14 de maio de 2009

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9 de maio de 2009

Ferramentas para gerir ficheiros PST

A Microsoft acaba de publicar o seguinte artigo da Knowledge Base: Outlook Tools: description of sample tools for managing PST files in your Outlook Profile.

As seguintes 3 ferramentas são descritas no artigo:

  • Getpst.exe - The Getpst.exe tool allows you retrieve information about the existing services (PST files) in a given e-mail profile. It is possible to retrieve information about all ANSI PST files, all UNICODE PST files, or both file types.
  • Addpst.exe - The Addpst.exe tool allows you to add PST services (PST files) to a given e-mail profile. You can add either new or existing PST files to the profile. The file will be created at the specified file location. The PST file can be either in ANSI format (Outlook 97-2002 Personal Folders File) or UNICODE format (Office Outlook Personal Folders File).
  • Delpst.exe - The Delpst.exe tool allows you remove services (PST files) from a given email profile. It is possible to remove all ANSI files, all UNICODE PST files, or all files of both types.

An Outlook personal folders file (.pst) is a file that is commonly used to store e-mail messages for Internet e-mail accounts (POP3/IMAP), for archiving e-mail messages from an Exchange mailbox, or for organizing e-mail messages using rules that move the messages based on some criteria. If you are managing users in a company environment you occasionally need to manage .pst files in users’ Outlook profiles. This includes, but is not limited to the following actions.

  • Add a new or existing .pst to the profile
  • Remove a .pst file from the profile
  • Retrieve information about .pst files in the profile

In order to help automate these three activities related to .pst files, sample tools are now available for download and use from the Microsoft Download site. This article provides information about these tools -- how to download them and how to use them on an Outlook client.

TechNet Magazine – Junho 2009

June2009A edição de Junho da TechNet Magazine já está disponível para leitura online ou, se preferirem, podem fazer download em formato  HTML Help (ficheiro .chm) para consulta posterior.

As letras garrafais da capa, IT’S ALL GOTTA WORK, remetem-nos para o tema principal desta edição: a (in)compatibilidade aplicacional e como ultrapassar os problemas técnicos daquelas aplicações críticas que podem impedir a actualização para o mais recente sistema operativo disponibilizado pela Microsoft.

8 de maio de 2009

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29 de abril de 2009

Forefront Security 2010 for Exchange Beta 2

Agora que a versão Beta do Exchange Server 2010 está disponível publicamente, é bom saber que também já podemos contar com o seu par perfeito no que toca a segurança, o Forefront Security 2010 for Exchange Beta 2 também está disponível para download.

Forefront Security for Exchange Server (FSE) provides fast and effective protection against malware and spam by including multiple scanning engines from industry-leading security partners in a single solution. This second public beta of the next generation of FSE provides customers with updates to the easy-to-use interface, further integration with the Stirling management console, additional scanning and filtering options, new monitoring features, and antispam protection. Future versions will provide additional features and enhancements.

Todos os conteúdos técnicos, instruções de instalação e outra informação relevante está disponível nos seguintes links:

Microsoft Office SP2 disponível para download!

O 2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 2 (SP2) foi disponibilizado ontem, por isso despachem-se a fazer o download do ficheiro de 290MB!

Overview
The 2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 2 (SP2) provides customers with the latest updates to the 2007 Office suite (the products that are affected by this update are listed below). This download includes two types of fixes:

  • Previously unreleased fixes that were made specifically for this service pack.
    • In addition to general product fixes, this includes improvements in stability, performance, and security.
    • You can find out more information in Knowledge Base Article 953195, where product-specific changes are described.
  • All of the Public Updates, Security Updates, Cumulative Updates, and Hotfixes released through February 2009.

Before installing this service pack, you are strongly encouraged to read 953195, which describes some big improvements introduced by SP2, and also calls out some important information that you should be aware of before installing.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you attempt to install this update and get a message saying that the update failed, please refer to Knowledge Base Article 968173. It describes a set of requirements and other issues that may cause the installation to fail, and gives instructions on how to fix them.
Install SP2 for Other Office Products
If you have other Office products installed, please be sure to update them as well. A full list of SP2 releases for Office products is available in the Knowledge Base Article
968170.
To Remove this Download
Service Pack 2 is the first service pack to support uninstall of client patches through both the command line and the use of the Microsoft Service Pack Uninstall Tool. The Service Pack Uninstall Tool is available as a separate download. For more information about this tool, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article
954914.

Mas para mim, e certamente para a maioria dos leitores deste blog, as novidades mais interessantes são as relacionadas com o Outlook. Aqui fica um resumo das melhorias introduzidas no Outlook, retirado do KB 953195:

Microsoft Office Outlook

  • Performance improvements that apply to the following general responsiveness areas:
    • Startup - Removes lengthy operations from initial startup.
    • Shutdown - Makes Outlook exit predictably despite pending activities.
    • Folder View and Switch - Improves view rendering and folder switching.
  • Calendar improvements
    Improves underlying data structures and the general reliability of calendar updates.
  • Data file checks
    Greatly reduces the number of scenarios in which you receive the following error message when you start Outlook: The data file 'file name' was not closed properly. This file is being checked for problems.
  • Search reliability
    Improves search reliability when you use SP2 with
    Windows Desktop Search 4.
  • Improvements to Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
    There are now fewer duplicated items.
  • Object Model improvements
    Now contains many customer-driven fixes.

For more information about these improvements and details about other Outlook fixes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Outlook 2007 improvements in the 2007 Microsoft Office suite Service Pack 2.

Links relacionados:

24 de abril de 2009

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23 de abril de 2009

Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator v16.8

O Ross Smith IV anunciou no Microsoft Exchange Team Blog que a ferramenta Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator foi actualizada para a versão 16.8.

De acordo com a página de updates no blog You Had Me At EHLO, estas são as correcções/melhorias:

  • To aid you in your designs where you know this impact, we are introducing a new input field in the Mailbox and Client Configuration of the storage calculator.  The way this value is used is as follows: ((db reads + db writes) * Multiplication Factor) + (db reads + db writes) = new IOPS value.
  • The Disk Space and Requirements table was updated to remove confusion around space requirements vs. LUN requirements as they are two separate entities.  The space requirements fields simply state the space required for the Logs or database while LUN requirements fields include the content index capacity, the LUN free space requirement, restore/maintenance capacity (if restore LUN is disabled).
  • On the Storage Design tab, the Total Number of SCR Disks Required for the Single Mailbox Server row was updated to include the correct count of SCR disks when the source solution is CCR and the SCR target configuration is designed to match the source configuration.
  • 7.2K SAS disks were added to the Storage Design Disk Type field.  These disks provide 60 random IOPS at the controller when under a 4K/8K 1:1 read:write ratio with latency under 20ms with 80% capacity utilized (essentially they are about 20% faster than 7.2K SATA disks from a random I/O perspective).
  • The User Mailbox Configuration table on the Storage Requirements tab now exposes the calculated database cache / mailbox (which is based on the recommended memory configuration and is used in the I/O prediction formula calculations) as opposed to the desired database cache based on the message profile.
  • Updated various comment fields.

Para obter instruções detalhadas sobre a utilização da ferramenta, consultem Exchange 2007 Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator.

18 de abril de 2009

Exchange Server 2003 entra em Suporte Estendido

O Exchange Server 2003 entrou em Suporte Estendido no passado dia 14 de Abril de 2009. Todos os detalhes da política de suporte da Microsoft e do ciclo de vida dos produtos podem ser consultados em Support.com.

Para quem ainda está a utilizar esta versão de Exchange, talvez seja uma boa altura para migrar para Exchange Server 2007… Ou até começar a planear o recentemente anunciado Exchange Server 2010..

What does this mean for customers?
The major differences between the Mainstream Support phase and the Extended Support phase are the following:

  • No-charge Problem Resolution Support is not available
  • Microsoft no longer accept product design change requests (CDCRs) or provide new feature functionality
  • Microsoft no longer provide new non-security hotfixes without enrollment in Extended Hotfix Support

Customers have 90 days after 4/14/2009 to purchase an Extended Hotfix Support Agreement. One exception - customers who have Software Assurance can opt in for the Extended Hotfix Support Agreement at any time.

One of the important things to note is that Extended Support is still a publicly supported phase and no separate agreement is needed to obtain support.  As long as customers are opening paid incidents, they will still be able to receive support. In fact, many Premier and Pro customers who already open paid cases with Microsoft will notice little difference in the support that is provided in this phase. They will continue to be able to open paid cases, receive security updates, obtain support assistance from their TAM, etc.

17 de abril de 2009

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Notícia da semana: Exchange 2010 Beta disponível publicamente!

Home

Para qualquer pessoa que não tenha vivido em Marte durante os últimos dias, a disponibilização pública da versão beta do Exchange Server 2010, anteriormente conhecido por Exchange “14”, não constituirá qualquer surpresa.

Aqui ficam os links para fazer download do software:

O que há de novo:

Quem quiser instalar imediatamente esta nova versão, poderá consultar toda a informação técnica nestes links:

E, como não podia deixar de ser, este facto gerou uma enorme quantidade de notícias. Aqui vos deixo os links de algumas delas:

Forefront Security for Exchange Capacity Planning Tool

AMicrosoft disponibilizou hoje a ferramenta Forefront Security for Exchange Server SP1 Capacity Planning Tool.

forefront-security-capacity-planning

Brief Description
The Forefront Security for Exchange Server SP1 capacity planning tool helps customers understand what hardware, architecture, and configuration settings will produce recommended system performance and message throughput results for comprehensive protection of their Exchange Servers.

Overview
The new Forefront Security for Exchange Server SP1 capacity planning tool helps customers understand what hardware, architecture, and configuration settings will produce recommended system performance and message throughput results for comprehensive protection of their Exchange Servers. This tool, an excel spreadsheet with built in workflow, applies to the Forefront Security for Exchange Server SP1 product. The user will be able to plan the details for a new deployment or understand the impact of adding security protection to an existing deployment. In short, the user will choose their CPU and memory tolerances for deployment, their target reference architecture, their desired protection settings, and their targeted supported user load. Once this is defined, the tool will either recommend scaling up or out on the base recommended hardware for each server role.
For additional details, please read the “Directions” and “Readme” tabs. A “Resource” tab is also provided with links to obtain additional data to help make an informed decision during the planning stage.

13 de abril de 2009

Thread Compressor for Microsoft Outlook

Thread Compressor é um add-in para o Microsoft Outlook, desenvolvido pelo Ewan Dalton, que permite poupar algum do valioso espaço disponível para a mailbox.

Thread Compressor is an add-in to Microsoft Outlook, which removed unnecessary emails from a "thread" - reducing the amount of storage required (maybe keeping your mailbox within its size quota) and reducing the number of emails you need to read.

TC was developed inside Microsoft from 1999 onwards, and attracted a large following (up to 30,000 users) but has never (officially) been made available externally, due to the fact that it will delete data unless it is configured not to. I've decided to share it more widely now.

Let me say that again: Thread Compressor, as it is configured by default, WILL DELETE DATA FROM YOUR INBOX.

If you choose to download it and use it from here, you do it with the author's blessing, but it's completely at your own risk and Microsoft cannot be held responsible for what it does.

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3 de abril de 2009

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Microsoft TechNet | Troubleshooting Tools

Microsoft Technet Exclusive Sessions

No próximo dia 15 de Abril vai acontecer mais uma sessão Microsoft TechNet | Exclusive Sessions. Desta vez o tema é Troubleshooting tools para AD, SQL, Exchange.

Local: Auditório Microsoft, Porto Salvo
Hora: 9h00 – 12h45

Agenda:
Durante uma manhã serão abordadas as questões relacionadas com a Active Directory, analisando problemas causados por lingering objects, cenários de USN Rollback, Backup/Restore, Time Sync e replicação em geral.
As diferentes técnicas de troubleshooting de performance em SQL Server 2000/2005 por comparação com novas funcionalidades disponíveis no SQL Server 2008 que facilitam este processo, simplificando-o.
Sobre o Exchange Server 2007 serão abordados métodos de diagnóstico dando a conhecer a metodologia e técnicas aplicadas na resolução de problemas, tais como, Mailflow, Performance e Setup.

Registe-se para participar!

TechNet Magazine – Maio 2009

May2009A edição de Maio da TechNet Magazine já está disponível para leitura online ou, se preferirem, podem fazer download em formato  HTML Help (ficheiro .chm) para consulta posterior.

O tema principal de capa é a segurança, mas 2 das nossas colunas favoritas estão de volta em grande: Exchange Queue & A: Recovering a Clustered Mailbox Server, Offline Address Book Issues, and More e Windows PowerShell: Automating User Provisioning, Part 3.

1 de abril de 2009

Próximos webcasts/labcasts de Exchange 2007

Aqui fica uma lista dos próximos webcasts e labcasts de Exchange 2007:

Podem consultar a lista completa neste link: Exchange Server 2007 Webcasts and Podcasts.

Microsoft Exchange Server User Monitor v06.05.7543

A ferramenta Microsoft Exchange Server User Monitor foi recentemente actualizada para a versão 06.05.7543.

Brief Description
Enables system administrators to view and evaluate individual users' usage and experience with Microsoft Exchange Server.

Overview
Use the Microsoft Exchange Server User Monitor to gather real-time data to better understand current client usage patterns, and to plan for future work. Administrators can view several items, including IP addresses used by clients, versions and modes of Microsoft Office Outlook, and resources such as CPU usage, server-side processor latency, and total latency for network and processing with Outlook 2003 version MAPI.

28 de março de 2009

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19 de março de 2009

Update Rollup 7 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1

O Update Rollup 7 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 está disponível para download.

Overview
Update Rollup 7 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) resolves issues that were found in Exchange Server 2007 SP1 since the software was released. This update rollup is highly recommended for all Exchange Server 2007 SP1 customers.
For a list of changes that are included in this update rollup, see
KB960384.
This update rollup does not apply to Exchange Server 2007 Release To Manufacturing (RTM). For a list of update rollups applicable to Exchange Server 2007 RTM, refer to the section Update rollups for Exchange Server 2007 RTM in the Knowledge Base article
KB937052.
This is a cumulative update rollup and replaces the following:

  • KB945684 Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB945684)
  • KB948016 Update Rollup 2 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB948016)
  • KB949870 Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB949870)
  • KB952580 Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB952580)
  • KB953467 Update Rollup 5 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB953467)
  • KB959241 Update Rollup 6 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB959241)

System Requirements

  • Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003 R2 (32-Bit x86); Windows Server 2003 R2 x64 editions; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2; Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 x64 Edition; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows XP Service Pack 2
  • Exchange Server 2007 SP1 must be installed prior to installing this update rollup.
  • This update rollup cannot be installed if you are using Exchange Server 2007 RTM.
  • Any Interim Updates for Exchange Server 2007 must be uninstalled prior to installing this update rollup.
  • 32-bit editions of Windows Server 2003 with SP2, Windows Server 2003 R2 with SP2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista and Windows XP with SP2 are only supported for Exchange Server 2007 management tools.

Algumas notas importantes retiradas do blog You Had Me At EHLO:

  • Since the release of update roll-up 6, we have fixed about 50 issues and wanted to go ahead and provide them to customers.
  • First off, we fixed the SCR issue which have caused everyone some pain and which did not get completed in time to be included in the last update roll-up.
  • We have also fixed two issues which caused intermittent crashes in the IMAP4 service and resulted in event 4999 being logged in the event logs. The following KBs have more information on the scenarios which are fixed:  KB 957504 and KB 960292.
  • Additionally we have also done a design change to address encapsulation and the way it is handled by Exchange Server 2007.
  • And finally, from the installation perspective, a friendly reminder that the roll-up installer will overwrite any OWA script files if required to ensure proper operation of OWA. So if you have customized the logon.aspx page or other similar OWA pages, you will need to redo any customization after installation of the roll-up.

Já instalei este pacote nas minhas máquinas de teste (Hyper-V) e, até agora, tudo parece estar OK!

e2k7sp1-ru7

Links:

11 de março de 2009

Actualização do filtro Junk Email do Outlook (Março 2009)

Está disponível uma nova actualização para o filtro Junk E-mail do Outlook 2003/2007.

"This update provides the Junk E-mail Filter in Microsoft Office Outlook with a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered junk e-mail."

O download está disponível para as versões Outlook 2003 e Outlook 2007, ou através do Microsoft Update. Como é habitual, está acompanhado pelo respectivo artigo da Knowledge Base:

7 de março de 2009

TechNet Magazine – Abril 2009

April2009A edição de Abril da TechNet Magazine já está disponível para leitura online ou, se preferirem, podem fazer download em formato  HTML Help (ficheiro .chm) para consulta posterior.

O tema central da capa é o Internet Explorer 8, mas o Office Communications Server 2007 R2 também tem reservado um lugar de destaque: Stay Connected with Office Communicator Web Access, How Voice Conferencing Powers OCS 2007 R2.

2 de março de 2009

Microsoft TechNet | Exclusive Sessions

Microsoft Technet Exclusive Sessions 

As Microsoft TechNet | Exclusive Sessions são sessões técnicas para técnicos, apresentadas por técnicos.

Agenda

As Comunicações Unificadas da Microsoft não podiam faltar, pelo que estão incluídas 3 sessões webcast de 28 a 30 de Abril, sendo precedidas por um seminário a 31 de Março.

Não percam!

27 de fevereiro de 2009

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A solução para a lentidão do Outlook

Apesar de o Microsoft Outlook ser provavelmente a aplicação de produtividade mais utilizada em todo o Mundo, a verdade é que o seu desempenho sempre deixou algo a desejar.

Os problemas de lentidão, quando se abre a primeira vez principalmente, têm, na grande maioria das vezes, a ver com ficheiros .PST e .OST de grandes dimensões (maiores que algumas centenas de megas).

Também eu senti na pele o desespero da espera, por vezes mais de 5 minutos, enquanto aguardava que a janela do Outlook ficasse disponível para trabalhar.

ATÉ AGORA!!!

A Microsoft acaba de disponibilizar 2 actualizações para o Outlook (961752 e 967688), que podem ser obtidas através do artigo da Knowledge Base Outlook 2007 improvements in the February 2009 cumulative update.

A principal alteração é, sem dúvida, a alteração da estrutura dos ficheiros .PST e .OST que vai permitir reduzir a utilização do disco (o principal responsável da lentidão) e melhorar o tempo de resposta.

Não estranhem por isso que a primeira utilização do Outlook após a aplicação dos patches seja um pouco mais demorada.

23 de fevereiro de 2009

É a ordem dos bindings, estúpido!

Recentemente, andava eu a tentar configurar as actualizações automáticas das assinaturas anti-spam num servidor Exchange Edge, quando me deparei com o seguinte erro:

Enable-AntispamUpdates : An error occurred while accessing the registry of the specified server: "E2K7EDGE". The error message: "The network path was not found."

Após uma rápida pesquisa na Internet, não achei nada de relevante que me pudesse ajudar a ultrapassar esta situação.

Foi então que se fez luz. Lembrei-me que o meu servidor dispunha de 2 placas de rede e que uma delas, a externa, não estava configurada com os clientes “File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks” e “Client for Microsoft Networks”.

Bingo, era esse o problema. A solução foi tão simples como aceder às propriedades avançadas das configurações de rede e trocar a ordem dos bindings das placas (a placa interna deve *sempre* estar em primeiro lugar).

E com isto, fiquei com o problema resolvido!

18 de fevereiro de 2009

Templates for Calendar Printing Assistant for Outlook 2007

Se estiverem a utilizar o Calendar Printing Assistant for Outlook 2007, este download é bem capaz de vos interessar: Templates for Calendar Printing Assistant for Outlook 2007.

Brief Description
The Calendar Printing Assistant for Microsoft Outlook 2007 is a program that provides an easy way to print and customize Outlook 2007 calendar information. The files available on this page provide additional templates for use with the Calendar Printing Assistant.

Overview
The files available on this page provide additional templates for use with the Calendar Printing Assistant. The files available for download introduce the following templates:

  • Week_WeekList03.catx: This is a custom weekly agenda-view template for the Calendar Printing Assistant. This template draws a shaded box around each all-day event to distinguish them from the hourly appointments and make them easier to read. This new template can be found in the Week Templates group, named Week List 03.
  • Week_WeekDetails_01.catx: This is a custom weekly agenda-view template for the Calendar Printing Assistant. To maximize the amount of information shown on the page, this template removes extra formatting. This new template can be found in the Week Templates group, named Week List - Details.

System Requirements

  • Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008; Windows Vista; Windows XP

To install this download, you must have the Calendar Printing Assistant for Outlook 2007.