Users who have mailboxes on a server that is running Exchange 2000 Server receive an NDR message when they try to send e-mail to Exchange Server 5.5 users

Consider the following scenario. You have a mixed-mode organization that includes servers that are running Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server and servers that are running Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5. Additionally, users who have mailboxes on a server that is running Exchange 2000 Server try to send e-mail to some Exchange Server 5.5 users. However, the Exchange 2000 Server users receive a non-delivery report (NDR) message that resembles the following:

This issue occurs if the Exchange Server 5.5 user object that is replicated in the Active Directory directory service contains a value for the targetAddress attribute.

To resolve this issue, remove the value for the targetAddress attribute for the affected Exchange Server 5.5 users. You can do this by using the ADSIEdit tool. However, if you must modify the targetAddress attribute for many users, you can use the ADModify.NET tool. This tool was created by members of the Microsoft Product Support Services team to make bulk administration of Active Directory objects easier. This tool lets you modify Active Directory attributes for more than one object at a time.

For more information about the ADModify.NET tool, visit the following Microsoft Exchange Team Blog Web site:

Method 1: Use the ADSIEdit tool

To remove the targetAddress attribute by using the ADSIEdit tool, follow these steps:

1. Open a command prompt on a server that has the Windows Support Tools installed.
2. Change to the Drive_Letter:\Program Files\Support Tools directory.
3. Type adsiedit.msc, and then press ENTER.
4. On the Action menu, click Connect to.
5. In the Connection Settings dialog box, type any name that you want for this connection in the Name box.
6. In the Connection Point area, click Select a well known Naming Context, and then click Domain in the Select a well known Naming Context box.
7. In the Computer area, click Select or type a domain or server, and then type the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the server in the Select or type a domain or server box. Alternatively, you can click Default (Domain or server that you logged in to) if appropriate.
8. Click OK.
9. Expand DC=Your_Domain,DC=Your_Root_Domain.
10. Expand either CN=Users or the container in which the Exchange Server 5.5 users are located.
11. In the right pane, right-click a CN=User_Name object, and then click Properties.
12. In the Attributes list, click targetAddress, and then click Edit.
13. Click Clear, and then click OK two times.
14. Repeat steps 11 to 13 for each affected user.
15. On the File menu, click Exit.

Method 2: Use the ADModify.NET tool

To remove the targetAddress attribute for many users, follow these steps:

1. Download a final release version of the AdModify.NET tool.
2. Extract the contents of the .zip file to a folder on the computer.
3. In Windows Explorer, locate the folder to which you extracted the files.
4. In this folder, double-click ADModify.exe.
5. Click Modify Attributes.
6. In the Domain box, click the required domain. For example, click DC=Your_Domain, DC=Root_Domain.
7. In the Domain Controller box, click the required domain controller. For example, click Server_Name.Your_Domain.Root_Domain.
8. Click to clear the Show Containers Only check box. If appropriate, click to clear other check boxes to suit your environment.
9. Click the Go button. This is the symbol that has a white arrow on a green background.
10. When the domain tree structure is retrieved, expand Your_Domain.
11. Click the Users container or the container that you want.
12. Click Add To List.
13. In the right-pane, select the users who you want. To select multiple users, press SHIFT, and then click the first user and the last user in a contiguous list of users.
14. Click Next.
15. Click the Custom tab, and then click to select the Make a customized attribute modification check box.
16. In the Attribute Name box, type targetAddress.
17. In the Attribute Value box, type null.
18. Click Go.