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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Email stuck at "Messages awaiting directory lookup" SMTP queue in Exchange Server 2003 or in Exchange 2000 Server

Description

Have you ever had an issue where all your mails get stuck at "Messages awaiting directory lookup" SMTP queue in Exchange? However this issue seems to be happening locally to certain storage group only. Other storage groups have no issue with email flow.
You have configured message journaling / archiving on the Exchange server.

Resolution

Make sure that the message archive location is a valid mailbox. If you had move the user account to another OU or container, please move it back again to the original location.
Restart the IIS Admin Service.

How to Uninstall Internet Explorer

If you want to uninstall Internet Explorer and you cannot find the uninstall option at Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel, try this:
  1. Use Windows Explorer and go to C:\Program files\Internet Explorer.
  2. Right click the folder Uninstall information and click Properties.
  3. Uncheck the hidden mode and press OK.
  4. Go to C:\Program files\Internet Explorer\Setup.
  5. Run setup.exe and follow the wizard.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

How to Uninstall Microsoft Operation Manager 2005 from Your Domain?

Uninstall MOM 2005 components in the following order.
1. Active Directory Helper Object - From Add/Remove Programs at each client
2. Agents - From MOM 2005 Console
3. Reporting Server
4. Web Console
5. Management Server(s)
6. Operators Console, Administrator Consoles
7. Operational Database
8. Data Warehouse
Note:
In a tiered environment, we recommend that you uninstall the child Management Groups and then the parent Management Group.

Limitation on Proxy Exceptions in Windows 2003 Group Policy Object Editor

From Microsoft KB302224

Description
When you use the Group Policy Object Editor, and you configure the proxy settings, the text box that contains the proxy exception list may be truncated if more than 255 characters are used. Also, if you previously clicked to select the Do not use proxy server for local check box, the check box may be cleared. Because of a limitation in the way INS files are read, the proxy exception list is limited to 255 characters. The Do not use proxy server for local check box appends the text ";" to the end of the list. This text is eight characters long, and the 255 characters must include these characters. Therefore, when you click to select the Do not use proxy server for local check box, the total length of the exception list is actually 247 characters.

Resolution
Apply Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2. After you install this hotfix, the proxy exception list is limited to 1024 characters.

Missing Files in Certain Folders on Windows Server

Description
On your Windows 2003 server some files in certain folders are missing. However when you rename the folder to other name, the missing files suddenly appear. If you rename the folder back to the original name, the files are missing again. You already check the security permission, possible viruses and malware, but everything seems to be normal.

Resolution
You should check whether you had programs that hide/lock/protect those files from appearing. One of the example is a program called Lock Folder XP. These programs run on Kernel mode and cannot be seen from user mode process monitoring. You can use Rootkit Revealer and Process Explorer from Microsoft SysInternals to try to watch the process.
After you found the program that cause the issue, you can try to uninstall it.
You may need to supply the correct password to uninstall or modify the program.

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