Windows Installer 4.5 Pre-Requisite for Exchange Server 2007 SP2

Microsoft made available for download the RTM release of the second service pack for Exchange Server 2007 on August 25th, 2009. Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 is currently available via the Microsoft Download Center. Customers who are looking to deploy the service pack should know that Windows Installer version 4.5 is a pre-requisite for all installations. Microsoft informed that customers looking to upgrade from earlier releases of Exchange Server or planning to perform a clean install of the product would require Windows Installer 4.5 in order to do so.

“Windows Installer version 4.5 is required to install Exchange 2007 SP2. This is a requirement for upgrade scenarios as well as for new installations of Exchange 2007 SP2,” revealed Nick MacKechnie, principal technical account manager at Microsoft New Zealand. “To address this issue, install the latest version of Windows Installer before you install Exchange 2007 SP2. When you install Windows Installer 4.5, you may have to restart the computer.”

Microsoft made available for download version 4.5 of Windows Installer at the start of June 2008. In fact, the gold version of the Windows Installer Redistributable package has been up for grabs since June 2nd, 2008. According to the Redmond company the Windows Installer 4.5 redistributable is designed to support Windows XP Service Pack 2 and SP3, Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 and SP2, Windows Vista RTM, SP1 and SP2, and Windows Server 2008.

“Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2) has been designed specifically to help meet the challenges of any business and the needs of all the different groups with a stake in the messaging system. Exchange Server 2007 SP2 is a mission-critical communications tool that enables employees to be more productive and access their information anywhere and anytime while providing a messaging system that enables rich, efficient access to e-mail, calendar items, voice mail, and contacts. For the administrator, Exchange Server 2007 SP2 provides advanced protection options against e-mail security threats, such as spam and viruses, as well as the tools to help manage internal compliance and high availability needs,” MacKechnie explained.

Microsoft Windows Installer 4.5 is available for download here.

Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 is available for download here.

Exchange Server 2010 Release Candidate (RC) is available for download here.