Whenever you use Outlook to connect to Exchange
Server, you have several options for optimizing the way mail is handled.
These options include the following:
Each of these options is examined in the sections that follow.
1. Managing Delivery and Processing E-Mail Messages
When Outlook uses
Exchange Server, you have strict control over how e-mail is delivered
and processed. Exchange mail can be delivered in one of two ways:
Exchange mail can be
processed by any of the information services configured for use in
Outlook. These information services include the following:
Microsoft Exchange
Internet e-mail
Let's look at how you use each of these delivery and processing options.
1.1. Using Server Mailboxes
When you are using Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2010 with Exchange Server 2010, server
mailboxes with local copies are the default configuration option. With
server mailboxes, new e-mail is delivered to a mailbox on the Exchange
server, and users can view or receive new mail only when they're
connected to Exchange. When users are connected to Exchange, Outlook
retrieves their mail and stores a local copy on their computer in
addition to the e-mail stored on Exchange Server.
The local copy of a user's mail is stored in an offline folder .ost file. With Windows Vista and Windows 7, the default location of a .ost file is %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Outlook, where %LocalAppData%
is a user-specific environment variable that points to a user's local
application data. Using server mailboxes offers users protected storage
and the ability to have a single point of recovery in case of failure.
1.2. Using Personal Folders
An alternative to using
server mailboxes is to use personal folders. Personal folders are stored
in a .pst file on the user's computer. With personal folders, you can
specify that mail should be delivered to the user's inbox and stored on
the server or that mail should be delivered only to the user's inbox.
Users have personal folders when Outlook is configured to use Internet
e-mail or other e-mail servers. Users might also have personal folders
if the auto-archive feature is used to archive messages.
Note:
REAL WORLD With Windows Vista and Windows 7, the default location of a .pst file is %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Outlook, where %LocalAppData%
is a user-specific environment variable that points to a user's local
application data. Personal folders are best suited for mobile users who
check mail through dial-up connections and who might not be able to use a
dial-up connection to connect directly to Exchange.
Users with personal folders
lose the advantages that server-based folders offer—namely, protected
storage and the ability to have a single point of recovery in case of
failure. In addition, .pst files have many disadvantages. They get
corrupted more frequently and, on these occasions, you must use the
Inbox Repair Tool to restore the file. If the hard disk on a user's
computer fails, you can recover the mail only if the .pst file has been
backed up. Unfortunately, most workstations aren't backed up regularly
(if at all), and the onus of backing up the .pst file falls on the user,
who might or might not understand how to do this.
1.2.1. Determining the Presence of Personal Folders
You can determine the presence of personal folders by following these steps:
Start Outlook. On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.
In the Account Settings dialog box, click the Data Files tab.
The
location of the data file associated with each e-mail account is
listed. If the file name ends in .pst, the account is using a personal
folder.
1.2.2. Creating New or Opening Existing Personal Folders
If personal folders aren't available and you want to configure them, follow these steps:
Start Outlook. On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.
In the Account Settings dialog box, click the Data Files tab.
Click Add. The New Outlook Data File dialog box appears.
Office
Outlook Personal Folders File (.pst) should be selected by default.
Click OK, and the Create Or Open Outlook Data File dialog box appears,
as shown in Figure 1.
You can now create a new .pst file or open an existing .pst file:
To
create a new .pst file in the default folder, type the file name in the
text box provided and then click OK. In the Create Microsoft Personal
Folders dialog box, specify a password, verify a password for the .pst
file, and click OK.
To
create a new .pst file in a nondefault folder, click Browse Folders to
expand the dialog box. Browse for the folder you want to use, type the
file name in the text box provided, and then click OK. In the Create
Microsoft Personal Folders dialog box, specify a password, verify a
password for the .pst file, and click OK.
To
open an existing .pst file, click Browse Folders to expand the dialog
box. Browse to the folder containing the .pst file. Select the .pst
file, and then click OK. In the Personal Folders dialog box, you can use
the options provided to change the current password or compact the
personal folder, and then click OK.
Note:
It is important to be aware that Exchange Server does not ship with any password recovery
utility for .pst files. If a user sets a password on a .pst file and
forgets it, the Exchange administrator has no way to reset it. You might
find third-party vendors who make password-cracking or recovery tools,
but they are not guaranteed to work and they are not supported by
Microsoft.
Click
Close. The personal folder you've selected or created is displayed in
the Outlook folder list. You should see related subfolders as well.
1.2.3. Delivering Mail to Personal Folders
When you deliver
mail to a personal folder, Outlook saves e-mail messages only locally
on your computer. As a result, Outlook removes the messages from
Exchange Server and you can access the messages only on the currently
logged-on computer. If you want mail to be delivered to a personal
folder, complete the following steps:
Start
Outlook. In Outlook 2007, on the Tools menu, click Account Settings. In
Outlook 2010, click the Office button, click the Account Settings
button, and then select the Account Settings option.
In the Account Settings dialog box, click the Data Files tab.
Select the .pst file to use in the list of data files provided, and then click Set As Default.
When prompted to confirm, click Yes. Click Close.
Exit and restart Outlook. Outlook will now use personal folders.
If you want mail to resume using server-stored mail, complete the following steps:
Start
Outlook. In Outlook 2007, on the Tools menu, click Account Settings. In
Outlook 2010, click the Office button, click the Account Settings
button, and then select the Account Settings option.
In the Account Settings dialog box, click the Data Files tab.
Select the .ost file to use in the list of data files provided, and then click Set As Default.
When prompted to confirm, click OK. Click Close.
Exit and restart Outlook. Outlook will now use personal folders.
1.2.4. Backing Up Personal Folders
The Personal Folders Backup Tool is available as a free download on the Microsoft Office Online Web site (office.microsoft.com).
Be sure to download the appropriate version of the tool for your
version of Outlook, and then exit Outlook before installing this tool.
After you download and install this backup tool, you can back up a
user's personal folders by completing the following steps:
Log on as the user, and then start Outlook.
In Outlook, on the File menu, click Backup.
Click Options. Select the check boxes for the personal folders you want to back up.
Click Browse. Navigate to the location where you want to save the backup, and then click Open.
To
remind users to create personal folder backups, select the Remind Me To
Backup Every … Days check box, specify the reminder interval, and then
click OK.
Exit Outlook so that the backup process can begin.
1.2.5. Restoring Backed-Up Personal Folder Data
After you've created a backup of a personal folder, you can recover any backed-up messages or data by following these steps:
Drag messages or data entries from the backup personal folder to the current personal folder. You'll restore the selected items.
To recover the entire .pst file from backup, follow these steps:
In Outlook, on the Tools menu, click Account Settings.
In the Account Settings dialog box, click the Data Files tab. Write down the name and folder location of the damaged .pst file.
In Windows Explorer, rename the damaged .pst file.
In Windows Explorer, copy the backup .pst file to the folder containing the original .pst file.
In Windows Explorer, give the backup .pst file the original name of the .pst file.
2. Accessing Multiple Exchange Server Mailboxes
You might have wondered whether users could check multiple
Exchange mailboxes as well—and they can. Users often need to access
multiple Exchange mailboxes for many reasons:
Help desk administrators might need access to the help desk mailbox in addition to their own mailboxes.
Managers might need temporary access to the mailboxes of subordinates who are on vacation.
Mailboxes might need to be set up for long-term projects and project members need access to those mailboxes.
Resource mailboxes might need to be set up for accounts payable, human resources, corporate information, and so on.
Normally, a one-to-one
relationship exists between user accounts and Exchange mailboxes. You
create a user account and add a mailbox to it; only this user can access
the mailbox directly through Exchange. To change this behavior, you
must change the permissions on the mailbox. One way to change mailbox access permissions is to do the following:
Log on to Exchange as the owner of the mailbox.
Delegate access to the mailbox to one or more additional users.
Have users with delegated access log on to Exchange and open the mailbox.
The sections that follow examine each of these steps in detail.
2.1. Logging On to Exchange as the Mailbox Owner
Logging on to Exchange as the
mailbox owner allows you to delegate access to the mailbox. Before you
can do this, however, you must complete the following steps:
Log on as the user or have the user log on for you. You need to know the account name and password for the domain.
Start
Outlook. Make sure that mail support is configured to use Exchange
Server. If necessary, configure this support, which creates the mail
profile for the user.
After you configure Outlook to use Exchange Server, you should be able to log on to Exchange Server as the mailbox owner.
Tip:
With multiple mailbox users,
you should configure the mailbox to deliver mail to the server rather
than to a personal folder. In this way, the mail is available to be
checked by one or more mailbox users.
2.2. Delegating Mailbox Access
After you've logged on as the mailbox owner, you can delegate access to the mailbox by completing these steps:
Start
Outlook. In Outlook 2007, on the Tools menu, click Account Settings. In
Outlook 2010, click the Office button, click the Account Settings
button, and then select the Account Settings option. On the Delegates
tab or in the Delegates dialog box, click Add.
The Add Users dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 2. To add users, double-click the name of a user who needs access to the mailbox. Repeat this step as necessary for other users, and then click OK when you're finished.
If
you are configuring Outlook 2007, in the Delegate Permissions dialog
box, assign permissions to the delegates for the Calendar, Tasks, Inbox,
Contacts, Notes, and Journal items. The available permissions include
None No permissions
Reviewer Grants read permission only
Author Grants read and create permissions
Editor Grants read, create, and modify permissions
Note:
If the user needs total control over the mailbox, you should grant the user Editor permission for all items.
If you are configuring Outlook 2010, you'll need to assign additional permissions separately.
Click OK twice. These changes take place when the user restarts Outlook.
Delegated
users can access the mailbox and send mail on behalf of the mailbox
owner. To change this behavior, set folder permissions as described
later in the "Granting Permission to Access Folders Without Delegating Access" section.
2.3. Opening Additional Exchange Mailboxes
The final step is to let Exchange Server know about the additional mailboxes the user wants to open. To do this, follow these steps:
Have the user who wants access to additional mailboxes log on and start Outlook.
In
Outlook 2007, on the Tools menu, click Account Settings. In Outlook
2010, click the Office button, click the Account Settings button, and
then select the Account Settings option.
Select the Microsoft Exchange Server account, and then click Change.
Click More Settings to display the Microsoft Exchange Server dialog box.
In the Change E-Mail Account Wizard, click More Settings.
In
the Microsoft Exchange dialog box, on the Advanced tab, click Add. Then
type the name of a mailbox to open. Generally, this is the same as the
mail alias for the user or account associated with the mailbox. Click
OK. Repeat this step to add other mailboxes.
Click Next, and then click Finish.
Click Close. The additional mailboxes are displayed in the Outlook folder list.
3. Granting Permission to Access Folders Without Delegating Access
When a mailbox is stored on
the server, you can grant access to individual folders in the mailbox.
Granting access in this way allows users to add the mailbox to their
mail profiles and work with the folder. Users can perform tasks only for
which you've granted permission.
To grant access to folders individually, follow these steps:
Right-click
the folder for which you want to grant access, and then select
Properties. In the Properties dialog box, select the Permissions tab, as
shown in Figure 3.
The
Name and Permission Level lists display account names and their
permissions on the folder. Two special names might be listed:
Default Provides default permissions for all users
Anonymous Provides permissions for anonymous users, such as those who anonymously access a published public folder through the Web
If you want to grant users permission that differs from the default permission, click Add.
In
the Add Users dialog box, double-click the name of a user who needs
access to the mailbox. Click Add to put the name in the Add Users list.
Repeat this step as necessary for other users, and click OK when
finished.
In the Name and Role lists, select one or more users whose permissions you want to modify. Afterward, use the Roles list to assign permissions or select individual permission items. The roles are defined as follows:
Owner
Grants all permissions in the folder. Users with this role can create,
read, modify, and delete all items in the folder. They can create subfolders and change permissions on folders as well.
Publishing Editor
Grants permission to create, read, modify, and delete all items in the
folder. Users with this role can create subfolders as well.
Editor Grants permission to create, read, modify, and delete all items in the folder.
Publishing Author Grants permission to create and read items in the folder, to modify and delete items the user created, and to create subfolders.
Author Grants permission to create and read items in the folder and to modify and delete items the user created.
Nonediting Author Grants permission to create and read items in the folder.
Reviewer Grants read-only permission.
Contributor Grants permission to create items but not to view the contents of the folder.
None Grants no permission in the folder.
When you're finished granting permissions, click OK.
