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On this page:
Overview
Before the Transition
During the Transition
After the Transition
Key Differences Using Exchange

Overview

The sections below outline the things you need to do to ensure a smooth transition to Exchange.  For more information on the data migrated and Exchange service differences see: What Gets Migrated? and IMAP and Exchange Comparison.

Before the Transition

The tasks outlined below should be completed before your transition to Exchange.

• Make sure your system is up to date the latest operating system updates and service packs including Office 2007 SP2, Office 2003 SP3 and Office 2008 updated to 12.2.x. 
• Clean up your email account before moving to Exchange. Delete spam and unneeded messages/attachments. Consider moving old mailboxes to an archival location on your local computer.
• Purge your deleted messages before the data migration. If you don't purge your deleted messages, they will be migrated as read messages.
• Save a copy of your filters/rules. Your filters/rules will not be migrated automatically with your email and calendar data. You can copy/paste those lists into a file (Word, TextEdit, Notepad). Unfortunately, testing has discovered that importing rules does not work. You will need to recreate them in your Exchange account after migration.
• Save or print out a copy of your signature file. Your signature file will not be migrated automatically with your email and calendar data. You will have to set it in Exchange after migration.
• Note any current delegate access settings. Your delegate access settings will not be migrated automatically with your email and calendar data. You will need to set them up again in Exchange after migration.

During the Transition

• Your Exchange account will be created and your data will be moved to Exchange.  For details, see: What Gets Migrated?
• You will be able to access your email during the transition process using the current IMAP mail service.

After the Transition

• You must change your Kerberos password before you can access Exchange.  To change it on the web, visit: Change Your Kerberos Password.
• Check your data.  Login to Outlook Web Access (OWA) with your Kerberos username and password to make sure that your messages and/or calendar entries were migrated as you expecteed.  If you notice irregularities, report them to network@mit.edu.
• Configure your desktop email program to connect to the Exchange server: Email Configuration Help Wizard.
  
• Install the Outlook 2003 hotfix.  If you use Outlook 2003, a hot fix needs to be installed after upgrading to Outlook 2003 SP3 and before logging into the exchange server first time.
• Recreate your rules from the IMAP system (the ones you saved a copy of earlier) and check to make sure all of them are working. Exchange has a maximum of approximately 40 rules, so if you have more than that and you find that the rules are not working properly, you should contact support so that the rule limit can be expanded for you.
• Recreate your signature file. For instructions, see Q: How do I set my signature for Exchange email?
• Reconfigure your delegate access, if needed.  See: Exchange Calendaring: Sharing and Delegating.

Key Differences Using Exchange

• Web Email Access
  Exchange uses Outlook Web Access (OWA) instead of WebMail. WebMail is only for the IMAP mail system. Your new email will not arrive there once the transition is complete.
• Out of Office Assistant vs. Auto-Responder
  Exchange uses the Out of  Office Assistant instead of the IMAP email Auto-Responder.   You can still access the IMAP Email Auto-Responder to copy your old away message into the Exchange Out of Office Assistant.  The IMAP email Auto-Responder will no longer work for your account.  For instructions on using Out of Office Assistant, see Q: How do I set an Out of Office (Vacation Away) message with Exchange Email?
• Spam Quarantine Summaries
  Your may recieve duplicate Spam Quarantine summary emails from both the Exchange and IMAP email systems for the first week or two after you are migrated.  The extra summary emails will stop once the transition is complete in your area.
• Calendar Notifications
  If you migrated your calendar data to Exchange, turn off email notification in your MIT TechTime™ preferences to avoid duplicate meeting reminder messages. 

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