Error when uninstalling Exchange 2010 from server

By | May 26, 2010

The other day I had to uninstall Exchange 2010 from a server with the CAS and Hub Transport roles.  It all went well until the point where it was uninstalling the Hub Transport role.  The uninstall then ground to a halt with the following error:

Log Name:      Application
Source:        MSExchange Configuration Cmdlet – Management Console
Date:          20/05/2010 4:11:01 p.m.
Event ID:      4
Task Category: General
Level:         Error
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      HUBCAS1.contoso.com
Description:
(PID 6920, Thread 31) Task Uninstall-MsiPackage writing error when processing record of index 0. Error: Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.TaskException: Couldn’t open package ‘D:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14\Mailbox\MSFTE.MSI’. Another version of this product is already installed. Installation of this version cannot continue. To configure or remove the existing version of this product, use Add/Remove Programs on the Control Panel. Error code is 1638. —> System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: Another version of this product is already installed. Installation of this version cannot continue. To configure or remove the existing version of this product, use Add/Remove Programs on the Control Panel
   — End of inner exception stack trace —
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Deployment.MsiUtility.GetProductCode(String packagePath)
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Deployment.MsiUtility.IsInstalled(String packagePath)
   at Microsoft.Exchange.Management.Deployment.UninstallMsi.InternalValidate()

After scratching my head for a few minutes, I uninstalled Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2010 and then re-tried the uninstall for Exchange.  It went through perfectly. 

I hadn’t realised it was necessary to remove any Update Rollups before uninstalling Exchange, but it it seems it is required in this case.

One thought on “Error when uninstalling Exchange 2010 from server

  1. Chris Sanburn

    That’s just crazy! Thanks for posting, saved me alot of head scratching.
    I had even more fun. When trying to uninstall the rollup, #4 in my case, it prompted for a cd location for exchangeserver.msi…Seriously? Install media to remove a package I installed through Windows Update?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.