We’ve received several requests on the tools newsgroup for the history of the development of ExBPA, so here it is. The concept for such a tool has been around for several years, and there have been a few prototypes created previously. For one reason or another, these earlier efforts didn’t get very far...

Exchange 2010 includes a feature called Datacenter Activation Coordination (DAC) mode that is designed to prevent split brain at the database level during switchback procedures that are being performed after a datacenter switchover has occurred. One of the side benefits of enabling DAC mode is that it...

After 6 months of feedback and contributions by the folks over in the IMFAM workspace, I’m happy to announce the final release of the 2 nd IMF Archive Manager. For those that don’t know, IMFAM is a C# GUI tool released as shared source on GotDotNet that provides a view of the IMF archive directory and...

EDIT 2/15/2010: Microsoft System Center Capacity Planner (SCCP) is formally being discontinued. The most recent version, SCCP 2007, is no longer available. No new versions of this standalone capacity planning tool, as well as any new or updated application capacity planning models, will be developed...

By now, you have probably read the two previous blogs written by Nagesh Mahadev and Sushil Sharma on this subject. If you haven’t read them lately (or bookmarked them), I urge you to do so now. This blog is going to discuss alternative methods for collecting data for Exchange Server 2007 and how to setup...

One problem we encounter almost on a weekly basis is general performance problems. Most performance problems we have seen lately have been related to either inadequate disk configuration or MAPI restrictions. Mike Lee has already explained the bit about Disk issues in his entry , so I am going to tackle...

M any people use rules to automatically sort messages from various distribution lists into folders in order to keep the volume of email traffic in their inbox to a manageable level. This works for the most part - until someone decides to BCC a list. Since the distribution list isn't visible in the list...

Recently I worked on a case where we needed to capture user dumps (memory dumps) of store.exe. Normally I would suggest using ADPLus.vbs to capture this information, but in this case there would not have been time to have ADPlus work correctly. The behavior we were trying to troubleshoot was the old...

There has surely been enough discussion on this blog (and other community sites) how Windows Server Backup on Windows Server 2008 does not provide any out-of-the-box functionality to backup Exchange 2007. Some examples on our blog are here and here , but there were a ton of related comments on other...

If you did not see our Webcasts for daylight saving time changes in 2007 page yet, you should know that there are two DST Webcasts coming up this week: Preparing for daylight saving time: How to make the DST transition step-by-step Microsoft DST team members walk through how to use the Windows, Exchange...

EDIT 04/27/2009: We have updated the calculator to v16.9 to address a bug that was found . Please go to our Mailbox Server Role Storage Requirements Calculator updates tracking page to see what is in this new version! A blog post explaining the calculator (updated for this new version) is here...

Exchange Server 2003 supported a utility called WinRoute which allowed an administrator to connect to the Routing Engine Service on port 691, query it, and retrieve a view of the Routing Topology as seen by the server. The Routing Log Viewer in Exchange Server 2007 provides a similar function to WinRoute...

Due to the success of the Jetstress 2010 field guide, we have decided to continue the tradition by releasing an updated version of the guide for Jetstress 2013 . As with the previous version, the aim of the document is as follows: Explain how Jetstress works. Provide storage validation planning and configuration...

Well, it's that time again.  Time for the clocks to change, as a result of Daylight Savings Time (DST).  If you are an Exchange administrator, and haven't heard how the time changes impact your messaging environment, then you have probably been shipwrecked on a deserted island with no communication...

As Chris mentioned on his blog - there is an update out for ExBPA.Config.xml, bringing it to version 1.6.0.1. Under most circumstances, ExBPA should auto-detect the new version of the rules file and prompt you to download. If this does not occur, you can download and apply the ExBPA Web Update Pack from...

Another tool we released last week is the OWA admin tool that Tosh pointed out . It is a set of web pages, so it must be deployed on an IIS server (in the same domain as the Exchange server), but it does not have to be on the Exchange server itself. Using the tool, you can set the OWA configuration registry...

All those Exchange administrators who wondered how they will migrate their huge list of allow/deny addresses, block list providers and blocked senders and domains – now you have a reason to smile. Exchange team has just released a tool that allows you to migrate anti-spam settings from Exchange...

In this video, we are demonstrating how to use the updated Outlook Time Zone Tool to update a resource mailbox. We are also demonstrating one of scenarios where a meeting item may become double booked if Direct Booking is used. Please view this to help you understand the process of updating your resource...

EDIT: This post has been updated on 10/9/2007 to address comments and questions that we got from you on original post. The Exchange Calendar Update Configuration Tool was not designed to work in a report only mode through the tool's UI. However, there is a technical work around that will allow you to...

EDIT: The newest version of Quote Message Service can be found on Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Tools site . Yesterday I uploaded the 1.1.0 release of the Quota Message Service , which allows you to send custom messages to users who exceed their quota. New to this build - setup improvements, including...

Included in this month’s Exchange Tools Web release ( direct link ) is a new analysis tool called the Microsoft Exchange Server Profile Analyzer Tool (or EPA). We created this tool to help server administrators understand their user profile to help with the process of server sizing or capacity planning...

As a followup to Elizabeth's previous post I wanted to let you know that the "Preparing for daylight saving time changes in 2007" page has been updated with more information related to Exchange, Outlook, Windows and other products. Please keep checking that page for more information: http://www.microsoft...

What do Microsoft Support Engineers look for in the results of the MPS Reports diagnostic tool? The Microsoft Product Support Report (aka MPS Reports) is arguably the most used diagnostic gathering tool used by Support Engineers to diagnose and correct server and environmental technical issues...

This is a 3 rd blog post on the subject of Auto Accept Agent. You can go here to see the 1 st one and here to see the 2 nd one. In this blog post, I wanted to cover how to troubleshoot Auto Accept Agent issues by using the support scripts that come with the installation. Three supporting VBS scripts...

Summary This document provides recommendations and prescriptive guidance for updating Outlook calendars to comply with the Daylight Saving Time (DST) 2007 rule changes. The goal is to provide an Outlook user with a "personal touch" experience to help them understand what is happening with their calendar...