Installing Exchange System Manager for Windows Vista on Windows 7 x64

Like many companies mine has not yet got around to upgrading to Exchange 2007 or 2010. When you want to encourage the move to a full Windows 7 environment this can be an issue as there are no management tools available for this older version of Exchange. The last thing you want is to have all admins logging onto the server to check simple things such as tiers, configure addresses etc.

Luckily Microsoft did release Exchange System Manager for Windows Vista - but a badly configured MSI means that you won't be able to install this on Windows 7.

Even when attempting to run the program in compatibility mode you are still greeted with the same unfriendly error message.

Fortunately I found a way around this. You will require to install an MSI editor such as InstEd or Orca. I personally prefer InstEd as it has many more features. Simply open up the MSI in InstEd and navigate to "InstallUISequence" and select the "CA_SET_ERROR_MSG" and "FatalErrorDialog" entries, right click and choose "Delete Rows".

You can now click "File" > "Save as" > "ESMVISTA_FIXED.MSI". You should now be able to run the installer without any annoying warnings. I have tested this over the last few weeks and it works flawlessly.



Ah - good old T&C - a welcome sight.



Fully installed and working



As it turns out, The Exchange Management tools are not the only program affected by this issue. So far using this method I have managed to resolve issues with Cisco Unified Desktop Supervisor, Agent and Cisco Unified Desktop Administrator. The rows you have to delete are going to be a little different, but usually it's a rather obvious OS check that is pretty easy to spot. If you decide to use this tip just be sure to inform you manager that this is work-around, not a permanent fix - the moment you do this you are saying that you need no support from the supplier.

Andrew