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This will allow the Out of Office Assistant (OOF) to work when it is enabled from within the Options section of Outlook Web Access for Exchange 2003. The following is disabled by default.

1. Start the Exchange System Manager.
2. Click on Global Settings, and then “Internet Message Formats.”
3. In the right-hand pane, right-click and select Properties for “Internet message formats.”
4. Click on the Advanced tab, select “Allow out of Office Responses.” Below is a list of all the options available:

Allow out of office responses
Allow automatic replies
Allow automatic forward
Allow delivery reports
Allow non-delivery reports
Preserve sender’s display name on message

Posted By Chris in Exchange Server, Windows
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Here are the Dell MD1000 Direct Attached Storage Benchmarks I had promised earlier. The performance is not bad. I’m trying to squeeze some more MB/s out of the read performance. I’ve also included performance / disk. Looks as though 4x and 8x disks in RAID10 have the best performance per disk. All the disks are 73 GB Seagate 15K SAS.

Posted By Chris in Exchange Server, General, Hardware
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I’ve found there is neither rhyme nor reason for Outlook having difficulty connecting to Exchange over RPC. Many times the same configuration will result in errors or unpredictable behavior. It is frustrating to say the least. There is a decent work-around that alleviates most connection problems, especially the dreaded first attempted connection error. Below are the various errors that you may receive, and the fix.

1. Open the registry editor (at the run box type: regedit).
2. Locate or create the following key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\RPC
3. On the Edit menu, click New and DWORD value.
4. Type DefConnectOpts and press ENTER.
5. Right-click on DefConnectOpts and set the value to 0 if it isn’t already.
6. Exit the registry editor and Outlook should connect to the Exchange folders now.

Posted By Chris in Exchange Server, Windows
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I purchased the Dell MD1000 15 disk Direct Attached Storage Array in November. The enclosure itself is a JBOD system (Just a Bunch of Disks) because the controller inside does not support RAID. The RAID functionality of the system is achieved through implementing a PERC 5/e or 6/e controller in the server itself. The MD1000 can be daisy-chained for a total of three units supporting 45 disks. The MD1000 has dual controllers and dual power supplies for redundancy - something that should be expected in an expensive (albeit inexpensive in enterprise terms) product.

I have it hooked up to a PERC 5/e dual SAS (x4-type external) controller that supports RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, 50. Dell says you can configure the controller through pressing CTRL-R after the BIOS, but the tools are lackluster at best. Be sure to download Dell’s OpenManage system.

Below is my final configuration for my database and file server.

1. 1 – “hot-spare” 73GB (SAS 15K Seagate)
2. 4 – RAID 10 – 73 GB (SAS 15K Seagate)
3. 10 – RAID 10 – 750 GB (SATA 7.2K Seagate)
4. 2 – “cold-spare” 750 GB (SATA 7.2K Seagate)

Why not RAID 5? I don’t want the write-penalty that RAID 5 comes with, especially on a database server with the 4 SAS drives. The SATA array is cheap enough at $160 CDN per 750GB drive.

Overall I am satisfied with the system. The main concern was reliability. When a friend of mine brought up the fact that he could have done it less expensively with a computer in a large case and a bunch of drives, I agreed. With the MD1000 you get dual controllers, dual power supplies, and the ability to connect to two servers, which also helps if you are in a cluster. If you need network storage, definitely get a SAN array (not to be confused with NAS).

I have a decent crop of benchmarks of the test system before I finalized my configuration. I’ll post it later today once I get to a computer with Excel (or OpenOffice) to do some graphs.

Posted By Chris in Exchange Server, General
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As most of you know, Windows is a hotbed of viruses (not virii), worms, and malware. I’ve had the pleasure of finding a new worm that attacks the TCP/IP service: tcpsrv.exe in the C:\Windows\System32\ folder. This file is needed for Active Directory and the Workstation Driver (ie. Client for Microsoft Networks). With this file removed, you cannot remote into your server, run active directory and as a result Exchange Server. You can, however, serve web pages just fine with IIS.

I have three Antivirus “managers” on my internal and external network. Panda Enterprise, Trend Micro ServerProtect and Avast Antivirus for Server 2003. My favorite is Avast because it is easy to use and “cheap.” The TCP/IP worm was not detected by Panda or Trend Micro. Avast only knew it was malicious and recommended to quarantine or delete it upon restart. If you delete it upon restart or even quarantine, your server will no doubt be crippled. You will not be able to log into your server through RDP (Remote Desktop).

When you try to login through RDP (Remote Desktop) you type your username and password and an error pops up: “Cannot log on. The Workstation driver is not installed.” “Workstation Driver” is the common name for Client for Microsoft Networks found in your network adapter properties. So how do you fix your server if you cannot log into it? Well, it takes some telnet and some creative FTP in the Windows directory, which I will explain in a different post. For now, you’ll need physical access to your server or someone with physical access that can follow instructions.

You can login to your server at the physical workstation no problem because only the RDP login utilizes the TCP/IP Service, unlike the regular workstation login. Because the TCP/IP service is missing or corrupted, the following services (all found in services.msc at the run command) will not work:

1. Workstation (or client for Microsoft networks)
2. Server
3. TCP/IP Service
4. RPC Locator
5. Netlogon

The RPC Locator and Net Logon depend on the Workstation service. All of these services should be set to Startup Type: Automatic and should be started on any machine. The Server service is what controls the domain controller or lets your computer know WHAT it is. If you try to access Active Directory an error saying “the domain could not be found” or “the computer is not part of a domain.” This is important for active directory and Exchange Server. Server requires TCP/IP service to run. Steps:

1. Locate a fresh copy of tcpsrv.exe in a backup or i386 folder of the install disc. For Windows 2003 SP2 the latest revision is 2006. Put it into the System32 directory and manually restart all the above services. If this works, fantastic, it was easy contained worm. If not, read on.

2. If the above did not work you’ll need to go into the network adapter properties and delete “Client for Microsoft Networks.” You will need to restart after you have done this. Once restarted, re-install Client for Microsoft Networks. You will need your Windows 2003 CD. Restart again.

3. Verify that the startup type for the RPC Locator service is set to Automatic and start the service. Do the same for the Net Logon service but do not start it yet. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe) and then click the DependOnService value under the key in the registry: 

4. On the Edit menu, click Multi String, type LanmanServer on a line by itself, and then click OK. In the Services tool, start the Netlogon service. If you cannot start it, continue with the steps below. If it does start, then start the Server service and verify Active Directory Users and Computers opens and you can see the available users/computers.

5. If the above still didn’t work, you may also have a corrupt TCP/IP stack and corrupt Winsock2. You’ll need to restart your computer in “Directory Services Restore Mode” by pressing F8 after the BIOS information has displayed. Once you have logged in, open regedit32.exe and find and delete the following registry keys:

6. Locate the Nettcpip.inf file in your Windows\inf directory and open it in notepad. Find [MS_TCPIP.PrimaryInstall] and edit Characteristics = 0xa0 to 0×80.

7. Go into the properties of your network adapter and click “Install,” select “Protocol,” “Add” and “Have Disk.” In the “Copy Manufacturer’s Files From” box select C:\Windows\inf and click OK. Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and click OK. 

8. This allows you to remove the TCP/IP service from a domain controller (which was not possible before). Now in the properties box of the network adapter select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and click Uninstall. Once it has uninstalled. Restart the computer in Directory Services Mode again. Reinstall the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) by going into the properties of your network adapter and clicking “Install,” select “Protocol,” “Add” and “Have Disk.” In the “Copy Manufacturer’s Files From” box select C:\Windows\inf and click OK. Select “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” and click OK. 

9. Restart your computer in normal mode. All services should have started. If not, verify the above services are set to automatic and try to start them manually.

Posted By Chris in Exchange Server, Internet Information Server, Windows
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If you have received outlook error 0×80040154 you may have a big problem. This is one of those generic “no one knows” or “has a thousand fixes-and none work for you” errors. In outlook it comes up as “unknown error” which is very frustrating.

Files that were once registered become unregistered or something in the registry is corrupt.  In Outlook 2003 the major offender is inetcomm.dll. I’ll guide you through a few common solutions:

1. Click Start -> Run and type regsvr32 inetcomm.dll
2. Restart your computer and try to start Outlook. If it works, fantastic! The problem was inetcomm.dll somehow became unregistered.
3. Restart your computer in Safe Mode with Networking (F8 a second after boot-up but before the Windows load screen pops up) and try to open Outlook. If it works, you may have a virus or piece of software that is conflicting with Outlook. If you have recently installed any software that could be the culprit, uninstall it and try again. Otherwise, while still in Safe Mode, start an antivirus program and scan for viruses/trojans/spyware, etc.
4. If that doesn’t work, try removing the current Outlook profile you are using. Be sure to backup your email folders and settings first. Go to Control Panel -> Mail -> Profiles. Either delete the current profile or add a new profile and set it to default. Since it is likely a problem with the old profile, you do not want to use any of the old outlook files* or settings but reenter or import them. Setup an email account with the new profile and test it out before you import your old personal or archive folders.
5. If that doesn’t work, try repairing Outlook/Office*. Go to Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs -> Outlook or Office and click uninstall or repair (depending on the version of Windows). A dialog box will appear and walk you through the repair process. Be sure to backup your folders and settings.
6. If the repair doesn’t work, you will need to uninstall Outlook and reinstall it.

* When you repair or reinstall Outlook it does not delete the personal folders by default. This is a good feature in case Outlook does get damaged, however, when Outlook is damaged as a result of the folders or profiles, not removing them during the above operations does not help. I recommend once you backup your folders and settings to delete all traces of Outlook information from the location: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\ . Then reinstall outlook or create a new profile. This is a last resort of course, because it is 100% starting over. With many people Outlook is their lifeline and keeping all information within it is critical.

Posted By Chris in Exchange Server, Windows
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One of the most frustrating issues to deal with in Outlook is having an email history file that is either too large, or full of incomplete/incorrect email addresses. When you begin to type an email address in the TO: field, Outlook looks into the history cache and creates a dropdown list of email addresses, contacts or exchange names to match. It holds the last 1000 used addresses. New names are not added until the current outlook session ends and outlook is restarted.

How to Delete the Entire History List File

If you find too many of the addresses in the history are malformed or you wish to move a history list from one computer to another, you can find the file in the following location: C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\<profile_name>.NK2
You will have to have hidden files and folders disabled in folder options to see the application data folder.

How to Remove Individual Names from History List

1. Begin typing the name of the name you wish to remove in the Outlook TO: Field in a new message.
2. Use the arrow key (not the mouse) to select the incorrect name.
3. Hit the Delete key (not Back Space). This will remove the name from the history list.

How to Change the Maximum Names in the History List

1. Click Start and Run. Type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Find the key: H_KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\microsoft\Office\10.0\outlook\
3. In the right pane, right-click and select New, then DWORD Value. Name it: MaxNicknames.
4. Double-click on the key and type the number of entries (in the value box) you wish to have as the maximum. The Default is 1000.

How to Edit Names in the History List

There is no way to edit the cache unless you purchase a program such as Ingressor Desktop for $40.

Posted By Chris in Exchange Server, Windows
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Below are ways to view the advanced headers of email messages in some common email programs. This is useful for identifying spam, and illegitimate email account use within a company.

Outlook 2007
With the message in its own window, click the message tab, look at the options block, and click the small button with the arrow on it (bottom right corner). This will open the message options.  The Internet Headers will be displayed at the bottom of the box.
If the message isn’t open in its own window, right-click the message and select Message Options.

Outlook 98, 2000, 2003
With the message open, click on View -> Options. Near the bottom you will see a section called “Internet Headers.” Select the options accordingly.

Hotmail
Go to Options -> Preferences -> Under Headers click Advanced Headers

Thunderbird
In the menu, go to View -> Headers and select All.

Eudora Pro
With the message open, double-click the “blah blah” icon (left of subject field) to reveal the advanced headers.

Outlook Express
Highlight the message and go to File -> Properties -> Detail Tab -> OK. The properties box will then display the fill headers. Press Message Source.

Posted By Chris in Exchange Server, General, Windows
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