Unblock Outlook attachments

Ever found Outlook's long list of blocked attachments annoying? It's one thing to protect users from malicious code, but should someone who knows what they're doing be subjected to the same rules?

Now, there are ways of blocking/unblocking certain file types including registry hacks, group policies, et al. By far the most elegant and easy way for end users is a nifty little utility called Attachment Open written by Ken Slovak (MVP - Outlook).

It provides a COM add-in for Outlook. When you go to Tools | Options, you see an additional tab that lets you select particular (or all, if you really need to!) Level 1 file types and add them to the list of Level 2.
Level 1 file types are completely blocked by Outlook
Level2 file types are those that can be saved to the disk.

You can download it from http://www.slovaktech.com/attachmentoptions.htm

The utility is shareware. If you find it useful, you can donate 10 bucks by clicking a button - a small price to pay for those times when you really want to get to an attachment. :)

A good practice would be to move it back to Level1 (blocked) again after you're done accessing the attachment, unless you receive those file types very frequently and from trusted sources.

If you'd rather control this yourself through registry hacks, you need to add the extensions (followed by semi-colons after each extension - remember, if it's not formed correctly, Outlook will ignore the entire list!) to Level1Remove registry value in:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\VERSION_NO
\Outlook\Security

where VERSION_NO is:
9.0 - Outlook 2000
10.0 - Outlook 2002/XP
11.0 - Outlook 2003


List of attachments restricted by Outlook

Frequent reports of NDRs with 5.7.1 errors

Noticed an increase in NDRs with 5.7.1 error from posts in newsgroups and a colleague saw 2 of those within the last week. If you're using Exchange, you may see Event IDs 1709 and 1710 in your Application Log. Some common causes:
1) Allow computers which successfully authenticate to relay checkbox not checked on SMTP virtual server
2) DNS misconfiguration and Recipient Policy issues
3) Proxy addresses created manually that do not match any Recipient Policy (I was surprised by this one!)
4) If using ISA server, ISA's IP address changes but server publishing rule not changed

More info about what causes these on the Exchange site.

Microsoft completes FrontBridge acquisition

Microsoft has just completed the acquisition of FrontBridge, a hosted email provider.

Why FrontBridge?
To offer Exchange as a hosted service (directly from Microsoft). It now wants a cut from the hosting pie. I wouldn't blame them for wanting to grow revenues, but wondering what its partners think about Microsoft competing with them.

GoogleTalk released.... yawn!

Every time Google releases a product, there is a lot of excitement built around it starting with rumors or leaks days or weeks before the product is released. Google contributes to this build-up by keeping the products in beta for as long as anyone can remember, and in some cases by limiting the beta by invitiation only as it did with Gmail.

Given the high expectations, most people expect Google products - even "betas" - to change the dynamics of the market and immediately pose a threat to existing players in that market.

Google released GoogleTalk today. At first looks, it is probably the least exciting Google product I've used so far. I may change my opinion later if Google updates this product, but right now I am prompted to uninstall it. Here's why:

1. No connectivity to other IM communities like Yahoo, MSN or AOL. Rumors before the launch said this was built-in. It's not, as far as I can tell. I don't think most of my contacts would be willing to try or move to GoogleTalk. At this point it's just another IM.
2. It has voice chat built-in, but Yahoo and MSN now have video as well.
3. There are no other features that make this a product worth using.
4. Competitors Yahoo and MSN are just a whole lot better, can do a lot more, have a much better interface.

The only thing I like about GoogleTalk so far is it's name, the icon, and the logo. Perhaps Microsoft can learn a thing or two about naming products from these guys!

Useful Utility: SysInternals Process Explorer

A trusted friend of most experienced Windows folks, Process Explorer is one of Sysinterals' bag of free utilities that provide welcome relief from some of Windows' quirks and inadequacies.

I have found Process Explorer extremely useful and a great substitute for Windows Task Manager. On the topic of Task Manager, have you seen it change a lot since NT 4.0 days? There have been some improvements, but it's time Microsoft replaced it with something more extensive and powerful.

Process Explorer provides a lot of info about processes. In particular, it shows you all services running in the svchost processes. It also shows all files open/locked by a particular process. Ever tried to delete/replace a file and kept getting "file in use" errors with no clue as to which process was holding the particular file hostage? You can use PE to detect the process and kill it.

Besides, it can show DLLs being used, and has search capability to search for a file handle or dll.

You can download Process Explorer from Sysinternals web site: http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html

Q. How do I see memory consumption of each process in Process Explorer?
A. View | Select Columns | Process Performance | select Working Set Size.