Restrict Users from Sending External Email in MS Exchange 2003

1) Within Active Directory create a mail enabled group in the usual way, with a name that is quite apparent such as in the example below "No External Email". Add the users to it who you do not want to have access to sending out external e-mail.

A user can also be added individually, but its better to have created a group and then just simply add this in SMTP Connector, Delivery Restrictions in Exchange System manager. This gives an advantage to just updating the group as and when required as oppose to adding and removing users from the SMTP connector.

2) Having added a user or more preferably a group, a change to the registry needs to be carried out to enable and make this action correctly.

To Change the Registry Settings

Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

Locate and click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/Resvc/Parameters/

On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:
Value Name: CheckConnectorRestrictions
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Radix: Hexadecimal
Value: 1

The screenshot below shows what the new settings should look like

3) Restart the Microsoft Exchange Routing Engine service and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) services for this change to take effect.

This is shown in the Screenshot below

iTunes 7

I downloaded iTunes 7 from whilst I was checking for updates from within iTunes 6.

When I tried installing version 7 it comes back with an error during the installation process saying:

The older version of QuickTime cannot be removed. Plese contact your technical support group.

The installation of QuickTime did not complete successfully. iTunes requires QuickTime.

The version of QuickTime that I had was QuickTime 7.0.4. Therefore, I downloaded the latest standalone version of Quicktime, QuickTime 7.1. However, during that installation procedure it comes up with a message 'Cannot find QuickTime.msi'.

As I was unable to install QuickTime 7.1; I tried to uninstall QuickTime 7.0.4 the uninstallation screen just flashed by. I tried to manually uninstall QuickTime 7.0.4 by searching for 'quicktime' and deleteing everything and deleting all the QuickTime related registry keys. I also tried to go into safemode and attempt to delete QuickTime 7.0.4, but had no positive effect at all.

The workaround was found by this useful little app calles Windows Installer CleanUp Utility. I installed it and ran it and it presented me with a list of programs with setup info left on my computer. I selected QuickTime 7.0.4 and it removed all the installation info related to it.

This allowed me to install Quicktime 7.1 and followed by iTunes 7 without any issues.

Outlook 2003 - Names of Attachments Doesn't Print

In the Outlook 2003 Client, If you are unable to print the names of attachments in an e-mail (when you take a print out of an e-mail) then the most probable cause of this is that you do not have an Outlook 2003 service pack installed.

In order to rectify this you need to obtain and install a Office 2003 Service Pack 1 as a minimum. Although not required to rectify this issue, its probably also a good idea to obtain and Office 2003 Service Pack 2 as it is available now.

Having downloaded and installed just the Office 2003 SP1, the print outs of my e-mail now include the names of the attachments as sent with the e-mail itself.

3G Data Card

With the ever growing number of remote and mobile users, I was looking for a fast and effective solution for a user to connect to the Internet. This is where I came across a Vodaphone 3G/GPRS card. The datacard is of a PCMCIA type that slots into a laptop allowing laptop users to access the Internet via a high-speed network.

I ordered the 3G card via the online Vodafone business shop, with the Data 250 package and not the unlimited package. The reason being that although the Data 250 is cheaper and allows a usage of 250 MB, it is very straight-forward to upgrade to the unlimited package, but not the the other wat around. On Vodafone's website the information states that one has to stay on the package for at least 6 months (upon ringing them I was told that this was infact 3 months) before they are aloowed to downgrade a package. Therefore, as it was a first time 3G card purchase, it made sense to go with the cheaper package and upgrade the following if the user seems to be exceeding the data allowance.

The card arrived within a couple of along with a SIM card (which sits in the 3G card). The installation process was very simple using the mobile connect CD that comes with the 3G card.

The only gripe I have is that Vodafone didn't activate the card before they sent it out. The card came without any paperwork such as an invoice or contract details. In other words, I didn't have an account number or the Phone number of the 3G sim-card, which took quite a bit of time and several calls phone calls to Vodaphone to get the sim-card activated.

The card was tested in a couple of laptops around several locations in London, and even though the signal strength varied considerably between areas, the card provided a decent connection. In areas where the reception was at full strength we achieved download speeds of around 380kbps. This is not quite as fast as a typical cable or DSL connection (512kbps) but plenty fast enough for the kind of applications mobile workers are likely to use and certainly a massive improvement over the GPRS connection.

A setting on the Mobile Connect software allows to automatically switch to a to a GPRS connection, if the 3G network is out of range or unavialble. The transition between 3G and GPRS is quite smooth nearly all of the time. Vodafone's 3G network is currently restricted to major cities but is expanding fairly rapidly. A coverage map is available on the company's Web site.

In a nut shell, the 3G Mobile Connect Card performs and works well. The speed is certainly very impressive for those who are more used to a normal GPRS connection.

Euro Symbol

If you are looking to place or insert a Euro symbol (€), hold down the key labelled Alt Gr on the keyboard (usually on the Left Hand Side of the Space Bar) and whilst holding down this key, press the number '4' key on the keyboard. You should get now get a € symbol.

This works in Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer and NotePad etc etc.

Outlook 2003 Disconnected

A remote user had reported that she was getting Disconnected displayed on the bottom right corner of her Outlook 2003 Client, preventing the user from accessing her e-mails.

Strangely enough all seemed fine, in terms of connectivity and access and no software or hardware changes had been made to the computer.

Tried to log as with another user credentials on the computer in question and there were no problems with Outlook. To eliminate any uncertainty I reinstalled Outlook 2000 and recreated the mail settings. However, the user was still getting the same issue with Outlook 2003.

The problem was strange in the sense that all other users seemed to be able to connect without any problems and using another users credentials on the PC in question also seemed to work. Although the user was also unable to access her e-mail when attempted to log on other computers. This indicated that the problem was with the mailbox of the user.

The Solution:

On the Exchange Server, go to services and restart (or stop and then restart) a service with the name of 'Exchange Information Service'. MS Exchange will restart all the dependents including the stores. This will make everyone's email to drop out, whilst the service restarts, and coming back within a couple of minutes.

Users do not necessarily have to close Outlook as it will reconnect when the service restarts. But its always good practice to inform the users to close and come out of Outlook for 5 minutes, to minimise any loss or potential issues.

Outlook 2003 Mapi32.dll is Corrupt or Wrong Version

A few days I came cross a user who reported that she was unable to launch Outlook 2003. However, all Office applications (MS Office 2000) seemed to be working fine without any errors.
The exact error message was

"Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Mapi32.dll is corrupt or the wrong version. This could have been caused by installing other messaging software. Please reinstall Outlook."

The only change I spotted was an install of a AOL Messenger which could well have corrupted or over written the mapi32.dll.

Therefore, the first step that I carried out was to remove AOL messenger, and reinstall Office 2000 and Outlook 2003. However, this didn't rectify the issue. There weren't many system checkpoints, but nevertheless carrying out a system restore was also unsuccessful. Didn't have much luck with Microsoft's Knowledge Base.

The solution was:

Downloaded Windows Installer Clean Up Utility Remove Tool, available here, and used it to remove AOL Messenger, Microsoft Office 2000 and Microsoft Outlook 2003. Following this I reinstalled Microsoft Office 2000 and then Microsoft Outlook 2003.

This resolved the problem.