Knowledge Base

The System Attendant service stops responding, and users cannot log on to an Exchange Server 2003 computer

Article ID: 887809

Article Last Modified on 10/25/2007

APPLIES TO

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Standard Edition
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Enterprise Edition

SYMPTOMS

The System Attendant service in Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 stops responding. Users cannot log on to the Exchange Server 2003 computer to access e-mail until the System Attendant service is restarted. You have to manually restart the System Attendant service.

CAUSE

This problem may occur when the Recipient Update Service times out while it waits for a response from a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) session with the Active Directory directory service.

When Active Directory disconnects the LDAP session, the Recipient Update Service does not receive any data or any LDAP errors from the LDAP session that was disconnected. Therefore, the Recipient Update Service continues to retry the LDAP connection until it receives data or an LDAP error. When the Recipient Update Service does this, the System Attendant service may stop responding.

RESOLUTION

Hotfix information

A supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem, submit a request to Microsoft Online Customer Services to obtain the hotfix. To submit an online request to obtain the hotfix, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6294451

Note If additional issues occur or any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. To create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

Prerequisites

This hotfix requires Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 1.

Restart requirement

You do not have to restart your computer after you install this hotfix.

Hotfix replacement information

This hotfix does not replace any other software updates.

File information

The English version of this hotfix has the file attributes (or later file attributes) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.

Date         Time   Version         Size       File name
--------------------------------------------------------------
04-Nov-2004  09:49  6.5.7232.49       584,192  Abv_dg.dll        
04-Nov-2004  09:49  6.5.7232.49     1,185,280  Msallog.dll

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Exchange Server 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

836993 How to obtain the latest service packs for Exchange Server 2003

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

824684 Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates