Microsoft Exchange 2010 – Information Store service does not start (mostly after converting physical server to virtual using vmware converter)

If you are facing problems while starting Information Store service in Microsoft Exchange 2010 server and getting an error message in an alert window with error code of -2147221213, it is most probable that there is a missing key in registry related with the exchange setup. If you also check application event logs for detailed information and see events with errors 7024, 1026, 9542 and 5000, then that is the case.

Problem occurs because there is no “Services” string value in the below registry key or the key is inaccessable: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\Setup

To fix this problem and be able to start the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service, do the following steps:

• Go to Start > Run > type “regedit”
• Check if there is a key “Setup” under: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\
• If not, right click key “Exchange” > New > Key and name it as “Setup”
• Create a new string value in this newly created key and name it as “Services”
• Right click Services > Modify and enter the full installation path of Exchange 2010, default path is C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\V14
• If there already exists a string value “Services” in the registry key “Setup”, check if it points to the installation folder of Exchange 2010 or check if SYSTEM user has permission to access to this registry key “Setup” (Right click Setup > Permissions)

In our case, we faced the problem in virtual Exchange 2010 server after we converted the running physical one using VMware Converter tool. It is probably that while converting the physical server to virtual, VMware Converter could not access the registry key described above and therefore skipped it.