This issue occurs if one or more Exchange 2000 Server post-Service Pack 3 files are missing from the computer. You may experience this issue if the following conditions are true:
- You install the August 2004 Exchange 2000 Server post-Service Pack 3 update rollup package (update rollup 870540) on a computer that is running Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server Service Pack 3 (SP3). This package is described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:
870540�
Availability of the August 2004 Exchange 2000 Server post-Service Pack 3 update rollup
Note Update rollup 870540 updates Exchange Server files together with the Microsoft Windows registry. - You reinstall Exchange 2000 Server.
Note When you perform one of these actions, Exchange Server files are restored. However, the Windows registry keys that update rollup 870540 creates are not removed.
- You do not reinstall update rollup 870540.
- You install security update 894689.
When you install the security update, the Setup program verifies the presence of the registry entries that are associated with update rollup 870540. If these registry entries exist, the Setup program determines that update rollup 870540 is applied successfully. Therefore, the Setup program updates the following files:
- Store.exe
- Mdbmsg32.dll
- Mapi32.dll
- Cdo.dll
When the updated Microsoft Information Store service (Store.exe) next tries to start, it is unsuccessful. This is because the Ese.dll file that the updated Store.exe file requires is an incorrect version. The Ese.dll file is from Exchange 2000 Server SP3 and not from update rollup 870540.
To determine whether an incorrect version of Ese.dll is installed, follow these steps:
- Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
- In the Search for files or folders named box, type ese.dll, and then click Search Now.
By default, this file is located in the following folder: %ProgramFiles%\Exchsrvr\BIN
- In the Search Results pane, right-click Ese.dll, and then click Properties.
- In the Ese.dll Properties dialog box, click the Version tab.
- Examine the value that appears next to File version.
If this file has a version number that is less than 6.0.6603.0, an outdated version of Ese.dll is installed. For example, if the version of Ese.dll is 6.0.6249.0, Ese.dll is outdated.