XADM: The Service Cannot Accept Control Messages at This Time

 Last reviewed: February 3, 1998
Article ID: Q180001
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Exchange Server versions 4.0, 5.0, and 5.5

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to stop the Microsoft Exchange Server System Attendant service, the following error may occur: 

   The service cannot accept control messages at this time.

   Microsoft Windows NT
   ID no 0xc0020425
If you try to stop the service manually with the following command

NET STOP MSExchangeSA

the following error message appears: 

   The service cannot be controlled in its present state.
In Event Viewer there is no indication of problems with the service.

CAUSE

The System Attendant service has become unstable.

WORKAROUND

To work around this problem of the service being in an "uncontrollable" state, do one of the following:

  • Restart the server to allow the service to be forcibly shut down and restarted with the server startup.

    -OR-

  • Use the Windows NT Resource Kit tool Kill.exe to terminate the Mad.exe process. Please refer to the Resource Kit documentation for more information. 
Keywords          : XADM kberrmsg
Version           : WINDOWS:4.0,5.0,5.5
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbprb
Solution Type     : kbworkaround

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Last reviewed: February 3, 1998
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