Resolving VSS error messages 12291 and 8193, (following VMware converter error 2147754773)

I was attempting to convert and old windows 2003 SP2 machine via VMware converter in order to remove the hardware and run some upgrades while the machine is in an easier to handle environment.

The converter was showing error

Unable to create a VSS snapshot of the source volume(s). Error code: 2147754773

On the 2003 box, I tried a quick windows backup to see what was happening and saw the following errors in the Application event logs

8193

Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error calling routine IMultiInterfaceEventControl::GetSubscriptions.  hr = 0x80040155.

12289

Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error CVssWriter::Subscribe for{542da469-d3e1-473c-9f4f-7847f01fc64f} COM+ REGDB Writer).  hr = 0x8000ffff.

It turned out to be an issue with the VSS and COM+ on the host box which was fixed by the following.

From the command prompt (on the 2003 SP2 box): 

Cd windows\system32
Net stop vss
Net stop swprv
regsvr32 ole32.dll
regsvr32 vss_ps.dll
Vssvc /Register
regsvr32 /i swprv.dll
regsvr32 /i eventcls.dll
regsvr32 es.dll
regsvr32 stdprov.dll
regsvr32 vssui.dll
regsvr32 msxml.dll
regsvr32 msxml3.dll
regsvr32 msxml4.dll 
vssadmin list writers

At this point you should see the writers listed. Open Windows Backup and attempt to backup file or systemstate to see if VSS is working. Hopefully it will resolve the issue like it did for me.

Source: Various technet articles and usergroups.

Exchange error 9325: OABGen will skip user entry 'username' in address list '\Global Address List' because the SMTP address '' is invalid. - \New Offline Address Book

If you get the following error message for an account that should not have an email address 

PVM-LON-MBX01		9325
MSExchangeSA		OAL Generator
Application		09/01/2014 14:03:57
Error (Info)		3285482
OABGen will skip user entry 'username' in address list '\Global Address List' because the SMTP address '' is invalid. - \New Offline Address Book

then do the following

start ADSI Edit (on a domain controller)

navigate to the user with the issue

right click and properties

navigate to the attribute 'showInAddressBook'

remove all entries from this 

Outlook Error - Cannot create file when opening an attachment

When you try to open or save an e-mail attachment, you may receive the following error message:

"Cannot create file: file name. Right-click the folder you want to create the file in and click Properties on the shortcut menu to check your permissions for the folder."

This issue may occur when the Temporary Internet Files folder is stored on a server on which you do not have sufficient permissions.

Fix for:

Outlook 2003

If you are using Outlook 2003, follow these steps:

1. Click My Computer, and then double-click drive C.
2. On the File menu, click New, and then click Folder.
3. Name the folder temp0.
4. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
5. Locate and then click the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security\
6. In the right pane, double-click OutlookSecureTempFolder.
7. In the Value Data field, type C:\temp0\ and then click OK.
8. Exit Registry Editor.
9. Restart the computer.

Outlook 2010

If you are using Outlook 2010, follow these steps:

1. Click My Computer, and then double-click drive C.
2. On the File menu, click New, and then click Folder.
3. Name the folder temp0.
4. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
5. Locate and then click the following registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Security\
6. In the right pane, double-click OutlookSecureTempFolder.
7. In the Value Data field, type C:\temp0\ and then click OK.
8. Exit Registry Editor.
9. Restart the computer.

Giving SendAs permissions to a distribution Group

Once you have created a distribution group, if you need one user to have sendas permission then do the following in exchange powershell

Set-DistributionGroup GROUPEMAILADDRESS@domain.com -GrantSendOnBehalfto USER@domain.com

to set a multiple group use the following

Set-DistributionGroup GROUPEMAILADDRESS@domain.com -GrantSendOnBehalfto @{Add="USER@domain.com", "USER2@domain.com", "USER3@domain.com"}

to check who has access

Get-DistributionGroup GROUPEMAILADDRESS@domain.com | fl name,grant*

Delete an emailed attachment company wide (Outlook/Exchange)

We had an email go out with the incorrect legal document on it, so we wanted to remove this from everyone's mailbox before it got used accidentally, the following exchange powershell did the trick

Get-Mailbox -ResultSize unlimited | Search-Mailbox -SearchQuery "attachment:'attachment name here.file_extension'" -DeleteContent

Cannot turn off Outlook out of office

If you cannot turn off outlook out of office in the following circumstances

- It is disabled on the client (you can double check on OWA)
- You have started outlook with the /cleanrules switch

The following has just worked for me (you could try without running /cleanrules if that will delete many rules)

- go to http://mfcmapi.codeplex.com/ and download the app

- Close Outlook

- Session > Logon > (select mailbox)

- Select user mailbox from the options

- Look for ‘PR_OOF_STATE’ which should be (incorrectly) set to ‘True’

- (double-click the value and untick the ‘Boolean’ option)

- Close the MFCMAPI application; you can re-open to test, but it should write the change immediately

Citrix Client cannot save to the local network

When you first connect to shared drives on a Citrix session you will get a security warning like the one below

If someone has clicked read only and ticked the do not ask again box.

then to allow read/write access again

For each target environment that is accessed a unique registry key is made in registry with the name
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Citrix\ICA Client\Client Selective Trust\{GUID}. 
It seems that the {GUID} is generated during runtime and (therefore) cannot be predicted. You can find what GUID belongs to what connection by reading the value HKCU\SOFTWARE\Citrix\ICA Client\Client Selective Trust\{GUID}\RegionName\@.
This value contains the name of the environment.

Preventing the message

The message van be configured per resource type, where each resource type is a subkey of ICA Client\Client Selective Trust\{GUID}IcaAuthorizationDecision (no \ after the GUID!).

Resource type	Subkey
Client drives	FileSecurityPermission
Microphones and webcams	MicrophoneAndWebcamSecurityPermission
PDA devices	PdaSecurityPermission
USB and other devices	ScannerAndDigitalCameraSecurityPermission

The access level can be set in the default (@) value where the number represents an access level

Value	Description
0	No access
1	Read access
2	Full access
3	Prompt the user for access

The access level can be set per accessed environment (per GUID) or per region. By configuring the access level on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (HKLM) hive instead on the HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU) hive the setting is inherited by all users.

If you can to configure the access permission per region you need to change the value of IsIsmDeferalEnabled to true and set the access level per resource type.

The regions that can be configured in HKLM match the regions that can be found (and configured) in Internet Explorer.

Zone	Subkey
Internet	oidInternetRegion
Local Intranet	oidIntranetRegion
Trusted sites	oidTrustedSitesRegion
Restricted sites	oidRestrictedSitesRegion

Keep in mind that if you configure the settings on a x64 operating system the keys are stored inHKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\ICA Client\Client Selective Trust.