group of mailboxes that you want to move.
- On the Tools menu, click Move Mailbox, click the Exchange 5.5 server that you want, and then click OK.
- Repeat steps 3 and 4 to move all mailboxes.
Method 2: Move all mailboxes to a server that is running Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003
To move all mailboxes on the Exchange 5.5 server that has a dot in the server name to a server that is running Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003, follow these steps:
- Click Start, point to Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Active Directory Users and Computers.
- Locate the users whose mailboxes reside on the Exchange 5.5 server.
- Select the user mailboxes that you want to move.
- Right-click the selection you made in step 3, and then click Exchange Tasks.
This process initializes the Exchange Tasks Wizard. The Exchange Tasks Wizard guides you through the process of moving the mailboxes to the server that is running Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003. - Repeat steps 2 through 4 until all the Exchange 5.5 mailboxes are moved.
Method 3: Remove the server that is running Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000 from its current administrative group, and then install it in another administrative group.
Although Microsoft does not recommend this method, you can remove the server that is running Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000 from the current administrative group and then install it in a different administrative group that does not have an Exchange 5.5 server that has a dot in the server name.
To do this, use the bootstrap method. You only have to use the bootstrap method if you have to add an Exchange 5.5 server to a new administrative group that has no Exchange servers in it.
If there is an existing administrative group that contains at least one Exchange 5.5 server, and none of the Exchange 5.5 servers in that administrative group have a dot in the server name, the server that is running Exchange 2000 or Exchange 2003 can join that administrative group.
Note If the Exchange 5.5 server that has a dot in the server name is configured as a bridgehead server, set the directory replication connector to an Exchange 5.5 server that does not have a dot in the server name.
For additional information about how to move the directory replication connector for an Exchange 5.5 server, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
254188
How to move the directory replication connector
After you have verified mail flow and directory replication with the Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000 server that you installed to a different site, use Exchange Mailbox Merge Wizard (Exmerge.exe) to move all the mailboxes. You can use Exmerge.exe to move all the mailboxes from the server that is running Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2000 and that is in the site that has an Exchange 5.5 server that has a dot in the server name. Use Exmerge.exe to move those mailboxes to the site that does not have an Exchange 5.5 server that has a dot in the server name.
For additional information about moving mailboxes between Exchange servers, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
328810
Moving mailboxes between servers