Tariq Jaber

When you install Exchange Server in a child domain, the Outlook clients may try to communicate with the global catalog in the parent domain, this will cause a problem if the parent and the child domain is not in the same site or there is a firewall between the clients and the servers in the parent domain and cause the outlook to respond slowly.

To solve this issue you can force Outlook to communicate directly with the global catalog server in its site or with the closest catalog if the client moves between sites.
Notice that you need to edit a registry value, so make sure you take a backup of your registry before changing any value.

To force Outlook to communicate with the closest global catalog server:
-Open the Registry Editor. Click Start, click Run, type regedit.exe, and then click OK.
-Locate the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\Exchange Provider
You may have to create the registry path if it does not exist.
-On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:
Value name: Closest GC
Data type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1
-Quit Registry Editor.

Or use the following command to create the key and the value:
REG ADD “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\Exchange Provider” /v “Closest GC” /t REG_DWORD /d 1

To force Outlook to communicate with the a specific global catalog server:
-Open the Registry Editor. Click Start, click Run, type regedit.exe, and then click OK.
-Locate the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\Exchange Provider
You may have to create the registry path if it does not exist.
-On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:
Value name: DS Server
Data type: REG_SZ (string)
Value data: FQDN.OF.GlobalCatalog
-Quit Registry Editor.

Or use the following command to create the key and the value:
REG ADD “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\Exchange Provider” /v “DS Server” /t REG_SZ /d GC.Child.Domain.Local

If the Num Lock key bothers you when you startup your PC, here is how to disable it.
Notice that you need to edit a registry value, so make sure you take a backup of your registry before changing any value.

Click Start –> Run > regedit :
Locate the key [HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard], change the value of
[InitialKeyboardIndicators] from 2 to 0.

2 means that Num lock is turned ON at startup
1 means that Num lock is disabled
0 means that Num lock is turned OFF at startup
 

Some Secure Nat clients behind ISA server 2006 may face a problem browsing HTTPS websites and other websites that require login like http://mail.yahoo.com and http://hotmail.com. Monitoring a client facing this issue results in one or both of the following logs:
0×80074E24  FWX_E_CONNECTION_KILLED
0×0040017    FWX_E_TCP_NOT_SYN_Packet_Dropped

Such a problem can be solved by disabling “Web Proxy Filter” on the HTTPS traffic.
To do so:
Firewall Policy –> Toolbox >[Protocols] > right click the HTTPS protocol. In the Parameters tab, uncheck the Web Proxy Filter, since the HTTPS traffic is not cache.

For more information, refer to the KB article: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/944006

The following step describes how to reset the domain admin password in Windows Server 2003 Active Directory.

In order to perform this procedure you need the Directory Services Restore Mode Administrator account password to log on locally to the Domain Controller which you’ll use to reset the account password.
You also need to use two tools:
- Instsrv.exe: Service Installer
- Srvany.exe: Applications as Services Utility
Found in the “Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools”, you can download it from Microsoft website.

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If you have installed Exchange 2007 on a Single Copy Cluster (SCC) server you may have the Offline Address Book generation process failed with the event id 9334 and 9109.

EntryType : Error
EventID : 9334
Message : OALGen encountered error ffffffff while initializing the offline address list
generation process. No offline address lists have been generated.
Please check the event log for more information.
- Default Offline Address Book

Category : OAL Generator
CategoryNumber : 13
ReplacementStrings : {ffffffff, Default Offline Address Book}
Source : MSExchangeSA
TimeGenerated : 7/17/2008 3:10:31 PM
TimeWritten : 7/17/2008 3:10:31 PM

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If the menu bar and the tabs in the Task Manager doesn’t appear, simply double click the border of the Task Manager.

Some times we need to store the My Documents folder on a partition other than C:\, this may help protecting the documents in case we have to format C:\ because of some errors.
To change the default location of the My Documents folder, do the following steps:

Right-click My Documents, and then click Properties. Click the Target tab. In the Target box, you can:

• Type the path to the folder location that you want, and then click OK . For example, D:\My Documents. If the folder does not exist, the Create Message dialog box is displayed. Click Yes to create the folder, and then click OK.
• Or click Move , select the destination folder, and then click OK twice. If you need to create a new folder, click Make New Folder. Type a name for the folder, and then click OK twice.

In the Move Documents box, click Yes to move your documents to the new location, or click No to leave your documents in the original location.

Event Viewer records application, security, and system events that can be helpful to identify system or application problems.

Inspecting Event Viewer from time to time can help you predict and improve your system overall performance by monitoring the errors and try to find solutions to the problem that causing these errors.

How to start Event Viewer:
In the Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer
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You can use Files and Settings Transfer (FAST) wizard to transfer your files, folders, and settings to a new computer when you decide to upgrade or perform a new installation of Windows XP Professional on the computer

You can also use the Files and Settings Transfer wizard to create a backup copy of your files and settings, which you can then use to restore your files and configuration data if you ever need to reinstall Windows XP.

How to start the FAST Wizard in Windows XP:
On the Start menu, click Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Files and Settings Transfer Wizard.


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In this post I’ll learn you about how to perform an unattended installation for Windows XP Professional. This installation is a hands-free way to install Windows XP, it supplies the setup with the information needed during the typical setup in a file called “Answer File”.

Browse to your Windows XP CD, open the “Support” folder then the “Tools” folder. Extract the file “DEPLOY.CAB” to a folder in your PC, double click on “setupmgr.exe”, this will open the Windows Setup Manager Wizard, click next.

New or Existing Answer File - select “Create a new answer file” then click next.
Product to install - select the “Windows Unattended Installation” option then click next.
Platform - select “Windows XP Professional” then click next.
User Interaction Level - Now select the “Fully automated” option in which we will fill in the information needed during the setup and click next.
Distribution Folder – select “No” to install windows from Windows XP Professional CD.
License Agreement – Accept.

Now it is your turn to input your information to customize you’re the installation. When you finish, the wizard will ask you to save this answer file, save it on a formatted disk with the name “winnt.sif”.

It is almost done, if you want to install Windows XP again, just insert the floppy disk in your floppy disk drive and Windows XP Professional CD in your CD-ROM drive, let the setup start and go to do whatever you want.