XADM: Unable To Access Exchange Administrator Program After Upgrading to Windows NT Server version 4.0 (SP3) (177735)

SYMPTOMS

After you upgrade to Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 Service Pack 3 (SP3) from Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 Service Pack 2 (SP2), you are unable to access the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program either locally or remotely. You may experience the following symptoms:

When you attempt to access the Exchange Administrator program, and you Select Browse, you receive the following message:
Microsoft Exchange Administrator
The list of Microsoft Exchange Server computers is not available
because no Microsoft Exchange Server computer could be located.
Microsoft Exchange Administrator
ID no c10312c8
When you manually type the name of the Exchange Server, you receive the error message:
DS_E_COMMUNICATIONS_PROBLEM, connection to the Microsoft Exchange
Server Computer could not be made
-or-
When you use the Compaq NetFlex-3 network card, network connectivity to a computer is intermittently lost and then restored every few minutes without having to restart the system.

-or-
Depending on the application, the client or application may have to be restarted to restore the connection. If the application has open files on the server during this problem, data may be lost.

-or-
Some applications report the lost connections. Others applications may seem to stop responding (hang) for several minutes before continuing.

CAUSE

This occurs because Windows NT Server does not detect the newest Compaq NetFlex-3 adapter card during setup. The drivers for the newer cards have the same name as the drivers for the old NetFlex-3 cards, and also work with the old NetFlex-3 cards. Replacing the old NetFlex-3 drivers with the new NetFlex-3 drivers in the I386\Drvlib.nic folder does not allow the new drivers to be loaded for the old cards.

RESOLUTION

Compaq has supplied a new Ntoemdh.inf file that allows Windows NT to detect and load the drivers for these new cards, and allows the new drivers to be loaded for the older NetFlex-3 cards as well.

NOTE: For information on the latest versions of the adapter card drivers, contact the manufacturer.

For information about how to contact Compaq Computer Corporation, query in the Knowledge Base for the following article:

65416 Hardware and Software Third-Party Vendor Contact List, A-K

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

170950 Intermittent Loss of Connectivity While Using Compaq NetFlex-3

153589 Compaq NetFlex-3/E Controller not Upgraded During WinNT 4.0 Setup

If problems persist after the new drivers have been installed, use Network Monitor to evaluate the affected Exchange Server computer. For additional support in this area, contact the Windows NT Server support group.

NetFlex-3 is manufactured by Compaq Computer Corporation, a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.