Unread Mail folder under Favorites in Outlook

I got really used to having quick access to my unread messages using the Unread Mail favorites folder.

Every time I have a new account using Outlook, I always forget to add it back, since it's not done automagically anymore. Once I remember I want it back, I have to look up how to do it!

Sad thing is it's pretty easy.

At the bottom of the list of folders in your account, there's a Search Folder.

Right click Search Folders, and click on New Search Folder.

Make sure Unread mail is selected in the Search Folder box and click OK.

The folder will appear on Search Folders, and then you can right click it and select Show in Favorites. Now you can find the email you left unread so you can deal with it later.... about a week ago. :)

How to reset your WSUS

When your WSUS folder starts getting out of control, or you've removed a lot of stuff and the cleanup isn't giving you back your space, here's how to do a reset.

How to Do a Reset:

Note: You may want to execute the procedure below during off hours as your WSUS server will be downloading quite a bit of data.

1) Correct any settings above or disapprove any unneeded updates.

2) Close any open WSUS consoles.

3) Go to Administrative Tools – Services and STOP the Update Services service.

4) In Windows Explorer browse to the WSUSContent folder (typically D:\WSUS\WSUSContent or C:\WSUS\WSUSContent)

5) Delete ALL the files and folders in the WSUSContent folder.

6) Go to Administrative Tools – Services and START the Update Services service.

7) Open a command prompt and navigate to the folder: C:\Program Files\Update Services\Tools.

8) Run the command WSUSUtil.exe RESET

-This command tells WSUS to check each update in the database, and verify that the content is present in the WSUSContent folder. As it finds that the content is not present in the folder, it executes a BITS job to download the content from Microsoft. This process takes quite a bit of time and runs in the background.

How do you tell when the process is complete?

Other than noticing that the WSUSContent folder is no longer growing you can also check the SoftwareDistribution.log:

C:\Program Files\Update Services\LogFiles\SoftwareDistribution.log

When you start the reset process, you should see a line towards the bottom of the log which looks like this:

WsusService.13  ExecutionContext.runTryCode     State Machine Reset Agent Starting

After waiting for some time, check the log again and search for the text “State Machine Reset Agent Finished”

WsusService.13  ExecutionContext.runTryCode     State Machine Reset Agent Finished

http://blogs.technet.com/b/gborger/archive/2009/02/27/what-to-do-when-your-wsuscontent-folder-grows-too-large.aspx

Could not find stored procedure 'dbo.PRC_UTIL_DBFILEINUSE'

http://kb.swiftpage.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/28169/kw/could%20not%20find%20the%20stored%20procedure%20'dbo.prc_util_dbfileinuse'

1. Close Sage ACT!.
2. Click on Windows® Start button.
• For Windows XP® select Run.
• For Windows Vista® and Windows® 7, use the Search field.
3. Enter the command Actdiag and press the Enter key.
4. Within the Actdiag program, select Server on the menu bar.
5. From the menu, select option Server Security.
6. Click on the Reset SQL Password button. Click OK to continue when prompted (do not attempt to enter a password).
7. Message Reset SQL Password will appear, click OK to complete the process.
8. Close Actdiag.
9. Click on the Windows Start button and select Run. For Windows Vista and Windows 7, enter the command Run into the Search field and press the Enter key.
10. In the RUN window, enter the command Net Stop MSSQL$ACT7 and press the Enter key.
11. Return to the RUN window, enter the command Net Start MSSQL$ACT7 and press the Enter key.
12. Launch Sage ACT! and update the database.

Important links

AcctInfo.DLL

http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/w2k3/utilities/acctinfo.htm

Robocopy

http://www.computerhope.com/robocopy.htm

Outlook Secure temp folder

The Outlook Secure Temp folder is a super hidden folder, so, unless you know the full path (and it's randomly named folder, you're not finding it. And that's fun when you have a user that's trying to play the 100th copy of a file with the same file name (can you say "voicemail messages"?) and they get an error message.

To find the Secure Temp folder, you have to hop into the registry.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Security

Where the number is the number of your version of Outlook. 15 is Office 2013. The registy entry will give you the file path of the Secure Temp folder, go to it and delete the contents (after you make sure they don't have any attachments open from Outlook they haven't saved elsewhere). 

After that, the countdown to the next 100th file starts!

ADUC Additional Information tab

The Additional Info tab in Active Directory Users and Computers is like, my favorite thing evar. And just because of the Password Expiration date. All the other info it shows is just a bonus. SID is helpful for when profiles poo the bed.

Here's how to get it. This should be done on the computer you are using to to run ADUC, not the server.... unless you're using the server to view ADUC.

For x86 systems

1. Download the Account Lockout Tools from MS. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=18465 
2. Copy acctinfo.dll to the %systemroot%\system32 folder 
3. Register the service and dll with this command: regsvr32 acctinfo 

For x64 systems

1. Download the same installer from above. 
2. Extract the files. Move or copy acctinfo.dll to C:\Windows\SysWOW64. 
3. Open a Command Prompt and navigate to C:\Windows\SysWOW64 
4. Run regsvr32 acctinfo.dll. 
5. Open Active Directory Users and Computers in the run dialog box: dsa.msc -32 

To ease access to the 32 bit Management Console, a shortcut can be created for dsa.msc -32

Since I can't help myself....

Robocopy

I'm trying to learn Robocopy. It's hilarious fun.

Protip: Don't call your Robocopy bat file Robocopy. You'll get stuck in an endless loop, and even if you terminate the command, the next robocopy script you run will go back to that same loop, and you'll go (even more) stark raving mad.

If you DID name your bat file Robocopy, and find that stupid script is looping over and over and over and over, simply rename the bat file to go on with your life. It took me far longer than it should and a few more Google searches than it should to figure that out.