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Archive for May, 2008


1 Comment » May 22nd, 2008
Cannot Read Messages with Special Characters in the Subject Line in Outlook Web Access

So I was at a clients office because they requested help in installing ImageFolio. Well, what we didn’t know was that the program is web based and in order for it to work, we will need to install it to run as a site in IIS 6. Finally got it working….. but then MS OWA got corrupted.

Remote user weren”t able to view their email properly. They couldn’t open attachments, and I noticed a common denominator between the messages that wouldn’t open. They had characters in them. One message that wouldn’t open had a colon (:) in it, like after RE or FW. Other messages wouldn’t open because it had a percent sign in the subject line.

I tried almost every fix out there. Till I found what worked….. this: I used method number 2 and it worked for me. The most simplest is method 2.

SUMMARY

This article describes how to re-create the Microsoft Exchange Server-related virtual directories in Internet Information Services (IIS). Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 supports Microsoft Outlook Web Access, Exchange ActiveSync, and Outlook Mobile Access. These services are enabled through six virtual directories that are created by default in IIS when you install Exchange Server 2003. If the virtual directories become corrupted, or if any one of the related services fail, you may want to remove these virtual directories. However, these virtual directories are not automatically re-created.

In this scenario, you must use one of the following methods to remove and then re-create the virtual directories in IIS:

• Method 1. Use Metabase Explorer from the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools
• Method 2. Use Adsutil.vbs
• Method 3: Edit the Metabase.xml file

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INTRODUCTION

Sometimes you must re-create the Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) virtual directories when you experience problems with Microsoft Outlook Web Access or other mobility services on your Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 computer. By default, Exchange Server 2003 creates the following six IIS virtual directories: Exadmin, Exchange, ExchWeb, Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync, OMA, and Public.

However, if you delete the IIS virtual directories that are used by Outlook Web Access and by other mobility services, the virtual directories are not automatically re-created when you restart the Exchange System Attendant service. This article describes two methods that you can use to delete and to re-create the virtual directories that are used by Outlook Web Access.

Note In Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server, after you delete the virtual directories for Outlook Web Access, the virtual directories are re-created when you restart the Exchange System Attendant service.

For more information about the virtual directories for Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server 2003, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

821898 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/821898/) Virtual Internet Information Services (IIS) directories that are used by Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server 2003

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MORE INFORMATION

To delete and to re-create the virtual directories for Outlook Web Access, use one of the following methods.

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Method 1: Use Metabase Explorer from the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools

1. Install the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools. To obtain the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=56FC92EE-A71A-4C73-B628-ADE629C89499&displaylang=en (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=56FC92EE-A71A-4C73-B628-ADE629C89499&displaylang=en)

Note If you do not want to install all the IIS tools on your computer, you can install only the Metabase Explorer 1.6 component. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Double-click iis60rkt.exe, and then follow the instructions that are on your screen until you reach the Setup Type page of the IIS 6.0 Resource Kit Tools Setup Wizard.
b. On the Setup Type page, click Custom, and the click Next.
c. Click to clear all the IIS Resource Kit Tools and components check boxes except the Metabase Explorer 1.6 check box.
d. Click Next, and then click Finish.
2. Back up your IIS metabase. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Start IIS Manager.
b. Right-click Default Web Site, point to All Tasks, and then click Save Configuration to a File.
c. In the Save Configuration to a File dialog box, type a configuration name in the File name input box, and then click OK.
3. Delete the virtual directories for Outlook Web Access. To do this, expand the Default Web Site in the left pane of IIS Manager, right-click Exadmin, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted with the question of whether you want to delete this item.

Repeat this step for the following virtual directories:

• Exchange
• ExchWeb
• Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
• OMA
• Public
4. Quit IIS Manager.
5. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to IIS Resources, point to Metabase Explorer, and then click Metabase Explorer.
6. Expand LM, right-click DS2MB, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted with the question of whether you want to delete this key and all subkeys.
7. Quit IIS Metabase Explorer.
8. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
9. To restart the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service, follow these steps:

a. Click Start, click Run, type services.msc, and then click OK.
b. Right-click Microsoft Exchange System Attendant, and then click Restart.
c. When you are prompted to restart the dependant Exchange Server services, click Yes.

Note When you restart the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service, the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service is also restarted. In this scenario, your Exchange Server users lose connectivity to their Exchange Server mailboxes.

The virtual directories are re-created. To verify that the virtual directories are re-created, start IIS Manager, and then view the Default Web site folder.

Important If the virtual directories are not re-created after 15 minutes, restart your computer.
10. Reset the access permissions to Anonymous. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Start IIS Manager, right-click ExchWeb, click Properties, and then click the Directory Security tab.
b. Under Authentication and access control click Edit, and then verify that the Enable anonymous access check box is turned on.
c. Click to select the Integrated Windows authentication check box, click OK, and then click Apply.
d. If you an Inheritance Overrides dialog box appears, click Select All, and then click OK.
e. Under Authentication and access control, click Edit, and then click to clear the Integrated Windows authentication check box.
f. Click OK two times, and then quit IIS Manager.

Use a Web browser to verify that you can connect to your Outlook Web Access server. If you are also running other mobility services, verify that you can connect to these services by using an appropriate client.

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Method 2: Use Adsutil.vbs

1. Back up your IIS Metabase. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Start IIS Manager.
b. Right-click Default Web Site, point to All Tasks, and then click Save Configuration to a File.
2. Delete the virtual directories for Outlook Web Access. To do this, right-click Exadmin in the left pane of IIS Manager, and then click Delete. Click Yes when you are prompted with the question of whether you want to delete this item.

Repeat this step for the following virtual directories:

• Exchange
• ExchWeb
• Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync
• OMA
• Public
3. Quit IIS Manager.
4. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then press ENTER.
5. Change to the following folder. In this example, Drive is the hard disk drive where Windows is installed:

Drive:\inetpub\adminscripts
6. Type adsutil, and then press ENTER.

Important By default, CScript is not the default scripting host for Windows Server 2003. To run the adsutil command, CScript must be configured as the default scripting host. To do this, click Yes if you are prompted to register CScript as you default host for VBscript, and then click OK.

Note If you receive a list of adsutil command options, CScript is already configured as the default scripting host for VBscript.
7. Type adsutil delete ds2mb, and then press ENTER.

Note To set the default scripting host to WScript, type WScript //H:WScript at the command prompt, press ENTER, and then click OK.
8. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
9. To restart the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service, follow these steps:

a. Click Start, click Run, type services.msc, and then click OK.
b. Right-click Microsoft Exchange System Attendant, and then click Restart.
c. When you are prompted to restart the dependant Exchange Server services, click Yes.

Note When you restart the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service, the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service is also restarted. In this scenario, your Exchange Server users lose connectivity to their Exchange Server mailboxes.

The virtual directories are re-created. To verify that the virtual directories are re-created, start IIS Manager, and then view the Default Web site folder.

Important If the virtual directories are not re-created after 15 minutes, restart the computer.
10. Reset the access permissions to Anonymous. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Start IIS Manager, right-click ExchWeb, click Properties, and then click the Directory Security tab.
b. Under Authentication and access control click Edit, and then verify that the Enable anonymous access check box is turned on.
c. Click to select the Integrated Windows authentication check box, click OK, and then click Apply.
d. If an Inheritance Overrides dialog box appears, click Select All, and then click OK.
e. Under Authentication and access control, click Edit, and then click to clear the Integrated Windows authentication check box.
f. Click OK two times, and then quit IIS Manager.

Use a Web browser to verify that you can connect to your Outlook Web Access server. If you are also running other mobility services, verify that you can connect to these services by using an appropriate client.

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Method 3: Edit the Metabase.xml file

To resolve this issue, you must modify the Metabase.xml file. The modified Metabase.xml file causes the Exchange Server-related virtual directories to be re-created when the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service is restarted. To do this, follow these steps.

Warning If you edit the metabase incorrectly, you can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall any product that uses the metabase. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems that result if you incorrectly edit the metabase can be solved. Edit the metabase at your own risk.

Note Always back up the metabase before you edit it.

1. Configure IIS to enable real-time editing of the metabase. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
b. Right-click ServerName (local computer) , and then click Properties.

Note Replace ServerName with the name of the computer that is running IIS.
c. Click to select the Enable Direct Metabase Edit check box, and then click OK.
2. Modify the Metabase.xml file. The metabase is a database that resides in memory on the computer that is running IIS. When the computer shuts down, all the metabase settings are written to a file that is named Metabase.bin. You can modify the Metabase.xml file to cause the Exchange Server-related virtual directories to be re-created in IIS when the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service restarts. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Open the Metabase.xml by using a text editor such as Notepad. By default, the Metabase.xml file is located in the following folder:

%windir%\System32\Inetsrv
b. On the Edit menu, click Find.
c. In the Find what box, type 61472, and then click Find Next to locate the following area in this file:

<IIsConfigObject Location=”/LM/DS2MB/HighWaterMarks/{79F81D41-A652-4375-85F0-41A16037CC85}”>
<Custom
Name=”UnknownName_61472″
ID=”61472″
Value=”207778″
Type=”STRING”
UserType=”IIS_MD_UT_SERVER”
Attributes=”NO_ATTRIBUTES”
/>
d. In this area of the Metabase.xml file, replace the Value entry with 0. For example, modify this area of the Metabase.xml file so that it appears similar to the following:

<IIsConfigObject Location=”/LM/DS2MB/HighWaterMarks/{79F81D41-A652-4375-85F0-41A16037CC85}”
>
<Custom
Name=”UnknownName_61472″
ID=”61472″
Value=”0″
Type=”STRING”
UserType=”IIS_MD_UT_SERVER”
Attributes=”NO_ATTRIBUTES”
/>
e. Save your changes to the Metabase.xml file. Then, quit Notepad.

Note You can also use the Metabase Editor tool (MetaEdit.exe) to modify this value in the metabase. For more information about how to obtain MetaEdit, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

232068 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/232068/) How to download, install, and remove the IIS MetaEdit 2.2 utility
3. To restart the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service, follow these steps:

a. Click Start, click Run, type services.msc, and then click OK.
b. Right-click Microsoft Exchange System Attendant, and then click Restart.
c. When you are prompted to restart the dependant Exchange Server services, click Yes.

Note When you restart the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service, the Microsoft Exchange Information Store service is also restarted. In this scenario, your Exchange Server users lose connectivity to their Exchange Server mailboxes.
4. Restore the default IIS setting to disable real-time editing of the metabase. To do this, follow these steps:

a. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
b. Right-click ServerName (local computer) , and then click Properties.
c. Click to clear the Enable Direct Metabase Edit check box, and then click OK.

The virtual directories are re-created. To verify that the virtual directories are re-created, start IIS Manager, and then view the Default Web site folder.

Important If the virtual directories are not re-created after 15 minutes, restart the computer.

Use a Web browser to verify that you can connect to your Outlook Web Access server. If you are also running other mobility services, verify that you can connect to these services by using an appropriate client.
  By Monchster

No Comments » May 19th, 2008
More Gasoline Woes - Jevic Transportation is Done

I know this has nothing to do with computers…. but again, I can’t believe all that is happening because of gas prices. Pretty soon I’m gonna have to come up with a way to run my car using old monitor and computer parts. I googled it, but nothing yet…

But here’s the story Jevic Transportation Inc. discontinued its operations and stopped providing pickup service today.

The company said the shutdown was necessary because of high fuel costs, the economic downtown, increasing insurance costs and tightening credit markets.

The company was purchased by Sun Capital Partners Inc. for $40 million in 2006. At the time of the sale, Jevic Transportation employed about 3,000 people at its 10 trucking facilities across the country.

It is unknown how many people work at the Delanco facility on Creek Road, or how many employees will lose their jobs.

You can read more at Phillyburbs.com

  By Monchster

2 Comments » May 15th, 2008
Excel Files are Slow at Opening

I came across this issue today and thought at first that it may have been a network issue. But opening an Excel or Word file from the hard drive gave me the same slow response.

If your issue is that Excel 2003 or 2007, and or Word 2003 or 2007 is slow at opening an existing file. I found the answer online.

Here it is:

  1. Open Windows Explorer (explorer.exe)
  2. Select Tools | Folder Options from the menu
  3. Go to the File Types tab
  4. Select list item XLS (Microsoft Office Excel 97-2003 Worksheet) and click on Advanced.
  5. If the “Application used to perform action:” field the default value should be “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE” /e”. Change this to “C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\EXCEL.EXE” /e “%1″. Remember to enclose the full excel.exe path and %1 in parenthesis. Since Windows 95 this is a way to escape spaces in file names; %1 will return the file name of that file that is being opened by double-clicking.You can uncheck “Use DDE” but Microsoft Office Excel 2007 will bring it back to what you see above when you next open it.
  6. Just confirm (hit “OK”) on all the Microsoft Windows Explorer dialogs and next time you open a Excel 2003 file in Excel 2007 without having it already running you won’t have to wait! Problem solved!
  By Monchster

No Comments » May 15th, 2008
Cannot Seem to Share my Outlook Calendar

I visited a client and it seemed kind of odd that they had a user that was not able to share her Outlook Calendar. Immediately I thought that maybe it was a rights issue on the mailbox under active directory. NOPE!

I checked if the user had admin rights on the workstation, she did. WRONG ANSWER!

So it had to be the client. It’s a client side issue.

I checked the settings and found something…..

In Outlook 2003, under ‘Tools’, select ‘Email Options’

Then select the ‘Advanced’ tab, ( I think, I have to double check. My PC here doesn’t use Outlook)

Under which you want to click on the Add-in Manager button. In this box make sure that you have the “Exchange Extensions Property Pages” selected. These control the forms to use in Outlook along with the feature to share your calendar.

And you’re done!

  By Monchster

No Comments » May 14th, 2008
Get Better Fuel Economy From Your Car

I know, I know… what the heck does this have to do with computers? Is Microsoft putting out a new program to help the fuel economy and joining forces with Mac?

Yeah, that’ll be the day.

I thought in view of the times we are living in, that it would be an appropriate topic to include. Heck, I’m looking for ways to cut costs and so are you.

Here are some of the sites and blogs that I have enjoyed and found useful:

1.  http://auto.howstuffworks.com/how-to-get-better-fuel-economy.htm

2. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

3. http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/archives/2008/05/fuel_economy_tips.htm

4. http://www.dailyfueleconomytip.com/

Enjoy!

  By Monchster

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