Archive 55

Category Office     Update for Outlook 2003 Junk E-mail Filter (Aug 24)

This update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail.

Download: Update for Outlook 2003 Junk E-mail Filter (KB902953)


Category About     Book Release! Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003 (Aug 21)

Last Friday I celebrated my first book release: Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003. I co-authored it together with Sue Mosher who is another Outlook MVP, Charlie Pulfer and David Hooker.

Book Description
One of the challenges of administering and supporting Microsoft® Outlook 2003 is that it stores settings in so many different places – in the Windows registry, as files in the users profile folders, and in the information store itself. Configuring Microsoft® Outlook 2003 pulls together in one volume the information that administrators in organizations of all sizes need to understand, deploy, and manage settings for Microsoft Outlook 2003. It covers configuration issues for environments where Microsoft Exchange is the mail server and also for those using IMAP4 or POP3. The book gives special attention to security issues, including recommended configuration of Outlooks built-in security features and methods for locking down Outlook with Group Policy Objects and other techniques.

Readers will learn how to:

  • Configure the new Cached Exchange mode and RPC over HTTP connections in Outlook 2003
  • Discover undocumented settings for Microsoft Exchange Server and use them to deploy or modify Outlook mail profiles
  • Migrate both user data and settings to a new machine
  • Use tools such as MFCMAPI and Outlook Spy to explore Outlooks data and settings
  • Configure an archive .pst file in the new Unicode format that supports up to 20GB of data
  • Use scripts to handle challenging configuration tasks such as granting Reviewer access to a Calendar folder, or adding a second Exchange mailbox to an Outlook profile

Category Office     Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 Community Technology Preview (Aug 21)

The software included in this Exchange Server 2003 SP2 CTP download is intended for evaluation and deployment planning purposes only, and not for production use. CTP releases of any product will not display the stability of a shipped Microsoft product. You may encounter problems with Exchange Server 2003 SP2 that could possibly result in a loss or destruction of data. Some of the mobility features contained in this CTP download are not yet available for testing, pending availability of Windows Mobile 5.0 devices. This build is available only in English.

Important: This release is not intended for production environments and should only be used in a test lab environment.

Download: Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 SP2 Community Technology Preview


Category About     Back from vacation, new Navigation design and new Search functionality! (Aug 10)

Right after TechEd 2005 I could enjoy my vacation! What did I do? Riding across the borders of The Netherlands on my bicycle! We (my girlfriend and I) started in Spijkenisse and went through Veere, Middelburg, Woensdrecht, Tilburg, Eindhoven, Venlo, Nijmegen, Arnhem, Enschede and a lot more places to Emmen. Not familiar with places in The Netherlands press here to see a map. Unfortunately because of weather conditions we did not finish the tour (still 400km out of about 1200km to go) so we will sure go back someday and finish the top and coast part.

Now that I’m back from vacation I’m completely refreshed and I immediately started site development again. The first results are posted live as of today;

  • a (new) logo
  • redesigned navigation
  • native search (no more Google!)

Still under development;

  • RSS feed for HowTo-Outlook Articles
  • RSS feed for Front Page News
  • Blogging software (I’m still editing htm-files in FrontPage!)
  • some layout changes
  • Links to relevant sites section

I’ve also got some other ideas but I still like to keep those a secret! ;-) Once done a lot of content will have been added!

I’m currently in my last month at my current job. Next month I’ll start college again. I can’t believe that graduating for my Bachelor of Engineering has already been 3½ years ago! After some years of real world experience I thought it was time to finish what I started so for the next 2 years I’ll be pursuing a Master of Science for ICT in Business!

Changes, changes, changes… yep, vacation really recharged my battery! I hope you like it! :-)


Category Other programs     New 8″ Motion Tablet released (July 7)

This week I’m at TechEd in Amsterdam and I’m at the Ask The Expert booth for Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. On Tuesday while standing at the booth a guy from Motion already came over telling us he had something nice for us and that we had to stop by the next day. Wednesday I had hands-on experience with the new Tablet and it is really cool having a full featured Tablet PC this small! Well it got introduced to the public this afternoon so I can now tell you about it and even show you some pictures. The machine has a 1.2GHz Intel Centrino processor and comes standard with 512MB of RAM but this can be extended up to 1.5GB. It has an 8" screen with a 800 by 600 resolution. It is a slate model meaning no keyboard attached but can be connected either via BlueTooth or docking station. A funny fact; the Tablet is that small that there wasn’t even room for the spring mechanism to shoot out the pen like it’s 12" bigger (but still small!) brother. Instead it has a clicking mechanism to keep the pen locked in place when not used.

If you are at TechEd; step by and try out the new Tablet yourself! We have one on display and to play with! :-)

View: New tablet (back right) next to others
View: Lying on its bigger brother
View: Compared to its bigger brother
View: The Tablet in full! The cord on the pen just prevents it from being stolen ;-)


Category How To     Added HowTo: Setting Outlook Group Policies (July 5)

When you are in an Active Directory network environment you can set Outlook policies to enforce settings on your users. If you are a home users you might want to set policies on what your children can and cannot do in Outlook.

Policies. Sounds difficult? Follow the instructions in this article and you can’t go wrong!


Category FAQ     Added FAQ: Error opening attachments / Cleaning out the Temporary Outlook Files folder (July 5)

When opening an attachment directly from within Outlook you could get an error message saying that it can’t create the file and to that you need check the permissions on the folder you want to save it in. In most cases the permissions on the folder isn’t the issue but the fact that the folder is "full". When you open an attachment directly from within Outlook it will first save a copy to a subfolder of the Temporary Internet Files folder. Cleaning out the folder will solve the issue.

View the article how you can find this folder and clean it either by browsing to it or by using OutlookTools


Category FAQ     Added FAQ: Reading Pane not available in Drafts folder (July 5)

For some strange reason there the Reading Pane is not available for the Drafts folder in Outlook 2003. If you really need to have a Reading Pane in the Drafts folder you can create a Search Folder to workaround the issue.

View the article for the workaround


Category FAQ     Added FAQ: New Profile (July 5)

In some cases it is recommended or needed to create a new/additional mail profile. These situations could be;

  • corrupt mail profile (needed)
  • upgraded/downgraded to another version of Outlook (recommended and in some cases needed)
  • changed mail account/ISP (recommended)
  • need to connect to separate Exchange servers (needed)
  • specific need to separate accounts (needed)
  • testing (recommended)

View the article to see the steps on how to recreate your profile


Category Office     Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB894384) (May 14)

This optional update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail.

Download: Update for Outlook 2003 Junk Email Filter (KB894384)


Category Office    Update for the MSN Outlook Connector (May 14)

The MSN Outlook Connector has been updated. The connector can only be used with a paid subscription to to Hotmail.

Download: MSN Outlook Connector standalone (English)


Category Office    Gates: New MS Office Coming in 2006 (May 14)

Tuesday, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates shined some light on the arrival of Office 12. According to Gates, the Longhorn Office release will meet Microsoft’s self-imposed development schedule and will ship some time in 2006. Until Tuesday, Microsoft was cautious about committing itself to any timeframe for Office 12.

The announcement confirms the timeline reported by Microsoft Watch, made in November 2004, stating Office 12 is pegged to be released to manufacturing by May 22, 2006 and will have a "street availability" of July 17.

View full article: Gates: New MS Office Coming in 2006


Category Office    Xbox Theme for Microsoft Outlook Web Access (May 14)

It has been away for a while but it’s back now! Quite nice but you must have/be a nice Exchange admin to get it/set it up for your users ;-)

The files in this ZIP archive make up the optional files and custom Outlook Web Access theme that are described in the article "Creating and Deploying Outlook Web Access Themes." This article is available on the Development page of the Exchange Server TechCenter at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?u=http%3A%2F%2Fgo.microsoft.com%2Ffwlink%2F%3Flinkid%3D43575&na=44&p=0&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=aeca9fe8-e8fc-455a-9d65-468d194e866b&genscs=.

Download: Xbox Theme for Outlook Web Access


Category Office    ActiveSync 4.0 (May 14)

To coincide with the release of Windows Mobile 5.0, Microsoft have developed a new version of ActiveSync. Users can now sync Media files using WMP10 and AS4.

The following has been added:

  • Improved USB support
  • View Exchange Server Synchronization status on your PC
  • Synchronization of pictures in Contacts on your mobile device with Outlook
  • Easier to identify friendly device names
  • Synchronization over a Bluetooth connection with your PC
  • Integration with Windows Media Player 10
  • Enhanced user interface and enhanced new partnership wizard
  • More robust synchronization with Outlook
  • Configure synchronization settings prior to first synchronization, including custom synchronization settings

Download: ActiveSync 4.0 (currently English only)


QuickMail     QuickMail 1.0.1 (April 21)

In some cases starting QuickMail could give the error "Cast from string to type Integer is not valid". This has now been fixed. Follow the link below to update QuickMail if you encountered this error.

View: QuickMail product page