How to Setup Exchange Server 2010

Follow the steps below to correctly configure your Exchange Server 2010 email server for general use, and for use with IGetMail.  Note that for this document we are assuming you are installing Exchange 2010 on Windows Server 2008 R2 64 Bit.

• Pre-Installation Checklist
  • Install Windows Server 2008 R2 64 bit version
  • Configure your static IP address
  • Activate Auto Updates
  • Add role - Active Directory Services
  • Add role - Active Directory Lightweight Services
  • Add feature - Windows Process Activation Service
  • Add role - Web Server (IIS)
  • Add feature - PowerShell
  • Enable TCP Port Sharing
  • Apply the 2007 Office System Converter
  • Roles / Features NOT to install
• Installing Exchange Server 2010
• Allow IGetMail access to your Exchange Server
• Adding EMail Users

Pre-Installation Checklist
Make sure you have all of the following steps in place before you setup Exchange Server 2010 on Windows Server 2008 R2 64 Bit.
For simplicity we are assuming you are setting up a small office where one machine will be used for both the Active Directory and the Exchange Server. This setup works just fine and reduces the number of machines to maintain. If you have a larger office you may want to consider separating the Active Directory machine and the Exchange 2010 Server. 
Install Windows Server 2008 R2 64 bit version
Exchange 2010 is a 64 bit application and requires 64 bit versions of Windows Server 2003 or Windows Server 2008.  You should select a computer that is capable of running the 64 bit version of Windows Server 2003 or 2008.  For this example, we will start with a clean installation of Windows Server 2008 R2 64 bit version that has not had any roles installed.
After installing Windows Server 2008 R2 we set the clock and the name of the server to be "EX2010".  At this point this server is configured to be a stand alone computer with default settings.

Configure Your Static IP Address
The default installation of Windows 2008 sets your IP v4 and IP v6 addresses to use DHCP.  Since we will be configuring this computer to be a domain controller, you must change the IP address of the computer to be a static IP address.
To change your IP address, click on "View Network Connections" in the Server Manager screen.  This will display the list of active network interfaces.

Double click on your network adaptor to display the adaptors status.

Press the Properties button.

Highlight "Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)" and then press the Properties button.

Change the radio button to "Use the following IP address" and enter an IP address you want to use for this server.  In our example, we chose to assign this server the internal IP address "192.168.1.25".  We also have a firewall appliance that operates as a gateway at the IP address "192.168.1.1". 
NOTE: It is important to include this computer in the DNS list.  You should list the IP address of this computer as the first entry in the list of DNS servers.  In the alternate DNS servers field, enter the IP address of a DNS server provided by your ISP.
Press OK to save your changes.
Now you will need to modify the support for IP v6.  If your network uses IP v6, then you will need to select "Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)" , press the Properties button, then enter a static address.  If you are not using IP v6, you can leave the IP v6 set to the default setting of DHCP.
NOTE:  Exchange requires that IP V6 be enabled.  Even if you do not use IP V6 you must leave it enabled.  During the setup of Active Directory, the Active Directory Setup Wizard will check that both IP v4 and IP v6 have static addresses.  As long as the IP v4 address is static you can continue the installation.  DO NOT DISABLE IP V6 or else the Exchange Hub Transport Service will not start.
At this point you should have all IP addresses on this server configured as static IP addresses.  OR you have the IP v4 address configured as static and the IP v6 configured using DHCP.  Press OK to save your changes and close the Network Connection screen.
Activate Auto Update
The next step in making this server a Domain Controller is to activate auto update.  Active Directory will not install until this computer has auto updates active.  To activate auto updates, click on the link "Configure Updates" and then select the option to have Windows automatically install updates.   At this time Windows will download updates and will most likely need to reboot your computer.  Allow the updates to be applied and the computer to be restarted until all updates are applied before installing Active Directory.  You do not want to be in the middle of installing Active Directory when an auto update needs to reboot your computer.

Add role - Active Directory Services
The process of installing Active Directory consists of two steps:  the first step is to install Active Directory and the second step is to configure your Active Directory.  Once this is complete, your Windows Server will now be a Domain Controller.
Step 1 - Install Active Directory
At the Computer Management Screen, press the "Add Roles" link. 
At the Select Server Roles dialog, check/tick the option "Active Directory Domain Services".

When you select Active Directory the Select Server Roles Screen will inform you that you also need to install the feature ".NET Framework 3.5.1".  Press the "Add Required Features" button.

After acknowledging the required feature, press Next.
Active Directory Domain Services will present information about the changes it will make to your server.  Review this information and press Next.

Now the installation will scan your configuration and inform you if there are any pre-requisites that you have not fulfilled.  If the Active Directory Installation presents an errors, correct these at this time and then repeat the installation.  Once the Setup program indicates that you have met all pre-requisites, then press the Install button to start the installation process.

The setup program will now install Active Directory on your Server.

When the installation is complete, you should see a message indicating "Installation Succeeded". 
Press Close to return to the Server Management Screen.

Step 2 - Configure Active Directory
At the Server Management screen you should now see that you have 1 role installed.  The Active Directory Domain Services may indicate that it is installed but there are errors.  This is because the software is installed but not configured.

To configure Active Directory, click on the line under Roles labeled "Active Directory Domain Services".  The Server Manager will show you a page about the status of the Active Directory Role.

Click on the link "Run the Active Directory Services Installation Wizard (dcpromo.exe)".  When the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard appears, press Next.

The Installation Wizard will present information about the version of Active directory, press Next.

Since we are assuming this Exchange Server will be the first Domain Controller, we choose "create a new domain in a new forest".  Press Next.

Enter the name of your domain.  The domain name you enter here is the domain name that Exchange will associated with all of your email.  If you use a hosting company to host your Internet Domain, then you may want to enter the name of your Internet domain with ".local".  If you host your own Internet Domain then you would enter your domain name here.
In our example, we are assuming that IGetMail.com is hosted at an Internet Hosting Company.  Since we do not host IGetMail.com on this Exchange Server, we will use IGetMail.local to indicate our internal domain for IGetMail. 
NOTE:  Once you enter your domain name it is very hard to change it in the future, so you should take great care when enter this name. 
Once you have decided on the name of your internal domain, that will be your Active Directory Domain and the domain serviced by Exchange, press Next.

The Installation Wizard will now ask you about compatibility.  If you plan to have domain controllers running various versions of Active Directory, then you will want to chose a function level to include the lowest version of Windows that you are using for domain controllers.  Press Next.

You will be asked a similar question which is at the domain level instead of the forest level on the previous screen.  You should follow the same approach and include the function level to include the lowest version of Windows you plan to use for domain controllers.  Press Next.

The first Domain Controller needs to have a DNS server running locally.  The optimal location is to start out with having the installation wizard install the DNS server locally.  Also, it will automatically make this computer a global catalog server.  Press Next.

You can specify where you want Active Directory to store its data.  If you only have one drive in your Server, then use the defaults.  If you have multiple drives, you can select which drive to use.  Press Next.

Should you need to restore Active Directory in the event of a hard drive failure, you will need to boot your Server into a special mode called "Directory Restoration Mode".  Should you need to boot your computer into this special mode, you will need to use a special password just for this restoration.  You can define this password at this time.  NOTE:  This password is different than the administrator account and if you change the administrator password this password will not change.  So you will need to store this password forever in a safe place.  Press Next.

Now the Installation Wizard will summarize the configuration that it is about to create.  To start the process of configuring your new Domain Controller, press Next.

The Installation Wizard will show its progress as it configures your Server.   This will take a long time.

When the installation is complete, you will be shown a final screen.  Press Finish.

Then restart your computer.

After restarting your computer, Windows should show you the Server Manager.  You should see on the Server Manager screen that you have Active Directory and DNS Server roles installed.  Also the process of installing Active Directory will add the features "Group Policy Management" and "Remote Server Administration Tools".

Add role - Active Directory Lightweight Services
Now that have your Server configured for Active Directory, Exchange requires that you add the Lightweight Service.  NOTE:  Exchange only requires that the Lightweight services are installed.  It does not require the Lightweight Services to be configured. 
Click on the link "Add Roles" and then select to add the role "Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services" and press Next.

The installation wizard will inform you that it will make the following modifications to your server.  Press Next.

The installation wizard will confirm your intention, press Install to begin.

The installation wizard will show its progress.

And finally when the role has been installed, the installation wizard will show its results.  Press Close and then proceed to configure this newly installed role.

At this point your Server Manager should show you that you have the Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services installed.  This is sufficient for Exchange.  If you want to create LDS instances you are welcome to, but that task is not required by Exchange.
Add feature - Windows Process Activation Service
The next feature that Exchange needs installed is the "Windows Process Activation Service".  To install this feature, click on the link "Add Features".

At the Select Features screen, check/tick the feature "Windows Process Activation Service". 
Select the items under this service and press Next.

Confirm your selections and press Install.  Windows will now install this feature and when it is complete, press Close to return to the Server Manager.

Add role - Web Server (IIS)
The next Role that Exchange needs installed is the Web Server IIS.  To install this role, at the Server Manager click on "Add Roles".

At the Select Server Roles screen, check/tick the role "Web Server (IIS)" and press Next.

The Web Server IIS installation will present information about what it will perform.  Press Next.

Exchange requires that several additional services be added to the default settings in IIS. 
In addition to the default settings, check/tick the following additional services:

• Security - Basic Authentication
• Security - Windows Authentication
• Security - Digest Authentication
• Performance - Dynamic Content Compression
• Management Tools - IIS 6 Management Compatibility (include all items under this service)

Press Next.

The Web Server installation wizard allows you to verify your selections.  Press Install to begin.

The installation wizard will now install IIS on your Exchange Server.

When IIS is installed, press Close to return to the Server Manager.

Add feature - PowerShell
Now you are ready to install the next feature that Exchange requires as a prerequisite:  "Windows Power Shell".  At the Server Manager click on the link "Add Feature".

Select the Feature "Windows Power Shell" and press Next.

At the installation confirmation screen, press Install to begin the process of installing this feature. 
When the Power Shell feature is installed, press Close to return to the Server Manager.

We have just 2 more items to meet Exchange's Requirements.
Enable TCP Port Sharing
When you install Windows Server 2008, the default setup disables a service that is needed by Exchange.  You will need to enable this service.
At the Server Manager screen - expand "Configuration" in the left hand panel.  Then click on "Services".  The middle of the screen will show the installed Services.  Scroll to the Service named "Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service".

Right Click on the Service "Net. Tcp Port Sharing" and choose Properties.

Change the Startup from Disabled to Automatic.

Press OK to save your changes.
Apply the 2007 Office System Converter
You will need to download the 2007 Office System Converter Pack.  Click on this link to go to Microsoft's Download Site. 

Click on the link "Download Files Below".  Then press the "Download" button next to the File Name "FilterPackx64.exe".

Download and install the Filter Pack:

Press Next and proceed through the wizard.

When you have completed the Filter Pack installation you are now ready to install Exchange 2010.

Roles / Features NOT to install
Exchange has a requirement to use its own SMTP service and not the SMTP Role that is built into Server 2008.  As a result, you must not install the SMTP feature from the Server Manger.  This will be installed by Exchange.  Note that the Exchange Setup wizard will issue a warning that the SMTP services are not already installed, yet if you install the Windows 2008 SMTP feature, the Exchange Setup will consider that an error.

Installing Exchange Server 2010
You are now ready to install Exchange Server 2010. 
When you run the Exchange Server setup, the first 2 steps have been completed and will be inactive.  The next step you need to perform is to select the Language Option.  Click on "Choose Exchange Language Option".

Now select the language option that is appropriate for your environment.

After selecting your language option you are ready to being the installation. 
Click on the link "Install Microsoft Exchange."

The Exchange Server 2010 setup wizard will present information about the task it will perform, press Next.

Accept the license agreement and press Next.

You can choose to participate in error reporting if you wish, press Next.

Since this is Exchange Server is intended to be our only Exchange server, we will chose the typical installation which installs all of the components to make this Exchange receive, store and send email.  Select "Typical Exchange Server Installation" and press Next.

Enter the name of your organization, typically this corresponds to your company name or domain name.  Press Next.

If you intend to use Outlook 2003 clients to connect to this Exchange Server, then chose Yes to provide compatibility with these clients, then press Next.

Exchange will now ask what you want to specify for the Internet facing side of Exchange.  In our example, using IGetMail we would create the Internet facing side of Exchange as mail.igetmail.com.

Next Exchange Setup will ask if you want to join the Customer Experience Program. 

Exchange will now verify that all prerequisites are met.  If there are any items that Exchange needs, it will inform you at this time.  If the prerequisites have all been met, then press Install to begin the installation.

When the Exchange Server 2010 installation wizard completes, it will show the results of installing each component within Exchange Server.  You should see all components with a green check mark. 
Press Finish and your Exchange Server should now be ready to use.

When Exchange completes its installation, the Exchange System Manager will appear.  The Exchange System Manager will guide you through several post installation tasks.

Allow IGetMail access to your Exchange Server
IGetMail Version 3.x instructions:
When you are running IGetMail version 3.x you can instruct IGetMail to send email to your Exchange server using an authenticated user or anonymous access.
Authenticated User Access - With this method you instruct IGetMail to use a specific Exchange user account to connect to the Exchange Server.  Once connected through this account, IGetMail can send email to any of your Exchange user accounts.  In order to use this method, the Exchange user account must be a member of the Exchange Server Group within Active Directory.
To setup Authenticated Access:

1. Open the Exchange Management Console
2. Expand "Server Configuration"
3. Select "Hub Transport"
4. In the middle section of the Management Console you will see the list of Receive Connectors.

1. Right click on the Receive Connector "Default ServerName" and choose Properties
2. Select the "Authentication" tab.
3. If you do not have an SSL certificate from a third party SSL provider, then Uncheck / Untick the option "Offer Basic authentication only after starting TLS".  By default Exchange will not allow users to authenticate until you have an SSL certificate.  Unchecking / Unticking "Offer Basic authentication only after starting TLS," allows Exchange to offer Authenticated login over standard SMTP.

When you configure IGetMail, you will need to specify a Windows user that meets these two requirements.

• The Windows account must have a mailbox in Exchange
• The Windows user must be a member of the group "Exchange Servers"

Commonly, the Administrator account does not work because it does not have a mailbox and a standard Windows account is normally not a member of the Exchange Server group.  To solve this you can either give the administrator a mailbox, or in our example below we created a Windows user, made this Windows user a member of the "Exchange Servers" groups, and then created a mailbox for the user.  In our example this new Windows user is named "IGetMail".

1. Run Active Directory for Users and Computers.
2. Select the Users group in the column on the left.
3. Right Click and add a new user.  In our case we choose to name this new user "IGetMail" since we will use this Windows user account to route the email through as the email is delivered to all of the other users within Exchange.

1. Select the Window user account that you want to have IGetMail use to connect to your Exchange Server.  Right click on the user name and choose Properties.
2. Go to the "Member Of" panel.
3. Press the Add... button.
4. Add the Group "Exchange Servers" to make this Windows account a member of the "Exchange Servers" group.  This will grant this Windows account the rights to route email to other users.  This is needed for IGetMail to route email to your users.

Next we need to add a mailbox to the Windows account that IGetMail will use for authentication.

1. Run the Exchange Management Console
2. Expand "Recipient Configuration"
3. Select Mailbox to show a list of existing Exchange Users
4. Right Click on "Mailbox" under "Recipient Configuration" and select New Mailbox or Click on New Mailbox in the Actions Column on the right hand side.
5. Add the Windows account that you want IGetMail to use to the list of Exchange users. In our example below we have added the account "IGetMail" to the list of Exchange Users.

Now Run IGetMail

1. At the Status Panel, press the "Modify SMTP Settings" button.
2. Check / Tick the option "Authenticate as - "
3. Enter the Name of a Windows User Name that you want IGetMail to use to connect to the Exchange Server.  This Windows account must have a mailbox in Exchange and must be a member of the "Exchange Servers" group.

IGetMail is now configured to send email to your Exchange Server. 

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To Setup Anonymous Access:
Anonymous access - With anonymous access you can allow anyone to send email to any of your users.  In this case, IGetMail only has to connect to the Exchange Server.  It does not need to log into a Windows Account.
To configure Exchange to allow any user to route email perform these steps:

1. Open the Exchange Management Console
2. Expand "Server Configuration"
3. Select "Hub Transport"
4. In the middle section of the Management Console you will see the list of Receive Connectors

1. Right click on the Receive Connector "Default ServerName" and choose Properties
2. Select the "Permissions Group" tab
3. Check / Tick "Anonymous Users"
4. Save your changes
5. Now anyone can connect to the Exchange Server and route email to any user

IGetMail Version 1.x and 2.x instructions:
When you are running IGetMail Version 2.x and 1.x you need to allow anonymous SMTP connections for your server.
Method 1 - Run the Exchange Management Console.  Expand the Server Configuration and select Hub transport.  In the lower half of the screen under the tab "Receive Connectors" right click on the connect labeled "Default <Name Of Your Server>" and select Properties.  At the Properties for the default server select the Permissions Group tab.  At the Permissions Group Tab, check / tick the option Anonymous and save your changes. 
Method 2 - Run the following management shell command (note this is the Exchange Management shell and not the PowerShell):

Set-ReceiveConnector -Identity "Default <ServerName>" -PermissionGroups "AnonymousUsers"
Where you would replace <ServerName> with the computer name of this server.

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Adding E-Mail Users
Run the Exchange Management Console.  Expand the item "Recipient Configuration" and select Mailbox.

Click on the option "New Mailbox" in the right hand panel under the Actions column heading.

Proceed through the wizard to create each of your new users.

Installing Exchange 2010 Step-by-Step

This is the second part of a two part series on Microsoft Exchange 2010. In the first article we examined the changes and enhancements in Exchange 2010. This time we'll walk through the steps required to install a fully functional Exchange 2010 server on Windows Server 2008 R2.

System Requirements

First, you need to make sure that your Active Directory (AD) environment and your Exchange server meet the minimum requirements:

• AD forest functional level is Windows Server 2003 (or higher)
• AD Schema Master is running Windows Server 2003 w/SP1 or later
• Full installation of Windows Server 2008 w/SP2 or later OR Windows Server 2008 R2 for the Exchange server itself
• Exchange server is joined to the domain (except for the Edge Transport server role)

Prerequisites

In this example we are going to install Exchange 2010 on a Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system. Before installing Exchange we need to install some Windows components. It's important that you don't miss anything here because the Exchange 2010 installer does not provide very good feedback if Server 2008 R2 is missing required components.

1. Install the 2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack
2. Add the appropriate Windows components/features
   1. Open PowerShell via the icon on the task bar or Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> Windows PowerShell >> Windows PowerShell. Be sure that PowerShell opened with an account that has rights to install Windows components/features.
   2. Run the following command: Import-Module ServerManager
   3. For a typical install with the Client Access, Hub Transport, and Mailbox roles run the following command: Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-Dyn-Compression,NET-HTTP-Activation,RPC-Over-HTTP-Proxy -Restart. For a full matrix of the required Windows components with regards to the Exchange server roles see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354.aspx#WS08R2
3. If your Exchange server will have the Client Access Server role set the Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service to start automatically
   1. Open PowerShell via the icon on the task bar or Start >> All Programs >> Accessories >> Windows PowerShell >> Windows PowerShell. Be sure that PowerShell opened with an account that has rights to modify service startup settings.
   2. Run the following command: Set-Service NetTcpPortSharing -StartupType Automatic

Exchange 2010 Installation

Now we're ready to run the Exchange 2010 installer. We'll go through a typical installation that includes the Client Access, Hub Transport, and Mailbox roles. This is what you will want to install if you are only going to be running one Exchange server. If you scale out your Exchange architecture with multiple servers then you will want to familiarize yourself with the Exchange server roles for a proper deployment.

1. Logon to the desktop of your soon to be Exchange server with a Domain Admin account.
2. Run setup from the Exchange 2010 media.
3. Click on "Step 3: Choose Exchange language option" and choose one of the options (Install only languages from the DVD will be fine in most cases).
4. Click on "Step 4: Install Microsoft Exchange."
5. Click Next at the Introduction page.
6. Accept the license terms and click Next.
7. Make a selection on the Error Reporting page and click Next.
8. Stick with the default "Typical Exchange Server Installation" and click Next.
9. Choose a name for your Exchange Organization and click Next.
10. Make a selection on the Client Settings page and click Next.
11. If you want your Exchange server to be available externally then choose a domain name such as mail.myorganization.com, click Next.
12. Make a selection on the Customer Experience Improvement Program page and click Next.
13. If all the prerequisites are there then you can click Install.
14. Grab a cup of coffee or take a walk while the installation process does its thing.
15. When the installation has finished go back to the Exchange installation page click on "Step 5: Get critical updates for Microsoft Exchange."
16. Install Microsoft Update (if necessary) so that Windows update will check for non-OS updates, and verify that there are no Exchange updates.

Command-line switches for MS Outlook Administrators

Important notice for users of Office 2003    To continue receiving security updates for Office, make sure you're running Office 2003 Service Pack 3 (SP3). The support for Office 2003 ends April 8, 2014. If you’re running Office 2003 after support ends, to receive all important security updates for Office, you need to upgrade to a later version such as Office 365 or Office 2013.

The command that starts Microsoft Outlook is Outlook.exe. A command-line switch is the addition of a forward slash (/) followed by the switch name and any parameters the switch has.

How to use switches

1. Search for the Microsoft Outlook executable file, Outlook.exe, and make a note of the path to Outlook.exe. For example, the path might be C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type the complete path you noted in step 1, including the file name. Press the SPACEBAR once, and then type a forward slash mark (/) followed by the switch.

For example, if you want to use the CleanReminders switch, the command you type in the Open box should look like this:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe" /Cleanreminders

 Note   Paths that include spaces between words must be enclosed in quotation marks (") and are case sensitive.

4. To run the command, click OK.

Switch reference

Switch	Description
/a	Creates an item with the specified file as an attachment. Example: "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe" /a "C:\My Documents\labels.doc" If no item type is specified, IPM.Note is assumed. Cannot be used with message classes that aren't based on Outlook.
/altvba otmfilename	Opens the VBA program specified in otmfilename, rather than %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook\VbaProject.OTM.
/c messageclass	Creates a new item of the specified message class (Outlook forms or any other valid MAPI form). Examples: /c ipm.activity creates a Journal entry /c ipm.appointment creates an appointment /c ipm.contact creates a contact /c ipm.note creates an e-mail message /c ipm.stickynote creates a note /c ipm.task creates a task
/checkclient	Prompts for the default manager of e-mail, news, and contacts.
/cleanclientrules	Starts Outlook and deletes client-based rules.
/cleandmrecords	Deletes the logging records saved when a manager or a delegate declines a meeting.
/cleanfinders	Removes Search Folders from the Microsoft Exchange server store.
/cleanfreebusy	Clears and regenerates free/busy information. This switch can only be used when you are able to connect to your Microsoft Exchange server.
/cleanprofile	Removes invalid profile keys and recreates default registry keys where applicable.
/cleanpst	Launches Outlook with a clean Personal Folders file (.pst).
/cleanreminders	Clears and regenerates reminders.
/cleanrules	Starts Outlook and deletes client- and server-based rules.
/cleanschedplus	Deletes all Schedule+ data (free/busy, permissions, and .cal file) from the server and enables the free/busy information from the Outlook Calendar to be used and viewed by all Schedule+ 1.0 users.
/cleanserverrules	Starts Outlook and deletes server-based rules.
/cleansniff	Deletes duplicate reminder messages.
/cleansubscriptions	Deletes the subscription messages and properties for subscription features.
/cleanviews	Restores default views. All custom views you created are lost.
/designer	Starts Outlook without figuring out if Outlook should be the default client in the first run.
/embedding	Opens the specified message file (.msg) as an OLE embedding. Also used without command-line parameters for standard OLE co-create.
/f msgfilename	Opens the specified message file (.msg) or Microsoft Office saved search (.oss).
/firstrun	Starts Outlook as if it were run for the first time.
/hol holfilename	Opens the specified .hol file.
/ical icsfilename	Opens the specified .ics file.
/importprf prffilename	Launches Outlook and opens/imports the defined MAPI profile (*.prf). If Outlook is already open, queues the profile to be imported on the next clean launch.
/l olkfilename	Opens the specified .olk file.
/launchtraininghelp assetid	Opens a Help window with the Help topic specified in assetid.
/m emailname	Provides a way for the user to add an e-mail name to the item. Only works in conjunction with the /c command-line parameter. Example: Outlook.exe /c ipm.note /m emailname
/nocustomize	Starts Outlook without loading outcmd.dat (customized toolbars) and *.fav file.
/noextensions	Starts Outlook with extensions turned off, but listed in the Add-In Manager.
/nopollmail	Starts Outlook without checking mail at startup.
/nopreview	Starts Outlook with the Reading Pane off.
/p msgfilename	Prints the specified message (.msg). Does not work with HTML.
/profile profilename	Loads the specified profile. If your profile name contains a space, enclose the profile name in quotation marks (").
/profiles	Opens the Choose Profile dialog box regardless of the Options setting on the Tools menu.
/recycle	Starts Outlook using an existing Outlook window, if one exists. Used in combination with /explorer or /folder.
/resetfoldernames	Resets default folder names (such as Inbox or Sent Items) to default names in the current Office user interface language. For example, if you first connect to your mailbox Outlook using a Russian user interface, the Russian default folder names cannot be renamed. To change the default folder names to another language such as Japanese or English, you can use this switch to reset the default folder names after changing the user interface language or installing a different language version of Outlook.
/resetfolders	Restores missing folders for the default delivery location.
/resetnavpane	Clears and regenerates the Navigation Pane for the current profile.
/rpcdiag	Opens Outlook and displays the remote procedure call (RPC) connection status dialog.
/s filename	Loads the specified shortcuts file (.fav).
/safe	Starts Outlook without extensions, Reading Pane, or toolbar customization.
/safe:1	Starts Outlook with the Reading Pane off.
/safe:2	Starts Outlook without checking mail at startup.
/safe:3	Starts Outlook with extensions turned off, but listed in the Add-In Manager.
/safe:4	Starts Outlook without loading Outcmd.dat (customized toolbars) and *.fav file.
/select foldername	Starts Outlook and opens the specified folder in a new window. For example, to open Outlook and display the default calendar use: "c:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office11\Outlook.exe" /select outlook:calendar
/sniff	Starts Outlook and forces a detection of new meeting requests in the Inbox, and then adds them to the calendar.
/t oftfilename	Opens the specified .oft file.
/v vcffilename	Opens the specified .vcf file.
/vcal vcsfilename	Opens the specified .vcs file.
/x xnkfilename	Opens the specified .xnk file.

Common Causes for Account Lockouts in Windows 7

To avoid false lockouts, please check each computer on which a lockout occurred for the following behaviors:

Programs:

Many programs cache credentials or keep active threads that retain the credentials after a user changes their password.

Service accounts:

Service account passwords are cached by the service control manager on member computers that use the account as well as domain controllers. If you reset the password for a service account and you do not reset the password in the service control manager, account lockouts for the service account occur. This is because the computers that use this account typically retry logon authentication by using the previous password. To determine whether this is occurring, look for a pattern in the Netlogon log files and in the event log files on member computers. You can then configure the service control manager to use the new password and avoid future account lockouts.

Bad Password Threshold is set too low:

This is one of the most common misconfiguration issues. Many companies set the Bad Password Threshold registry value to a value lower than the default value of 10. If you set this value too low, false lockouts occur when programs automatically retry passwords that are not valid. Microsoft recommends that you leave this value at its default value of 10. For more information, see "Choosing Account Lockout Settings for Your Deployment" in this document.

User logging on to multiple computers:

A user may log onto multiple computers at one time. Programs that are running on those computers may access network resources with the user credentials of that user who is currently logged on. If the user changes their password on one of the computers, programs that are running on the other computers may continue to use the original password. Because those programs authenticate when they request access to network resources, the old password continues to be used and the users account becomes locked out. To ensure that this behavior does not occur, users should log off of all computers, change the password from a single location, and then log off and back on.

Stored user names and passwords retain redundant credentials:

If any of the saved credentials are the same as the logon credential, you should delete those credentials. The credentials are redundant because Windows tries the logon credentials when explicit credentials are not found. To delete logon credentials, use the Stored User Names and Passwords tool. For more information about Stored User Names and Passwords, see online help in Windows XP and the Windows Server 2003 family.

Scheduled tasks:

Scheduled processes may be configured to using credentials that have expired.

Persistent drive mappings:

Persistent drives may have been established with credentials that subsequently expired. If the user types explicit credentials when they try to connect to a share, the credential is not persistent unless it is explicitly saved by Stored User Names and Passwords. Every time that the user logs off the network, logs on to the network, or restarts the computer, the authentication attempt fails when Windows attempts to restore the connection because there are no stored credentials. To avoid this behavior, configure net use so that is does not make persistent connections. To do this, at a command prompt, please type net use /persistent:no. Alternately, to ensure current credentials are used for persistent drives, disconnect and reconnect the persistent drive.

Active Directory replication:

User properties must replicate between domain controllers to ensure that account lockout information is processed properly. You should verify that proper Active Directory replication is occurring.

Disconnected Terminal Server sessions:

Disconnected Terminal Server sessions may be running a process that accesses network resources with outdated authentication information. A disconnected session can have the same effect as a user with multiple interactive logons and cause account lockout by using the outdated credentials. The only difference between a disconnected session and a user who is logged onto multiple computers is that the source of the lockout comes from a single computer that is running Terminal Services.

Service accounts:

By default, most computer services are configured to start in the security context of the Local System account. However, you can manually configure a service to use a specific user account and password. If you configure a service to start with a specific user account and that accounts password is changed, the service logon property must be updated with the new password or that service may lock out the account.

Temporary Profile issues in Windows 7

Question

I recently noticed that some of my desktop icons & files are disappeared, even I tried to create a new folder and restart the computer, it is also not there after restart, there might be it was deleted automatically. I search about this issue in internet and got the causes that ” my user profile has got corrupted. Please help me to solve it.

Solved Answer

Yes, your research goes to in a right way, this is the problem started because your user profiles has been corrupted, you have to repair it. Below we provides you a step-by-step guide to solve that issue, please follow the article instructions to solve this issue completely.

Method 1

1. Rename the temporary profile from registry

• Start your computer and login with temp profile
• Click on START and then type RUN in search box and then click on RUN from found results, then you will get a RUB BOX.
• Type a command in run box “regedit” and hit enter or click on OK, then you will appear a registry edition

• Please locate the following  path in registry editor and rename two keys (as per shown below screenshot)
  

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
• You will get the similar keys under “profile list”, however one key may shows as end with “.bak”
• “.bak” is a your original profile Example: “SID-1213428093-345618312-2235-148770.bak”
• “Without .Bak” is a your current temp profile (which currently logged on with this profile) Example:“SID-1213428093-345618312-2235-148770″
• You have to Rename both entries
• Rename the key “Without .Bak“, rename it and put “.temp” in the end SID-1213428093-345618312-2235-148770″
                                    to SID-1213428093-345618312-2235-148770.temp”
• Rename the key with “.Bak“,  rename it and remove “.bak” from the end SID-1213428093-345618312-2235-148770.bak”
                                   to “SID-1213428093-345618312-2235-148770″

• That’s it, Now click on start and click on log off
• After log off, restart the computer once.
• After restart it will automatically get your old (original) profile

If the problem still persist then you have to run the check disk go to method 2.

Method 2

• Open my computer
• Right click on C drive (where is installed the windows), and then click on properties
• Then a properties page will be appeared and please click on the tool tab
• Then you will get a button “check now”, Please click on that then a another popup will be appeared
• In this popup please tick all two boxes and click on start
• it will take time to finish and it might be create a scheduled to run this check disk in a next startup, then so please restart your computer (as per shown below screenshot)

That’s it, Now restart your computer..Issue must be solved, you can able to login your profile.

Time Synchronization in Active Directory

Excuse me, do you have the time?  Well you better if you are a Active Directory administrator.  Next to DNS, time synchronization is one of the most important dependency of Active Directory.  By default, Active Directory will tolerate a plus or minus of five minutes between the clocks of your network.  If the time exceeds five minutes, clients will be unable to authenticate, and replication will not occur between domain controllers.
Since time is so vital, Active Directory implements a time synchronization system based on Network Time (NTP).  NTP ensures that every machine in the forest has a synchronized clock.  In addition, each Windows 2000 or newer machine uses the w32time service to implement synchronize of their clocks.
Below is a outline of how Time Synchronization works.

1. The forest root domain PDC emulator synchronizes its clock with a reliable outside time source.
2. Every child domain PDC emulator  synchronizes its clock with the PDC emulator of its parent domain.
3. Each domain controller  synchronizes its clock with the PDC emulator of its domain.
4. Each domain computer synchronizes its clock with the domain controller it authenticates
   to.

You shouldn’t need to configure the w32time service on any server other than your root domain PDC emulator.  From my experience, companies that elected to use a different time sync hierarchy then the one outlined above, later ended up suffering from Kerberos issues.  
Out in the field, I have also noticed when companies transfer the PDC emulator FSMO role to another server, they forget to reconfigure the w32time service. 
Reconfiguring your PDC emulator is fairly simple.  First find a dedicated (reliable) external time source.  In this example we will be using the NTP Pool Project.
First open up your command prompt. (Start>Run>CMD)
Next enter the following commands:

C:\> w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:"0.pool.ntp.org,1.pool.ntp.org,2.pool.ntp.org" /syncfromflags:manual
C:\> w32tm /config /update
C:\> w32tm /resync

For more information about configuring your time source see the following articles.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/262680
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=816042
For troubleshooting time sync issues, the w32time service will log events to the System
event log. The w32tm /monitor and w32tm /stripchart /computer:TargetMachineName
commands are often useful for troubleshooting as well.