Outlook 2007 Archive Macro

This macro code floating around the web altered to match my setup. The real key is in this code bit:Set objFolder = objNS.Folders("2010").Folders.Item("Inbox")
2010 is the PST folder name in the Outlook folder pane, and Inbox is the folder beneath it. This syntax allows a mail to be moved from the Exchange Inbox to the 2010\Inbox folder.

http://www.yeraze.com/2008/04/outlook-macro-move-to-specified-folder-mark-as-read/


Sub moveArchive()
On Error Resume Next
Dim objFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
Dim objNS As Outlook.NameSpace, objItem As Outlook.MailItem
For Each objItem In Application.ActiveExplorer.Selection
If objFolder.DefaultItemType = olMailItem Then
If objItem.Class = olMail Then
objItem.UnRead = False
objItem.Move objFolder
End If
End If
Next

Set objNS = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
Set objFolder = objNS.Folders("2010").Folders.Item("Inbox")
'Assume this is a mail folder

If objFolder Is Nothing Then
MsgBox "This folder doesn’t exist!", vbOKOnly + vbExclamation, "INVALID FOLDER"
End If

If Application.ActiveExplorer.Selection.Count = 0 Then
'Require that this procedure be called only when a message is selected
Exit Sub
End If

Set objItem = Nothing
Set objFolder = Nothing
Set objNS = Nothing
End Sub

How-To: Taming the Email Inbox (Part one)

Email Inbox.  Two words that can bring a person to insanity.  Hundreds of emails a day sounds quite intimidating!  Much hype surrounding different schools of taming the dreaded inbox leads to this how-to and tip for managing the neverending onslaught of electronic messages.

Many people use Outlook to access email.  For those that have not had the, uh, honor of using Microsoft Outlook this is the email, calendar, contact and task management software that interfaces with Exchange, POP or IMAP email servers.

These tips may help you bring your mailbox under control.  Please leave feedback or suggestions in the comments!

Taming the Email Inbox

1. Inbox sub-folders.  I use three folders, Actions, Review and Notifications.  The Actions folder contains emails that require more effort than an immediate response, perhaps involving something that I will create a task to help manage my work flow.  Review contains mails that are mostly informational, but that I would like to easily go back to read when time allows, this allows me to remain focused on my primary task.  The Notifications folder is the destination for rules which are sorted by any of the frequent or automated messages that clutter up a mailbox.


2. The Personal Folder.  Office 2007 integrates search not only in the mailb0x, but in Personal Folders, or PST files.  Why put my processed mail into one searchable folder in a PST file?  It eliminates the need to create a complicated folder structure in the PST and allows email subjects or conversation threads to be easily found in a simple search.


3. Making it all easy!  While it may be simple enough to drag and drop mail items into these destinations the actions can be scripted with macros, preventing mistakes when dragging items from the inbox to another folder.

The next few blog posts will share the macro code floating around the web, altered to meet my requirements, and wrap up with creating toolbar buttons to make managing the inbox from the GUI easier.

Managing email, work flow, and daily schedule using all of Outlooks tools reduces the stress caused by an overloaded inbox and tames the seemingly uncontrolled flow of electronic communication.

It would be irresponsible not to STRENUOUSLY implore everyone to BACK UP any PST files that email is placed in. Catastrophic digital events wiping out a year or years of email, well, just DO NOT LET IT HAPPEN!

Remove Security Tool Malware

Had to remove a new piece of Malware called "Security Tool".  The challenge to this is that the malware prevents any executable except web browsers from running.  Once it starts, it also runs a fake scan of the files on the drive and alerts that several are infected with Trojan spyware that is stealing credit card information.  Amusingly it alerted that a trojan infection was trying to steal credit card information from taskmgr.exe when we tried to run it.

Fortunately, Security Tool does not appear to protect itself, so the removal is rather simple.

1. Locate and rename the executable (Locate a shortcut in the start menu and check the properties for the file location) and Reboot


2. Browse to the same location and delete the renamed file.


3. Download and run Malwarebytes (make sure to update the defs!)


4. Remove any additional malicious software and reboot once more for good measure.

This YouTube video was a help, though the file location was different from that of the video.

A short lesson in custom permalinks...

If your Pages don't load properly in Wordpress, it could be the permalink settings.  I had set to custom, which apparently was causing the Pages to fail to load properly.  Now we're cooking with gas!

My Hardware

Hardware I use:

Desktop System:

• Gigabyte EP45-UD3P


• Intel Core 2 Duo Q9400 @ 3.00Ghz


• 4GB PC2-6400


• EVGA GeForce 8800GT Akimbo


• Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Netbook:

• Dell Inspiron Mini 1010 (Windows 7 Pro x32)

Home Server:

• Dell Dimension E510 (Windows Home Server PP3)

HTPC:

• Acer Aspire (Windows 7 Ultimate x64)

Application silent install switches

Silent install switches for applications can be rather difficult to locate, perhaps having them here may save a headache for another tech…

For the Adobe packages, one must download the full standalone installers.  The same goes for Windows Live Essentials, which may or may not have the latest version of the Movie Maker software included.

• Adobe Flash:  install_flash_player_ax.exe /S


• Adobe Reader:  /sPB /rs /msi /qb /norestart EULA_ACCEPT=YES


• Windows Live Essentials: wlsetup-all.exe /silent


• Windows Security Essentials (x64 or x86):  mssefullinstall-x86fre-en-us-vista.exe /s /runwgacheck


• Adobe Reader 9.2 (MSI):  msiexec /i AcroRead.msi ALLUSERS=TRUE TRANSFORMS=AcroRead.mst /quiet


• Pidgin: pidgin-2.6.4.exe /DS=0 /SMS=1 /S (Make sure to get the full offline installer, this won't work without the GTK piece)


• 7-Zip 32-bit:  msiexec /i 7z465.msi /qn


• 7-Zip 64-bit:  msiexec /i 7z465-x64.msi /qn


• Mozilla Firefox:  Firefox Setup 3.5.5.exe -ms


• Adobe Flash Player 10 for IE (ActiveX) (MSI):  msiexec /i install_flash_player_10_active_x.msi /qn


• Adobe Flash Player 10 for Firefox (Plugin) (MSI):  msiexec /i install_flash_player_10_plugin.msi /qn


• Java:  jre-6u21-windows-i586-s.exe /s ADDLOCAL=ALL

Building an MDT 2010 Virtual Lab

For this little project I’ve picked up a copy of Deployment Fundamentals by Johan Arwidmark and Mikael Nyström.  The book details setting up a Windows 7 deployment infrastructure in a fictitious enterprise environment.  So will be using their examples to build my lab.

The first order of business, start configuring virtual hosts!  Downloaded and installed VirtualBox, which can handle x64 hosts, so I don’t have to load Server 2008 HyperV over the top of my carefully rebuilt Windows 7 system (Really didn’t want to give up my workstation for the lab environment completely, maybe one day…  when I have a Core i7 notebook…).  Time to build the Server 2008 R2 master image for the lab environment, since we will be using three or four of these systems.  Complete the install, download any patches from Microsoft/Windows Update, and then run sysprep.

The best method looks like running from the command line, a quick google search turned up this blog post by Matt Groves, http://www.mattgrovesblog.com/2009/11/sysprep-windows-2008-r2.html.  Matt notes that this command should be run from an elevated command prompt:  c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /quiet /generalize /oobe /shutdown

Once sysprep is completed and the virtual machine is shut down, copy the virtual drive file to create the GOLD image.