February, 2011

As you may have heard/read, Exchange 2010 Personal Archive support is now available in Outlook 2007 as part of the Office 2007 Cumulative Update for February 2011.  The Microsoft Exchange Team Blog post Yes Virginia, there is Exchange 2010 archive support in Outlook 2007 covers how Personal Archive works in Outlook 2007.  It is also detailed in the updated Exchange Help article Understanding Personal Archives.

What is Personal Archive? 

Personal Archive is a feature available with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Messaging Records Management (MRM).  It can eliminate the need for Personal Folder files (.pst). By using Personal Archive in Exchange Server 2010, the e-mail archive folders are stored online so that users can access the archived files by using Microsoft Outlook Web App or from a secondary computer by using Outlook 2010 or, now, Outlook 2007. By using any of these client applications, users can view an archive mailbox and move or copy messages between their primary mailboxes and the archive.

You’ll want to check out the Exchange team’s blog post and article Understanding Personal Archives to see how the functionality differs between Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010.  Of note, in Outlook 2007, you cannot search across the primary and archive mailboxes.  Also, in Outlook 2007, a user cannot use personal tags (also known as archive policies) to move items to the archive mailbox.  However, default archive policies will continue to be applied.  Users can use Outlook Web App to see or apply archive policies.

Happy archiving with Exchange Server 2010!

- Cat

Posting for Ben Aguiluz -

The Excel 2010 Resources page provides links to crucial Excel 2010 information for the IT Pro. These include articles, videos, whitepapers, blogs, and forums about Excel 2010 feature changes, migration, performance, Excel Services, and much more!

Take a look and let us know what you think.  Do you find this resource useful?  Is there anything that you would like to see added?  We would love to hear back from you.  Thanks!

One of our premier field engineers, David Craig, recently helped a customer troubleshoot why OCCI was failing to load after installation. For Excel, they were seeing this error in the Event Viewer:

Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Applications.Runtime.CannotCreateCustomizationDomainException: Customization could not be loaded because the application domain could not be created. ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel, Version=12.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=71e9bce111e9429c' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.

In the above error in the event log, the bold text varies depending on whether OCCI fails to load for Excel, Word, or PowerPoint.

• For Excel, the error shows Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel
• For Word, the error shows Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word
• And for PowerPoint, the error shows Microsoft.Office.Interop.PowerPoint

David and his customer solved the issue by installing these two downloads: 

• Microsoft Visual Studio Tools (VSTO) for the Microsoft Office system (version 3.0 Runtime)
• 2007 Microsoft Office System Update: Redistributable Primary Interop Assemblies

After these two downloads were installed, OCCI ran like a champ. We are researching the root cause of this issue and will provide updates as appropriate. We wanted to get the word out ASAP so that you can quickly move past this issue if you happen to encounter it.

Having problems loading OCCI but are not seeing these errors in your event log? See our earlier post on troubleshooting OCCI errors for more tips.

I've enjoyed my time so far here at RSAConference2011 in San Francisco. Today started out great with the presentation of the RSA Lifetime Achievement Award to Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman, RSA themselves. There was even a standing ovation after the award was presented. After this the keynote addresses were given throughout the morning, followed by many different break-out sessions to choose from during the afternoon. Here are a few highlights and summaries from today at RSAConference2011:

• Cloud computing is a hot topic. Many companies are either looking into some type of cloud computing to help meet their business needs or are already using some form of cloud computing today. Of course, security is a concern when talking about cloud computing. There are many vendors here at RSA helping to address these security concerns.
• Cloud computing definition. There is some confusion about the definition of cloud computing. The industry de facto standard appears to be the definition provided by NIST.
• Many security vulnerabilities happen because computer devices are not up to date in regards to applying security patches. Pirated copies of software (operating systems or applications) can more easily be exploited by hackers because those computers running the pirated software are usually not up to date with the current software patches for known security vulnerabilities.

Here are some key resources that may be beneficial in regards to the above mentioned items:

• NIST: Cloud Computing
• Microsoft Global Foundation Services: Online Security
• Microsoft Windows Update

Also, if you are in need of guideance regarding Office 2010 and Security you can find lots of (hopefully useful) information located here:

• Office 2010 Security

I'm looking forward to attending more keynote addresses and break-out sessions in the upcoming days. I just hope that the winds outside subside - as the creaking noise of the tall downtown hotel building I'm staying in is a little unnerving and just a tad bit annoying. Oh well, at least the overcast skies and rain make me feel right at home, as if I were in Seattle. Good night, and if you're here at RSA then maybe we'll run into each other tomorrow - hopefully not literally though, which is definitely possible based on the hallways after some of the sessions today - two big blobs of people trying to go in opposing directions, but actually going nowhere very fast. Maybe we'll have crowd control officers directing the hallway traffic tomorrow. :-) Cheers! 

Ross Carter, CISSP

I put together a OneNote notebook that contains all the Access 2010, Excel 2010, PowerPoint 2010, and Word 2010 compatibility details that I could find on Office.com and TechNet, such as:

• Formatting and functionality changes that occur when a 2010 file is opened in a previous version of the application, or when the file is edited in compatibility mode
• Limits and specifications
• What's new, changed, and removed
• Supported file formats
• Differences in OpenDocument Spreadsheet (.ods), OpenDocument Presentation (.odp), and OpenDocument Text (.odt) formats

The OneNote format is an alternative to the downloadable books that the Office Resource Kit team creates. I like the OneNote navigation and search experience for this type of content better than what you'd get in a linear Word doc. If you prefer hard copies, OneNote 2010 offers Save as PDF/XPS functionality.

Here's a screenshot of the Excel compatibility information. Each page contains a link to the original content source.

Wondering about a specific feature? The search functionality offers quick results.

Prefer a printout? You can save tne notebook as a PDF file for easy printing:

You can download the zipped notebook (in OneNote 2007 format) directly from this blog post (it's right below this paragraph). Let us know if you find this useful or if have feedback on the format. You can leave a comment here or contact us at feedork@microsoft.com

A customer named The Borg recently responded to our (Almost) everything you ever wanted to know about Access 2010 blog post with the following comment:

Access is such a great tool, with all sorts of data sources, but when we ask our users to migrate from using Access-centric backen data sources to only SQL server data, documentation is lacking. In our business the single biggest change will be that edict to use only SQL Data, while still using the same FE interfaces. You then look into how this can be achieved and you find subjects that refer to access services etc, but do not specifically provide Access FE -> SQL backend suggestions.

Office.com has content on four ways of using Access with SQL Server: 

• Import or link to data in an existing SQL Server database.
• Move Access data to a SQL Server by using the Upsizing wizard (resulting in linked tables to the SQL Server).
• Create an Access Project (ADP) file, which provides tighter integration between the SQL Server database and the Access application.
• Use a pass-through query, which involves sending a SQL string via ODBC to a server, having the server process the query, and only the results are returned over the network (as opposed to using linked tables, in which case some processing occurs locally). The scenario is either that you have a very underpowered desktop and want to use the server for query processing, or you want to run a query that invokes a stored procedure on the SQL Server - which isn't supported locally.

Some of the content has not been updated for the latest versions of Access, but the older content is still mostly valid because the features involved have not changed greatly over time, although there are some minor differences in the locations of specific commands.

Click the following links for more information about these options. 

• Importing or linking to SQL Server data
• Moving data to SQL Server by using the Upsizing Wizard
• Creating an Access Project (ADP)
• Additional ADP content
• Process SQL on a database server by using a pass-through query (Access 2007 content - in Access 2010 the commands are on the Create tab in the Queries group)
• Create an SQL-specific query (MDB) (Access 2003 content - expand the second task to view its contents)

When searching Office.com for more information about specific features, you can sometimes find more information by making sure your search is not "scoped" to a specific Access version. On the left side of the search results page, try clicking All Programs, or use the Edit my programs feature to add a few earlier versions of Access to your search scope, and then click Microsoft Access to search across all the versions you added.

 (Many thanks to the Office.com Access writers for assisting with this blog post.)

Hi, I will be attending RSA Conference 2011 this month. I'm a Senior Technical Writer for the Office Resource Kit and focus on writing security articles. If possible, I would like to meet any of you who are also attending and are interested in talking about any of the following:

• Microsoft Office security
• Improvements to security in Microsoft Office 2010
• Suggestions for security enhancements to future releases of Microsoft Office
• Office security content on TechNet
• Requests for new Office security content on TechNet

If you would like to see about the possibility of meeting up while at the conference then please send an e-mail to feedork@microsoft.com  and add "RSA 2011" to the beginning of the subject line. I will also be attending the (ISC)2 Member Reception on Wednesday evening.

Ross Carter, CISSP (Office 2010 Security Resource Center on TechNet)

In case you haven’t seen the Exchange Team’s Blog post on this topic...we've found an issue in Exchange 2010 Personal Archives support for Outlook 2007 in the December 2010 Cumulative Update for Office 2007, which may result in users being unable to access their archive mailbox.

The fix will be available with the February 2011 Cumulative Update for Office 2007, which will be available later this month. Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Today Microsoft has released an update bringing Microsoft Office 2010 migration support to User State Migration Tool (USMT) 4.0.  USMT 4.0, with the latest update, now supports the following Office migration scenarios:

There are still a few scenarios which are not supported by USMT.  The tool can’t migrate settings across architecture platforms for Office, i.e. Office 2003 to Office 2010 64 bit is not supported.  Additionally USMT does not support migrating settings to a version of Office that is earlier than the version that is currently installed on the source computer. For example, USMT can’t migrate settings from a 2007 Microsoft Office installation to an Office 2003 installation.

Get the update here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2023591

The KB article details limitations for the Office migrations, other USMT improvements included in this update, and USMT update installation instructions.

You should be aware of these cautions for Office 2010 migrations:

·         Not all Word settings will be migrated to a Word 2010 installation

·         If Office is launched on the destination PC prior to the migration most of the user settings will not be migrated

·         USMT may not be aware of all or your customization, some further customization of USMT might be required to fit your particular scenario

You now have the update required to get your migration started, however don’t forget to allot proper time and resources to fully test your migration scenarios.  Now get your Office 2010 migrations started!

Are you looking for more information for Office 2010 deployment?  The Springboard Series for Office Pilot & Deploy center provides important information to help you plan your Office 2010 migration.