A newsgroup poster recently informed that Microsoft has removed Intelligent Message Filter (IMF) v1 download from the IMF downloads page.
IMF v1 was a separate download. IMF (v2) is a part of Exchange Server 2003 SP2.
Excerpt from IMF v1 Release Notes [still available here] regarding uninstalling IMF:
To uninstall Intelligent Message Filter, use Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel. The account that was used to install Intelligent Message Filter must also be used to uninstall the filter. No other accounts will see Intelligent Message Filter in Add or Remove Programs.
It was (and continues to be to a certain extent) a common issue with IMF v2 installation: user is somehow able to install Exchange Server 2003 SP2 without uninstalling – or being able to uninstall – IMF v1. At times this happens because the user does not know which account was used to install IMF v1, or because the account no longer exists. As a result, IMF v1 does not show up in Add/Remove Programs.
In such cases, re-installing IMF v1 and then uninstalling it works. However, with IMF v1 now removed from the Microsoft web site, this will become a problem.
Perhaps it is justified to remove the IMF v1 download from the web site – to avoid scenarios where users inadvertently download and install it. However, with the download gone from the web site, you will now need to call Microsoft PSS to get it.
I haven’t been able to verify with anyone at Microsoft if PSS will in fact provide a copy of IMF v1 when users are faced with this scenario, or if a workaround exists.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I ran into the same problem. You can uninstall it by going to Start > Run and typing “MsiExec.exe /X{DCE4D1BC-6E15-433F-99FE-D7F7A2FDC0FF}”
http://www.dehning.com/download/updates/Exchange%202003/ExchangeIMF.MSI
You don’t need to download IMF v1 to be able to remove it – check Update: Manually removing IMF v1 – it has the process to manually remove IMF v1.