Posts Tagged Outlook

Google Calendar in Joomla

Posted by Mark Raborn in Joomla on 2010/02/15

Google Calendar in Joomla

The Joomla GCalendar is a Google Calendar bridge to Joomla. The project is hosted at code.google.com where you can find code, project announcements, and their support links.

Support for GCalendar is in

The following setup excerpts are from their DocuWiki at http://g4j.laoneo.net

Prerequisites for GCalendar

The prerequisites for GCalendar is a Google account and the Google calendar service initialized.

Getting started with GCalendar

http://g4j.laoneo.net/content/docu/doku.php/id,docu;gcalendar;version_2.1.x;getting_started/

  • Install the component
  • Import your calendars
  • Share the Calendar with the public (OR) us the magic cookie (which makes Private Calendars accessible through Joomla). More at Google’s Calendar API . A video is available on magic cookie at YouTube
  • Create menu entries
  • Install the modules ( and enable them )
  • GCalendar suite contains
    • mod_gcalendar.zip
    • mod_gcalendar_next.zip
    • mod_gcalendar_upcoming.zip
  • Install the plugins ( and enable them)
    • plg_gcalendar_next.zip
    • plg_gcalendar_search.zip
  • Enjoy

Sharing the Google Calendar with the Public

To share your Google Calendar with the public ( and for use in Joomla )

  • Go to http://www.google.com/calendar
  • Log in using the appropriate credentials for this “shared calendar”
  • Click the Settings link
  • Under Calendar Settings, click the Calendars tab
  • Locate your calendar under My Calendars, click Share this calendar
  • Check the box [  ] Make this calendar public, click the Save button at bottom of page
  • Now, click on the link to YourCalendar
  • The available options for YourCalendar will have changed. Scroll to the bottom. In the section named Calendar Address, click the HTML button, copy the html text and paste into your browser to view your shared public Calendar as it appears on the internet.
  • NOTE: This is the Calendar information that will be shared with GCalendar in Joomla.

Sharing the PRIVATE Google Calendar with Joomla

To share your “private” Google Calendar with the Joomla CMS

  • Go to http://www.google.com/calendar
  • Log in using the appropriate credentials for this “calendar”
  • Select the drop down arrow next to your Calendar, then click the Calendar Settings link
  • Scroll to the bottom. In the section named Private Address, click the HTML button, copy the html text.
  • Go to the Components, GCalendar, GCalendars in Joomla
  • Select the appropriate Calendar by clicking it’s link
  • in the Magic Cookie filed, past the HTML path copied from above.
  • Now DELETE the entire path from “http://-in-the-beginning-to-pvttk=“
  • Leave everthing after pvttk= in your GCalendar Magic Cookie settings, and Save
  • NOTE: This is the PRIVATE Calendar information that will be shared with GCalendar in Joomla.

See the magic cookie at YouTube video walk-through.

Google Email Replies through GCalendar for Joomla

Setting up a global address to receive email related to Calendar Events in Joomla is a consideration when using GCalendar. Individual events in GCalendar can be accessed invoking the mailto: links to the Google Calendar recipient. Having a global email address such as ( info@yoursite.com ) or ( calendar@yoursite.com ) may be advisable. A Google account and Calendar could be established for just this purpose.

Google Calendar Support Topics for Microsoft Outlook

Another significant question ( for Exchange and Outlook users ) who may want to push Outlook generated content into Google Calendar is the ability to Sync Google Calendar to Microsoft Outlook.

Here is the Google Calendar Support Link

Introduction to Google Calendar sync with Microsoft Outlook

Check out the Introduction to Google Calendar Synchronization

Get Started

If you’re setting up Google Calendar Sync for the first time, you’ll need to:

  1. Check your compatibility.
  2. Download Google Calendar Sync.
  3. Agree to the Terms of Service and finish installation.
  4. Select the appropriate Sync Option and time interval.

Details for each Sync Option can be found here.

Sync options with Google Calendar Sync

Setup Sync Options between Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook

2-way sync

All events in your primary Google Calendar and your default Microsoft Outlook calendar are synced together. Once you’ve selected this option, any changes you make to events in either Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook Calendar will be reflected in both applications.

If you modify the same event multiple times in both applications, the most recent update will sync between Microsoft Outlook Calendar and Google Calendar. Additionally, if you delete an event in Microsoft Outlook Calendar or Google Calendar, this event also will be deleted when viewing the other application.
Please note that Google Calendar Sync syncs all of the events in both your default Microsoft Outlook calendar and your primary Google Calendar. Currently, there is no way to sync events within a specific time frame in your calendar.

1-way: Google Calendar to Microsoft Outlook calendar

All events in your primary Google Calendar are added to your default Microsoft Outlook calendar. During subsequent sync cycles, any updates made to events in Google Calendar will be reflected in Microsoft Outlook Calendar as well. Keep in mind that any events created or modified in Microsoft Outlook Calendar won’t be reflected in Google Calendar.

1-way: Microsoft Outlook calendar to Google Calendar

All events in your default Microsoft Outlook calendar are added to your primary Google Calendar. During subsequent sync cycles, any updates made to events in Microsoft Outlook Calendar will be reflected in Google Calendar. Keep in mind that any events created or modified in Google Calendar won’t be reflected in Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

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SBS 2008 Installing Exchange 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 9

Posted by Mark Raborn in SBS on 2010/01/11

SBS 2008 Outlook Pop Ups and Continuous Logon Prompts

Recently, many of WIGITAL’s Small Business Server 2008 based clients have experienced issues with Microsoft Outlook pop ups that ask network users repeatedly to authenticate / login to Microsoft Exchange. Apparently (on these particular SBS08 Servers ) Exchange seems to have forgotten how to agree with Active Directory and recognize the users and computers are already logged on.

After a review of Event Logs on a few SBS08 servers, nothing definitive (or even vaguely suggestive) has appeared to help us discern the exact cause. We are however able to coalesce that in all cases, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Updates from 2009-12 and 2009-11 have  recently been installed onto these servers.

CAUSE RELATED UPDATE ( 2010-02-16 ): Security Updates from December 2009 cause an IIS 7.0 issue where a mix of User Mode and Kernel Mode authentication “do not” work together. See the Official SBS Blog for details as of 2010-02-16

SYMPTOM: for client workstations, when Outlook is launched, all users are continuously prompted for logon credentials in order to authenticate with Exchange even though they are properly authenticated on the domain. Authentication is in the Intranet Zone. Active Directory is fully functional and integrated with Exchange.

Exchange 2007 SP 1 Update Rollup 9

The resolution to restoring Exchange authentication communication with SBS 2008 Active Directory has been, in all cases, to download and install Exchange 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 9

Here are issues we’re aware of when installing the Update Rollup 9 for Exchange.

  1. When installing Exchange 2007 Sp1 Update Rollup 9 on Small Business Server 2008 it is advisable to open the command prompt and install the update using RunAs and Administrator credentials. Update Rollup 9 has failed on SBS Installations WIGITAL has attempted unless initially launched in this manner. Navigating to the path where the update package is, and launching the installer using RunAs from the command line seems to solve some UAC (User Account Control) issues.
  2. You may see the following Event IDs when installing this Update Rollup: Event ID 1024, Event ID 1603, Event ID 11321. Details follow….


Log Name: Application
Source: MsiInstaller
Date: 1/11/2010 1:22:21 PM
Event ID: 1024
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: DOMAIN\administrator
Computer: SBS2008-SERVER.DOMAIN.local
Description:
Product: Microsoft Exchange Server - Update 'Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB970162) 8.1.393.1' could not be installed. Error code 1603. Windows Installer can create logs to help troubleshoot issues with installing software packages. Use the following link for instructions on turning on logging support: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=23127
as well as Event ID 11321


Log Name: Application
Source: MsiInstaller
Date: 1/11/2010 1:13:04 PM
Event ID: 11321
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: DOMAIN\Administrator
Computer: SBS2008-SERVER.DOMAIN.local
Description:
Product: Microsoft Exchange Server -- Error 1321. The Installer has insufficient privileges to modify this file: C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\RelNotes.htm.

NOTE: For more information about errors, Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 9 creates a log file here:

C:\Users\Administrator.DOMAIN\AppData\Local\Temp\3\MSIec215.LOG

Review the LOG to determine a course of action if you experience errors during your install.

Resolving the RelNotes.htm Error in Exchange 2007 Update Rollup 9

To remedy the 11321 error  ( which we’ve seen every time we’ve installed Update Rollup 9 ):

  • Open Explorer
  • Go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\RelNotes.htm
  • Change the permissions on this file to allow the current Administrator FULL CONTROL
  • Apply the changes
  • Restart Update Rollup 9 using RunAs from the Command Line

Oddly enough, the installers permissible access to RelNotes.htm has ended more than one installation prematurely.

Further Reading on Exchange 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 9

Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 has been released

Description of Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

Forum Posts on SBS 2008, Outlook pop ups, and Installing Exchange 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 9

SBS2008, Outlook keeps popping up network login and will not accept in Small Business Server

Exchange Update Rollup Installation. It is not Nightmare!!!

SBS 2008: Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 doesn’t update version number in Help

Exchange Server 2007 Rollup Update 9 installed question

Update: Regarding Exchange Service Pack 2 on SBS 2008

UPDATE TO THIS POST

Exchange Service Pack 2 will also resolve the Outlook continuous pop-up issue but please be advised, that Exchange SP 2 ” cannot” be installed on SBS 2008 without the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP2 Installation Tool for Windows SBS 2008. Use this tool (along with SP2 for Exchange) to achieve a successful upgrade to SP2 functionality.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP2 Installation Tool for Windows SBS 2008

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ffd2fe61-9278-489e-9b96-3816394c9cb6&displayLang=en

Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4C4BD2A3-5E50-42B0-8BBB-2CC9AFE3216A&displaylang=en

Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (KB971534)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=de91f994-6263-47ef-89d7-6d344997459d&displaylang=en

Thank you.
Mark Raborn
WIGITAL

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Outlook autocomplete suggests and remembers email addresses

Posted by Mark Raborn in Outlook on 2009/08/11

Microsoft Outlook can remember email addresses as you type them into the TO CC and BCC fields. This feature is called autocomplete and will memorize and automatically fill in any email address you type in and send using Outlook.

As a an IT Pro who works regularly with Microsoft Exchange and Outlook, I get asked the ” How does Outlook remember email addresses ” question constantly… So, how do you turn on Outlook autocomplete for email ?

Outloook 2007 autocomplete addresses

Turn Outlook 2007 Autocomplete On or Off

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102511221033.aspx?pid=CH100776981033

AutoComplete – Using the automatic name fill-in feature in Outlook 2007

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA100978871033.aspx?pid=CH100776981033

Delete a name from Autocomplete in Outlook 2007

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102509951033.aspx?pid=CH100776981033

Outlook 2003 Autocomplete email addresses

Outlook 2003 email autocomplete name suggesting

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP063767541033.aspx

Backup Outlook Autocomplete email address store

Copy Autocomplete name list to another computer

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA011394511033.aspx

Windows XP

GO TO drive:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Windows Vista

GO TO drive:\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

**find a file named profilename.nk2

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Sharing Email Folders, Contacts, and Calendars in Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Entourage

Posted by Mark Raborn in Office on 2009/03/21

One of my clients asked me today about “How To Share Folders in Microsoft Outlook with other Users?”. Here is a collection of links I emailed his team on the topic.

Microsoft Outlook - Sharing Outlook Contacts, Email Folders, and Calendars

Share and Open Other Peoples Folders

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA011134811033.aspx?pid=CH062556151033

Add Another Person’s Mailbox to Your Account

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP052421391033.aspx?pid=CH063565691033

Open Another Person’s Folder

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP052421511033.aspx?pid=CH063564631033

Remove Sharing Permissions for a Folder

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HP052421531033.aspx?pid=CH010046031033

Entourage “sharing” for Mac – Delegate ( share ) Entourage Contacts, Mail Folders, Calendars

Delegate mail and calendar management to others

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/help.mspx?target=739ddd43-aec2-4ae9-a70b-5f1f3b9c1db41033&clr=99-2-0&parentid=b550fb45-2e67-4af1-acc5-980320fe5f841033&ep=7&CTT=Category&MODE=pv&locale=en-US&usid=aea3dfb5-9a2c-4583-8b09-2392e5debb13

Entourage and Exchange as powerful partners

http://www.microsoft.com/mac/help.mspx?target=a8a9d809-1f62-43e9-9d86-a81cc43cbab61033&clr=99-2-0&parentid=b550fb45-2e67-4af1-acc5-980320fe5f841033&ep=7&CTT=Category&MODE=pv&locale=en-US&usid=aea3dfb5-9a2c-4583-8b09-2392e5debb13

will add more as time allows,

Mark Raborn
WIGITAL

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Demos and Vidoes – Using Business Contact Manager Microsoft Office Accounting and Point Of Sale “Together” (ARTICLE 1)

Posted by Mark Raborn in Accounting on 2008/07/24

Business Contact Manager, Microsoft Office Accounting and Dynamics Point of Sale all have the ability to integrate with one another. These software products are full of features on an individual basis. When you combine them together and integrate their features, they offer impressive tools and great price/performance value.

So what do they provide ??? – Customer Relationship Management, Accounting, Marketing, Project Management, Job Costing, Estimating, Point of Sale, Online Sales, eBay Sales, PayPal integration, Credit Card transaction processing, and more…

Today (well tonight actually), I’m including some links to videos, demos, integration examples and other “neat stuff” relating to Microsoft Office Accounting. Viewing this material is a quick way to understand the benefits gained when integrating Office Accounting with the CRM piece “Business Contact Manager for Outlook”. These particular videos and webcasts were chosen for the busy Entrepreneur or Small Business owner. They do not require a lot of reading or digging through web articles. Just click the links, watch them and learn.

ALSO: in addition to checking out the Demo and Video links, you will be happy to learn you can put more than one user on this platform. You can read about How To Integrate the software packages for multiple users system by checking out the Article series on “BCM, MOS and POS”. WIGITAL has written an entire series on this subject for the community (with technical walkthroughs). Office Accounting, Business Contact Manager and Dynamics Point of Sale can be integrated on the network where you can reach a whole new level of value for multiple users. Integration runs on Microsoft SQL Server. The enduring benefit (aside from all the great stuff the software does in the first place) is that your company can “scale the deployment and grow” while staying on the one software platform. Ask us about it.

Links to the series:

now… on to the Demos

Demos and Videos on using Microsoft Office Accounting, Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007 and Dynamics Point of Sale

“Quick” Video Demos

Demo of Office Accounting integration with Outlook (Office Accounting Pro) – Paul Prokop – 4:42 length

  • Access Customers Financial History – from Outlook
    • open a Customer Record in Outlook, click the Financial Summary button OR Financial Transactions button to see details about financials
  • Bill for Time – directly from Outlook
    • take Calendar appointments in Outlook, create Time Entries, then convert to Invoices
  • Create Quotes and convert them to Invoices – all within Outlook
    • the list of Items and Services that you sell is imported from Office Accounting. When you are ready to make a quote, do so directly from Outlook. Convert to Invoice to send to Office Accounting.

Microsoft Office Accounting Credit Card Processing Demo (Office Accounting Pro) – Paul Prokop – 2:56 length

Microsoft has negotiated low rates on Credit Card Processing transactions completed directly within Office Accounting. These transactions are processed online through the Office Accounting interface without the need for a traditional terminal or credit card machine.

  1. open a “new” Cash Sale form, enter the item and the customer information
  2. enter the customers payment details for the credit card
    1. If you’ve purchased a USB Mag stripe reader, you can enter the data automatcially
    2. swiping the card gets you a lower rate on the transaction
  3. Print the customer’s receipt for signature

NOTE: Discount rates are as low as 1.75%

To learn more, open Office Accounting and from the Customers menu select Credit Card Processing

Accounting Software and Financial Management (free Office Accounting Express version) – 7:23 length

If you can get past the offensive intro “hype Guy” (drag time marker to the .55 second mark to get past intro), Sr. Product Manager John Thuneby shares some interesting facts about financials within small businesses. This is a demonstration of the “free” Office Accounting Express product.

FACTS

  • there are 25 million Small Business in the United States
  • less than 5 million use accounting or financial management software (yes, it’s true)
  • 675,000 Small Businesses start every year
  • 80% of those business fail…  the reasons include:
    • ownership has no business plan?
    • the business cannot OR does not organize their finances?
    • the business runs out of cash?

Financial Accounting Help – Microsoft Small Business (Office Accounting Pro) – 8:29 length

Larry Garcia – Partner Technology Specialist in Office Accounting – reviews Office Accounting Professional (this version of Office Accounting fully integrates with Business Contact Manager and Point of Sale).

Overview: Office Accounting is a full featured business management package, designed from the ground up, specifically for Small Business. Invoice your customers, track your expenses, bank online, sell online with integration to eBay and PayPal.

BUSINESS CONTACT MANAGER

Get Connected – Tech Talk – Office 2007 Business Contact Mgr

Office 2007 Business Contact Manager & Publisher

POINT OF SALE

Retail Management System – Point of Sale Demo – review features at your own pace

This is a great DEMO to learn about Dynamics Point of Sale at your pace. The DEMO tool is easily navigated. Review the key features of Point of Sale and see an example of a “real world” business owner who chose Dynamics Point of Sale as his retail sales software solution.

EDUCATIONAL WEBCASTS

New Integrated Services in Microsoft Office Accounting – 42:00 length

New Integrated Services In Microsoft Office Accounting – msevents version (requires login) – 42:00 length

Darin Browning, business development manager with Microsoft Corporation, shows you how you can spend less time managing finances and more time growing your business.

DATA IN MICROSOFT OFFICE 2007

Advanced Tips and Tricks for Getting Data and Other Content into and out of Your Documents (Level 300)

For “very techy people”: a technical webcast on how data works across Microsoft Office Applications (about all of Office)

Enjoy the demos. Check out our articles series as well. Contact us if you need to. :)

Thanks for reading.
Mark Raborn – WIGITAL

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Mac Entourage 2008 RPC HTTP uses WebDav to Exchange

Posted by Mark Raborn in Mac, Uncategorized on 2008/07/23

Microsoft Exchange Server is available to Client systems via a variety of methods outside of the local network.

  • OWA – Outlook Web Access
  • OMA – Microsoft Mobile Access
  • Outlook using RPC over HTTP

These (among others) are some of the more popular ways that knowledge workers access their mail, calendars, tasks etc… from Exchange Server while outside of the office.

Outlook using RPC (remote procedure call) over HTTP is very popular for those workers who need the full Outlook experience (more than just email). Using Outlook RPC/HTTP gives the Client access to Public and Shared Company Folders in real time that would only available “Offline” as Favorites otherwise.

So what about the Mac? Can the Mac access Microsoft Exchange Server using Outlook RPC over HTTP?

If you are using Entourage (Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac), Exchange Server based email boxes, Public Folders, and more.. can still be accessed via a similar method to RPC over HTTP. Entourage makes use of WebDav (Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning) to securely access your Exchange mailbox using the Entourage for Mac.

How to do it?

First, launch your web browser and navigate the URL where Exchange can be accessed
Open web browser

Microsoft Exchange Server generally will have a certificate of some kind installed. This encrypts traffic (and your credentials) so they cannot be easily read. If the Certificate is not trusted by your browser and/or application, it will cause an error to be thrown.
untrusted certificate

To make things a little smoother, Trust the Certificate. View the warning window carefully. Select to “Show the Certificate”
Show the Certificate

as you view the Certificate, look for an select the Trust drop down

view Certificate to Trust

drop down to Trust

Select Always Trust Certificate
always Trust the Certificate

Enter your password.
password

You can then view Keychain Access to confirm that you Certificate has been trusted.
Certificate confirmed

Now you should be able to view the Exchange Outlook Web Access page without difficulty or error
Outlook Web Access

Now Setup your Entourage Account access to Exchange. Go to Tools | Accounts
Tools and Accounts in Entourage

For the Account type, select Exchange
Exchange account type

Setup the Exchange Account manually by clicking the “Manually” button
manual Exchange setup

You may now edit the individual account settings to access Exchange:
Edit Account - Exchange

Remember as you enter data here that Entourage communicates with Microsoft Exchange differently than Outlook does on the PC. Entourage uses WebDav. Entourage also uses a slightly different set of conventions in entering credentials.

  • Account name:
  • Personal Information
    • Name: your Full Name
    • E-mail address: your Email Address
  • Authentication
    • Account ID: your Windows username for the Domain your Exchange Server is a member of
    • Domain: the name of the Domain
    • Password: your password
  • Server information
    • Exchange server: enter the URL used to access your Exchange Server online
    • [ ] DAV service: be sure to CHECK THE BOX to secure the connection over WebDav. This uses the certificate you Trusted earlier to encrypt your credentials as you logon to Exchange.


E-mail account settings on Exchange

Go back to Entourage and check your mail. At this point you may begin to see some activity:
Email in Entourage

That’s it. Grab a glass of water at the cooler. Talk about some fun stuff and then… get to work.
Entourage ready for work

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Outlook 2007 Fails due to Full Name and Initials dialog box and RSS Common Feed List pop-up

Posted by Mark Raborn in Office on 2008/07/04

Outlook 2007 UserName UserInitials cause Outlook to FAIL on first launch!

Outlook 2007 setup has a glaring error that has been recurring across installations in both Windows Vista and Windows XP. The error is in reference to the RSS Common Feed List syncronization pop-up and the Outlook Full Name (UserName) and Initials (UserInitials) dialog box.

  • This error does not allow the user to close the program – Microsoft Outlook 2007 SP1
  • This error causes Microsoft Outlook 2007 SP1 to attempt to configure accounts every time it is launched
  • This error causes broken keyboards and bruised knuckles
  • This error appears in Microsoft Outlook 2007 Service Pack 1 and also can appear for new users logging on AFTER Service Pack 1 for Office 2007 has been installed.

Here is what is happening (a WalkThrough):

  • Install Microsoft Office (with Outlook 2007)
  • Launch Outlook for the first time
  • User is prompted with a dialog box to enter Full Name (UserName ) and Initials (UserInitials) for Outlook 2007
    • the User is given “no-time” to enter the data before another pop-up overlays the Outlook UserName UserInitials dialog box
  • the 2nd pop-up overlays the UserName UserInitials dialog box and asks for input choosing whether or not to Syncronize the RSS Common Feeds List between Internet Explorer + Outlook + whatever else in Windows is using the RSS Common Feeds List
  • when the user clicks either YES -or- NO to the RSS Common Feeds list pop-up – THE USERNAME USERINITIALS DIALOG BOX FROM OUTLOOK DISAPPEARS (the one originally “behind” the RSS pop-up) and can no longer be recovered
  • the result is that the User cannot close Microsoft Outlook without terminating the OUTLOOK.EXE process AND the UserName UserInitials dialog box is never offered again to enter the requested data and resolve the issue
  • the sum of this sequence is that Outlook continually fails TO CLOSE, must be launched in Safe Mode continually and frustrates the “heck” out of the User and the Administrator

Solution to Outlook 2007 Full Name-UserName and Initial-UserInitial error

SOLUTION 1

The first solution is the most simple:

  • Close all programs
  • Open any other Microsoft Office Program (i.e. Word, Excel, etc..)
  • When prompted to enter Full Name and Initials, do exactly that and click OK
  • Wait for the program to complete it’s initialization and fully launch
  • Close the program
  • Launch Microsoft Outlook (the issue should be resolved)

SOLUTION 2

  • Go to Start | Run | and type regedit
  • Navigate to the following location:
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\
  • In the Common node you will need to create a new key named UserInfo
    • right click the node HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\
    • select New and then select Key
    • name they key by typing UserInfo
    • click on the new UserInfo key
    • create three new string values under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\UserInfo
    • UserName = (create the UserName string)
      • right click the open area to the right (called the details pane), select New and select String
      • type UserName to name the string and hit enter
      • double click ValueName you just created – i.e. UserName
      • a window will open, under Value data type the real First Name and the Last Name of your user (the users complete full name)
      • click OK
    • UserInitials = (create the UserInitials string)
      • right click the open area to the right (called the details pane), select New and select String
      • type UserInitials to name the string and hit enter
      • double click ValueName you just created – i.e. UserInitials
      • a window will open, under Value data type the real initials of that user (the two or three letters they use)
      • click OK
    • Company = (create the Company string)
      • right click the open area to the right (called the details pane), select New and select String
      • type Company to name the string and hit enter
      • double click ValueName you just created – i.e. Company
      • a window will open, under Value data type the real Company Name
      • click OK
  • NOTE: Be certain to capitalize your ValueNames exactly as shown above
  • Restart Outlook, you should be good to go :)

IMPORTANT: This entire sequence creates the same values as launching another Microsoft Office program as described in SOLUTION 1. It should only be used if all other office programs have been launched and for some reason??? the UserName and UserInitials values were not created.

FURTHER READING

Outlook 2007 won’t close for one user only on Vista

Outlook bypass “please enter your full name and initials below” popup

KB932126 The “Synchronize Outlook RSS Feeds with Common Feed List” setting is not set correctly in the Office Customization Tool and in the Group Policy templates

CLOSING REMARKS

Please comment on this here at Wintivity. Also, if you have other solutions (please let everyone know). You can let Microsoft know by commenting it somewhere in their domains. it would be nice to get it fixed for other users via Windows Update. Thanks

Also, if you are ever in need of expert help, advice or services, please contact us at http://www.wigital.net

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Sharing Microsoft Outlook Folders with others

Posted by Mark Raborn in Office on 2008/06/09

Sharing data with other users can be a real benefit to productivity. Many of us have team members, colleagues, right-hand men and women needing access to (and whom we very much want to give access to ) our contact manager data.

Can we do it? Absolutely.

Recently we wrote an article on how to share Microsoft Outlook Contacts with other users . Visit that article to understand how to share Contacts in Outlook.

This article focuses on the other types of Folders residing in the Outlook directory structure. They are

  • Calendar
  • Inbox
  • Notes
  • Tasks
  • etc…

Sharing these folders requires two major steps (with little ones in between)

The MAJOR STEPS are:

  1. Share the Mailbox and folders of the source user
  2. Change the Mailbox settings of the recipient user and Add the resources from the source user

The minor steps can be fit inside each of the MAJOR ones.

Requirement: sharing contact information in Outlook requires the use of Microsoft Exchange Server.

Here we go:

STEP 1: Sharing Outlook Folders with others – (sharing the source)

You can share Calendar, Email/Inbox, Journal, Notes, Tasks and other folders with users in your Exchange organization. Sharing these folders in Outlook is very similar to sharing folders in the Windows file system with one glaring exception. YOU MUST SHARE THE FOLDERS ABOVE THE TARGET FOLDER YOU INTEND TO SHARE.

As an example, if you had an email subfolder for your online bills, then each folder above your online bills would have to be shared also (using Microsoft Outlook permissions) to allow access to the folder further down the tree.

  • Mailbox (shared)
    • Inbox (shared)
      • my online bills (target Share)

EXAMPLE: Share a Folder in Microsoft Outlook

  • Open Microsoft Outlook
  • Change to Folder view
  • Right click on the Mailbox – Your Username folder and select Properties for Your Username
  • select the Permissions [tab]
  • click the Add button
  • from the Add Users windows, highlight he user you want to share your data with, click Add and click OK
  • now back at the Permissions [tab], highlight the user you just added and set their Permission Level using the drop down menu to Reviewer
  • Now you can proceed to share folders within Microsoft Outlook

To Share Folders in the Shared Mailbox – Your Username (using Inbox as an example)

  • Open Microsoft Outlook
  • Change to Folder view
  • Right click on the Inbox folder and select Properties
  • select the Permissions [tab]
  • click the Add button
  • from the Add Users windows, highlight the user you want to share your Inbox with, click Add and click OK
  • now back at the Permissions [tab], highlight the user you just added to the Inbox and set their Permission Level using the drop down menu to the level you want to grant that user.
  • Permission Level(s) are
    • Owner
    • Publishing Editor
    • Editor
    • Publishing Author
    • Author
    • Nonediting Author
    • Reviewer
    • Contributor
    • None

You can follow this principal with each type of folder and at each level, sub-folder, etc.. (not just the Inbox). So, as you want to share your Calendar, Email/Inbox, Journal, Notes, and Tasks just repeat the procedure above.

A reminder about SubFolders (as in the my online bills example above) be sure to share each folder above the target folder with at least Reviewer permissions. This is required so that the target folder is accessible. Then set the higher share permission on the target folder itself.

Granting higher permissions at the subfolder level does not propagate upward to parent folders. So if you grant Publishing Author to another user for an email subfolder (below the Inbox), they will be Publishing Author at the subfolder only. They DO NOT have the same permission at the Mailbox OR Inbox level, only on the subfolder level. The Mailbox and Inbox will remain at Reviewer (if that’s what you set) just as in previous steps.

STEP 2: Sharing Outlook Folders with others – (setup the recipient to access the share)

Now that the folders have been shared, we must setup the recipient users Outlook to access the shared folders.

  • open Microsoft Outlook
  • on the Tools menu, select Account Settings
  • highlight the Microsoft Exchange based email account, and click Change
  • on the lower right, click More Settings
  • select the Advanced [tab]
  • in the Mailboxes outline, click the Add [button]
  • type the username of the Exchange user from which the folder(s) were shared
  • click Next, click Finish
  • close Outlook and then re-open Outlook
  • the folders should appear on a separate node in your folder tree

That’s it!

If you would like more information about Microsoft Outlook and what it can do in your organization, please contact WIGITAL. We install, configure and optimize Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Mobile devices for networks both small and large. Call us or email us through our website.

FURTHER READING

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Share Microsoft Outlook Contacts with others

Posted by Mark Raborn in Office on 2008/06/09

Outlook is one of the success stories for Microsoft. It is a sound program, offers a wide array of functionality and is relied on by literally millions of people. Outlook does a-lot. There are quite literally hundreds of books published on the program (IMO a real litmus test) demonstrating the reach of Outlook in business.

I run into a lot of Outlook questions.

One of the questions I’m asked most often by my business clients is “can you get the Spywar….” (oh wait – different article). Ah, yes.. here is the question:

How do I share my contact information in Microsoft Outlook with other users?

Requirement: sharing contact information in Outlook requires the use of Microsoft Exchange Server.

For Clients on the Microsoft platform it is likely you are already using Exchange. Exchange is a highly robust Email Server that delivers mail in the Windows environment. It may already be in place within your infrastructure (just check with your System Administrator). If it is, simply follow these directions.

  • Open Microsoft Outlook
  • Change to Folder view
  • Right click on the Contacts folder
  • select Share Contacts
  • in the To… field, type the name of the person in your Exchange organization with whom you want to share your data
    • NOTE: there is a checkbox [ ] Request permission to view receipient’s Contacts folder
    • IF you want to view the contacts of the receipient (the person you are sharing your Contact info with, then click this checkbox
  • click Send

To share your contacts with more than one person

  • Open Microsoft Outlook
  • Change to Folder view
  • Right click on the Contacts folder
  • select Properties
  • select the Permissions [tab]
  • click the Add [button]
  • highlight the users/groups that you want to grant permission to view Contacts, and click Add
  • click OK (this will close the Add Users windows
  • you can now View the Name of the user/group you have added in the Permissions window
  • highlight the user/group
  • using the Permission Level: dropdown menu, selectd the permission level for the user/group
    • PERMISSIONS INCLUDE:
      • Owner
      • Publishing Editor
      • Editor
      • Publishing Author
      • Author
      • Nonediting Author
      • Reviewer
      • Contributor
      • None
  • Observe how each permission level alters Read, Write, Delete items, and Other permission categories
  • click OK to close and apply your settings

Note: these same principals can be used with other Folders in Outlook as well. We have written a separate article on sharing folders (other than Contacts) in Microsoft Outlook. You can share your Inbox, your Tasks, Notes and more. Check out the article here.

If you would like more information about Microsoft Outlook and what it can do in your organization, please contact WIGITAL. We install, configure and optimize Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Mobile devices for networks both small and large. Call us or email us through our website.
FURTHER READING

CLOSING NOTE:

For clients on other Operating Systems than Windows, it is possible Exchange Server can be the Email solution even in a non-Windows specific topologies. Ask your System Administrator (or call WIGITAL) to affirm whether running Exchange is a possibility in your environment. Exchange is a complete unified messaging solution and it does a lot more than just email. :)

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sync PDA with Outlook in Windows Vista Business

Posted by Mark Raborn in Mobile on 2007/11/29

Windows Mobile Device Center

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devicecenter.mspx

Revved up the ol’ Samsung i730 today on Vista. At one time I used the i730 regularly as a PDA/Contact Manager in Sync with my office computer on Windows XP. Over the last year and a half however, I have been “office bound” so the sync features have not been needed.

Fast forward to today. Syncronization is a very real need on the horizon, so today, I made the phone call to Verizon (my carrier) and reactivated Wireless Data and CDMA tethering (mobile phone as a Digital Modem).

Upon attempting my first sync of my PDA with my Vista Laptop (which once was so easy with XP and Active Sync) I discovered that I could not get my Outlook 2007 Contacts, Appointments, Tasks, Calendar to syncronize with my PDA on Vista! Wow! and after reading the first few searches through Vista help (F1) I did not get much further.

So off to the forums and some real digging and I discovered a new paradigm for Business syncronization with PDA’s and Windows Vista:

Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devicecenter.mspx

If you are running Windows Vista, want to sync Outlook and your PDA (mine is Windows Mobile 5.0) then you will need Windows Mobile Device Center.

You can learn more about Windows Mobile concepts here:

https://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/domore/default.mspx

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