XFOR: Internet Mail Service Stops Responding while Trying to Obtain Next Host to Deliver a Message

While the Internet Mail Service tries to retrieve the next host address to deliver a message, the Internet Mail Service may generate a Dr. Watson error message. This behavior is most likely to occur after several unsuccessful attempts to deliver a message.

This issue can occur because under very specific circumstances, the Internet Mail Service continues to search for Internet protocol (IP) addresses to use to deliver the message, even though there are no more IP addresses to try for a given domain.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Exchange Server 5.5. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Microsoft Exchange Server version 5.5. This problem was first corrected in Exchange Server 5.5 Service Pack 4.