Friends in Tech » Microsoft

Simple Tip: Start Outlook in Calendar Mode

Chuck Tomasi — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:09:45 +0000

Recently, I was listening to a podcast from David Allen, the man behind the “Getting Things Done” methodology, and he recommended (paraphrase) “…to be more effective, Outlook users should start their app in calendar mode. “

It’s true. Each morning, I find myself getting side-tracked by the inbox when I should first be looking at the “hard landscape” of the calendar first. An hour can easily pass while I process my inbox before I realize what the rest of my day looks like, that’s just wrong – and I knew it. When I heard this tip, I had one of those slap-your-forehead moments and said “Of course!”.

Here’s how it’s done:

Locate your OUTLOOK.EXE file on your hard drive. Typically it’s under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office somewhere. You can use Explorer’s search feature to locate it precisely.
Once located, right click and use the Send To> Desktop to create a shortcut on the desktop. If you already have an Outlook icon, be sure you note which one just got added. You may not be able to edit the correct properties of the default icon.
Now, locate the icon on the desktop
Right click and select “Properties”
Choose the Security tab and locate the “Target” field. At the end of the value in that field, add: [space] /select outlook:calendar
Click OK to save your changes
Try the new icon

Once you are done reviewing your calendar, use the normal means to go to your inbox and start processing. Congratulations, you just became a little more effective.

(I typically launch Outlook from the Quick Launch bar since my desktop is usually obscured by one app or another.)

Is once daily enough?

Kevin Devin — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:43:52 +0000

I’ve been using the beta version of SyncToy 2.0 to synchronize my mini-mobile USB hard drive to the file server. It’s been a great safeguard. All of my working data is kept on the mobile unit rather than the laptop’s hard drive due to space constraints. This also allows me to simply take the mobile hard drive home alone to work on as opposed to my entire laptop. This is VERY handy considering that I’ve been commuting by bike a lot lately.

But I only synchronize my data from the mini-mobile hard drive to the server once a day. Today, I found that to be a mistake. Not a major mistake, but good enough of one to make me tweak my method. After working on a project most of Friday, I took the unit home to work on over the weekend only to forget to bring it back in with me today. No problem, I have a copy up on the server. Whoops… if I work with that data, everything I did on Friday and over the weekend is lost.

So… I’ve now tweaked my scheduled sync to run twice a day — once in the morning, and then again in the afternoon before I leave. The task scheduler within XP makes it a breeze to do so too.

Open the task from within Task Scheduler, go to the Schedule tab, at the bottom of the screen check the box “Show multiple schedules.” Then, click on the “New” button at the top and set your second schedule for the task. In my case, the first task instance is set to fire at 9:30AM and the second instance is now set to fire at 3:30PM.

SyncToy v2.0 Beta

Forgot your Thumbdrive?

Mike McBride — Thu, 29 May 2008 02:10:21 +0000

So you’re a PC tech, and you’re used to being called in to look at problem PC’s under all sorts of circumstances, and you probably have all the SysInternals tools loaded on a thumb drive just for those occasions. Well, what happens when you don’t have it available?

Head over to SysInternals Live and run them from the site! How very useful!

Have you been over there and run them? Let us know what you think!

(h/t to Ed Bott, who you really should be reading too…)

New Exchange 2007 options

Andy Helsby — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 11:39:38 +0000

Microsoft posted a screenshot of some new Exchange2007 options which made me laugh. Well worth a visit to check out this tool and read the comments too.

Want to safely test IE8?

Andy Helsby — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:33:34 +0000

Microsoft have for some time made available virtual images of XP with IE6 and IE7 available. With the new beta version of IE8 now available for testing, the download page for IE on XP and Vista has been updated. You can also try the various IE’s in Vista too. Note that all the downloads will expire at the end of June 2008 (but new ones will probably be available to download before then.) Apparently IE8 won’t access Microsoft Update pages unless you run in IE7 emulation and restart your browser.

Microsoft MCP’s support knowledge base.

Andy Helsby — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 18:06:35 +0000

Most people have probably used the Microsoft knowledge base but did you know that Microsoft Certified Partners (anyone who has passed a Microsoft exam) has access to an internal database that may have more information and articles? As long as you are already certified and have a LiveID then you can access the Microsoft Partner Level Knowledge Base.

Office Training?

Andy Helsby — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 03:04:26 +0000

Did you know that Microsoft have some free online training courses for Office 2003 and 2007? The Office Training Homepage helpfully shows you popular and new courses – worth checking out and referring your end users to. If you have Software Assurance then there are additional courses available too under the Microsoft e-learning scheme. To access these courses you will need to request access from the person who administers your Microsoft Licensing. In my experience, getting the e-learning access for my users took about 4 weeks or repeated emails and phone calls with Microsoft before someone could fix the system to allow my users in, but the content was worth it.

Microsoft Second Chance back again.

Andy Helsby — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 15:55:27 +0000

Earlier this year Microsoft ran a promotion called Exam Insurance which provided you with a free retake on a failed Microsoft Exam or a discount on the next exam if the first one was passed successfully. A subscription to TechNet was also included (if you passed) but you had to pay extra for the Exam Insurance but the extra was well worth it to get a discounted copy of Technet. Unfortunately this offer expired at the end of July but Microsoft have come back with their 2nd Chance promotion again. This time you get a free retake if you fail the first exam.

This offer runs until the end of January 2008 which provides 4 months of insurance so now is a great time to get cracking on your Microsoft certifications and try those tests that you’ve been meaning to get done but not got around to it just yet.

Personally I’m hoping to get my MCSA by the end of the year – I already have my MCDST (Desktop Support Technician) and Small Business exams, the former qualifies as an elective for the MCSA and the latter an elective for the MCSE which will be my next milestone. It is tough getting the time to sit down and do the studying for these exams as work is very busy but obtaining the qualifications is often part of a professional development plan and often comes up in annual review discussions (which I am about to have very shortly.)

Update This post was actually written a couple of days ago and intended to be released later today but the information has already been posted on In The Trenches and on Mike McBride’s blog so I am now posting it here too! My first exam is scheduled for Friday morning.

Tags: microsoft, mcp, exams

Have you got 10 minutes?

Andy Helsby — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 01:15:41 +0000

I’ve recently had to conduct two interviews for a Network Engineer at our company and at both interviews I asked questions about keeping up to date with technology. I was surprised at the answers considering the job role. I asked if they listened to any podcasts or subscribed to any blogs. Both answered in the negative. I was really surprised as I can’t see how a person can effectively keep up to date with all the latest updates, patches, bugs, tools, software and tips that a network or systems engineer needs without subscribing to a podcast or at the very least some technical blogs.

Sometimes the excuse given is that people don’t have the time to listen to a podcast or read several blogs but they have the time to watch a couple of hours tv each night or spend 30 minutes at the coffee machine discussing the game or their drinking exploits!

Hopefully the Friends In Tech site helps with little tidbits of information that don’t take up a lot of time but do provide useful feedback – and this tip is about Microsoft’s new Technet Webcast Express – webcasts on various subjects lasting about 10-15 minutes to gain a quick overview on a product or it’s features. Currently there are 9 webcasts, 7 on Sharepoint and 2 on the Office2007 document format but keep an eye open for new Webcasts. If Sharepoint doesn’t get you excited then spend 10 minutes catching up with some product news from other bloggers in an area that you are interested in – and if you have an interview in the future – don’t forget to mention Friends In Tech as the blog you read to keep up to date!

Tags: interview, podcasts, webcast, technet, microsoft

Microsoft Readystate now available.

Andy Helsby — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 00:16:29 +0000

For those of you who followed the suggestions in the recent ITT Minute about Microsoft downloads, you should know all about Microsoft Steadystate. This is the new version of Microsoft’s Shared Computer toolkit – a very useful utility that allows you to freeze, rollback and control the configuration of pc’s in schools, home or kiosk machines. The new version has several new features and can be downloaded from the Microsoft Steadystate download page. A handbook for Steadystate is also available.

Tags: Microsoft, Steadystate, ITT