Exchange Messaging Outlook
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Today's highlights:
Regular features:
Exchange Q & AThe following are
commonly asked questions on Exchange Server forums and mailing
lists the last few weeks.
Q. Is there an in-place upgrade path to Exchange Server 2007? A. An in-place upgrade is not possible in transitioning to Exchange 2007. Exchange Server 2003 and its predecessors are all 32-bit applications. Exchange Server 2007 is only supported on 64-bit hardware with the 64-bit version of Windows Server 2003. If the current hardware is suitable, then the most likely option will be to install a temporary Exchange Server and do a swing migration to it. At that point, rebuild the original server with Windows Server 2003 R2 x64, install Exchange Server 2007, then move the mailboxes back, using the Exchange 2007 tools. Q. Does Exchange Server 2007 support a scented plug-in? A. No, but it does stimulate at least three of the senses. Q. I installed Exchange Server 2007. Where are the Exchange properties in Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC)? A. Exchange Server 2007 brings the message properties associated with user administration back to a single Exchange interface called the Exchange Management Console (EMC). The EMC is built upon the Exchange Management Shell. The ADUC still exists as an interface object administration in Active Directory; however, the exchange specific administration for those objects now resides in the new EMC. Okay, so one of the questions above is not asked very often, but knowing the types of questions people are capable of asking, it could be asked at least once. Outlook 2007 Q & AThe following
questions were asked frequently in various Outlook forums over
the past few weeks.
Q: Since installing Office 2007, my Outlook can only spell check in French. A: You're not using Outlook. How do I know? Because the spell checker in Outlook works just fine and does it in English and Spanish as well as French but there is a problem with spell checking in Outlook Express after Office 2007 is installed. When you install Office 2007 on Windows XP, the proofing engine from previous versions of Office is uninstalled. Since Outlook Express can't use the new proofing engine in Office 2007, you're left with just French dictionaries installed. You can either install a third party spell check utility or just the proofing tools from any older Office application. I recommend using an Office 2000 product to avoid problems with Office Genuine Advantage complaining that you have an application that needs activated. Upgrading to Vista will also fix it. Office 2007 and OE Spell Check http://www.outlook-tips.net/archives/2006/20061228.htm Q: When I try to select text in the reading pane, the cursor is a hand and the page moves around. How do make it select text? A: You need to toggle the Panning control off. At the top of the scroll bar on the right hand side of the reading pane is a small button with a hand icon. Click this to toggle between panning and normal (text selection) behavior. Q: Outlook is not correcting misspelled words. I have all of the spell check options enabled. A: It sounds like you are typing in the signature area. You can confirm it by right clicking on the misspelled words - if the signature selector comes up you aren't typing in the message body. Edit your signatures to include two dashes (--) above the actual signature. This will help you to see where the signature begins and prevent typing in the signature field. Filtering Email by Regions in Exchange Server
A popular question on Exchange and Outlook forums is how to
block email originating from specific countries. It is possible
in both Outlook and Exchange, with varying degrees of success.
Blocking email by country or region in Exchange Serverr> IP addresses are allocated by geographical regions. It is possible to use Connection Filtering to reject SMTP connections from IP addresses belonging to regions form where there may simply be no valid business reason to accept messages. Rather than manually entering IP addresses to blacklist, there are DNSBLs that will return status codes by country based on the IP address provided. For DNSBLs, status codes are used to outline the type of offense an IP address has committed by being present in their database. DNSBL status codes range from 127.0.0.2 through 127.0.0.254. That range is suitable to assign a single status code to each country. An example of such a DNSBL is maintained by tqmcube.com. They have a DNSBL that returns status codes based on a legend of ISO country codes. For example, if we say there is no reason to accept email from North Korea we can use Connection Filtering to drop those connections. The ISO country code for North Korea is KP. On the legend provided by the DNSBL (http://www.tqmcube.com/worldzone.php) an email originating from an IP address in North Korea would return a status code of 127.0.0.125. In Exchange Server 2003, we configure Connection Filtering using a DNSBL in two places. First in Exchange System Manager we access the Connection Filtering tab in the Properties of the Message Delivery object under Global Settings. Here we select the Add button under Block List configuration. After entering a display name and DNS address for the DNSBL, we can select the Return Status Code button to enter the value for KP (as show in this screenshot). Selecting OK three times to update the configuration. There may be a warning about the second place to configure connection filtering. Connection Filtering also has to be enabled on the SMTP virtual server it is to run on. Screenshot of the Exchange System Manger Connection Filter dialog http://www.slipstick.com/emo/2007/ConnectionFilter.PNG -- William Lefkovics Filtering Email by Regions in OutlookBoth Outlook 2003 SP2 and Outlook 2007's Junk Email filter
supports blocking email by the top level domains by country
(.CN, .CZ, .HK, etc) and encoding (character sets). Filtering by
top level domain is not particularly effective, since many
spammers do not use country domains on the From email addresses
they fake. Filtering by encoding may remove more spam from your
Inbox but is not nearly effective as a good junk mail filter.
To set these options, go to Tools, Options, Preferences, Junk-Email. Only block encodings for countries or regions you do not do business with. In English speaking countries, much of the legitimate email will use US-ACSII or Western European. Other versions of Outlook can use rules to filter for word s in the messages header, where the words are specific character sets. However, a 3rd party anti-spam filter will do a better job of filtering out all of the spam, regardless of the country of origination. For a list of anti-spam add-ins, see http://www.slipstick.com/rules/junkmail.asp Fix for Microsoft Update Q911829Problem: After adding a recipient to a new email message in OWA,
pressing the space bar in the Compose Message window brings up
the address book.
This is caused by Microsoft Update Q911829, released in March and April of 2006, introduced an OWA problem into some environments where pressing the spacebar after addressing a message results in the address dialog re-appearing. The cause is that the focus is not set to the body after addressing a message. The most commonly reported issue is that while typing the message body, entering a space suddenly activates the addressing pop-up. As a service to the Exchange community, Messageware has released a free fix for this problem. It is available at http://www.messageware.com/fixQ911829. Microsoft Update 911829: You receive an error message when you try to perform any editing tasks, or you must click to enable the compose frame in Outlook Web Access http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911829 |
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New Utilities |
CCS Network Inventory |
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Updated Utilities |
Mail Attender for Exchange http://www.sherpasoftware.com/MAEOverview.shtml Mail Attender provides comprehensive content management in PST files (personal storage folders) on desktops/servers, mailboxes and public folders. With MA Enterprise, administrators can distribute/enforce common policies, archive data and search content in multiple information stores from a central web interface. Also, can track statistical information such as total message/attachment count, size and type while tracking usage of individual users. Works with Exchange 5.5, 2000, 2003, 2007. MeetingPlanner for Outlook http://www.emergingsoft.com/ Resource scheduling tool for Exchange and Outlook 2000 or later. Custom Outlook form allows searches of available rooms by various criteria. Users can view room floor plans and installed equipment, make catering requests. Reports show room availability and usage. XML web services interface allows additional customization. SonaSafe for Exchange Server http://www.sonasoft.com/sonaweb/TestDrive.aspx SonaSafe for Exchange Server is an Integrated Backup/Recovery and Replication Solution for Exchange Server. SonaSafe for Exchange Server is the only software that offers both backup/recovery and replication for Exchange Server as part of a single integrated solution. The solution provides automated one-click rapid recovery to the point of failure. Free trial available. SpamBayes Outlook Addin http://spambayes.sourceforge.net/ SpamBayes will attempt to classify incoming email messages as 'spam', 'ham' (good, non-spam email) or 'unsure'. This means you can have spam or unsure messages automatically filed away in a different mail folder, where it won't interrupt your email reading. First SpamBayes must be trained by each user to identify spam and ham. Essentially, you show SpamBayes a pile of email that you like (ham) and a pile you don't like (spam). SpamBayes will then analyze the piles for clues as to what makes the spam and ham different. For example; different words, differences in the mailer headers and content style. The system then uses these clues to examine new messages. Open source anti-spam add-in. Version 1.0.4. |
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Other Resources |
Support WebCast: Microsoft Exchange 2007 disaster recovery http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=937563 Support WebCast: Using the new Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 Task infrastructure to manage busy schedules http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=937562 |
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NNew Exchange Knowledge Base Articles |
Exchange services do not start after you install Windows Server 2003 Service
Pack 2 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=936541 How to obtain the latest update rollup for Exchange 2007 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=937052 How to install Microsoft Anti Spam Agents on Exchange 2007 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=555924 The Unified Messaging service may not submit voice messages to the Hub Transport server in Exchange 2007 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=935629 Certain IMAP clients cannot open the bodies of e-mail messages when users access their mailboxes on an Exchange Server 2007 server http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=934259 Appointments are not displayed correctly in Outlook Mobile Access http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=906229 |
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New Outlook Knowledge Base Articles |
Error message when you try to send an e-mail message or to receive an e-mail
message in Outlook 2003: " '<mail.contoso.com> - Receiving 'reporting error
(0x800300FD):'Unknown Error" http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=936986 Description of the Outlook 2007 hotfix package: April 8, 2007 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=935517 Description of the 2007 Office hotfix package: April 27, 2007 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=936521 |
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More Information/h3> |
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