Azure Hybrid & Cloud Migration Blog

Solution: Exchange 2010 SP1 – Email Request for Read Receipt is giving false notification that “Your email was deleted without being read”

Article by: Zahir Hussain Shah
© zahirshahblog.com

Category: Exchange 2010 SP1 | Exchange 2010 SP1 Read Receipt Problems

Exchange 2010 SP1 – Email Request for Read Receipt is giving false notification that “Your email was deleted without being read on 5/18/2011 12:44 PM” | Exchange 2010 SP1 Request for Read Receipt problem | Exchange 2010 SP1 Read Receipt bug

Problem Description:

I saw this problem, when we started migrating users from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010 SP1, where users started notifying me that since their mailbox quota is small, so they have configured local PSTs, for moving email from certain people using Outlook rules, and since most of the people use “Request for Read Receipt” functionality of Outlook, they mostly use it as default settings, so what exactly proble happens here that let’s say you do have a PST, in which you move emails sent by your Manager to you, and you have configured a automatic rule that whenever any emails comes from your boss, it should move atomically to Boss folder in your PST, and for instance if your boss is also using “Request for Read Receipt” feature as default for all emails he sends, so when he will send an email to you, and your outlook rule moves that email directly to your PST, so your boss will receive a false notification that “Mr. Zahir has deleted the email without being read it”, an example could be like below:

Your message

To: Zahir Hussain shah

Subject: Systems Infrastructure Assessment

Sent: 5/18/2011 12:44 PM

was deleted without being read on 5/18/2011 12:44 PM.

I don’t think so that I need to elaborate that how crucial is this, but when it comes to the all migrated users from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010, it becomes a business critical problem, so how to resolve it.

Well, you don’t need to worry about in terms that is there any configuration left or needed on your Exchange 2010 Servers for making this work, so I would say this is not a case, actually it’s a bug in Exchange 2010 SP1, and for fixing this you have to perform the below course of action:

Issue:

If a user on Exchange Server 2010 receives a message where the sender has requested a “Read Receipt” and he moves the message from the Inbox (manually after reading or before or by a rule) a “Deleted without being read” notification is sent to the sender.

Affected Outlook Client Versions:
Outlook 2003, Outlook 2007, Outlook 2010

Cause:

This issue was identified by Microsoft as a bug in Exchange Server 2010 SP1 RU3 and is scheduled to be fixed in Exchange Server 2010 SP1 RU4.

Resolution:

An interim Update is available in the meantime for those that cannot wait to the next Rollup Update. This Interim Update fixed the issue on the server.

On your Exchange 2010 SP1 Servers, first install Exchange 2010 SP1 Rollup 3 (Version 3), and then request Microsoft the below hotfix (KB) and install this KB on your all Exchange 2010 Servers for fixing this problem.

Request for this “KB2471964” from Microsoft Support Team, this is not a public KB.

Note:
Before installing this interim-update, you need to make sure that you disable “Strong Name Verification” on your Exchange 2010, and if later on you plan to install any new Exchange 2010 Rollup (lets say roll up 4) or Exchange 2010 SP2, then you have to first remove this interim update, and re-enable the “Strong Name Verification” and then install any new roll ups or Service Pack.

I will also show now how to disable and enable “Strong Name verification” on your Exchange 2010 Servers:

To Install:

1) You must disable Strong Name Verification on your server/workstation where the

Interim Update is to be installed.

To do so, you MUST use the version of SN.EXE that is appropriate for your

platform.

The proper syntax to disable Strong Name Verification is:

sn.exe -Vr *

Note: The syntax is case sensitive

3) use the following cmd to verify that Strong Name verification is disabled:

sn.exe -Vl

The output should appear similar to the following:

Microsoft (R) .NET Framework Strong Name Utility Version 2.0.50727.42

Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Assembly/Strong Name Users

===========================================

*,* All users

Verify that there is an entry for “*,* All Users”.
4) Install the Interim Update.

To uninstall:

1) Uninstall the Interim Update

2) Re-enable Strong Name Verification:

The proper syntax to re-enable Strong Name Verification is:

sn.exe -Vu *

Note: The 32 bit version of SN.EXE will run on a 64 bit box without error, however

the proper registry settings for strong name verification will not be made

(although it will appear to work) and will cause problems with service startup of

the Exchange Services. On a 64 bit box, make sure that you run the 64 bit version

on SN.EXE. If you are unsure or need to verify then you can take the following

steps:

After running “SN.EXE -Vr *” on a 64Bit machine, the following key SHOULD exist in

the registry when using RegEdit.exe (Not Regedt32.exe):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\StrongName\Verification\*,*

If you do not have the above key, but instead have the following then the wrong

version of SN.EXE has been run:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\StrongName\Verification\*,*

Note: You MUST uninstall this Interim Update to apply any other Interim Update or

Rollup. If applying a different Interim Update you do not need to re-enable strong

name verification. You SHOULD re-enable strong name verification if you are

applying a rollup.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

======================

-If you have not disabled Stong Name verification, or if you have used the wrong

version of SN.EXE to disable Strong Name Verification, you will get the following

Error messages when installing an interim update:

“Setup Wizard for Interim Update for Exchange Server 2007 Seveice Pack # (KB

number) ended prematurely”

“Setup Wizard for Interim Update for Exchange Server 2007 Servivce Pack # (kB

Number) ended prematurely becasue of an error. Your system has not been modified.

To install this program at a later time, please run the installation again.”

-When you try to install the Interim Update again, you get the following message:

“Unable to install because a previous Interim Update for Exchange 2007 has been

installed. Please use Add/Remove Programs to uninstall the Interim Update before

running this setup again.”

-In Contol Panel Programs, Add/Remove Programs, you can see the interim update is

there.

-When you attempt to uninstall it, you get the same message as seen when you tried

to install it originally:

“Setup Wizard for Interim Update for Exchange Server 2007 Seveice Pack # (KB

number) ended prematurely”

“Setup Wizard for Interim Update for Exchange Server 2007 Servivce Pack # (kB

Number) ended prematurely becasue of an error. Your system has not been modified.

To install this program at a later time, please run the installation again.”

-The correct version of the SN.EXE file (or at least one of the correct versions)

will have the following properties:

File Version: 2.0.50727.42

SIZE: 96.6 KB

Date modified: 9/23/2005 3:26 AM

I hope this article will fix your problem, and will allow you to smoothly transition all your legacy mailboxes to Exchange 2010, and at least you won’t be need to be worry about that your manager will receive a false notification that you have deleted this email without reading it J.

Cheers!

Zahir Hussain Shah
Infrastructure Practice Consultant – Unified Communications
MCSE, MCTS, MCTIP Enterprise Administrator, ITIL
Blog: http://zahirshahblog.com | LinkedIn | Twitter


Azure Hybrid Blog

29 responses to “Solution: Exchange 2010 SP1 – Email Request for Read Receipt is giving false notification that “Your email was deleted without being read””

  1. BUG: Your email was deleted without being read – Exchange 2010 SP1 RU3 V2 « Exchange Geek's Weblog

    […] Solution: Exchange 2010 SP1 – Email Request for Read Receipt is giving false notification that… […]

  2. frouxel

    Hi,

    I just call MS support for KB2471964 and they asked me to provide them the MS article number because they did not find the KB. Since it is an internal KB, I have no article number to give them.
    What can I do to in this situation.
    Thanks for your help,
    Regards

    Florian ROUXEL

  3. Zahir Hussain Shah

    Hi Florian,

    I have uploaded the fix for you, which I used to install on my all Exchange 2010 SP1 Servers, but make sure as I mentioned in my blogpost that you have to first install the Exchange 2010 SP1 Rollup 3, and then disable the “Strong Name Verification” and after that you can install this hotfix.

    Download the Hotfix from below 4Shared Link:
    http://www.4shared.com/file/rwrXaC02/ExchangeServer2010465579SP1_RU.html

    Best of luck, and do let me know, if you face any issue here.

    Zahir

  4. ahwc

    Hi Zahir, any idea when RU4 will be released, will it contain further fine tune of UDP support for Outlook 2003 clients? Many people had confirmed that the UDP support in SP1 RU3 is in-completed. It fixed some but make some operation worst.

  5. Zahir Hussain Shah

    Hi Ahwc,

    Well, I can not confirm you about the release of Exchange 2010 SP1 Rollup 4, but as I was reading somewhere, Exchange 2010 SP2 will be released in the next two to three months, so its up to MS that either they go directly for SP or release roll up4.

    And as long as the Outlook 2003 support for Exchange 2010 is concerned, so I would say that in Exchange 2010 SP1 Roll up 3 they provide support for the UDP notification, which allows Outlook 2003 to have comperativly fast communication with Exchange 2010 for sending and receiving emails, but yes, it is still not that much component to be the fully compatible client of 2010.

  6. ahwc

    Rollup 3 is very inconsistent, sometimes it works great but after CAS runs for a while, we notice very slow response time for deleting mails until the CAS is recycled. I wonder if there is a memory leak or something… We don’t care much about the Outlook 2001 features, all we want is something with decent response time for the basic operations.

  7. Zahir Hussain Shah

    Yes, I also found that roll up 3 is not consistent, on our side, we are facing one problem for Address book, whenever any Exchange 2010 user tries to switch in between address list, outlook is getting and and sometime connection to the server gets drop.

  8. Suporte CESP

    Great article! Very enlightening.

    It helped me a lot. Thank you Zahir!

  9. Rich

    Hi there, this seems to be exactly my issue, however I’ve installed the SP1 RU4 that was just released, and the issue still seems to exist. Are you able to provide any insight to this? Anyone else still having this problem with RU4 installed?

  10. ahwc

    I thought Microsoft pull out RU4 because it has other issues.

  11. Zahir Hussain Shah

    Yes, that’s correct that Microsoft has removed the RU 4 from the download center, due to some bugs found in it, I though the time when I was discussing this problem with a MS Support Engineer, he told me that this particular issue is scheduled to be addressed and resolve in RU4, but if this is still there after installing RU4 on your side, then I might suggest you to follow the same steps as I mentioned in this article to resolve this issue (Remove RU 4 –> Install RU 3 –> install StrongNameVerification –> KB (http://www.4shared.com/file/rwrXaC02/ExchangeServer2010465579SP1_RU.html)

    Keep posting here.

    Zahir

  12. x

    Any confirmation that RU4 fixes this? I’ve installed the RU4 a couple of hours ago and the users said that they still receive the NDR. I’ll reboot the server this evening (as the update didn’t ask for it), and see if this is fixed.

  13. ZAHIR HUSSAIN SHAH

    You can see above comments, that one person reported that after intsalling RU4, issue is till there and it did not resolved.

    On the other hand, Microsoft has also removed Rollup 4 from their download center, because after installing it usres faced some problems.

    I would recommend to remove RU4, and if you really want to fix this problem now, follow the steps outlined in this article.

  14. ahwc

    FWIW, Microsoft just re-release RU4 yesterday. Check out the RU4 v2 download link…

  15. Zahir Hussain Shah

    Thanks for the information.

  16. x

    Hey all,

    My users are still complaining, and the version that I have is the v2 of RU4…

    Anyone can confirm this?

  17. Zahir Hussain Shah

    Hi All,

    After seeing the user feedback for Exchange 2010 RU 4 V2, it seems that even after installing RU 4 V.2, the issue still persists, and as I discussed earlier with MS Support, they informed me that this bug has been reported and it is scheduled to be fixed in the RU4, but some how, it didn’t, so once again, I’m doing follow up with MS Support, and once I’ll receive any update, will update my blog accordingly.

    Zahir

  18. Zahir Hussain Shah

    Here is a confirmation from MS Support about this issue has been fixed in Exchange 2010 SP1 RU 4:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2471964

  19. Rich

    Not sure if anyone else is still having this issue; I’ve installed RU 4v2, didn’t help. They just released RU 5, installed and still the same issue.

    Does anyone else have this problem still?

  20. M. Sheeraz Ansari

    we have also installed Exchange 2010 SP1, RU 4 V2 (KB 2579450) but it did not fix the problem. users are still getting NRN messages.

  21. Dotan

    Hi – Bumping up an old thread…

    Zahir – Thanks for your time and efforts providing this great resource.

    I am having the annoying “your email was deleted without being read” issue and I am already running SP1 Rollup 6. I see that SP2 is available but I would not install it just yet, unless someone out there can confirm that the new SP resolves the issue.

    For what it’s worth (keeping my fingers crossed), I read somewhere that I need to allow the system 120 days following the installation of Rollup 4 (or higher) to spit out deleted read receipts that are still in the system. In the meantime, I setup a Transport Rule that forwards all emails with “Not read” in the subject to me, instead of deliver those to the users. Problem is that the rule does not catch all of the stale read receipts. Any thoughts?

    Thanks,
    Dotan

  22. Zahir Hussain Shah

    If you will open a support case with Microsoft, they will tell you that this problem has been fixed in Exchange 2010 SP1 RU 4, and since Service Pack 2 contains all the fixes, so I would recommend that even if your current Exchange Version is Exchange 2010 SP1 RU 6, but you are still seeing this problem, so I would suggest to go with Exchange 2010 SP2, and it will for sure fix your problem.

    Regarding your concern for allowing the system for 120 days after the installation of RU 4 to fix deleted read receipts messages, so I would say that I never heard about this, so I can’t say anything, but the above same issue arrived at my exchange server, and I did the same as presented in this article, and it fixed my problem.

  23. PHP, CGI/Perl Script Installation Service

    […] Professional, cheap & fast PHP, CGI/Perl script installation & secure file transfer services, with fast delivery of services within 24 hours & at affordable prices. Read More… […]

  24. android tablet review

    android tablets review I must say, as a great deal as I enjoyed reading what you had to say, I couldnt aid but shed interest soon after a although. Its as should you had a amazing grasp on the topic matter.

  25. Massimiliano Rizzi

    Hi Zahir,

    me too bumping up an old thread.

    I am having the same annoying “your email was deleted without being read” issue and I have just installed SP1 Rollup 6 on a SBS 2011 box on top of Rollup 3 (an rebooted). I know that SP2 is available and I will install it as soon as possible, however I was expecting that this problem would have been fixed in Exchange 2010 SP1 RU 4.

    Can anybody please confirm that SP 2 does resolve the issue ?

    Any response will be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks and Regards,

    Massimiliano

  26. Sherrill

    This design is spectacular! You most certainly know how to keep a reader amused.

    Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start
    my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Great job.

    I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you
    presented it. Too cool!

  27. wolfcamel

    I just installed sp3 for exchange 2010 and the problem persists – I have an org level transport rule to move the messages to another user and they continue to come through – most are for messages that were originally sent months ago.

  28. Zahir Hussain Shah

    I didn’t test this with SP3, but technically this hotfix should be included in SP3.

    I will let you know once I will test the same.

  29. AbdulRashid

    Hi Zahir,

    Did you test this with SP3?

    Please let us know.

    Best Regards,

Leave a comment