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Showing posts from April, 2016

Outlook 2016 not showing email in folders after PST import

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After importing a backup PST (used by an IMAP client) into Outlook 2016 the email was not showing in Outlook locally. I confirmed the OST file it imported into grew in size during the import. I copied one email from the PST file to the OST and it disappeared. I then discovered when browsing the folders at the very bottom it displayed “filter applied” as shown below: This was a new email profile and there should not have been any filters applied. At the top with the folder highlighted I selected “View Settings” as shown below: I then selected the filter option as shown below: Note: it shows “Messages:Advanced” Select the “Advanced” tab and note it has an “IMAP Status equals unmarked” Select “IMAP Status equals unmarked” and “Remove” as shown below and then “OK” The folder should now be populated with all the data. I had to repeat the steps on each folder as it will not change subfolders.

How to import Ical calendar into Outlook 2016 as a new calendar

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Open up the icloud.com website and log on Select the Calendar Once the Calendar loads select the broadcast icon on the right of the Calendar you wish to export as highlighted below: Note: from here you can send out sharing requests as well At the bottom of Calendar sharing select “Public Calendar” and “Email link” as highlighted below Enter in email address and send invitation Open email and view invitation Open invitation when it asks what program to use select “Outlook” Select Advanced and change “Calendar” to “Ical Import Calendar” Uncheck list as user and apply The calendar is now listed in outlook Once the calendar is in outlook to move the calendar completely into Outlook as its own calendar. highlight the “Ical Import Calendar” and in “view” tab in the top left corner select “Change View”. Select List Then you can select all and copy to the new outlook calendar. Once you are done copying you can remove the “Ical Import Calendar” and change the view back to “Calendar”

Windows 10 Upgrade Hangs at Getting Updates

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I had Windows 7 Professional running on a system and I downloaded the “Free” upgrade to Windows 10. The installer downloaded quickly and the initial checks went pretty quickly. Then it began checking for updates and Hung for over an hour. So I restarted the process and it repeated the same issue. I looked online and found the following: Windows Update Troubleshooter: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9830262 I did not stop the update process of Windows 10. I just ran that repair tool in the background and then Windows 10 quickly finished the updates and was ready to install! In some cases a quick fix is to temporarily stop the Windows update service . Credit : http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/windows-10-setup-stuck-at-getting-updates/a25eb523-24d5-4a96-be14-a3dc22a46a35?auth=1

Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE– Virtual Test Restoration

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So you installed Veeam’s Endpoint Backup FREE on a physical system in your environment. Yes, it’s a FREE physical backup solution. You’re excited about the fact that you have a bare-bones recovery option of your physical system but you wonder, “How can I easily go about test restoring Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE backups?” It’s actually quite easy to do if you have Veeam Backup & Replication v8 or v9 running on your virtual environment. Here are the steps to restore that endpoint backup as a virtual disk. Once restored and tested you can rest comfortably knowing you have a working backup. First, let’s assume you have a fresh backup from Endpoint Protection and that it is stored on an external hard drive attached to the physical system. (Note: You can send your Endpoint Backups directly to your Veeam Backup & Replication storage.) Copy your file to your local Veeam Backup & Replication server. Then, open up Veeam Backup & Replication and on the Home tab in “Backup & R

Office 365 Suite Hangs or Freezes and general slow performance

Recently I had an issue in which multiple workstations at a site with the latest Office 2016 suite started having intermittent issues. Although all settings appeared to be correct, they would report, “Our Office 365 hangs or freezes!” Sometimes it would crash with only generic information in the event logs — not too helpful when you’re troubleshooting. I thought maybe it was a corrupt installation, so I uninstalled and reinstalled with different methods, but that did not help. Even the Office 365 installation tool showed all was well. Other applications on the system also experienced general slowness. Adobe stopped allowing direct printing from Outlook. We had to save the file to the desktop first, then we could print it. I checked all the usual suspects: All malware scans were clear. There were no network issues. It was not a display driver or display setting issue. It was not an add-in, and I found no relevant Microsoft KB articles or fixes. Adding resources wouldn’t do us any good;

Netstat to view open ports and applications

To determine what service/application is running on any open port Open command prompt as Administrator and use the following netstat command to export to a easier to read and search txt file: netstat -a -n -b >c:\portresults.txt then open c:\portresults.txt and you will see: Active Connections   Proto  Local Address          Foreign Address        State           PID [Application] For Example: [spoolsv.exe]   TCP    0.0.0.0:496xx          0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING [lsass.exe]   TCP    10.xx.xx.112:139         0.0.0.0:0              LISTENING [mms_mini.exe]   TCP    10.xx.xx.112:58x0x       13x.25x.x34.232:443     ESTABLISHED [Explorer.EXE]   TCP    10.xx.xx.112:58x2x       13x.25x.x34.232:443     ESTABLISHED [OneDrive.exe]   TCP    10.xx.xx.112:60x8x       7x.94x.x71.4:443      ESTABLISHED [lync.exe]   TCP    10.xx.xx.112:60x4x       7x.94x.x71.4:443        ESTABLISHED [lync.exe]   TCP    10.xx.xx.112:62x2x       7x.94x.x71.4:443        TIME_WAIT   TCP    10.xx.xx.

HPZ12 Print Spooler Not Responding

I have had this happen multiple times. Printer spooler hangs, print manager wont open on server with only timeout errors in the event log. If you have an HP printer the first place to look is in services and look for the following: NetDriver HPZ12 Pml HPZ12 These 2 unnecessary services, from what I understand, are used for extra communication with HP printers and MFP’s. In my experience they kill the spooler and print manager. To fix this you don’t need any fancy removal tools. Right click on both services and change their status from Automatic to Disabled and apply. It may hang the system for a minute or 2 so fair warning. Once disabled attempt to stop both. Again be prepared for a hang and wait, it will usually come back to you. Once both are stopped and disabled then stop and restart your spooler service. Then retry to access your printers and print manager and all should be good.

Office 365 Spoof Email blocking and SPF hard block

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  If spam is making its way in using spoofed email addresses you can edit the following in the Office 365 Exchange Admin center. Select “Rules” and “+” to create a new one named “Spoof Email Block” as shown below: Use the following settings that “Sender is located outside” and that “Senders domain is your domain” and action “deliver to the hosted quarantine” as shown below: Apply the rule and then monitor the quarantine. If the rule appears to be working as you expect you can then change it to delete the email instead of quarantining them. The other advantage of the quarantine method is you have an audit record of how many emails are coming in that way. I would also recommend adding the following to enforce SPF: Select ”Exchange” “Spam Filter” Then  Edit the “Default” rule. Select “advanced options” turn SPF record hard fail to “On” turn Conditional Sender ID filtering hard fail to “On” and save as shown below: Note: Please make sure to review my blog on setting up your SPF r

Essentials Server 2012R2 Client Restore Fails

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  When trying to restore files and folders for a client connected to Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials or Windows Server 2012 using dashboard, the “Restore Files and Folders” Wizard fails as shown below. Install the following hotfix on the affected client: KB3045682 (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3045682) Credit: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/sbs/2015/03/13/the-ms15-10-security-update-for-windows-server-2012r2-essentials-and-the-client-restore-functionality/

GMX mail relay stopped

If you are using GMX for SMTP relay. (Copiers...)  as I detailed in other blog posts. I would recommend you log onto those accounts and send and receive a few email from the web mail client every once in awhile to keep the account active. Even though I had a client using SMTP relay daily, I only once used the web mail client, and GMX closed the account for inactivity. It was closed with zero warning and the account cannot be reactivated. So I will have to create another new GMX account for that same SMTP relay and reconfigure it all.

Heartbleed and SSL Testing in 2016

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Many sites that originally tested for Heartbleed are online however they no longer actually work. The following site is still up and running and gives excellent SSL information as well as Heartbleed Vulnerability of your domain as of this post: https://www.digicert.com/help/ If you want to check your SSL settings I recommend the following site: https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest

DNS SPF Basics - What you need to know to do it correctly

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The SPF (Sender Policy Framework) DNS SPF records are essential to best practice email flow from your business. SPF records are email recipient’s servers best way of confirming the email they received is really from the domain it says it is from. While not every server rejects email based on SPF records, more and more do every day to reduce the massive amount of spam. If you want better assurances your email is not going to spam or being dropped all together by receiving email servers, I would highly recommend you check your SPF records. Many companies have multiple sending sources, for example using Office 365 and also a third party media company sending client communications on your company’s behalf, or an email filtering service. Receiving servers need SPF to sort through whom is legit SPF records are external DNS txt records for each domain. There should be only one SPF record per domain. Each DNS vendor management console is a little different but here is an example from Networ

Windows Live Writer will not log onto Blogger

Sorry for my absence. I upgraded my laptop to Windows 10 a little while ago and just finally got around to adding my blog tools back. First Windows Live Writer no longer works on Google Blogger due to security enhancements at Google. MS has not stayed up to date with that enhanced authentication including the Windows 2012 Essentials version. So don’t waste your time instead use “Open Live Writer” http://openlivewriter.org/ It has a similar look and feel as Windows Live Writer and will connect efficiently with blogger.