Updating Intelligent Message Filter in Exchange Server 2003 SP2

Published: Jan 07, 2009

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MS KB 907747 has more:
Microsoft Exchange Intelligent Message Filter is a product developed by Microsoft to help companies reduce the amount of unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE), or spam, received by users.
Intelligent Message Filter version 2 feature that is included with Exchange Server 2003 SP2 can be configured to auto-update itself, thus keeping it current and effective, and up-to-date with the latest updates released twice par month by Microsoft.
Note: IMF updates are available every first and third Wednesday. When the Exchange Server team cannot release the update on a Wednesday, they will release the update on the following day. In case the update is unavailable on a Thursday, the update for that week will be skipped. Then, the update will be released on the next scheduled Wednesday.
 
Although Intelligent Message Filter feature is installed when you install Exchange Server 2003 SP2, you must manually enable it to obtain the benefits of this new message filtering technology. After you enable the Intelligent Message Filter feature, the .dat file and the .dll file must be updated regularly to keep the filter current and effective.
Note: The IMF auto-update feature is only available in on a server that is running Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or a later, or on a server that is running both Microsoft Small Business Server and Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or a later.
The IMF updates are made available through Microsoft Update and Automatic Updates technologies. You can also use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and System Management Services (SMS) to deliver the updates in a corporate environment. Below you can see a screenshot of the Microsoft Update website along with the latest (February 2006) IMF updates:
 
To enable IMF auto-updates follow these steps:

  1. Open Registry Editor.

Note: As always, before making changes to your registry you should always make sure you have a valid backup. In cases where you’re supposed to delete or modify keys or values from the registry it is possible to first export that key or value(s) to a .REG file before performing the changes.

  1. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange
  1. Create the following value (DWORD):

ContentFilterState
and give it a value of 1.

  1. Close Registry Editor, and restart the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) service.

Further Reading

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Links

How to update the Intelligent Message Filter version 2 in Exchange Server 2003 SP2 – 907747

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