Outlook Profile Script

[Guest]

I want my new Outlook GPO deployments to do the following:

1.) Change default ost and archive path to users roaming profile
2.) Automatically add address book

The other tasks work fine and the rest can be done via Adm's.

The Outlook.pst script I was using worked great until Office SP2 then it no
longer recognized the variable %userprofile% so now each time I have to
manually enter c:\documents and settings\<username> just to get it to go into
cache mode much less redirt the default paths.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

I want my new Outlook GPO deployments to do the following:

1.) Change default ost and archive path to users roaming profile

These are both bad ideas, the .ost extremely so. The whole point of an ..ost file is to provide faster, more reliable access to mailbox data through a ***LOCAL*** cache. Putting the cache on a folder that roams with the user defeats the entire purpose, because Outlook will have to copy it to the local machine every time. Roaming users should not be configured to use Cached Exchange mode.

Roaming the archive .pst file isn't much better. Do you really want a 20GB .pst file being copied every time the user logs on/off? While Microsoft doesn't support putting .pst files on a network drive, this might be one scenario where that would be preferable.

The real solution, of course, for roaming users is a server-based archive system.

2.) Automatically add address book

That should happen automatically if you include it in the MST/CMW file from CIW/CMW. There have been cases where it doesn't happen, though, and we don't really know why. The workaround is to provide users with a .prf file that they can run to add the Outlook Address Book to the mail profile that you've already set up with the settings from CIW/CMW.

The Outlook.pst script I was using worked great until Office SP2 then it no
longer recognized the variable %userprofile% so now each time I have to
manually enter c:\documents and settings\<username> just to get it to go into
cache mode much less redirt the default paths.

Didn't recognize it where?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Guest]

Offline folder file settings.

 

[Guest]

Yes, the address book was a simple fix, sorry to bother you with that. The
only problem I am currently having in a nut shell is that in the Offline
folder file settings path the variable %userprofile% or %username% will not
work. If cache mode is forced the path causes an error and Outlook closes. I
have to either disable cache mode or manually change it from
%userprofile%\application..... or c:\Documents and
Settings\%username%\application... to C:\Documents and
Settings\stevef\application....

Any ideas why variables are not working where they did before Office SP2

 

[Guest]

Please disregard, I was able to resolve the problem.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Did you use ForceOSTPath, as described in the KB article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896591/? (It's always nice to provide the solution for the other people who come to these forums with similar problems.)

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Guest]

Hi Sue,

I just removed, "AutoArchiveFileName=PT_STRING8,0x0324 " from the prf.
Thanks for the Article, I will look into it.

 

[Guest]

Hi Sue,

I got it 100% now.
I mistakeingly was using both the ADM policy (which is the same as
ForcePSTpath) and the archive path strings in the prf at the same time. Once
I corrected the registry and ran the prf script again I now have pst in one
location and the ost in another. Exactly what we need.

Thanks for the clue