Exchange 12 CTP Install... had me scratching my head.

I was thrilled to finally get a new “server” set up and running at home so I could install a virtual playground (really.. I mean virtually.. I mean, using Virtual Server 2005 R2) to install lots of machines to test and learn.  And with my TechNet Plus subscription, I got a copy of Exchange 12 to install and play with now.

Problem: No matter how I tried, I couldn’t get past an error that said the new 3.0 version of the MMC was required.  “Hey, but I’m running on a Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Ed. server.. so I’ve already got that version!”… 

So then I thought, “Maybe it wasn’t ready to run on R2 yet.”  So I tried it on a Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Ed. server.  Still no luck, even after following the suggested link and installing the new MMC.

“Did you fix it? What did you do?”

The Internet is a wonderful thing. 

I found a note about it on the Exchange Team’s blog.  (Actually, first I searched a newsgroup, and found someone who had answered that question with a link to the Exchange Team’s blog.)  But the solution is one of two choices:

Install the older “RC1 Refresh” version of the MMC 3.0 ( found here ), or if you want to stay with the current released MMC 3.0, just add a registry key “MMC30Core” (no quotes) at this location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionUninstall.

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Well.. the install has been running as I type.  Better go check to see how it’s going….