Garry Yearsley

Block usage of USB Removable Disks

To block your computer’s ability to use USB Removable Disks follow these steps:

1. Open Registry Editor.
   
2. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry key:
   

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR

1. Locate the following value (DWORD):
   

Start and give it a value of 4. Note: As always, before making changes to your registry you should always make sure you have a valid backup. In cases where you’re supposed to delete or modify keys or values from the registry it is possible to first export that key or value(s) to a .REG file before performing the changes.

1. Close Registry Editor. You do not need to reboot the computer for changes to apply.
   

Enable usage of USB Removable Disks

To return to the default configuration and enable your computer’s ability to use USB Removable Disks follow these steps:

1. Go to the registry path found above.
   
2. Locate the following value:
   

Start and give it a value of 3.

Anyone wanting to get rid of the dreaded, being forced to install updates at shutdown as opposed to just a normal shutdown when you do have updates waiting. Like the screenshot shows below, the Yellow Exclamation mark before the shutdown.

I think this following way can help go to:

Start -> Run -> gpedit.msc -> User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update.

There, you will find an option called “Do not adjust default option to ‘Install Updates And Shut Down’ in Shut Down Windows dialog box”. If you enable this, then clicking “Shut Down” will just shut down your computer without installing updates. However, the “Install Updates And Shut Down” option is still available in the little menu, in case you need it.

Q.

Too small to read and when the message is sent the recipient gets it at the right size. If I change the font size so it looks normal then it becomes way too large for the revecing person.

A.

In Outlook 2007 there is a zoom button on the tool bar>Format Text area that is available when you start an email, but it is greyed out unless you click the curser in the message body. Once you click in the message body, you will be able to change the zoom to 100% and all should be appearing fine.

If spoolsv.exe is causing 99% cpu usage then it may have a corrupted print file stuck in the system32 folder.

To fix it do the following
Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services and stop the Print Spooler services
Turn off the printer.
Now go to C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\PRINTERS and delete the files there. You may find some ’00004.SHD’ and ’00004.SPL’. or similar.
Now turn your printer back on and restart the print spool service.
Spoolsv.exe should be at 2% or less.

If you get this error then try running, “outlook.exe /resetnavpane”.

It’s very rare that I use Telnet these days, so it took a long time for me to notice that by default it was not packaged with Windows 7. I did some research and found out that this was also true for Windows Vista. More than likely this was an attempt to make Windows more secure by default, as Telnet is very insecure and whenever you have the choice you should always use SSH. However, with that being said, you can quickly re-enable Telnet by following these steps:

1. Start
   
2. Control Panel
   
3. Programs And Features
   
4. Turn Windows features on or off
   
5. Check Telnet Client
   
6. Hit OK
   

After that you can start Telnet via Command Prompt.

Thanks to Bharat Suneja at http://exchangepedia.com/blog/2007/09/exchange-server-2007-setting-message-size.html

In a previous post, we looked at how the maximum recipients per message settings are treated differently by Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2003/2000 when sending to Distribution Groups (read previous post “Distribution Groups and maximum recipients per message“).

Another commonly asked question is about message size limits and the inability to send messages that are apparently within the maximum sizes configured. Let’s take a look at the message size settings in different places.

Organizational limits: These apply to all Exchange servers in the Organization. You can set these using the Set-TransportConfig command from the Exchange shell:

Set-TransportConfig -MaxReceiveSize 40MB -MaxSendSize 40MB

In SP1, you can also set it using the Exchange console by going to Organization Configuration | Hub Transport | Global Settings tab | Transport Settings | properties.

Receive Connector limit: Unlike Exchange SMTP Virtual Servers in Exchange Server 2003/2000, Exchange 2007′s Receive Connectors are only used to receive messages. The maximum message size limit can be different on different Receive Connectors on a Hub Transport or Edge Transport server. To modify the maximum message size on a Receive Connector using the Exchange console, select Server Configuration | Hub Transport | select a HT server | Receive Connectors -> select a connector | Properties | General tab.



To set ReceiveConnector limit using the shell:

Set-ReceiveConnector “CONNECTOR NAME” -MaxMessageSize 40Mb

Send Connector limit: Send Connectors are used for sending outbound messages to the internet or particular address spaces (domains). Edge Transport servers also have a Send Connector to send inbound messages to Hub Transport servers in an AD Site. To modify the maximum message size on Send Connectors, select Organization Configuration | Hub Transport | Send Connectors -> select connector | Properties | General tab.



To set SendConnector limit using the shell:

Set-SendConnector “CONNECTOR NAME” -MaxMessageSize 40Mb

Mailbox limit: Individual recipients like mailboxes can have their own limits to bypass the Organizational limits. To set these using the Exchange console: Recipients | Mailbox -> select mailbox | properties | Mail Flow Settings tab | Message Size Restrictions.

Do individual size limits bypass the Organization size limit?

Setting higher message size limits on an Exchange recipient bypasses the maximum message sizes in the Exchange Organization configuration, albeit only for internal messages, not for messages sent to or received from unauthenticated sources.

Troubleshooting Sender and Recipient Size Limits: Consider the sender’s MaxSendSize and the internal recipient’s MaxReceiveSize when troubleshooting message size issues.

If the sender’s size limits allow sending a large message, but the recipient’s limits do not allow receiving a message of that size, you get a NDR with the following text (note the enhanced status code informing you exactly why the message was rejected):
#550 5.2.3 RESOLVER.RST.RecipSizeLimit; message too large for this recipient ##

If the recipient is allowed to receive a large message, but the sender isn’t allowed to send a message of that size, you get the following NDR:
#550 5.2.3 RESOLVER.RST.SendSizeLimit; message too large for this sender ##

To set these using the Exchange shell:

Set-Mailbox “Joe Adams” -MaxSendSize 20Mb -MaxReceiveSize 20Mb

Distribution Groups and Contacts (MailContacts) only have maximum receive size in the Exchange console, but both MaxReceiveSize and MaxSendSize properties can be set for them using the Exchange shell.

Global Settings: Besides the above, another set of message size limits can impact Exchange Server 2007 recipients, but it’s often overlooked when troubleshooting. This is the one in Exchange Server 2003 Global Settings | Message Delivery -> Properties.




- If you have these configured to a specific value before you upgrade the Organization to Exchange Server 2007, these are left untouched.
- If you have these set to “No Limit” before the Exchange Server 2007 upgrade, these are reset to the Exchange Server 2007 defaults.
- In case Exchange Server 2007′s Organization settings (the ones you can set using Set-TransportConfig) conflict with these legacy Global Settings, the lower of the two sizes are used.

The problem is, these are neither visible in the EMC, nor using any of the Exchange shell commands.

If you still have an Exchange Server 2003 server in the Organization, you can use ESM to modify these limits. Alternatively, you can use ADSIEdit to browse to the Configuration container | Services | Microsoft Exchange | YourOrgName | Global Settings | Message Delivery -> Properties, and modify the following attributes as required:
1. delivContentLength -> corresponds to MaxReceiveSize parameter in Set-TransportConfig command.
2. SubmissionContentLength -> corresponds to MaxSendSize parameter in Set-TransportConfig command.
Note: The maximum value for both of the above is 2097151 KB, slightly under 2 Gb.
3. msExchRecipLimit -> corresponds to MaxRecipientEnvelopeLimit parameter in Set-TransportConfig command.

Set these to be the same as the equivalent Organization settings in Exchange Server 2007.

Exchange Server 2007 SP1 makes managing Global Settings easier.

If Global Settings have numeric values (i.e. aren’t set to “No Limit”), using Set-TransportConfig to change maxReceiveSize, maxSendSize or maxRecipientEnvelopeLimit also changes the corresponding Global Settings.

Active Directory SiteLink limit: In Exchange Server 2007 SP1, you can also set maximum message size limit on AD Site Links. Exchange Server 2007 uses the AD Site topology to determine the least cost paths. If the message size to be delivered to a remote AD Site exceeds the limit on the AD Site Link, message delivery will fail. By default, the MaxMessageSize on AD Site Links is set to unlimited. This can be changed using the following command:

Set-ADSiteLink “SITE LINK NAME” -MaxMessageSize 20Mb

Routing Group Connector Limit: Routing Group Connectors are used in co-existence scenarios to transfer messages between Exchange Server 2003/2000 Routing Groups and the Exchange Server 2007 Routing Group (yes, there is one under the hood.. ). Messages exchanged between these Routing Groups should be below the message size limits of their respective RGCs. The default is set to unlimited. To set the MaxMessageSize on a Routing Group Connector:

Set-RoutingGroupConnector “CONNECTOR NAME” -MaxMessageSize 20Mb

Content conversion and message size limits

One source of confusion in previous versions of Exchange Server, as far as the message size limits are concerned, is that created by the content conversion process. Content conversion happens when Exchange converts an internet/MIME message into MAPI/Exchange format, and vice versa. Content conversion generally increases the message size – roughly by 30%. If you set a maximum message size of 10Mb., and wonder why a 9 Mb. attachment didn’t make it through, consider the content conversion overhead, as also message headers (which are computed along with the DATA portion of the message to calculate the message size), and any actions taken by Transport Rules.

How does Exchange Server 2007 handle such messages? When a message enters the Exchange Server 2007 Org, it gets stamped with an X-MS-Exchange-Organization-OriginalSize header, which indicates the original size of the message before conversion. When considering message size limits, if the message has since ballooned to a larger size due to content conversion, added headers, etc. – the lower of the original message size and the current (converted) message size is considered, eliminating some of the confusion seen with message sizes in previous versions.

Using the Exchange shell to track failed message delivery

You can use the Exchange shell to track messages that could not be delivered because of message size issues. The RecipientStatus field in Message Tracking logs is used to store the SMTP response and enhanced status codes. The Message Tracking EventID we’re looking for is FAIL. (Read previous post on message tracking: “Exchange Server 2007: Message Tracking from the command line“)

To track messages that failed because of recipient’s MaxReceiveSize:

Get-MessageTrackingLog -EventID FAIL | where {$_.RecipientStatus -like “*RecipSizeLimit*”}

To track messages that failed because of the sender’s MaxSendSize:

Get-MessageTrackingLog -EventID FAIL | where {$_.RecipientStatus -like “*SendSizeLimit*”}

The default action for the Power button on the start menu in Windows 7 is shutdown, and in Vista is Sleep, which isn’t necessarily useful for everybody, so we’ll explain how to change it here.

Change Windows 7 Shutdown Button

Windows 7 makes it really easy – just head into the Start Menu / Taskbar preferences by right-clicking on the start menu and choosing Properties.

All you need to do is change the drop-down for Power Button Action to whatever you would prefer.

Change Windows Vista Power Buttons
You can configure this setting easily by using the advanced power settings panel, which is a little tricky to get to normally, but we’ll take the shortcut.

Open a command prompt (type cmd into the start menu search bar), and then type in the following:

powercfg.cpl,1

You could also take the long route (Control Panel \ Power Options \ Change Plan Settings \ Change Advanced Power Settings)

Once you get to this dialog, browse down as shown to “Power buttons and lid”

From here, you can change the options:

• Power button action – Changes the hardware power button action
  
• Start menu power button – Changes the power button on the Start Menu
  

You can change the power button to either Sleep, Hibernate or Shut Down, or even nothing for the hardware power button.

You can enable your SBS 2003 server as a POP3 server by doing the following
steps:

1.       Open Services from Administrative Tools.
2.       Open “Microsoft Exchange POP3” service.
3.       Set its startup type to “Automatic”, click Apply and then click
“Start” to start the service.
4.       Open Exchange System Manager and go to
Servers\ServerName\Protocols\POP3.
5.       Right click on “Default POP3 Virtual Server” and click Start if it
is not started.
6.       Right click on the virtual server and choose Properties.
7.       On the General tab, make sure “All Unassigned” is selected in the
“IP address” drop-down list. Click OK.
8.       Open the Server Management console. Go to Standard Management\To
Do List.
9.       Click the “Connect to the Internet” link.
10.   Do not change the connection type and click Next.
11.   On the Firewall page, select “Enable Firewall” and click Next.
12.   On the “Services Configuration” page, click Add.
13.   Specify the following information and click OK:

Service name: Incoming POP3 Acces
Protocol: TCP
Port: 110
Direction: Inbound

14.   Click Next and follow through the wizard.
You can double check that POP3 service is working by going to a command
prompt and telnet your server on port 110:

telnet  mail.mydomain.com  110

You get something like “Microsoft Exchange POP server version X.XX Ready”
if it’s working. Then confirm that the user and password work by typing:

user <username> — should return “+OK”
pass <password> — should return something like “user successfully logged
in to see emails waiting for them, type “list”

Hope the above information helpful, if you have any further concerns;
please do not hesitate to let me know. I am here waiting for your updates.