Microsoft admits Exchange update goof

According to the company, a pre-release version of an update rollup was inadvertently posted to the Microsoft Update and Windows Software Update services.

The update was intended to be released for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 after the company had further tuned it and fixed bugs.

However, the package was posted early and one of those bugs is causing major headaches for administrators who installed the update. Microsoft explained that an issue with the Exchange Web Service component is leading the update to send some servers into a continuous crash cycle.

The company said in a blog posting that it expects to have a fix for the problem posted soon.

In the meantime, Microsoft is recommending that admins uninstall the update and wait for the new final release of the Rollup 4 package.

The software can be uninstalled through the 'Change or Remove' screen within Windows.

The problematic update will we listed as version 1 of Update Rollup 4 for Exchange server within the program's support information window. To avoid confusion, the upcoming fixed update will be listed as 'version 2' said Microsoft.

"We apologize for any inconvenience and are working to make sure this does not happen again," wrote Exchange developer Scott Roberts.

"While at this time we are not aware of many customers being affected by this, we wanted to let you know in case you are currently testing what you downloaded 2 days ago."

The apology, however, is falling short for some users who had already installed the problematic update.

"I am sorry but this is absolutely unacceptable," commented one user.

"If a prerelease patch can get into Microsoft update, you leave me no choice but to disable automatic updates."

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