Taris111's IT blog

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Exchange 2010 enable mailbox for multiple distribution groups

You can generate mailboxes for multiple distribution groups at the same time, the group names will be read from a text file. To do this:

Open Exchange Management Shell with Administrator rights, then:

Get-Content <OU_LIST_FILE> | Foreach-Object {Enable-DistributionGroup -Identity "$_" -Alias "$_" -DisplayName "$_" -PrimarySMTPAddress "$_@<FQDN_NAME>"}

Example:

Get-Content C:\oulist.txt | Foreach-Object {Enable-DistributionGroup -Identity "$_" -Alias "$_" -DisplayName "$_" -PrimarySMTPAddress "$_@ibs-t.hu"}

-> This will read OU names from the file 'C:\oulist.txt' and create the distribution groups defined in the file, in the domain 'ibs-t.hu'.
It's a simple text file, with the OU names under each other:

---BEGIN FILE---
grpGazd2006
grpGazd2007
---END OF FILE---

Output sample:

Name DisplayName GroupType PrimarySmtpAddress
---- ----------- --------- ------------------
grpGazd2006 grpGazd2006 Universal, SecurityEnabled grpGazd2006@ibs-t.hu
grpGazd2007 grpGazd2007 Universal, SecurityEnabled grpGazd2007@ibs-t.hu

Exchange 2010 enable mailbox for distribution group

Here's how to generate mailbox for a distribution group:

Open Exchange Management Shell with Administrator rights, then:

Enable-DistributionGroup -Identity "<GROUP_NAME>" -Alias "<GROUP_NAME>" -DisplayName "<CAN BE CUSTOM>" -PrimarySMTPAddress "<DESIRED E-MAIL ADDRESS>"

Example:

Enable-DistributionGroup -Identity "grpBattm2007" -Alias "grpBattm2007" -DisplayName "Battm2007" -PrimarySMTPAddress "grpBattm2007@ibs-t.hu"

-> This will create a distribution group named grpBattm2007 from a group named grpBattm2007, and set the display name of the group to Battm2007, with e-mail address of grpBattm2007@ibs-t.hu
The DisplayName parameter can be omitted, in this case the display name will be the same as the group name.

Output sample:

Name DisplayName GroupType PrimarySmtpAddress
---- ----------- --------- ------------------
grpBattm2007 Battm2007 Universal, SecurityEnabled grpBattm2007@ibs-t.hu

Exchange 2010 enable mailbox for users in an OU

Use this command to generate mailboxes for all user accounts in a specified organizational unit:

Open Exchange Management Shell with Administrator rights, then:

Get-User -OrganizationalUnit <OU_NAME> | where-object {$_.RecipientType -eq "User"} | Enable-Mailbox -Database "<DATABASE_NAME>" | get-mailbox | select name,windowsemailaddress,database

Example:

Get-User -OrganizationalUnit Baibr2010 | where-object {$_.RecipientType -eq "User"} | Enable-Mailbox -Database "Student Mailbox Store" | get-mailbox | select name,windowsemailaddress,database

-> This will create mailboxes for all users in an OU named Baibr2010, and in the mailbox database Student Mailbox Store and domain ibs-t.hu

Output sample:

Name WindowsEmailAddress Database
---- ------------------- --------
Stiller David DSTILLER@ibs-t.hu Student Mailbox Store
Bayarsaikhan Oyunjargal OBAYARSAIKH@ibs-t.hu Student Mailbox Store
Puiu Roman RPUIU@ibs-t.hu Student Mailbox Store
Lajos Adrian ALAJOS@ibs-t.hu Student Mailbox Store
Raab Renata Rozsa RRAAB@ibs-t.hu Student Mailbox Store
Lang Lorand LOLANG@ibs-t.hu Student Mailbox Store
Lazar Zsolt ZSLAZAR@ibs-t.hu Student Mailbox Store
Li Cong CLI@ibs-t.hu Student Mailbox Store
Tran Ba Duy Phuong BTRAN@ibs-t.hu Student Mailbox Store

Exchange 2010 move System Mailboxes to new database and remove the default mailbox database

After you’ve installed a new Exchange 2010 environment and you try to delete the first automatically created mailbox database, you’ll receive an error message, saying it still contains mailboxes.
You cannot remove the database, because there are still some hidden, system mailboxes in it, although it looks empty.
You will need to move these system mailboxes to a new database before this default database can be deleted.

Here are the steps to follow:

Open Exchange Management Shell with Administrator rights, then:

1. List the arbitration (system) mailboxes in the database you want to remove (the wrap parameter must be also specified, otherwise the full GUID name won't be displayed!):

Get-Mailbox -Database "<DEFAULT_DATABASE_NAME>" -Arbitration | ft -wrap -auto

Example:

Get-Mailbox -Database "Mailbox Database 0019304662" -Arbitration | ft -wrap -auto

Output sample (sorry it looks disorted in the blog):

Name Alias ServerName Proh

ibit

Send

Quot

---- ----- ---------- ----

SystemMailbox{1f05a927-6cae-4b43-9e78-20b3905e51b9} SystemMailbox{1f05a927-6cae-4b43-9e78-20b3905e51b9} mars unli

mite

SystemMailbox{e0dc1c29-89c3-4034-b678-e6c29d823ed9} SystemMailbox{e0dc1c29-89c3-4034-b678-e6c29d823ed9} mars unli

mite

FederatedEmail.4c1f4d8b-8179-4148-93bf-00a95fa1e042 FederatedEmail.4c1f4d8b-8179-4148-93bf-00a95fa1e042 mars 1 MB

(1,

048,

576

byte

-> This means there are still 3 system mailboxes inside the first mailbox database (created by Exchange setup, called 'Mailbox Database 0019304662'), that we want to remove on the server named MARS

2. Move each system mailboxes to the new database, copy and paste their identity name from the previous command:

New-MoveRequest -Identity "<SYSTEM_MAILBOX_NAME>" -TargetDatabase "<TARGET_DATABASE_NAME>"

Example:

New-MoveRequest -Identity "SystemMailbox{e0dc1c29-89c3-4034-b678-e6c29d823ed9}" -TargetDatabase "Employee Mailbox Store"

Output sample (sorry it looks disorted in the blog):

DisplayName Status TotalMailboxSize TotalArchiveSize PercentComplete
----------- ------ ---------------- ---------------- ---------------
Microsoft Exchange Queued 80.16 KB (82,081 bytes) 0

-> In this example, our target mailbox database is called 'Employee Mailbox Store'

3. Don't remove the default (in our case 'Mailbox Database 0019304662') mailbox database yet, first remove the move requests for these mailboxes from the Management Console.
If you forget this step, you will have to manually remove these corrupted move requests from the Management Shell, otherwise no move requests can be displayed in the Management Console.

Use this command to remove requests from the Management Console:

Remove-MoveRequest -Identity "<SYSTEM_MAILBOX_NAME>"

Example:

Remove-MoveRequest -Identity "SystemMailbox{1f05a927-6cae-4b43-9e78-20b3905e51b9}"

Output sample:

Confirm
Are you sure you want to perform this action?
Move request 'Microsoft Exchange Approval Assistant' is corrupted or not recognized: Source database for the move
doesn't match. Active Directory value: '(null)'. Move request value: 'Mailbox Database 0019304662'.. Are you sure you
want to remove it?
[Y] Yes [A] Yes to All [N] No [L] No to All [?] Help (default is "Y"): y

-> Copy and paste the Identity name for the system mailboxes, repeat for each

After the move requests are removed, you can now delete the default mailbox database itself.

It will still leave the .EDB file in the Exchange directory, you will need to remove it manually.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Laptop battery care

How to care your laptop's battery to prolong it's life?

Now that nowadays, there are many notebooks are sold than desktops, I think it's important to learn about how to care the battery in the laptops, if you intend to use it for a long time.
I like to share my own experience with laptop batteries.

With proper care, a battery can last very long and hold almost the same capacity over the time (but of course the maximum charge will always get less and less, it's normal, as it comes from the battery life cycle - the more you use it, the more it will get worn out).
If you don't use the battery, it will also get damaged, but more about that later.

My laptop's battery still have almost the same capacity as I bought it:
In 2008, it's factory capacity was 48400 mWh
Today, in 2012 it's capacity is 44400 mWh
(AIDA64 says it's 8% worn, and a few months ago it was still about 46000 mWh)

Of course it depends on each and every battery, that how long it will last, for example I saw a brand new laptop's battery is already worn out to 10%
So even if you make everything to care the battery well, but it still worn out very fast, that means it was faulty.

Here are my tips to prolong battery life:

1. Don't use the battery every time, it can die quickly if you use the laptop from battery often.
Use the laptop with the charger, leave the battery inside, and for example every month, use the laptop from battery 1-2 times, until the operating system says the battery need recharge. This way it can stay conditioned, and not over-used.
But if you forget to use the battery for a long time, it will also decrease it's life! If it stays always at full charge and never discharge, that will damage it.
Most laptops doesn't charge the battery always while you connect the charger, only after the battery reach 90-95% level, then recharge again. So don't worry and just leave the battery inside the laptop at all times.

2. At night, don't connect the charger to the laptop when you stop using it (disconnect the cable). At morning it will recharge that missing 3-10 percent again quickly, that also helps the battery.

3. Today's most common Li-Ion type batteries don't have "memory effect" like the older types, but the charge level can display wrong percent available battery life.
This is because the laptop's BIOS tells wrong data to the operating system, and the battery gauge level needs to be recalibrated.
Some laptops have this option in the BIOS, look for "battery calibration" or "recalibration" and be prepared it will run for a very long time, as it needs to fully charge then discharge the battery again.

Important: start the recalibration with 0% battery level only! If you don't do so, then it will give wrong data about the charge level again. To achieve 0% charge level, do the following:
When the operating system says you have to connect the charger to continue use of the laptop, don't do it just shut down the OS. Then turn on the laptop again, go into the BIOS and wait until the laptop turn off from no more battery charge.
After it turned off, you can connect the charger, and quickly go into the BIOS again to start the recalibration process.
This way it will display the correct charge level again.
Don't let Li-Ion batteries reach 0% charge level unless it's absolutely necessary - like the recalibration - as it can damage the battery!!

4. If you are sure you don't want to store the battery inside the laptop (although I recommend it), then don't store the battery fully charged, or fully depleted. Li-Ion batteries are best stored at charge level between 40-60%, and in a cool and dark place (however not too cold and not too warm, as extreme temperatures are also likely damage it).
Check the charge level every week, if needed charge it before you put it back to the storage again.

If you do like this, then you can have a good chance the battery will be good for at least 3 years.
For me it's now more than 4 years, but maybe I get lucky with this battery. :)

A laptop battery needs more care than a phone battery I think, but you can do similarly with your mobile phone battery.

Extra tip about cooling:

Be careful about not get too much dust in the laptop or near it, and have enough fresh air to be able to cool it down (don't block the air vents and not put anything near the vents, up to 20-30 cm!).

Because most laptop problems come from overheat.

You can also clean the dust from the cooler, just that needs compressed air. Maybe it's a little bit expensive to buy, but it's good for cleaning laptops.

I clean the ventillator of my laptop at least every half year, then it doesn't get too much dust in the cooler.

When you use a laptop, it's ventillator get some dust from the air always (especially if you use it on a bed or a pillow, that blocks the ventillator).

If too much dust get inside in it, maybe the ventillator stops and the laptop overheats.

In this case it's not enough to clean it with compressed air, the laptop needs to be taken apart and the big dust must be cleaned from the laptop's cooler by hand.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Windows ME EMS Memory Support

Windows ME, by default, doesn't support EMS memory for the legacy DOS applications, in the VDM:

If you create a shortcut for a DOS program (in this case I used the MS-DOS prompt, command.com), and view the memory properties, you can see the EMS memory is unavailable.

Also, if you type MEM inside the command prompt to view the available memory, and supported types, there is no EMS (expanded) memory listed, and legacy applications are unable to use it.

It's useless to try with EMM386.EXE, in Windows ME it's unsupported and won't run at all (even if you try to load it manually, with device.com utility, it won't load).

Microsoft says there is an option in system.ini to try to enable EMS memory, by adding this line to the [386Enh] section:

ReservePageFrame=yes

And if there is free memory to enable EMS, it will be enabled.

However, for me this option alone didn't worked, EMS memory was still unavailable.

Relevant Microsoft article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/275423

Then I was still searching on the internet, and found a way to enable it! You can see the results here:

I've used the same virtual machine as I've used in a previous test, for maximal memory support.

Now after the correct settings in the system.ini file, I got EMS memory support.

It works the same as in Windows 9x, the EMS memory is selectable in the properties window, and in the command prompt, with MEM command, it's also listing the available amount.

What was the option required to enable it?
It's called EMMPageFrame=C800
It tells Windows to reserve the EMS page frame at a fixed memory address.
With both options set in the system.ini, it worked for me.

However, not all computer's memory is free and contiguous at this base address (EMS needs at least 32K for page frame), then if Windows cannot start, or EMS memory is still unavailable, try to use a different memory address to reserve for EMS page frame.

More info can be found here (also alternative methods):
http://www.columbia.edu/~em36/wpdos/emswinme.html
http://apolyton.net/showthread.php/38013-MOO-and-Windows-ME-(Expanded-Memory)

The options I've used, written in the relevant section of the SYSTEM.INI file:

[386Enh]
;Try to reserve page frame for EMS memory support
ReservePageFrame=yes
;Enable EMS memory support, provided the C800-D7FF upper memory area is CONTIGUOUS AND FREE when Windows loads.
EMMPageFrame=C800

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Windows ME Maximum Memory

If you ever wondered how much memory is the maximum that the older Windows 9x/ME line of Windows systems supports actually, take a look at this picture:

Yes, the answer is almost 2 GB RAM!
And it's perfectly stable like this, I've run memory tests.

I've read many posts on the internet, that they not recommend to use more than 1 GB of RAM for the Win9x/ME versions, because it causes many problems, and even Windows won't start in some cases.

So I've fired up VMware (version 7.1.5 in this case) and begin testing on the freshly installed Windows ME English version (without any updates).
I've not noticed any problems with 1 GB of RAM, but if I increased RAM to 2 GB on the virtual machine, it wouldn't boot up.
Either locked with VMM bluescreen or powered off the virtual machine :)

That was because there is a bug with Win9x/ME's memory manager, and the file cache.
Every time Windows starts, it checks how much memory is in the computer, and adjusts the file cache to some percent of it. That works fine with memory up to 512 MB.
Just with this much memory, the VMM driver can't handle it and just freeze the system completely (it was designed to work with maximum 2 GB memory). With memory just below 2 GB, the system can start, but then the other bug comes with VCache (the file cache) which eats up all memory available from Windows, then not enough memory to load itself.

So we have to fix 2 problems at the same time, to get a boot with memory over 1,99 GB.
First of all, tell Windows that don't use more memory than 1992 MB.
That is done in the system.ini file (C:\Windows\system.ini) with this option, add this line under the [386Enh] section:

MaxPhysPage=7C6FF

It's in HEX format, and I've used an online DEC-to-HEX converter to get this value (however it must always end with FF, because if not, Windows may give funny values to the RAM limit, once I managed to boot with 6 MB RAM - it took a while and the network driver failed too :)).
[Please note that maybe Windows will only boot with even less RAM defined here, every system is different. If it won't work at first, try to use less value, by calculating a different HEX value]

Then, to make the VCache to work correctly, use these settings, also in the file system.ini, at the [VCache] section:

MinFileCache=5120
MaxFileCache=524288

This will limit the memory to use for the file cache to a maximum of 512 MB, and minimum value of 5 MB.

You can use any value you like, just make sure to stay below about 1700-1800 MB, as Windows still needs memory to load.

Also, I've read that with certain system configurations, with a big AGP aperture size, even less cache size is required to get a boot.

So be careful about giving it too big value.

I think 5 MB for starting size is good, it won't use memory when it's not needed. And 512 MB maximum is more than enough for anything you would ever use on such a Windows version :)

Maybe 128 MB is also enough.

Remember, both options are needed, or otherwise it won't boot. Believe me I tried many times.

In case you use wrong values and Windows doesn't boot, don't panic, just use a Win98 boot floppy or a WinPE/Linux live boot CD which can access the C: drive of Windows, and just modify the system.ini file from there, to give lesser values.

Or just take out the extra memory from the computer to have less than 2 GB, and modify after Windows boots up.

On a virtual machine this is much more easy, just mount the virtual hard drive as writable, and modify system.ini from the host system.

Here is this section of my customized system.ini file for reference:

[386Enh]

;Limit RAM to 1.99 GB: MaxPhysPage=7C6FF

MaxPhysPage=7C6FF

[VCache]

;Minimum 5MB file cache

MinFileCache=5120

;Maximum 512MB file cache

MaxFileCache=524288

Have fun and enjoy! :)

More info can be found here, what Microsoft says about the problem:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/253912

Also, good to read this board for more info:
http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/109574-help-i-need-to-get-2gb-installed-ram-working-in-win98se/

Now you may ask, why would anybody want to use the old Windows 9x/ME system nowadays, and do this crazy thing to feed it with more than 2 GB memory.

The answer is just, because I can, then why not?

Nowadays we have insane amount of memory in our computers, according to the time of these systems, then it's good to test out how they behave in such extreme circumstances.

And I like Windows ME, with a disabled System Restore [it's buggy, disable it!] it works like a charm (and much faster than Win98 with enough RAM).

Next time I will check how much memory can Windows 3.x handle :)