Exchange 2007 and 2010: Don't rename your domain name and rename your Exchange Server

Symptoms

You use the Rendom.exe utility to rename an existing Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or above domain. After you do this, the following services do not start on computers that are running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 or 2010:

Microsoft Exchange EdgeSync
Microsoft Exchange Information Store
Microsoft Exchange System Attendant
Microsoft Exchange Transport

Figure 1: MSExchangeTransport doesn't start

Figure 2: Microsoft Exchange error

Cause

This issue occurs because domain rename operations are not supported when Exchange Server 2007 is installed in a Windows Server 2003 domain. If you rename the domain, and if the domain contains computers that are running Exchange Server 2007, the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service does not start.

Workaround

Rename domain:

To work around this issue, use Rendom.exe to rename the domain its original name.

Rename server:

Rename the Exchange Server to original name.

Reference: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925822/en-us

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