This article describes the steps to be taken in order to be able to administer an Exchange 2000 server from a Windows XP Pro computer that does NOT have SP1 or SP1a installed.

If you wish to administer an Exchange 2000 server from a Windows XP Pro workstation computer you need to do the following:

Step #1: Join the computer to the same domain as the Exchange server

First make sure the XP computer is a part of the AD Domain where the E2K server is installed. Read Joining a Domain in Windows XP Pro for more info.

Step #2: Install the Windows 2000 Adminpak

Install the Active Directory tools from the Windows 2000 Adminpak (adminpak.msi) on the XP computer. You will get a warning message about version problems. Ignore the warning.

You can install all the tools from the adminpak but you don't have to. Open a command prompt in the adminpak.msi folder (you can copy it to the %systemroot%\system32 folder to make sure it's in the OS's path) and enter the following command (copy and paste):

msiexec /i adminpak.msi ADDLOCAL=FeADTools /qb

Read more about it on the Extract Specific Tools from Adminpak.msi page on my site.

Step #3: Install the E2K Administration tools

After the installation of the Adminpak is complete you must now install the Exchange 2000 administration tools from the E2K setup. Run the setup.exe application from the SETUP\I386 folder on the E2K CD.

On the next page enter the CD key. Click Next.

On the following page, under the Microsoft Exchange 2000 folder click the little drop-down arrow to change the installation type to custom.

In the Microsoft Exchange System Management Tools subfolder click the little drop-down arrow to change it's settings to Install. Click Next.

Accept the settings and click Next.

Let the setup process run and when it finishes click Finish.

Step #4: Remove the W2K Adminpak

Now we must remove the previously installed Active Directory tools from the W2K adminpak.msi and replace them with the Windows Server 2003 adminpak.msi tools. To do that go to Control Panel and click Add/Remove Programs. Click the Windows 2000 Administration Tools item and click the Remove button.

Step #5: Install the Windows Server 2003 Adminpak

Now install the Windows Server 2003 adminpak.msi Active Directory tools. Open a command prompt in the adminpak.msi folder (you can copy it to the %systemroot%\system32 folder to make sure it's in the OS's path) and enter the following command (copy and paste):

msiexec /i adminpak.msi ADDLOCAL=FeADTools /qb

Read more about it on the Download Windows 2003 Adminpak page on my site.

Step #6: Check if everything is ok

After the installation is complete you can make sure you have the right version by going again to Control Panel and clicking Add/Remove Programs. Scroll to the correct place and see if the version is right:

You can now open the Start menu and look for the Microsoft Exchange folder:

Run Active Directory Users and Computers and see that it is in fact the Win2003 version (with Drag & Drop and Saved Queries options):

You can also right-click a user or group and see that in fact it gives you the Exchange Tasks option.

Run the Exchange System Manager tool to see if all is ok.

Step #7: Install Exchange 2000 latest Service Pack

In order to have the latest binaries for ESM.