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[Feature]

"OEM Software": Good Deal or Theft?
How do those "OEM software" guys sell software so cheaply?
 — Mark Minasi


“Shipping Is a Feature…” Argh.
Mark laments the fact that Microsoft considers shipdate to be an important feature of its Windows Hypervisor product.
 — Mark Minasi


5 Ways to Trim Your IT Budget
Standardizing IT equipment is the first step toward making reduced IT budgets stretch further.
 — Mark Smith


A Healthy Dose of Windows Server 2008 Wariness
Microsoft will probably release Windows 2008 to manufacturing by October or November of this year, at the latest. And, you see, that's why I'm worried.
 — Mark Minasi


Access Security Event Logs with PowerShell
See how using Windows PowerShell with Windows Security event logs can help you guard against intrusion.
 — Robert Sheldon


Accessing Database Data with ADO

 — Robert Sheldon


Accessing SQL Server Data from PowerShell, Part 1
Learn how to use ADO.NET to retrieve SQL Server data through PowerShell scripts.
 — Robert Sheldon


Accessing SQL Server Data from PowerShell, Part 2
Because PowerShell is integrated with the.NET framework, you can leverage the .NET object model within PowerShell scripts and build ADO.NET objects that retrieve SQL Server data; learn how to use ADO.NET to insert, update, and delete SQL Server data.
 — Robert Sheldon


Am I Who I Say I Am?
David Chernicoff explains the advantages of authenticating email as a way to combat spam.
 — David Chernicoff


Are Recycle Bins Wasting a Lot of Space on Your Windows Servers?
Here's a VBScript script you can use to monitor how much disk space is being consumed by the Recycle Bins stored in a server's Recycler folder and how much space is available on that server's local hard drives.
 — Jim Turner


Attention Windows 7.0: Please Don’t Interrupt Me!
Mark yearns for a more polite Windows.
 — Mark Minasi


BitLocker and AD, Together at Last
Here's what you need to know about BitLocker/AD integration.
 — Mark Minasi


Can Slow-and-Steady Win the Wireless Race?
Mark proposes a new, more user-friendly wireless standard.
 — Mark Minasi


Cell Phone–and-PDA Combo Devices
Mark Smith checks out some of the current cell phone–and-PDA combinations. Find out what product he finally chose and why.
 — Mark Smith


Certifications: Pass or Fail?
A discussion of the pros and cons of vendor-sponsored certifications.
 — Mark Minasi


Connect Microsoft Email Clients to Gmail
Gmail is a powerful email server that supports millions of mailboxes. Use IMAP to connect Outlook or other email clients to Gmail to create the best of two worlds—well-developed email UIs in popular clients with a good (and free) email server.
 — Tony Redmond


Countdown to XP SP2: Dealing with ICF
Mark continues his evaluation of one of XP SP2's biggest features: enabling ICF by default.
 — Mark Minasi


Countdown to XP SP2: Forced Protection
Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) is nearly here. In the next four installments of his VIP column, Mark considers the pros and cons of some of the changes that SP2 will bring.
 — Mark Minasi


Countdown to XP SP2: More than a Firewall
After an in-depth discussion of Windows XP Service Pack 2's (SP2's) Windows Firewall, Mark examines some of the service pack's other interesting features.
 — Mark Minasi


Countdown to XP SP2: Planning Ahead
Mark continues his look at the forthcoming Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) Windows Firewall feature.
 — Mark Minasi


Data Manipulation with ADO
ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) let you access, filter, sort, and retrieve data from Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access databases using VBScript and other scripting languages. Here are some of the most common uses of ADO for databases.
 — Robert Sheldon


Deployment Blockers for Upgrading to Exchange Server 2007
Avoid the gotchas and ensure a successful upgrade. You’ll need to be clear on AD topology, and then deal with deployment issues with public folders, client software, archival and retention, fax, mobility, and coexistence with other Exchange versions.
 — Paul Robichaux


Disaster Recovery in the Wake of Katrina
Mark's thoughts turn to disaster recovery in the wake of a devastating tragedy.
 — Mark Minasi


Disks, Spin No More
What's interesting about PQI's announcement of its new hard disk? It's a solid state disk.
 — Mark Minasi


Do Betas Make Sense Anymore?
Mark suggests that betas don't make sense as testing tools anymore.
 — Mark Minasi


DPM 2007: Protecting and Restoring Data
DPM 2007 uses Microsoft VSS to provide in-depth protection to your key Microsoft application platforms. Learn about setting up recovery points and restoring data, enabling end-user restores, and performing bare-metal restores.
 — John Savill


DPM 2007: Set It Up and Get Started
Get all the information you need about what Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager is and how it works, and walkthrough the installation and setup process for DPM 2007.
 — John Savill


Dual-Core Turions: A Nice, Cool Surprise
Here's a quick look at how AMD and Intel are taking advantage of something called "nonlinear heating rates."
 — Mark Minasi


Enhance PowerShell's Syntax Display
The author’s Get-Usage script displays usage for more categories of command types than PowerShell’s Get-Command or Get-Help cmdlets.
 — Alex K. Angelopoulos


Establishing Quotas for Exchange 2007 Mailboxes
Learn the important factors to consider when setting Exchange 2007 mailbox quotas, including disk performance, database overhead, and backup-window limitations. You'll also get practical formulas to determine your maximum mailbox and database volumes.
 — Brien Posey


Exchange 2007 SP1 and OCS 2007: What You Get
Exchange 2007 and OCS 2007 are complementary parts of Microsoft's UC strategy. Exchange 2007 SP1 enhances this relationship with features such as additional dial plan options, better fax handling, and Communicator access for remote workers.
 — Paul Robichaux


Exchange 2007 SP1's Standby Continuous Replication
You can add site resilience to your Exchange organization by implementing SCR with Exchange 2007 SP1. Find out the steps for setting up SCR and what you need to do to recover in the event of a failure.
 — Tony Redmond


Exchange Management with EMS: Getting Exchange Objects
You can use EMS to retrieve any type of Exchange object and its properties, then use the pipelining feature to pass results to another command. Be sure your scope is correct.
 — Paul Robichaux


Exchange Management with EMS: Setting Properties
Exchange Management Shell lets you set mailbox quotas, establish maintenance cycles, and manage every aspect of your Exchange environment, and built-in safety features help you get into property manipulation without fear of breaking anything.
 — Paul Robichaux


Exploring CAS Technology
Learn the core concepts of the .NET Framework's Code Access Security (CAS) feature and how to administer it.
 — Jan De Clercq


Feeling Sorta Blue, Ray
It’s the great next-generation DVD format war: Blu-ray or HD DVD, which will win? After the past couple of weeks, I think we all know which will be victorious, and it worries me a trifle.
 — Mark Minasi


Finding a User’s Last Logon
The JScript script this article presents lets you discover exactly when a user last logged on to the domain. It also tells you which server authenticated the logon, and it doesn’t require Windows Server 2003 forest functional mode.
 — Bill Stewart


Function Creates Multidimensional Arrays from Delimited Text Files
You don’t have to write a separate routine for text-based processes to arrange data into a usable form—use this VBScript script to create a multidimensional array of the data to reference it by rows and columns like a database.
 — Jim Turner


Future Computing in the Past
Mark makes a few suggestions for fun holiday reading, IT style.
 — Mark Minasi


Getting Started with Exchange 2007 UM
UM with Exchange Server 2007 combines email, fax, and voicemail in your Exchange Inbox. Using Exchange Management Console, you can configure the settings to get your organization unified.
 — J. Peter Bruzzese


Getting Started: Remote Administration
Learn how to install and run Microsoft terminal services tools.
 — Kathy Ivens


Group Policy Made Great
The Group Policy Management Console will greatly improve Group Policy but doesn't go far enough. Mark Minasi offers suggestions for improvements.
 — Mark Minasi


Has Outlook Become Inlook?
Mark turns cynical when answering the question, Why is Outlook regressing?
 — Mark Minasi


Hawking Certification Like Light Beer
Mark disusses his appalled reaction to a prurient advertisement for an MCSE boot camp.
 — Mark Minasi


How About a Rational Vista License?
How does Microsoft get away with its software licensing, given US copyright law?
 — Mark Minasi


How to Easily View the Extended Properties of Files
Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista have seven times more file properties than their predecessors. Here's how you can easily select and view the properties you're interested in seeing, no matter whether you're using the newest or an older OS.
 — Jim Turner


How to Find Constants and Their Values
Because of the COM technology behind scripting objects, scripts don’t get access to any constants’ values embedded in those objects. Here are several ways to obtain those crucial values.
 — Alex K. Angelopoulos


How to Multi-Thread VBScript Scripts
What can you do when you want to check your servers every 60 minutes but your script takes 90 minutes to run against all your computers? Try MultiThreader.vbs. This script executes a worker script in parallel processes, simulating multi-threaded behavior.
 — Chris Scoggins


How to Preload Commands in a Command Shell Window
Learn how to preload commands and change the color of the command shell window.
 — Dick Lewis


IIS 6.0 Improvements
Learn how Windows .NET Server 2003 improves the quality of IIS 6.0.
 — Michael Otey


In Praise of Canon Printers
Recently, I’ve experienced what you might call a paradigm shift. I’ve abandoned Epson and HP printers in favor of Canon printers. I didn’t make this decision lightly. In fact, you might say I didn’t make the decision at all: Epson and HP made it for me.
 — Mark Minasi


Introduction to ADO
Learn about the primary ADO objects--Connection, Command, Parameter, Recordset, and Field--and follow example scripts that demonstrate how to use ADO within VBScript.
 — Robert Sheldon


Keep Track of BlackBerry PINs the Easy Way
BlackBerry PIN maintenance is a complex and arduous task. Here’s a script that automates the process of initially obtaining PIN information, then keeps that information up-to-date.
 — Joseph Neubauer


Making PowerShell's Out-Printer Cmdlet Easier to Use
The names that Out-Printer uses to identify printers aren’t obvious and aren't directly available to you in PowerShell. Here are several ways you can obtain and make printer names available to your code with no copying and pasting and minimal typing.
 — Alex K. Angelopoulos


Managing IP Routes Through WMI
You can use WMI to remotely view and manage IP routing tables on your Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP systems.
 — Alain Lissoir


Microsoft CRM for the .NET Environment
Microsoft enters the customer relationship management (CRM) market with a product that leverages the Microsoft .NET platform.
 — John D. Ruley


Microsoft Lowers Its Standard, To Enterprise’s Gain
Is Microsoft quietly raising the price of the Windows Server OS? In fact, is the company, in effect, quadrupling the price?
 — Mark Minasi


Microsoft's Antispyware Gambit
Mark thinks Windows AntiSpyware might fail if Microsoft doesn't keep in mind three considerations: assurance of no surprise fees in the future, ease of deployment, and Group Policy integration.
 — Mark Minasi


Moving to Windows 2003? Be Prepared to Dig Deep
Mark Minasi tells you what you need to know about Windows Server 2003 and licensing.
 — Mark Minasi


New Features Freshen OWA in Exchange Server 2007 SP1
A slew of improvements to Outlook Web Access, such as a more robust OWA Light, personal DLs, and new or improved support for WebReady Document Viewing, S/MIME, public folders, and monthly calendars, give your end users a better Outlook webmail client.
 — Brien Posey


Nowhere Left to Grow
No more COMDEX; Microsoft giving away cash ... what's going on?
 — Mark Minasi


Palmed Off
Mark laments Palm's decline in usability.
 — Mark Minasi


Parsing Error Codes
Errors happen but sometimes displayed error messages aren't the easiest format to read. ErrorParser.hta solves this problem by converting decimal, hexadecimal, and negative-number system and network error codes into standard error messages.
 — Bill Stewart


PowerShell One-Liners for Accessing WMI
Windows PowerShell can help you efficiently manage WMI objects. You can get started by learning just a few basic commands.
 — Robert Sheldon


PowerShell One-Liners for Managing Events
Quick commands let you easily work with the event logs on a local or remote system.
 — Robert Sheldon


PowerShell One-Liners for Managing the File System
Windows PowerShell offers all the commands you need to manipulate files and folders on your file system. Here are some of the common functions you might need to perform.
 — Robert Sheldon


Reading Delimited Files Using ADO
Find out how to set up ADO and Microsoft's Jet OLE DB text driver so that you can use them to read delimited files.
 — Bill Stewart


Reflections on the PC's 25th Birthday
Sure, the PC has been successful, but has it lived up to its potential?
 — Mark Minasi


Repair Network Connections from the Command Line
This RepairNetwork script offers a quick, quiet command-line alternative to a laborious GUI process.
 — Alex K. Angelopoulos


Requiem for WinFS
Learn about three enticing—but dropped—features that WinFS would have brought to the Longhorn feature list.
 — Mark Minasi


Rest in Peace, ACS
What's the hang-up with ACS? As far as Mark can see, it's an indispensable tool. Unfortunately, Microsoft has changed its release plans.
 — Mark Minasi


Running the Small Mobile Office…Almost
Keeping in sync with your small office isn't as easy as it sounds.
 — Mark Minasi


Saving the Internet
If the Internet really was a highway, maybe traveling it would be safer ...
 — Mark Minasi


Security and the "Booga-Booga" Factor
Are security professionals providing a service or just securing their own jobs when they claim that no company can be sure its data is secure?
 — Mark Minasi


Security-Obsessed Vista Makes Your Computer Top Secret
Even the most casual observer of Windows Vista walks away with the impression that Microsoft is really attempting to secure this OS.
 — Mark Minasi


Simplify Security Reporting Using Audit Collection Services
Follow the steps to set up Audit Collection Services, a Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 reporting feature, then start using it to streamline security event-log auditing on your servers.
 — John Howie


Simplify Your Exchange 2007 Transition
Transitioning to Exchange Server 2007 need not be daunting, if you do so in an orderly way. Set a comfortable coexistence period, use ExBPA to flag potential issues, and install server roles and move mailboxes in an optimum sequence.
 — J. Peter Bruzzese


Sometimes, Convergence Works

 — Mark Minasi


Stomp Out Dragware?
Sick of hidden autostart programs?
 — Mark Minasi


Strategies for Migrating Public Folders to SharePoint
Your public folder migration to SharePoint requires a strategy, careful planning, and the right tools. And that's just the beginning. The process for getting rid of public folders is straightforward, but it pays to work through the steps carefully.
 — Paul Robichaux


System Inventory Mini-App
SysInfo.hta is WMI "to the max." You can collect every property available in 15 WMI Win32 classes, including new Windows Vista properties, or comment out routines to get just what you need without any extraneous information.
 — Jim Turner


Testing Exchange Server 2007
Use PowerShell commands to manage and test Exchange 2007 objects such as mailboxes, servers, and distribution groups.
 — Tony Redmond


The (Timely) Fall of Static IP

 — Mark Minasi


The Business Process Engine
How can IT keep up with all the revolutions in computing? There are two developments in software that will meet the challenge: SOA and BMP.
 — Barry Briggs


The Day the Cell Phones Stood Still
Could this year's Cabir worm be a sign of things to come?
 — Mark Minasi


The Great Question of Vista SP1’s Ship Date
Let's not pressure Microsoft into releasing Vista SP1 as quickly as possible. Haven't we learned our lesson?
 — Mark Minasi


The Group Policy Management Console
Run—don't walk—to the Microsoft site to download the GPMC. Its many neat features include a folder-free view of GPOs and a GPO backup and restore capability.
 — Mark Minasi


The Importance of Expert Systems When Buying Systems
Mark laments the impossibility of buying a system that's expertly configured to his needs.
 — Mark Minasi


The Magnificent Six
Take a few minutes to get these 6 Microsoft downloads.
 — Mark Minasi


The Microsoft Remedy
Mark Smith plays judge for a day and proposes remedies that would have increased competition and fairness while protecting Microsoft’s right to innovate.
 — Mark Smith


The Soul of Windows, Revisited
Readers and Microsoft executives alike had plenty to say about Mark Smith's recent article regarding Microsoft's abandonment of Windows administrators.
 — Mark Smith


The Year of the Database Worm?
Don't be afraid of running a database server, even if it's MSDE. Just stay on top of the patches and be aware of where your servers are.
 — Mark Minasi


Time for a Fourth Type of Event Log Entry
Mark finds it troubling that a small AD environment's DCs are prone to worrisome and time-consuming--and ultimately innocuous--error messages.
 — Mark Minasi


Time for a New Year’s Upgrade!
Mark's New Year’s resolution is to fend off an old adversary: disk space.
 — Mark Minasi


Top 10 Exchange Server 2007 Troubleshooting Tools
Hundreds of utilities are available to troubleshoot Exchange Server problems, including database, mail flow, and performance issues. Here are my top 10 utilities to identify and solve network problems.
 — Brien Posey


Tracking Messages in Exchange 2007
Use PowerShell commands to interrogate message tracking log data directly.
 — Tony Redmond


Troubleshooting Exchange ActiveSync
Solve mobile device synchronization problems in Exchange Server 2003 with these tips and a free Microsoft tool that you can use for problems related to Exchange ActiveSync (EAS), Always Up to Date (AUTD), and mobile messaging in general.
 — Brien Posey


Understanding IIS 7.0 Authentication
Microsoft IIS 7.0 provides more methods for limiting access to your web server, and its componentization feature lets you select only those authentication types you want to enable.
 — Jan De Clercq


Unify UPNs!

 — Mark Minasi


UNIX Migration Trends
A recent ChangeWave Research survey reports that more and more IT managers are migrating their systems from UNIX to Windows.
 — Mark Smith


UPHClean Provides Faster Logoffs For All
Microsoft has quietly released the User Profile Hive Cleanup service.
 — Mark Minasi

Use Scripts to Automate Windows Utilities
Use scripts to automate and improve your control over Windows utilities, such as NTBackup and Dfscmd.
 — Alistair G. Lowe-Norris


Using MRM to Manage Mailboxes
Use managed folders to help users in your Exchange organization clean up and organize their mailboxes and retain messages that should be saved to comply with legal and security regulations.
 — J. Peter Bruzzese


Using WMI to Monitor AD
Learn how to use WMI to monitor AD group modifications.
 — Alain Lissoir


Virtualization Delivers Exchange Disaster Recovery
Virtualization technology can play a key role in an Exchange disaster recovery plan, as an IT administrator discovered when he restored an Exchange cluster using VMware Server.
 — Eric B. Rux


Vista RC1 Pleasantly Surprises
Mark has a change of heart regarding Vista, thanks to the latest build.
 — Mark Minasi


Vote with Computers? I’d Sooner Let Them Do My Driving

 — Mark Minasi


We’re Not High-Tech, We’re High-Connect
Mark wonders, “Why does everyone still think that computers are ‘high tech,’ particularly given how little really new stuff arrives?”
 — Mark Minasi


What's So Great About Longhorn?
In case you haven't been following the Longhorn buzz, here's what three of its most promising features will do.
 — Mark Minasi


What’s So Great About R2? FRS! Kind of ...
Mark rethinks his criticism of R2 and the value of FRS.
 — Mark Minasi


What’s So Hard About a Service Pack?
Mark laments Microsoft's refusal to release Win2K Service Pack 5 (SP5).
 — Mark Minasi


Where's the Response to "Get a Mac"?
Mark is starting to get fed up with those Mac vs. PC commercials. Why has Microsoft been so slow to respond?
 — Mark Minasi


Whip Script Data Into Shape
Two simple functions let WSH scripts export dictionary data to an XML file and read it back with no extra work.
 — Alex K. Angelopoulos


Who Is R2’s Audience?

 — Mark Minasi


Why Don't All Developers Sign Their Apps?
Mark Minasi muses on why so many software vendors don't use digital certificates on their applications.
 — Mark Minasi


Widescreen Wishes
Widescreen displays are full of potential. Here's an idea that would make them much more attractive to networkers. Are you listening, Microsoft?
 — Mark Minasi


Windows 2003 Gems
Should you bother upgrading to Windows Server 2003? Mark points to stub zones and conditional forwarding as two reasons why you should.
 — Mark Minasi


Windows Administrators’ Top Three Wishes
Microsoft addresses long-standing requests from Windows administrators with each release of its server product--but Mark Minasi claims the company still has work to do.
 — Mark Minasi


Windows Rights Management Services
Microsoft's new Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) lets users lock down documents, email messages, and Web content like never before.
 — John Howie


Windows Server 2008, the Ultimate Desktop OS
John Savill shares a step-by-step process for making Windows Server 2008 a functional OS.
 — John Savill


[Reader to Reader]

Avoid Ugly Computer Inventory Reports—Save Your Script's Output in Microsoft Word
Here's a VBScript script that retrieves a computer's memory and process information, then writes it to a nicely formatted Microsoft Word report. The report is customizable—you can even include an image, such as a company logo, on the report’s title page.
 — Readers


[Editorial]
Software Assurance Isn't Reassuring
Although SA is marketed as a two-way street, its benefits are heavily weighted in Microsoft's favor.
 — Michael Otey

WinFS’s Intelligent File System Makes Sense
Mark looks at the change-the-world part of WinFS: non-file items.
 — Mark Minasi


[Feature]

10 Tips for a Painless Exchange 2000 Migration
Migrating from Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2000 doesn’t have to be a painful process. Just follow these 10 tips.
 — Jim McBee


10 Tips for Taking Exchange on the Road
If you work remotely, you can configure server-based folders for offline use, and then either work remotely or synchronize your offline folders with the folders on the server. Here's how to work offline most effectively.
 — Tony Redmond


5 Things They Never Told You About the ADC
Learn how to work around the Active Directory Connector's quirks as you use the ADC to synchronize the Exchange Server 5.5 Directory with Active Directory.
 — Kieran McCorry

5 Things You Should Know About Exchange 2007
These five points will help you design and deploy your Exchange 2007 architecture.
 — Paul Robichaux

6 Common Backup and Restore Mistakes
Avoid these common errors to keep on top of your Exchange backup and restore operations.
 — Paul Robichaux


6 Reasons to Try Exchange 2000 Now
Exchange 2000 Server is different from its predecessors. Here's why you need to start working with it right away.
 — Tony Redmond


6 Steps to Prepare Win2K for Exchange 2000
Exchange 2000 is closely integrated with Windows 2000. What do you need to do to make the integration proceed smoothly?
 — Dung Hoang Khac


7 Daily Checks to Keep Exchange 2000 Running Smoothly
Monitor your Exchange 2000 system daily so that your workdays don’t deteriorate into an endless cycle of reacting to problems.
 — Joseph Neubauer


7 Things You Need to Know About SharePoint Services
Are you the go-to person for all things SharePoint? If so, you would do well to heed these seven essential nuggets of SharePoint wisdom.
 — Randy Franklin Smith


8 Tips for the Solo Exchange Administrator
Are you the sole Exchange administrator in your company? These eight tips will help you cut to the heart of the matter and maintain an effective system.
 — Paul Robichaux


8 Ways to Improve Your Exchange Cluster, Part 1
This is the first of two articles that describe the steps to a better Exchange cluster.
 — Daragh Morrissey


8 Ways to Improve Your Exchange Cluster, Part 2
In the second of two articles, learn four more areas--configuration, security, failovers, and service packs--that can influence the effectiveness of your Exchange cluster.
 — Daragh Morrissey


A Closer Look at Exchange Best Practices Analyzer
Exchange Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA) performs its seemingly magical analysis of an Exchange organization by using a detailed, Microsoft-supplied configuration file. Learn more about this file and the latest version of ExBPA.
 — Kieran McCorry


A Novel Approach to Synchronizing Exchange Organizations
When you need only to establish mail flow and exchange address lists between Exchange Server 5.5 servers with different organization names, you can leverage Exchange Server's functionality to act like a Microsoft Mail post office.
 — Frank Plawetzki


A Public Folder Checklist
Streamline your public folder deployment with these tips for setting up the hierarchy, granting top-level permissions, assigning user permissions, and sharing folder content.
 — Drew McDermott


A Tricky Migration to Exchange Server
Migrating users from a foreign email system to Exchange requires keeping track of user information and understanding the relationship between domain SIDs, machine accounts and names, and the information in the Exchange Directory Store.
 — Drew McDermott


A Viral Survival Checklist
Email computer viruses are proliferating. Here are 13 actions you can take to protect your organization.
 — Evan Morris


Accountable Email
Add accountability and tracking to your company's email system.
 — Joseph Neubauer


Active Directory Connector Redux
Take a close look at a few ill-documented or barely publicized aspects of the ADC that nevertheless have significant importance for Exchange administrators.
 — Kieran McCorry


ADC Filtering and Object-Matching
Learn two techniques for selective directory synchronization with the ADC.
 — Kieran McCorry


Address Rewriting in Exchange Server 2003
New address-rewriting functionality in Exchange 2003 lets you easily map your users' addresses to other addresses.
 — Donald Livengood


Administering Exchange Server in a Cross-Platform Environment
Learn basic strategies for administering cross-platform mail systems with as little trouble as possible.
 — Brien Posey


An Exchange 2000 Disaster Recovery
Learn from the author's experience as he troubleshoots a corrupt mailbox store caused by a hardware failure, then restores the database.
 — Daragh Morrissey


An Exchange 2003 Journaling Primer
If storing all your users email indefinitely is the bane of your existence, especially in these days of heavy regulatory compliance, read this article to find out more about Exchange 2003 message journaling.
 — Kieran McCorry


Are You Listening, Lotus?
Tony Redmond believes that Lotus has misinterpreted some of his comments about Exchange. Tony sets the facts straight.
 — Tony Redmond


Automatically Create User Accounts and Mailboxes in Exchange 5.5
You can use ADSI, WSH, and the AcctMgmt class to automate the process of creating Exchange 5.5 mailboxes and user accounts in either an AD or NT domain.
 — Ethan Wilansky


Automatically Delete User Accounts and Mailboxes in Exchange 5.5
Use ADSI and VBScript to automate the process of deleting Exchange 5.5 mailboxes and user accounts in either an AD or NT domain.
 — Ethan Wilansky


Automatically Generate Mail Profiles
As Benjamin Franklin said, "Time is money." Here's a solution that saves money by automating the time-intensive task of configuring Outlook 2003 mail profiles to reference users' mailboxes.
 — Joseph Neubauer


Background Maintenance for Exchange Servers
Exchange Server performs multiple maintenance tasks, typically at night, to keep the mail server performing well with limited downtime.
 — Tony Redmond


Backing Up an Exchange Server
Learn how a backup works, review several backup methods, and think about a strategy, and look at some helpful Exchange utilities.
 — Mark Ott

Beef Up Security for Your Mobile-Device Fleet
Now you can lock down your fleet of mobile computing devices and perform remote wipes. Get the lowdown on installing Exchange Server 2003 SP2 and configuring MSFP for Windows Mobile 5.0, and ensure better security for your mobile devices.
 — Randy Franklin Smith


Better OWA Attachment Security
OWA is a handy tool for remote users, but its attachment handling leaves networks vulnerable to malicious code and intruders. Here are some tips to reduce the risks.
 — Paul Robichaux


BlackBerry 4.0 Tips and Tricks
Dig into some tips and tricks that you can use to get a handle on your BlackBerry-related tasks.
 — Joseph Neubauer


BlackBerry Enterprise Server 4.0
Should you upgrade to the new version of BES? The short answer is yes.
 — Joseph Neubauer


BlackBerry Enterprise Server Day to Day
If you have users who rely on BlackBerry devices, you should understand how these handheld devices work and how to monitor them and troubleshoot their problems.
 — Joseph Neubauer


BlackBerry Enterprise Server's New Features, Part 1
New features in BES 3.6 and BES 3.5, including policies that let you secure BlackBerry devices, make upgrading to these software versions worthwhile.
 — Joseph Neubauer


BlackBerry Enterprise Server's New Features, Part 2
BES 3.6 and BES 3.5 offer enhancements that your BlackBerry users have probably been asking for: the ability to read attachments, look up names in the GAL, synchronize more easily, surf the Web, and access corporate data.
 — Joseph Neubauer


Blocking Client Access to Exchange Servers
Discover how you can prevent your users from accessing an Exchange server while the system is running.
 — Tony Redmond


Build an Email-Discovery Plan
More than likely, your company will have to produce saved email messages in a court case or compliance investigation. Use these ideas to develop your own email-discovery plan and learn about tools that can facilitate e-discovery for Exchange admins.
 — David Sengupta


Build an Exchange 2003 Cluster: Install Exchange on the Cluster
Have you wanted to run Exchange on a cluster but haven't had the nerve to try? Here's help: Use these easy-to-understand instructions as your guide in installing Exchange Server 2003 on a Windows Server 2003 cluster.
 — Daragh Morrissey


Build an Offline Exchange 2000 Server in 9 Steps
An offline copy of your production Exchange server can be invaluable. Find out how you can use it and how to build one.
 — Joseph Neubauer


Build Quality into an Exchange 2000 Environment
By using provisioning tools and services, you can repeatedly produce the same result—properly built and configured servers and applications—throughout an Exchange 2000 environment.
 — Evan Morris


Bulk Object-Manipulation in Exchange 2000
With Exchange 2000’s switch from the DS to AD, you need a new method for manipulating user objects in bulk. A few Win2K tools provide the answer.
 — Barb McDonald


Calendaring: Understanding the Client Side
Do you wonder why you can't always share calendar information within your group? Find out how Outlook handles appointments and what you can do to improve calendaring performance.
 — Siegfried Jagott


Canning Spam
You need to know how the new federal antispam law affects your messaging operations. To help you stay on the right side of the feds, we present the law's finer points and explain some provisions that your users should understand.
 — Paul Robichaux

Cleaning Up Public Folders
Microsoft plans to replace public folders with another repository in a future release of Exchange. Using PFDAVAdmin now will help you prepare for the transition.
 — Tony Redmond


Closing Out Exchange Mailboxes
These nine configurations and options can help you deal effectively with former employees' mailboxes.
 — Joseph Neubauer


Command-Line Mailbox Creation
Learn how you can use a script to create mailboxes in Exchange Server 5.5.
 — Paul Niser


Comparing Windows Mobile 2003's IMAP with ActiveSync
With Windows Mobile 2003, you can use IMAP or ActiveSync to access Exchange over a wireless connection. Here are some factors to consider when you’re deciding which protocol to use.
 — Joseph Neubauer


Configuring Outlook Express
Outlook Express's support of POP3 and IMAP4 gives the email client some advantages over other Exchange 2000 Server email clients. This article describes how to configure Outlook Express to work with these protocols.
 — Ronald Stewart


Connect Exchange Servers Over a VPN
A virtual private network provides a secure, inexpensive way to connect LANs via the Internet.
 — Frank Plawetzki


Connecting Mobile Users to Exchange
You can broadly classify the wireless devices that offer email access by the type of interface they provide. Here’s a look at those classifications.
 — John Rhoton


Control Client Network Traffic
To control client-generated messaging traffic, you need to estimate your bandwidth needs, connect clients efficiently, and modify some bad user habits.
 — Tony Redmond


Control Mailbox Size with Mailbox Manager
Exchange Server 5.5 SP3 includes a new mail-management utility. Find out how you can use Mailbox Manager to control ever-growing mailboxes.
 — Tony Redmond


Coping with Unsolicited Email
Learn how you can ensure that outsiders don't mistake your Exchange installation for a UCE mailer and how you can configure Exchange to follow current Internet standards for preventing UCE.
 — Mark Howard


Create a URL for Outlook Web Access
Simplify your users access to email through a Web browser by creating a simple URL they can use to get to OWA.
 — Barb McDonald


Creating a Group Policy for Outlook 2002
Learn how to use Group Policy to disable menu and toolbar commands.
 — Sue Mosher


Creating Exchange 2000 Mailboxes
The interaction between AD and Exchange and the need to populate multiple attributes have made mailbox creation more complex in Exchange 2000 than it is in Exchange 5.5. Learn the process so that you can find, then resolve problems.
 — Tony Redmond


Customize Exchange Details Templates
Use Exchange Server details templates to display information about recipients that is typically available only at the server.
 — Mark Ott


Customize Your Exchange Display Templates
Customizing Exchange templates makes them even more valuable for displaying directory information such as attributes about users, contacts, distribution groups, and public folder objects.
 — Tony Redmond