Note: This article was originally published in 2008. Some steps, commands, or software versions may have changed. Check the current General documentation for the latest information.

After wiping my server and trying to install Exchange 2007 again I ran into this problem when preparing the topology again:

“An error occurred. The error code was 3221684226. The message was The system cannot find the file specified.”

After doing some research this is due to the fact that I don’t have the AD tools intalled on my server. I found a helpful resource from microsoft about the pre-requisites for exchange 2007 you need to install before you can move forward with your installation. Here is the link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354.aspx For convinience I am including all the command lines to have all the pre-reqs for all the recommended functions (Client Access, Mailbox and HubTransport)

For AD Tools:

  1. ServerManagerCmd -i RSAT-ADDS

 To install the Windows Server 2008 operating system prerequisites for a computer that will host the Hub Transport, Client Access, and Mailbox server roles

  1. Open a Command Prompt window.

  2. Install Windows PowerShell, which is included in Windows Server 2008 (but not installed by default) by running the following command: ServerManagerCmd -i PowerShell

  3. Install the necessary IIS prerequisites by running the following commands in the order in which they are listed: ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Server ServerManagerCmd -i Web-ISAPI-Ext ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Metabase ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Basic-Auth ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Digest-Auth ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Windows-Auth ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Dyn-Compression

  4. If the server will support Outlook Anywhere clients, install the RPC over HTTP proxy feature by running the following command: ServerManagerCmd -i RPC-over-HTTP-proxy

 To install the Windows Server 2008 operating system prerequisites for the Exchange management tools

  1. Open a Command Prompt window.

  2. Install Windows PowerShell, which is included in Windows Server 2008 (but not installed by default) by running the following command: ServerManagerCmd -i PowerShell

  3. Install the necessary IIS prerequisites by running the following commands in the order in which they are listed: ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Metabase ServerManagerCmd -i Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console

Summary

This guide covered the common causes and solutions for this General issue. If the problem persists, check the official documentation or system logs for additional diagnostic information.