Saturday, 17 November 2012

Issue

I have noticed that some drive letters and folder names are displayed in blue, instead of standard black on my PC. Any possible explanations or solution to turn them black in color?

Solution

The names displayed in blue represent either an encrypted or compressed NTFS partition/ folder.
To disable this feature:
  • Open Folder Options in Control Panel.
  • Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  • Double-click Folder Options.
  • On the View tab, de-select the Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color check box.

How to solve Folders Showing as Shortcuts, Hidden in USB/Memory-Card/HDD

By connecting flash drives to the affected computer, often it shows flash drive containing just some folder's shortcuts. Sometimes it shows nothing though drive's properties show it has files in it. Even we get some inaccessible folder or file. This type of problem may also seen in our local drives (HDD partitions). Even paid anti-virus is unable to resolve those folders, they just scan and detect The AUTORUN worm which one will execute all programs. Then our important files remain hidden.
hidden folders shortcuts
Hidden folders and Shortcuts by the Autorun Worm


Here we will see how can we solve this problem by using command line and batch file. Though the batch file is nothing but the executable file contains command lines. So solving the hidden and shortcut problem of USB or drives, we must have the administrator privilege as we will execute something.

Using Command line:

To solve/fix the folder's hidden or system file, the easiest way is to run a command line. You can apply this command to USB and local drive as well, need to change the drive_letter.

Go to Run, type cmd and hit enter. In command prompt just type:

attrib -h -s -r -a /s /d drive_letter:\*.* 

And hit enter. Be sure you've typed the drive letter (e.g. j:,h: or D:) instead of "drive_letter" in the command line. My USB drive letter is J: and my command should looks like:
Command to change files attributs
Command for unhide system-hidden files on a drive

All files and folders will be normal and you should be able to delete the shortcuts, created by the virus.
Command line details: Here atrib=attribute, "-"=remove attribute/permits, h=hidden s=system, r=read-only, a=archive, /s=sub directory, /d=directory, drive_letter=the letter of the drive shown in windows explorer (e.g. j:,h: or D:) and *.* is called the wild card for all files.
If you don't like to be a "command Ninja" then see below.

USB, MicroSD, MiniSD or other Mmory Cards issue:

     1. Connect your USB or memory card to the PC or laptop.

     2. Copy these lines and paste it into a "new text file"

@echo off
attrib -h -s -r -a /s /d drive_letter:\*.*

3. In the 3rd line give the drive letter name (Example: J or K or L etc.) instead of "drive_name"

4. Save the text file as any_name.bat

5. Double click on the any_name.bat file and it will run in the command prompt and see the hidden files/folders come back.

6. Delete the shortcuts and unnecessary files and folders from USB drive.

Local drive issue:

1. Copy these lines and paste it into a "new text file"

@echo off 
attrib -h -s -r -a /s /d D:\*.*
attrib -h -s -r -a /s /d E:\*.*
attrib -h -s -r -a /s /d F:\*.*
attrib -h -s -r -a /s /d G:\*.*
attrib -h -s -r -a /s /d H:\*.*
attrib -h -s -r -a /s /d I:\*.*
attrib -h -s -r -a /s /d J:\*.*
@echo complete.
2. Save the text file as a bat file (example: any_name.bat)

3. Run this bat file by double-clicking on it.

Thus you can solve this kind of problems with a *.bat file. You can save the *.bat file for solving this hidden problem.

Important: These tutorials are applied for Windows 7/Vista/xp. You must have the administrative privilege to run the command or execute the .bat file. Put the " : " after the j, k, or D (drive letters). These commands are not case sensitive.

Saturday, 3 November 2012

Steps required to install MS Exchange Server 2007 on a MS Windows Server 2008

  1. Run MS Exchange Server 2007 ISO Image

     
  2. The Exchange installer wizard will install. Step 1 and Step 2 of the installation wizard will already be installed on MS Windows Server 2008. Click "Step 3: Install Microsoft Windows PowerShell". A pop up command window will appear as shown above to provide you information on how to install Windows PowerShell.
  3. I have followed the command prompt approach to install Windows PowerShell. Open command window and run the following command:
    ServerManagerCmd –i PowerShell

     
  4. It takes 2-3 minutes to install Windows PowerShell.

  5. Once Windows PowerShell is installed on your server, run the MS Exchange installer again.

  6. This time, Click "Step 4: Install Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1". On the Introduction screen, Click Next to proceed.

  7. On the Next screen, Choose "I accept the terms in the license agreement" and Click "Next" to proceed.

  8. On the next screen, choose "NO", if you don't want to send Error reports.

  9. Choose Typical Exchange Server Installation in the step below and Click Next to proceed.

  10. Enter Exchange Organisation name and Click Next to proceed.

  11. Click NO, if you don't have client machines running MS Outlook 2003 or earlier versions. Click Next to proceed.

  12. On the next screen below, Exchange setup will check that all pre-requisite components of the server are installed.

  13. Readiness Check step has identified number of missing windows components on my server.

  • Install Ldifde.exe. Run ServerManagerCmd –i RSAT on the command prompt to install this feature.

  • Ldifde.exe is successfully installed. Now installed all remaining components of IIS 7. Open Server Manager and Select Roles and Click Add Role Service to select all required IIS 7.0 services for MS Exchange Server.

  1. Once you have installed the missing components for MS Exchange, Click Install in the MS Exchange wizard to start the MS Exchange installation.

  2. MS Exchange Server 2007 will install total 6 items as shown in the figure below.

  3. MS Exchange 2007 Server is installed successfully.


Steps required to activate MS Exchange Server 2007 Product Key

  1. Restart the server. Once the server is rebooted, Open MS Exchange Server 2007 Console.

  2. Click Enter Product Key link to open Product Key window. Enter MS Exchange key and click Enter to activate your product.

  3. MS Exchange Server 2007 is successfully activated.

Steps required to create Mailboxes for Domain User Accounts in MS Exchange Server 2007

  1. Run MS Exchange Server 2007 Console. Right Click Mailbox under Recipient Configuration menu and then Click New Mailbox to create or associate domain user's mail boxes.

  2. Choose User Mailbox and Click Next to proceed.

  3. In my scenario, I wanted to associate mailboxes for existing users that I had already created on my domain controller for my Integration environment. Click Existing Users option button and Click Add to select users from the domain controller.

  4. On the screen below, specify Mailbox database. Click Next to create mailboxes for the selected existing domain user accounts.

    Now you have successfully created mailboxes for existing domain user accounts. Next step is to open the MS Outlook web access to test an email account. Click Client Access menu in the Server Configuration. On the right side of the screen, you will see OWA folder. Double Click OWA folder to locate the MS Outlook OWA URL as shown in the figure below.

    Open the MS Outlook Web Access URL and after entering user credentials you will see, user's mailbox.

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.
  • Install the 2007 Office System Converter: Microsoft Filter Pack
  • 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
  • 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
Setting up Microsoft Exchange 2010

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. 

Post Installation Steps

Now that you have Exchange 2010 installed, you will need to do some basic configuration in the Exchange Management console to get mail flowing to/from your server.
  1. Open the Exchange Management Console via Start >> All Programs >> Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 >> Exchange Management Console
  2. Expand Microsoft Exchange On-Premises so you can see: Organization Configuration, Server Configuration, Recipient Configuration, and Toolbox
  3. Under Organization Configuration >> Hub Transport >> Accepted Domains add a new Accepted Domain for the domain you wish to use for email addresses. For example, your AD domain will be listed by default (i.e. ad.myorganization.com). You will probably want to add "myorganization.com" as an Authoritative Domain.
  4. Under Organization Configuration >> Hub Transport >> Send Connectors >> New Send Connector ... >> Pick a name such as "MyOrganization Internet Send Connector" >> change the drop down to "Internet" >> Next >> Add ... >> enter "*" in the Address field and check the box to include all subdomains >> OK >> Next. Now, if you want your Exchange server to route mail directly, then click Next on the Network setting page, but if you want to route your email through an upstream provider then select "Route mail through the following smart hosts" and Add ... a mail gateway such as smtp.comcast.net. Click Next >> Next >> Next >> New
  5. Under Server Configuration >> Hub Transport >> Right-click Default *** >> Properties >> Permission Groups tab, check the box for Anonymous users. This will allow your Exchange server to accept incoming mail delivery from remote mail servers.
  6. Under Recipient Configuration >> Mailbox, create mailboxes for your existing AD users (or create a new user & mailbox)
    1. New Mailbox ... >> select User Mailbox >> Next >> Existing users >> Add ... >> select an existing AD account >> OK >> Next >> specify an alias (e.g. the AD user name) >> Next >> New
  7. If you want to use an SSL certificate for Outlook Web App, IMAP, POP, etc. click on Server Configuration and import or create the certificate

Mail Routing Configuration

Now the final piece you need to configure to receive mail is your external DNS records. The method for configuring your DNS records will depend on whether you host your own DNS or have a provider that hosts it for you. Either way you will need to create an "A" record that points mail.myorganization.com to the IP address of your mail server, and an "MX" record that points myorganization.com to mail.myorganization.com. You will also want to make sure that port 25 is open both inbound and outbound to your Exchange server.

Conclusion

That's it! You should now be able to browse to https://mail.myorganization.com/owa (or https://localhost/owa from the server) and logon via the Web interface to send and receive mail!

Unordered List

Sample Text

Popular Posts