Server 2003 Questions

Thought I'd start a thread on Server 2003, being that I have a feeling I am going to have quite a few questions.

#1: I've a copy of Zone Alarm Pro... I used that on XP instead of Windows' own firewall feature. Is it recommended to use Server 2003's own firewall feature (I assume it is the same as XP's) or would Zone Alarm be more powerful?

Also, if you have any links in your bookmarks to articles regarding how to make a Server 2003 installation as secure as possible, I'd appreciate it. I've installed IIS and will also probably be using pop3 and smtp services, hence I am looking to try and patch any possible loops and holes.

I assume your using it as a server and not a workstation? I have not dealt with any type of software firewall, all hardware, so I'm not sure.

Server 2003 comes locked down in just about every aspect. IIS6 is great. MS has an IIS lockdown tool for II5, so that will not help you.

Here's a little info on IIS6, I have more stuff at home. I'll edit this post tonight sometime.

It's blazing fast. I am really impressed.

Alright, I've been hitting a brick wall with this...so thought I'd ask.

How do I set up SMTP and mail server on Windows Server 2003? I have a domain name pointing at my machine, I can get to my machine via http just fine, but I am having trouble getting mail and smtp set up. Any tips at all?

I assume your using Exchange? Have you opened the correct ports in your firewall for this?

Actually, I don't have Exchange installed. I could've sworn I got this working without Exchange before, with Server 2003...

I can install Exchange though, it'll be the first time I've ever used it.

I don't know how else to do it w/o Exchange. I'm sure it's possible though.

I think I used the IIS Manager to set the mail options the last time, and got it to receive mail sent to the domain pointed at the server. However, I never got smtp working.

Going to install Exchange tonight, will post more dumb questions then.

Well, here comes dumb question #1: how do I get rid of Exchange 2003?

I installed it, and now the system fails to start. It hangs in the Applying Computer Settings screen every single time. Last Known Good doesn't help, same thing happens. I am only able to clock in using safe mode. When I try to remove Exchange 2003, it complains that there are users using mail, I disable all the users via Active Directory Users and Computers, but that doesn't help. I've got a guy coming from Dell to replace a drive in a few hours so I need to try and have the system operational by then. Any ideas?

Check out these two KB articles from MS: One | Two.

Not sure how well these work, I've never uninstalled Exchange.