Greetings! Welcome to Vol. 3, No. 2 of Exchange Messaging Outlook, an occasional newsletter about Microsoft Exchange, Windows Messaging and Microsoft Outlook, both for users of Windows 95 and NT 4.0 and for organizations using Microsoft Exchange Server.
Visitors to my Slipstick Systems Exchange Center web site may have noticed things were a little slow the past few weeks. That's because I was on vacation and took time out only to file updates for Windows 98. However, I'm back in gear now and plowing through many new add-ins and techniques, so watch for one or two updates each week.Today's highlights:
Regular features:
What you need to know about Windows 98For Exchange, Outlook and Windows Messaging users planning to install Windows 98, here are the top 3 issues as I see them:
See below for details on each of these issues.
As you may already know, Microsoft plans to issue a second service release for Microsoft Office 97 this summer. A prerequisite for this update will be Office 97 with Service Release 1 installed. However, in some circumstances, if you apply the SR-1 patch after upgrading to Windows 98, the Office files are not upgraded -- and you get no warning of this, other than some entries in the patch log.
What happens is that a new Windows 98 utility, called Walign, kicks in and changes the Office files so they'll load faster; it aligns them to sector boundaries on your hard drive. However, this alters them sufficiently for the SR-1 patch to reject and not update them. For details on this issue, see the MSKB article OFF97: SR-1 Patch May Not Work Under Microsoft Windows 98 at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q184/0/83.asp.
How do you avoid this problem? Use any of these methods to bring your copy of Office 97 up to the SR-1 level:
Windows 98 and 10-digit dialing
One of the main complaints about Windows 95's dialing locations is that they offered no support for the growing number of North American cities where local numbers must be dialed with the area code and no "1" prefix for long distance. This is known as 10-digit dialing.
Windows 98 now supports this 10-digit dialing, at least in North America. To set it up:
Don't forget that you must enter numbers in "international" or "canonical" format for these dialing properties to work. See http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/olphone.htm#international.
With the release of Windows 98, the Windows Messaging/Exchange program included with Windows 95 joins the ranks of the unsupported. It remains part of Windows NT 4.0 and can be found on the Windows 98 CD if you dig hard enough (see http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/win98-wminstall.htm), but don't expect any bug fixes or other updates for this component.
This will confound and confuse part of the target market for Windows 98 -- organizations still using Windows for Workgroups on older PCs. Are they going to be happy to find that they must install extra software to get the workgroup mail and faxing they have as part of their older operating system? Probably not. Many won't be able to locate these components on the Windows 98 CD at all.
Microsoft Fax is also now unsupported, but that's no surprise to those of us who have watched this very useful component get left behind without bug fixes or functional improvements.
If you have not yet downloaded or ordered Outlook 98, remember that the free period expires June 30. After that, it will be free only to Office 97, Outlook 97 or Exchange Server users.
Is the release of Windows 98 just 5 days before the expiration of the free download period for Outlook 98 more than a coincidence?
It seems to me that it is may be a shrewd move: People unhappy with the omission of updated Windows Messaging components from Windows 98 can simply get Outlook 98 and install it in Corporate or Workgroup mode. (Be sure to follow instructions at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/choosingmode.htm#control to control the mode.) The only thing that's missing is the workgroup postoffice manager.
On machines that need to manage a workgroup postoffice, run Wms.exe from the Windows 98 CD before installing Outlook 98. You'll find Wms.exe in the \Tools\Oldwin95\Message folder, in the \Intl or \Us subfolder (as appropriate).
Outlook 98 in a "run from network" environment
From Kevin Jarrard of Bear Creek Corporation comes a suggested procedure for installing Outlook 98 in an environment where Office 97 is already installed in a "run from network" configuration. I haven't tested this myself, but Kevin says he has run it on a variety of Windows 95 and Windows NT systems.
According to Kevin, when Outlook 98 starts its installation, it looks in the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0 and evaluates whether BinDirPath points to a local drive or a network drive.
If it is not local, the setup fails. To get Outlook 98 to install, you need do a little prep to change the value of this registry key, copy some files to a network drive and, after installation is complete, copy files that won't get installed in the proper place. You will need a spare machine that does not have Office 97 installed.
Preparation:
Installation of Outlook 98 on a machine that is currently running Office 97 in "Run From Network" mode:
Using Regedit, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0 and note the value of the BinDirPath key. Change the value of BinDirPath to point to a local drive. For example, change M:\Apps\Office97\Office to C:\Apps\Office97\Office. The patch on the local drive does not need to be an actual folder.
Install Outlook 98 (preferably by running Setup.exe from the Outlook 98 CD or from a network drive where you've copied the Outlook 98 setup files).
It is safest to choose No when asked if Outlook is currently being used on the machine and to go back after the install has finished and import the settings and mail manually.
Reboot the machine as required by the Outlook 98 installation program.
Copy the Outlook files from the network location used in Step 3 in the preceding section (i.e. X:\Changes\Outlook) to the Outlook 98 folder (i.e. C:\Program Files\Outlook).
Copy the system files from the network location used in Step 4 in the preceding section (i.e. X:\Changes\System) to your \Windows\System or \Winnt\System32 directory.
Using Regedit, change the value for BinDirPath back to its original network location.
Using Regedit, check HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\8.0\Common\Assistant and make sure the Assistant paths point to the proper network locations.
Many thanks to Kevin for working out this procedure. You could speed things up by using .reg files rather than Regedit to update the BinDirPath setting. If you have other feedback on this procedure, you can write Kevin at Kjarrard@bco.com.
The third annual Microsoft Exchange Conference will take place September 9-11 in Boston, MA. I'm not going to miss it this year. How about you? Registration for MEC '98 is now under way at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/community/events/MEC98.asp. You'll get a small discount if you register before August 1.
Growing pains survey revisited
In the last issue of EMO, I highlighted some of the issues related to the growth of the Slipstick Systems Exchange Center.
Outlook Schedule Viewer
From the developers of Global Calendar, a tool for gathering appointment items from multiple users and displaying them visually in a bar/Gantt view or Explorer-like view with color settings by category.
http://www.completesoftware.dk/prod01.htmProfile Maker (ver 2.4)
Significant update to this utility for managing Exchange and Outlook profiles. It no longer depends on Newprof.exe and therefore can handle hundreds of additional client settings. Also now supports Outlook 98 in Internet Mail Only, as well as Corporate/Workgroup mode, and Outlook Express.
http://www.desktopstandard.com/Outlook Aladdins (ver 3 build 1.2.4.6)
This utility (formerly Envelope and Delivery Labels for Microsoft Outlook) for customizable printing of envelopes and labels from Microsoft Outlook 97/98 has been reengineered in Version 3.0 to a standard Outlook add-in .dll file, so you no longer need to use a custom form to print envelopes and labels. The latest build fixes a few bugs, adds a proper uninstall routine and improves setup. POSTNET barcodes and FIM-A marks are also now supported.
http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/mssoutl.htmGlobal Calendar (ver 1.4)
Latest version fixes a few problems and adds an option to filter appointments for synchronization by category. This utility now supports multiple global calendars and allows you to create appointments in the global calendar, then have them synchronized back to the user calendar. Demo version now available for download.
http://www.completesoftware.dk/prod01.htmOutlook Calendar Template for Word
Much improved Word template file to generate a weekly or monthly calendar from your Outlook 97/98 appointments. Save the calendar as HTML, and publish it on your web site. Latest version can build extract appointments from other users' calendars and even Public Folder calendars. It also fixes a problem with recurring appointments in Outlook 98. When you run the downloaded Olcalndr.exe file, indicate that you want to put the decompressed files in your \Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates. This will replace any older Olcalndr.dot file. See More on the Outlook Calendar Template at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/olpubcal.htm#template for details on how to make it handle dates in dd/mm/yy format.
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q180/7/53.asp
Search the Slipstick Systems Exchange Center at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/search.htm.
Get the answers from the Microsoft Exchange, Windows Messaging and Microsoft Outlook FAQs at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/faqs.htm.
The Microsoft Outlook FAQ has a Table of Contents at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/outlfaq.htm to help you find answers faster. New and updated items are at the bottom of the page.
Ask new questions and provide other feedback for the Slipstick Systems Exchange Center FAQs at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/faqfdbk.htm.
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