Outlook address book enabled by default.

[Guest]

When deploying outlook 2003 is there a way to have it set up the Outlook
address book by default. Right now the user has to go in and add the outlook
address book and then choose "show this folder as an email address book"
option on the contact folder.

The reason we have to do this is because if a person wants to send an email
to a group, it will not work unless the outlook address book is set up.

 

[Oliver Vukovics]

Dear Adam,

normally the default contact folder of your Personal Folder/Personal Mailbox
is activated as "Outlook Addressbook". Every additional contact folder or
Public Contact folder (with Exchange) has to be selected as Outlook
Addressbook as you did.

If you would have 60 contacts folders (as we have) which contact folder do
you ant to use as Outlook Addressbook?

Outlook don´t add a contact folder automaticly as Outlook Addressbook.

To customize automaticly an Outlook profile, you could create PRF files BUT
you can not customize/configure Outlook Addressbook settings with this PRF
files.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011402581033.aspx

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Are you deploying Outlook/Office and the base mail profile with the CIW? There's a known problem in which the Outlook Address Book doesn't get added, even if you set up the CIW to add it. The workaround is to provide users with a separate .prf, which you can create in the CIW and export, to modify the default profile to add the OAB. When users run thath.prf file, Outlook will start up and add the OAB to the profile.

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

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

 

[Oliver Vukovics]

Hi Sue,

to "add" the OAB in a profile is not the same as to configure/use a contact
folders as OAB. Our experience is, that you can not use PRF file to
configure/add contact folders as OAB. Is this information not right?

We only know this program to add contact folders to OAB:
http://www.imanami.com/products/oprofile/

--
Oliver Vukovics
Share Outlook without Exchange: Public ShareFolder
Share your Outlook contacts, calendars or e-mails
http://www.publicshareware.com




Are you deploying Outlook/Office and the base mail profile with the CIW?
There's a known problem in which the Outlook Address Book doesn't get added,
even if you set up the CIW to add it. The workaround is to provide users
with a separate .prf, which you can create in the CIW and export, to modify
the default profile to add the OAB. When users run thath.prf file, Outlook
will start up and add the OAB to the profile.

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

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

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No, you can't, but the user's symptoms -- the Show Folder as Address Book check box disabled and the user having to add the Outlook Address Book -- indicated that the OAB was not present in the profile at all. Therefore, the first step to resolving the problem would be to add the OAB. The default Contacts folder should then automatically configure itself to show in the OAB. Other folders will, as you describe, need to be added manually.

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

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

 

[Oliver Vukovics]

Hi Sue,

Right now the user has to go in and add the outlook
address book and then choose "show this folder as an email address book"

so my understanding is that the OAB is still configured but the flag for the
OAB is missing for the contact folder.

It is interesting why the default contact folder is not activated with the
flag as OAB but I understood his question that the OAB as "Service" is still
available.

How ever, now he get a lot of interesting information about "How to
configure an OAB". ;-)

--
Oliver Vukovics
Share Outlook without Exchange: Public ShareFolder
Share your contacts, calendars or e-mails
http://www.publicshareware.com



No, you can't, but the user's symptoms -- the Show Folder as Address Book
check box disabled and the user having to add the Outlook Address Book --
indicated that the OAB was not present in the profile at all. Therefore, the
first step to resolving the problem would be to add the OAB. The default
Contacts folder should then automatically configure itself to show in the
OAB. Other folders will, as you describe, need to be added manually.

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

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

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No, you're missing the point -- the OAB **isn't** available. Reread the first part of what he said: "Right now the user has to go in and add the outlook address book..." That was his essential problem. The OAB wasn't in the profile at all, so no contacts folders, not even the default, would have the "Show this folder as an email address book" box enabled.

The OAB not being installed in the default profile is an all too common problem with CIW/mst installations, one that Microsoft doesn't seem to be in a hurry to fix. I've reproduced it here, but the factors that I thought were critical don't turn out to cause consistent failures.

The quick fix is to have a .prf file handy that the users can run to add the OAB to the profile. The default Contacts folder will automatically be properly configured for the OAB after that.

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

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