Exchange Messaging Outlook Volume 14, Number 17

Keeping Exchange and POP3 mail separate

Every administrator faces this problem: a user wants to have 2 accounts set up in Outlook: Exchange and the user’s personal account, but neither wants the personal email stored in the Exchange mailbox.

Some corporations take the heavy hand and don't allow personal accounts in Outlook, forcing users to use Outlook Express or web mail, or company policies ban access to personal accounts at work. Others allow users to add personal accounts to Outlook, but neither the administrator nor the user want their personal mail stored in the mailbox with business mail.

While I understand the convenience of having all accounts in one profile, business and personal accounts should be kept separate, either by using a different client or web access for the personal account. It keeps personal mail off the company's mail server and insures no one accidently sends business messages from their personal account.

For those who choose to use one Outlook profile for both, setting the default delivery location to a PST so that both Exchange and POP3 mail goes into a PST should be discouraged as it affects the ability to share calendar and contacts or use OWA. In fact, using a PST for the Exchange mailbox because the quota is low should also be discouraged. In both situations, a rule moving mail to a PST is better.

Prior to Outlook 2007 using a rule to move mail that was downloaded by an account was the only way to keep mail from two (or more) accounts separate. Outlook 2007 gives users the option of setting a different Inbox for each POP3 account.

Exchange 2007, Certificates, and POP3/IMAP clients

An organization recently upgraded to Exchange Server 2007 and has a problem with their security certificate: users accessing the server with Outlook Express receive the following message every time they open the program:

The server you are connected to is using a security certificate that could not be verified. A certificate chain processed, but terminated in a root certificate which is not trusted by the trust provider. Do you want to continue using this server?

Clicking Yes works, but these dialogs get old fast.

This is a common problem with self-signed certificates. The users need to add the certificate to the local
certificate store on their computer. If Outlook Express isn't presenting a dialog that allows users to view and install the certificate, users can log into OWA to download it (assuming you use the same certificate for OWA), otherwise the administrator needs to send it to the users or provide a link to download it. Once its added to the local store, the warning will stop.

Outlook 2010's Nickname cache

Good-bye (and good riddance) to the Nickname cache, no more corrupt autocomplete lists, no more backup copies. Outlook 2010 does away with the nickname cache (NK2) file and adds addresses you reply to that are not in your address book to the Suggested Names contact folder. You can easily view or delete the suggested names or move them to your Contacts folder. The suggested names are available on every computer you use to access your mailbox, including OWA (and handheld devices that can access multiple contacts folders).

Another change to the autocomplete feature: it now works like most users expect it to work by offering all of the contacts as suggested names, not just those you've sent mail to recently. If you don't want to see an address suggested, you can delete it from the list using your mouse. Doing this won't delete it from your contacts (or Suggested Names folder), it only removes it from the list of suggested names you see as you address email. You need to delete the contact from the folder yourself if you want to get rid of it completely.

Copy Categories between computers

A user recently asked how to copy categories to other computers.

With Outlook 2003 and earlier, if you are using the same version on every computer, you can export the list from the registry and import the reg file on the other computers. This will overwrite the category list on the other computers.

The key you need to export is HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\x.0\Outlook\Categories, where x is the version of Outlook.

If you want to preserve the existing categories, add all the categories to an item and copy the comma separated list from the Category dialog, paste it into an email and send. To use, open an item, click Categories then copy and paste it into the Category dialog and click Add to list. This will add the new categories while preserving the original categories.

When you have Outlook 2007 on every computer, you won't be able to copy the list (or paste a comma delimited list to add more categories). The easiest way to move the categories is by copying the PST file, which contains the master category list.

See Microsoft Outlook Categories
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/olcat.asp 

Product Reviews

Do you have a favorite utility (or one that doesn't work as expected) that you'd like to share with other Outlook and Exchange users? We're accepting recommendations and reviews for publication on slipstick.com. Email me at emo@slipstick.com for more information or to submit a short recommendation or a review.