leedesmond’s blog

When Work Offline mode is selected where Outlook is not configured to operate in cached Exchange mode*, you may not be able to start the client and an error will return:

This occurs because Outlook fails to go online when it attempts to contact the home Exchange server. In some cases, Outlook will even crash. To correct this and have the ability to work offline (in non-cached Exchange mode), create an Outlook Personal Folder - PST data file - and set this as the default. Outlook will prompt you that doing so will result in all mails being delivered and stored locally instead of residing on the Exchange server.

Obviously if you are a roaming user and do not have your own computer, hit No otherwise choose Yes. You will have to restart Outlook for the changes to take effect.

* Outlook 2007: Account Settings / E-Mail /Microsoft Exchange /Change /More Settings / Advanced / Use Cached Exchange Mode

Technorati tags: Exchange Server

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It is possible to install Windows Server 2008 (Full or Core) without providing the product key. This is accomplished by simply choosing the correct product edition - Standard, Enterprise, Data Center (Full with GUI or Core) - and checking the “I Agree…” box. To do this post setup under Server Core, you must follow a number of steps in sequence.

First, supply your own product key to overwrite the trial 30-day grace period that comes with the product.

C:\Users\Administrator>cscript C:\Windows\System32\slmgr.vbs -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.7
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Installed product key xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx successfully.

Next, manually activate with your updated product key:

C:\Users\Administrator>cscript C:\Windows\System32\slmgr.vbs -ato
Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.7
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Activating Windows(TM) Server code name “Longhorn”, ServerEnterpriseCore edition
(xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx) …
Product activated successfully.

Finally, verify the product activation status as follows:

C:\Users\Administrator>cscript C:\Windows\System32\slmgr.vbs -xpr
Microsoft (R) Windows Script Host Version 5.7
Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
The machine is permanently activated.

Old blog title: Windows Server 2008 Core - Post Setup Product Activation II.

Tested on Windows Server 2008 Core RC0.

Technorati tags: Longhorn, Windows Server Core 2008

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- Windows Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guides
- Windows Server 2008 Technical Overviews
- Windows Server Virtualization - Release Notes

- Windows Server 2008 Technical Library
- Quickstart for Get Virtual Portal

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Released around the same time as its server counterpart, Windows Vista SP1 beta (build 6001-16659-070916-1443) is available now for download at connect.microsoft.com in English (~3GB), German and Japanese as Client or ClientN for x86 and x64 versions. Optional component(s): Language Packs for EN-DE-JP.

Take a look at the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Beta White Paper. See also official announcement at Vista Team Blog.

Technorati tags: Vista

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Get your hands on the just released to web (RTW) Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate 0. This is the first publicly available version that comes with hypervisor technology - code named Viridian, officially Windows Server Virtualization (WSV) - that allows you to test out the eagerly awaited virtualization component (as a server role) in the Windows operating system (full or core).

Available in English (~2GB), German, French and Japanese for x86 and x64 (Intel and AMD). Optional components include WDK, AIK, SDK and symbol files. Download the Community Technology Preview (CTP) at connect.microsoft.com.

Note: Windows Media Services 2008 for Windows Server 2008 RC0 is an optional supplement available as a separate download.

See also official announcement at Windows Server Division Weblog.

Technorati tags: Longhorn, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server Core 2008

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The (PowerShell) development team at VMware demonstrated recently at VMworld 2007 a new set of PowerShell interfaces for VMware Infrastructure (VI). The idea is not new - leverage the strengths, elegance and simplicity of PowerShell to do more for less that should appeal to all VI infrastructure administrators.

Read more about this exciting initiative and have a chance to contribute to its development here.

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Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) helps organizations from small to large enterprises to make use of their existing infrastructure to bring audio, video, presence information and web conferencing experience right to the desktop. Exchange Server 2007 is an integral part of this exciting platform (together with Office Communications Server 2007) that can make this happen for you today!

More details / sign up for next month’s Oct 2007 event at Swiss IT Pro User Group.

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Microsoft finds a place together with Nortel and Alcatel-Lucent in the magic quadrant described as leaders and visionaries in the field of Unified Communications. Read more on this highly regarded Gartner magic quadrant for Unified Communications 2007 report at source.

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Announced a couple of days ago, sort of a 4-in-1 blog announcement covering System Center Virtual Machine Manager / SCVMM / Carmine (codename):

1. it is now officially released with GA expected in Oct 2007 (trial download)
2. licensing and pricing information is released (licensed per physical host and unlimited VMs)
3. a new Workgroup edition for max 5 physical hosts and unlimited VMs (expected Jan 2008)
4. support for Virtual Server, Viridian and non-Windows virtualization environments (VMWare and Xen)

Read more at the source.

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In my recent mcpmag.com article “A Step Beyond Exchange Management Shell Primer“, I indicated that there was no mechanism or cmdlet in Exchange Management Shell (Exchange Server 2007) to disable a user account that matches the “Account is disabled” setting in AD.

This remains true as far as I know. However, you can fall back to using the [adsi] type in PowerShell to configure this setting, provided that the object’s distinguished name is known. Additionally, Active Directory objects such as users, computers and groups can be created, modified or deleted using this feature. Take a look at the sample code below to see how you could adapt it to work on multiple users.

$curUser = [adsi]”LDAP://cn=Barry Zaky,ou=ITAdmin, dc=swissitpro,dc=loc”

#544=enable, 546=disable
$curUser.Put(”UserAccountControl”, “546″)
$curUser.SetInfo()

Better still, look at Quest Software’s ActiveRoles Management Shell for Active Directory, available as free PowerShell Commands for Active Directory. The equivalent code is consistent with PowerShell’s 1-liner simplicity:

Disable-QADUser ’swissitpro\barryz’
#Enable-QADUser ’swissitpro\barryz’

Technorati tags: PowerShell, Exchange Server

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