Jason Yoder, MCT

This scenario happens from time to time. Not to worry. Here is a simple procedure to get your through. This was copied directly from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255504 . I've used this procedure several time. Also on that knowledge base article is how to transfer the roles. This should be done if you are taking one of the FSMO servers down for maintenance. 1. Log on to a Windows 2000 Server-based or Windows Server 2003-based member computer or domain controller that is located in the forest where FSMO roles are being seized. We recommend that you log on to the domain controller that you are assigning FSMO roles to. The logged-on user should be a member of the Enterprise Administrators group to transfer schema or domain naming master roles, or a member of the Domain Administrators group of the domain where the PDC emulator, RID master and the Infrastructure master roles are being transferred. 2. Click Start , click Run , type ntdsutil in the Open box, and then click OK ...

On Technet, I found this line in an article talking about Extending Windows Search: Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 or later has instant search powered by Windows Search and does not require installation of a separate toolbar. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc771093.aspx In another article from the Windows 7 (That’s Vista’s replacement) the engineering team talked about the future uses of Windows Search. Windows Search, or Indexer, is open for use by developers. Even the Google Search Bar uses it. By all indications, it is not going away. The idea is to already search your files before you do. That way you get faster response times. The indexer does have some intelligence though. I knows that there are some folders that it does not need to search. It also knows to slow down its activities once the user starts to utilize the PC and to stop all activity if needed. It also only needs to run once. After that, it only indexes changed files. Class: Information Worker: Outl...

I'm finding more ways to help keep my out of the pocket expenses down. While I'm instructing, I go through a lot of bottled water. I know, the bottle takes centuries to bio degrade. I refuse to drink that funny tasting water at the hotel though. Here is a little math. Let's say that you instruct 130 days a year. You go through 2 water bottles a day. From the hotel, that is around $1.50 per bottle or $390 a year. Here is a tip, stop at the grocery store and buy their bottled water. Here is a more greener and cost effective tip. Bring an empty reusable bottle. Stop at the grocery store and by a gallon of water. Refill every evening. OK, you may onlysave about $200 a year. Keep an eye out for more cost savings tips.

This answer comes from the Microsoft Supportability e-newsletter: http://blogs.technet.com/asiasupp/default.aspx?p=3 1. Create a share folder on server, say Junk E-mail, and give everyone read permission. Create a text file name SafeSender.txt. Input email addresses into file (one address one line). 2. Install "Microsoft Office 2003 Resource Kit" on the Domain Controller. 3. Start Active Directory Users and Computers (ADUC), Right Click on the OU in which users account is present, Go To "Properties", Click on "Group Policy" tab. 4. Select the Policy in effect, click on "Edit". It will open "Group Policy Object Editor". Right click on "Administrative Templates" under "User Configuration" -> All Tasks -> "Add/Remove Templates" -> Click on "Add" -> Select "Outlk11.ADM" and click "Open" -> Click "Close". 5. Expand "Microsoft Office Outlook 2003" u...

The short answer is no. I’ve been reading the blogs from the Windows 7 development team and all indications are that Windows 7 is built on Windows Vista. If you are looking at getting a jump start at Windows 7, go ahead and look into a class on Windows Vista. Microsoft currently offers 7 classes that target Vista. I highly recommend that you go through the syllabus of each class before committing. You will find sections of each class that are clearly for IT Pros entering the field and sections where you really pick up the new features of Vista. Here is another bonus. The Vista classes are also the stepping stones for Server 2008. Vista is the client for 2008 so naturally what we learn in a vista class also applies to server 2008. Below are the current class offerings from Microsoft which are Vista specific. Course 5105B: Deploying Microsoft Windows Vista Business Desktops http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/syllabi/5105bfinal.mspx Course 5115A: Installing and Configuring the Window...

You have the ability to see multiple calendars at once in outlook. You can have up to 9 monitors in Windows Vista so that means you can see quite a view. Here is how to do it. Open Outlook Click Calendar . Click Open Shared Calendars . Type in the name of the users calendar you want to view and click OK . The other user's calendar will appear in the navigation pane in the People's Calendars group . Now, just check the box next to all the calendars that you want to view. Tip: If you want to compare them on top of each other: Right click the name tab on top of each calendar. Click View in overlay mode . The calendars will become transparent and on top of each other. Reverse the process to undo it. Class: Information Worker: Outlook 2007 Power User* Date: November 6, 2008 Location: Indiana State University *The Information Worker series is available through LanTech Training in Indianapolis. Please visit their website for more information

In the Event Log, you will see event IS 1020 from source DhcpServer. An example is below. Event Type: Warning Event Source: DhcpServer Event Category: None Event ID: 1020 Date: 27/12/2004 Time: 10:15:50 User: N/A Computer: MyServer Description: Scope, 192.168.16.0, is 100 percent full with only 0 IP addresses remaining. The DHCP server also has a log file located at %systemroot%\DHCP. The problem is that this event will not be listed there. For a complete listing of all events for the DHCP Log, browse to: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/298367 Class: 6421A Configuring and Troubleshooting a Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure

Saving your Outlook files to your hard drive has both advantages, and disadvantages. An advantage is that if you are using POP3, your e-mail will be there while you are offline. Another one is if your Exchange account is close to its size limit, you can move e-mail to your hard drive and free up space in your Exchange account. The disadvantage of this is that you are now responsible for backing up your data. If your hard drive crashes, you lose that data. We first need to create an Outlook Personal Folders File. Open Outlook . Click File --> Data File Management . Click the Data Files tab. Click Add . Select Outlook Personal Folders File (. pst ) and click OK . Select the name of the file and where to store it. Click OK . Give the file a name. This is the name that will appear in Outlook. If you want to encrypt the file, also give it a password. In your Navigation pane, right mouse click your newly added personal folder and click New Folder . Give it a name. Under Folder Contains ...

This one was a killer to find an answer for. As a matter of fact, I'm shocked at the answer. I've asked around and I've search the net until for a few hours. Every web site that I went to, most of which ended up being University self help sites, told you what your quota was. The question though, was how can you find out. Thanks to Indiana University Technical Services for posting the answer. You must be using Outlook Web Access (Premium). Yes, I said OWA, not the real deal. In the lower left of the window, on the navigation bar, click Mail to make sure you are in the correct view. In the upper left, you will see the folder list. Your name will be displayed near the top. Hover your mouse pointer over your name. A small box with your quota information will appear. (see image below). If anybody knows how to find this in Outlook 2007 itself, please post a comment. I'm still shocked that this appears to be in OWA and not the real deal. Class: Information Worker: Outlook 200...

The beta release for select customers of Vista SP2 happened on October 29th according to the Windows Team Blog. A few items that were listed: · This is a service pack for both Vista and Server 2008. · Blue-Ray native support. · Support for BlueTooth 2.1 · Faster search capability. No word yet on the general release to the public. SP1 was released in the spring so I’m sure we still have a little bit of a wait. Let’s go over a few best practices when it comes to deploying SP2 in your environment. · Always test your applications in a test environment. · Role out SP2 to your trusted test users after your testing. · Document any issues and their resolutions. · Deploy in managed groups so any undetected issues can be caught before the issue is widespread. · Have a roll back plan (This includes user data). A well tested and planned rollout makes the difference between a nice bonus and a scorching review.

Here is another on from my friends in Terra Haute. Outlook allows users the flexibility to give others access to their information without the need to make a call to tech support. You can grant anybody access to by: Start Outlook . Click Go --> Folder List . Right mouse click Calendar and click Properties . Click the Permissions tab. Set the Default to Reviewer . At this point, you can also set permissions to individuals. Instead of setting Default , click Add . Select the user you want to add anf click OK . Select the user you just added. By default, they are set with Free/Busy They can see when you have free time, but no other details. Set to Reviewer to let them see more. Class: Information Worker: Outlook 2007 Power User* Date: November 6, 2008 Location: Indiana State University *The Information Worker series is available through LanTech Training in Indianapolis. Please visit their website for more information

Class Question: When you Export a .PST from Outlook 2007, is there a GPO setting to have "Include Subfolders " checked? This one stumped me. I had to refer to another MCT on this. He did not believe it was possible to do it via a GPO, but did say that an administrator can do it through PowerShell . For the user, they will have to make sure they check that box when exporting a .PST file. Class: Information Worker: Outlook 2007 Power User* Date: November 6, 2008 Location: Indiana State University *The Information Worker series is available through LanTech Training in Indianapolis. Please visit their website for more information

This is a question that came up in an Outlook 2007 Power User class at Indiana State University. I found two possibilities for this one. 1) Use Microsoft Windows SharePoint 2) Office One Note 2007 In SharePoint , you can create a contact list for your entire team and then each member of the team can link that address book to Outlook by clicking the Link to Outlook at the top of the contact list in SharePoint . SharePoint 3 is a feature of Windows Server 2008. As such, someone with access to your Windows Server 2008 server will have to activate this feature and set up your users with appropriate access. Office OneNote 2007 is another option. OneNote will allow you to create a shared notebook that you can populate with address information. Your team members will be able to access the shared note book and view the address data. Class: Information Worker: Outlook 2007 Power User* Date: November 6, 2008 Location: Indiana State University *The Information Worker series is available thro...

I've been seeing more popping up around the Internet regarding Windows 7. Here are some of the features and their usages that I've found so far. Jump Lists - By right clicking an icon, you get a list of options for that application. I know, nothing mind bending here. If the application uses the system API , you will also get a list of recently used files in that application. Libraries - Libraries will allow you to view your data in a new way. It looks like it is part of Windows Explorer. You can customize it to organize the presentation of your files to suit your needs. Touch-Screen PCs - The mouse commands have been changed to allow you to use your PC as a touch screen. We've seen Windows Touch being used by NBC's political analysis Chuck Todd. Now that functionality is moving to the PC. Lower system requirements - One of the big complaints about Vista was the extra power under the hood that was required. According to Microsoft, today's hardware will be abl...

Two friends have recently asked me this question. I started off with a warning to them. First off, be prepared to spend a lot of time. Working with the technology is one thing. Passing the Microsoft Exams is another. Teaching it is even more difficult. You see, anyone can click around a screen. Most people can read a book or memorize a practice exam. To be able to present the material to a room of people from high school grads to 30 year veterans is a different ballgame. It is however, a very rewarding experience. As my wife would attest, I do spend a lot of time in my geek world. I am always learning, digging deeper, trying to find that detail that will make my class worth the experience to my students. It takes a lot of dedication. But how do you get to instruct? Microsoft has it all up on their web site on how to become a Microsoft Certified Instructor. It takes an investment both in time and finances. I was an MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional) for 10 years before I made the mo...