DanJay.co.uk » Tips

Google Apps Directory Sync: AD passwords

Dan — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:35:49 +0000

Trying to sync your Active Directory user passwords with Google Apps? Check out http://code.google.com/p/sha1hexfltr/

Works a treat.

Set up Goldmine with Google Mail

Dan — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:16:23 +0000

Has your company switched to Google Apps and you’re wondering how to get your emails in Goldmine? It’s actually quite easy. (I say Google Apps, but this will work for personal use Gmail as well as Google Apps Mail).

First you need to enable IMAP on your Google Mail account (if it isn’t already). In Google Mail go to Settings. Then click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP tab> Check the radio button to enable IMAP.

Now set up Goldmine to connect to GMail. In Goldmine go to Tools> User settings> Preferences> Email. In the Getting mail section set the server to IMAP and enter address imap.gmail.com. Username is your email address, password is your password. Check the ‘Use encrypted connection (SSL)’ box.

In the Sending Mail section the SMTP server is smtp.gmail.com, return address is your email address. Again, check the ‘Use encrypted connection (SSL)’ box.

Done

OWA: Change password error

Dan — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:46:25 +0000

Trying to change your password with OWA and getting error: object required? You need to register a dll on the server, follow the instructions found in this Microsoft support article.

If after you’ve done this you’re now getting error number 5, you need to check Integrated Windows authentication in the IIS virtual directory. To do this go to IIS manager> right click on the IISADPWD virtual directory and select properties> select the Directory Security tab> under Authentication and access control click Edit> check the box Integrated Windows authentication.

Done!

Disable AutoRun in XP

Dan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:26:14 +0000

AutoRun/AutoPlay is a well known security risk. Pop an infected USB stick into your PC and up pops the autorun/autoplay menu. Viruses can replicate items on that list, so you think you’re just opening it up in Explorer but actually you’re infecting your PC as well.

It makes sense then to disable it. It can be done easily in Group Policy, but if you’re a home user then that won’t be any use to you. Here’s how to do it XP by modifying the registry.

Start> Run
Type regedit
Click OK
Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer\ NoDriveTypeAutorun
Right-click NoDriveTypeAutoRun, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 0xFF to disable all types of drives.
Click OK. Exit Registry Editor
Restart your PC
Done!

Exchange 2003: Reduce database size

Dan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:15:36 +0000

Deleted some accounts or cleared a load of emails from your Exchange server and wondering why the database size hasn’t reduced?

Well, after you’ve deleted Exchange accounts, you need to run the Cleanup Agent for them to actually be removed (and then only after the waiting period, typically 30 days, has passed).

To change the deleted mailboxes waiting period: In Exchange System Manager go to the First Storage Group, right click on your Mailbox Store and click Properties. On the Limits tab, at the bottom, change the number of ‘Keep deleted mailboxes for (days)’.

To run the Cleanup Agent: In Exchange System Manager, go to your Mailbox Store, right click on the Mailboxes folder and click Run Cleanup Agent.

The space you’ve cleared will only be available after the next online defrag has completed (typically overnight). However, the Exchange database files won’t actually be any smaller. Exchange keeps the space in it’s databases ready to use for new emails. You can see how much free space your Exchange server is holding by viewing your Exchange servers Application Event Log (in Event Viewer). Look for the Event ID 1221 that has your Mailbox Store name in it (not the Public Store). The Event description will tell you the megabytes of free space.

To actually make the Exchange database files smaller you need to run an offline defrag. This can only be done during downtime and really isn’t recommened unless you have a lot of free space in your database to release. To run you need to detach your Mailbox Store and run the Eseutil utitlity. More info can be found here.

Update Group Policy

Dan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:35:45 +0000

Ever wondered how to do an immediate Group Policy update without restarting your PC or anything? It’s dead easy:

Open Command Prompt (search for CMD)

Type “gpupdate/force” (without the quotes)

Hit Enter

Done!

Excel 2007: Automatic Formula Recalculation

Dan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:30:34 +0000

Are your Excel formulas not recalculating automatically?

Check: Formulas tab> Calculation options> Automatic

Done!

Symantec AntiVirus Corporate: 64 bit PCs not updating

Dan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:47:32 +0000

If you’re running Symantec Antivirus Corporate Edition on your network and you have some 64 bit machines on your network, you may find that the 64 bit machines aren’t updating their virus definitions. This is because the 64 bit machines cannot update from a 32 bit server. The way round this is to set the 64 bit machines to update from the Internet instead of from your server. To do this you need to create a client group with the just the 64 bit machines in, like so:

Create a client group.
Drag the 64 bit machines into the new client group.
Right-click the client group.
Uncheck Inherit settings from Server Group.
Right-click the client group, and then select All Tasks > Symantec AntiVirus > Virus Definition Manager.
In the Virus Definition Manager dialog box, uncheck Update virus definitions from parent server.
Check Schedule client for automatic updates using LiveUpdate, click Schedule, specify a schedule, and then click OK.
Click OK.

Done.

Remove Outlook attachments

Dan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:24:55 +0000

I just found this out myself the other day, you can remove attachments from emails in Outlook. Handy for reducing your Exchange mailbox size.

Just open the email (can’t be done from preview), right click the attachment and select Remove. Close and save the email when prompted.

Exchange 2003: .edb and .stm?

Dan — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:48:56 +0000

Want to know what the difference is between your exchange .edb and .stm files?

.edb: A rich-text database file containing message headers, message text, and standard attachments.

.stm: A streaming internet content file containing audio, video and other media that are formatted as streams of Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) data.

So now you know.