Replies

Thanks for that hint. First off, on my Vista machine, I saw no system tasks whatsoever running. There were a few processes running with no username. But none of the tasks were “Notepad”.

Then I used another older Windows XP computer on my network, and system tasks did show up. But not Notepad.

More importantly, if you look at my screenshots I sent in my last message, Notepad doesn’t show up in the local computers user policy.
I don’t know what I’m missing, because I ran the “gpupdate /force” command as an administrator on the local PC as well.

Ahh!

Please check out the screenshots I sent in my last emails. If there is something else you would like to me to take a screenshot of on my Domain Controller server, please tell me. Remember, I am testing and learning Group Policy for the first time, so I may be missing something strait forward.

Thanks,
Peter

Did you check task manager? Notepad should be running under the SYSTEM user, so you won’t see it.

Thanks for that hint. First off, on my Vista machine, I saw no system tasks whatsoever running. There were a few processes running with no username. But none of the tasks were “Notepad”.

Then I used another older Windows XP computer on my network, and system tasks did show up. But not Notepad.

More importantly, if you look at my screenshots I sent in my last message, Notepad doesn’t show up in the local computers user policy.
I don’t know what I’m missing, because I ran the “gpupdate /force” command as an administrator on the local PC as well.

Ahh!

Please check out the screenshots I sent in my last emails. If there is something else you would like to me to take a screenshot of on my Domain Controller server, please tell me. Remember, I am testing and learning Group Policy for the first time, so I may be missing something strait forward.

Thanks,
Peter

Did you check task manager? Notepad should be running under the SYSTEM user, so you won’t see it.

Thanks for that hint. First off, on my Vista machine, I saw no system tasks whatsoever running. There were a few processes running with no username. But none of the tasks were “Notepad”.

Then I used another older Windows XP computer on my network, and system tasks did show up. But not Notepad.

More importantly, if you look at my screenshots I sent in my last message, Notepad doesn’t show up in the local computers user policy.
I don’t know what I’m missing, because I ran the “gpupdate /force” command as an administrator on the local PC as well.

Ahh!

Please check out the screenshots I sent in my last emails. If there is something else you would like to me to take a screenshot of on my Domain Controller server, please tell me. Remember, I am testing and learning Group Policy for the first time, so I may be missing something strait forward.

Thanks,
Peter

Did you check task manager? Notepad should be running under the SYSTEM user, so you won’t see it.

Thanks for that hint. First off, on my Vista machine, I saw no system tasks whatsoever running. There were a few processes running with no username. But none of the tasks were “Notepad”.

Then I used another older Windows XP computer on my network, and system tasks did show up. But not Notepad.

More importantly, if you look at my screenshots I sent in my last message, Notepad doesn’t show up in the local computers user policy.
I don’t know what I’m missing, because I ran the “gpupdate /force” command as an administrator on the local PC as well.

Ahh!

Please check out the screenshots I sent in my last emails. If there is something else you would like to me to take a screenshot of on my Domain Controller server, please tell me. Remember, I am testing and learning Group Policy for the first time, so I may be missing something strait forward.

Thanks,
Peter

Did you check task manager? Notepad should be running under the SYSTEM user, so you won’t see it.

Thanks for that hint. First off, on my Vista machine, I saw no system tasks whatsoever running. There were a few processes running with no username. But none of the tasks were “Notepad”.

Then I used another older Windows XP computer on my network, and system tasks did show up. But not Notepad.

More importantly, if you look at my screenshots I sent in my last message, Notepad doesn’t show up in the local computers user policy.
I don’t know what I’m missing, because I ran the “gpupdate /force” command as an administrator on the local PC as well.

Ahh!

Please check out the screenshots I sent in my last emails. If there is something else you would like to me to take a screenshot of on my Domain Controller server, please tell me. Remember, I am testing and learning Group Policy for the first time, so I may be missing something strait forward.

Thanks,
Peter

Did you check task manager? Notepad should be running under the SYSTEM user, so you won’t see it.

Thanks for that hint. First off, on my Vista machine, I saw no system tasks whatsoever running. There were a few processes running with no username. But none of the tasks were “Notepad”.

Then I used another older Windows XP computer on my network, and system tasks did show up. But not Notepad.

More importantly, if you look at my screenshots I sent in my last message, Notepad doesn’t show up in the local computers user policy.
I don’t know what I’m missing, because I ran the “gpupdate /force” command as an administrator on the local PC as well.

Ahh!

Please check out the screenshots I sent in my last emails. If there is something else you would like to me to take a screenshot of on my Domain Controller server, please tell me. Remember, I am testing and learning Group Policy for the first time, so I may be missing something strait forward.

Thanks,
Peter

Did you check task manager? Notepad should be running under the SYSTEM user, so you won’t see it.

Thanks for that hint. First off, on my Vista machine, I saw no system tasks whatsoever running. There were a few processes running with no username. But none of the tasks were “Notepad”.

Then I used another older Windows XP computer on my network, and system tasks did show up. But not Notepad.

More importantly, if you look at my screenshots I sent in my last message, Notepad doesn’t show up in the local computers user policy.
I don’t know what I’m missing, because I ran the “gpupdate /force” command as an administrator on the local PC as well.

Ahh!

Please check out the screenshots I sent in my last emails. If there is something else you would like to me to take a screenshot of on my Domain Controller server, please tell me. Remember, I am testing and learning Group Policy for the first time, so I may be missing something strait forward.

Thanks,
Peter

Did you check task manager? Notepad should be running under the SYSTEM user, so you won’t see it.

Thanks for that hint. First off, on my Vista machine, I saw no system tasks whatsoever running. There were a few processes running with no username. But none of the tasks were “Notepad”.

Then I used another older Windows XP computer on my network, and system tasks did show up. But not Notepad.

More importantly, if you look at my screenshots I sent in my last message, Notepad doesn’t show up in the local computers user policy.
I don’t know what I’m missing, because I ran the “gpupdate /force” command as an administrator on the local PC as well.

Ahh!

Please check out the screenshots I sent in my last emails. If there is something else you would like to me to take a screenshot of on my Domain Controller server, please tell me. Remember, I am testing and learning Group Policy for the first time, so I may be missing something strait forward.

Thanks,
Peter

Did you check task manager? Notepad should be running under the SYSTEM user, so you won’t see it.

Hi Paul,
I linked my Test Group Policy to a new Test OU, but notepad isn’t opening when I log out and log back in.

Can you please take a close look at my new attached screenshots?
I run my Domain Controller on Windows Server 2003 SP1, and the PC I am testing the User Policy on runs Windows Vista.

Thanks.

You haven’t linked the GPO to an OU. See Erics note about creating a test OU above.

cheers, Paul

Thanks, I may buy that one because the price looks right, only around $100. I thought that software was professional only…!

Which version do you recommend?
Studio, Studio Ultimate, or Studio Ultimate Collection?

Hi Paul,

I tried what you said in the notebook example, but nothing happened when I logged out and logged back in. I tried it on both my Windows Vista PC, and a Windows XP machine in the office.

Please see the attached Word file with screen shots of how it set it up.

Help from anyone troubleshooting why it didn’t work is appreciated.

Thanks,
Peter

Group policy has 2 parts, machine policy and user policy.
Machine policy is applied as the machine is starting Windows and before the login prompt.
User policy is applied immediately after login.

Group policy is only a text file with instructions for Windows. This text file can have NFTS permissions applied to limit it’s application to particular machines/users/groups. The permissions should only be set with the group policy editor.

Group policy is always applied to an OU and from there it can be filtered for individual machines, users or groups. This allows you to set different policy for work stations, servers, robots etc.

Be vigilant when editing a group policy object as there is no undo option.

Start by installing the group policy management console. This gives a clear simple view of your GP.
Now create a new group policy object under Group Policy Objects. Always start the name with “TEST” until you have tested the policy and want to move it into production. e.g. “TEST – Run Notepad at startup”.
Now edit the GPO and navigate through User, Windows, Startup Scripts.
Add an item for “notepad.exe”.
Close the GPO.
Remove “Authorised Users” from the security section and add your name instead.
Right click on the OU that contains your user name and select apply existing GPO.
Select the GPO you just created.

Now when you logon to any PC, Notepad will run.

Note: Most of this is off the top of my head from home, so some of the names/sections may not be correct.

cheers, Paul

Hi Eric,
I just got back from my Christmas vacation. I have a follow up question for you.

-Are there any limitations to moving mailboxes to a new store when users are logged into their Exchange account in Outlook?

Thanks,
Peter

1. Open Exchange System Manager
2. Expand Administrative Groups, First Administrative Group, servers, [mail server name], First Storage Group
3. Right-click on First Storage Group and click New> Mailbox Store
4. General tab: type in a mailbox name (managers)
5. Database tab: browse to the locations where you want the database and streaming database files to exist.
6. Limit: set the storage limits as desired
7. Click OK
8. Run a full back up ASAP, as the log files now being generated won’t work with your previous backup.
9. Go to your other mailbox store and expand it to mailboxes
10. Select the mailboxes you want to move to managers (you can use shift and ctrl keys to select multiple mailboxes), right click and click exchange tasks
11. Select Move Mailbox and click Next
12. Select the new mailstore and click next.
13. Repeat for each desired mailstore.

Thanks for the advice Eric.

I am now looking for materials to study on how to create a new mailbox store, and then how to move mailboxes to it. I like the Petri IT Knowledgebase, but didn’t find any appropriate documents there.

Point 1/2: This is done on the mailbox store level.
Point 2: Simply set up additional Mailbox Stores–one for workers, one for managers, one for VP’s (or whatever). Then set the lowest limit on the worker store, the middle limit on the managers, and maybe leave the VP’s unlimited (although please consider your time-to-recover for large stores, if/when you experience a crash)

I would suggest taking a look at the Microsoft online services. They have a free trial. Price for Exchange only (5GB per user, you can allocate 1GB to one user and 9GB to another) is $5/month/user, 5 user minimum. If you want Exchange (5GB pooled)+Sharepoint+Live Meeting+Communicator, that $10/month/user, 5 user minimum.

That’s some great input.

About point 1 and 2)
I’ll do some research creating tiered exchange groups with different rungs of storage. I know how to set the storage levels for individual mailboxes, but not groups yet.
Do you have a link on how to set up a group for something like this?

About point 3)
Buying an archiving system is not an option for a small nonprofit like mine. Since we are realtively new, (~5 yrs old) we haven’t hit maximum capacity yet.
The only option I have considered, but not implemented, is setting up autoarchives to pst’s on the users windows shared network drives. I know, it would be a messy solution…

Thanks,
Peter

As the exchange administrator for my company, I’m VERY happy to report that we’ve outsourced our email to Microsoft Online Services. They recently cut their prices and next year they will give each user a 25GB mailbox (right now its 5GB).

That said, you lose some flexibility with managed email. If you want to continue using your existing solution, then you need management buy-in. There are a couple of options:
1. Take the amount of disk space, and divide it by the number of users, to get the number of GB/user. Be sure to set aside space for transaction logs and company growth.
2. Determine some tiered system where the bottom rung gets 1GB mailboxes, the next tier 2GB, managers 5GB, etc.
3. Buy an archiving system like Symantec Enterprise Vault which will archive off email based on age or size.

I did implement these. My organization is very small ~30 active users, and we don’t have a need to email large internal files, so I haven’t received any complaints.
But based on your comment I raised the internal message size from 10mb to 20mb. My external outgoing message size max is still set to 10mb.

I will still have the problem of potential large sent item boxes for users from large rejected messages. I will have to monitor mailbox size manually on a periodic basis.

Thanks for the reply!
Peter

Ha ha, don’t show this to my IT manager or I’ll never email again.

Have you implemented these suggestions? How did they go over with users?

What I think would be better than an NDR for an inappropriately large internal message would be to catch the message before it is sent and propose alternatives, such as, save to a shared location, use IM, and so forth. Hopefully then users would not pile up rejected messages with huge attachments in their Sent Items. But implementing this would require installing code at the workstation level, so probably not going to happen any time soon…