In Event Viewer, both the Application log and the System log contain errors, warnings, and informational events that relate to the operation of Exchange Server, the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service, and other applications. To help you determine the cause of Intelligent Message Filter problems, carefully review the data in the Application log and System log. Intelligent Message Filter writes events to Event Viewer using the source MSExchangeTransport and the category, SMTP Protocol.

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Event Viewer.

2. In the console tree, click Application Log.

3. To sort the log alphabetically and quickly locate an entry for an Exchange service, in the details pane, click Source.

4. To filter the log to list entries for events logged for Intelligent Message Filter, on the View menu, click Filter.

5. In Application Log Properties, use the Event source list to select MSExchangeTransport.

6. In the Category list, select SMTP Protocol.

The following table explains the events that are logged by Intelligent Message Filter. Unless otherwise noted, all events are logged at the default logging level.

Intelligent Message Filter has several performance counters that you can use to monitor performance and operation.

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Performance.

2. Right-click System Monitor, and then click Add Counters.

3. In Add Counters, under Performance Object, select MSExchange Intelligent Message Filter.

You must uninstall Intelligent Message Filter v1, which was an add-in, before you can install Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2 (SP2) which includes Intelligent Message Filter v2. Typically, you use the Add or Remove Programs option from Control Panel to perform an uninstall. (Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Add or Remove Programs.) However, in some cases, Intelligent Message Filter v1 does not appear in the list of programs, or the SP2 installation is blocked after you do find and uninstall v1. Possible reasons for this are as follows.

When Intelligent Message Filter v1 does not appear in the Add or Remove Programs list, a likely reason is that you are trying to uninstall it from a different account than what was used to originally install it. If, for example, Intelligent Message Filter v1 was installed with Administrator permissions, but you are trying to use an Administrator-equivalent account to install Exchange Server 2003 SP2, the SP2 installer will fail and Intelligent Message Filter will not be listed in Add or Remove Programs. In this case, log on with the account that was used to install Intelligent Message Filter v1, and then uninstall.

If the Intelligent Message Filter v1 is listed in Add or Remove Programs but the SP2 installation is still being blocked, try to first uninstall Intelligent Message Filter, install it again, restart, and uninstall. Usually, this should clean up the Intelligent Message Filter enough for SP2 to install cleanly.

If you still cannot uninstall v1, manually remove the Intelligent Message Filter from the server following these steps.

Caution:
Incorrectly editing the registry can cause serious problems that may require that you reinstall the operating system. Problems that results from editing the registry incorrectly may be unable to be resolved. Before editing the registry, back up any valuable data.

1. Stop all Exchange services (Information Store, System Attendant, SMTP, and Exchange-aware antivirus services).

2. Rename the MSCFV1 folder in X:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\bin, where X is the drive letter where Exchange Server is installed.

3. Rename the ContentFilter.dll file in X:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\bin\, where X is the drive letter where Exchange Server is installed.

4. Open regedit and export the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange key.

5. Delete the ContentFilterVersion sub key from the registry.

6. Restart the server. You should now be able to install Exchange Server 2003 SP2 without errors.