Accessing other user's folders

[bubarooni]

I have what seems like three odd problems accessing other users folders. Hopefully you have run into this before and will be able to point me to an appropriate solution. My server is Exchange 5.5 SP 4 and all clients run Outlook 2000.

I have assigned a user editor permissions to several other users calendars. While she can open those folders she can not add any info. It's as though she has reviewer permissions instead of editor.

Another odd thing on these folders. While she can open them from the File ->Open ->Other Users Folder options from the menu bar in Outlook, when she tries to open the same folders from the Outlook Multi-Calendar Viewer utility I downloaded from Microsoft, she gets an error message stating she doesn't have sufficent priviledges to view the folder. As I said, she can open it from the Outlook menu though, I just don't get it. I have checked the permissions repeatedly on the target folders.

Last thing. For those users for whom I have set permissions to open other users folders, I have changed their mail delivery location from their .pst file to Mailbox-UserName and then turned on autoarchiving to conserve server hard drive space. I understood that this has to be done in order for their calendars to be shared. Is this correct? Since I did this the users get "Unable to update Public Free/Busy data. Operation Failed" error messages and I can't figure out why.

Thanks in advance for any info you can share with me on this.

 

[cdogg]

bubarooni,

Ok, I can answer your question about calendar sharing. The reason you get "Unable to update Public Free/Busy data. Operation Failed" is because you cannot have a calendar in both the PST and in Mailbox-Username. The reason is that when someone sends a meeting request and you accept, Outlook has to know which calendar to save the information in.

- synch up both Calendars to make sure they are identical
- disable autoarchive settings on all folders except Sent Items and Deleted Items under Mailbox-Username (if you must have them, make sure it's not archiving the information into the main PST. Specify a different PST such as "arcive.pst&quot. Deleted Items and Sent Items should both have autoarchiving setup for 1 day to move to the main PST.
- do a search for exchng32.exe on the hard drive and execute it.
- when it opens, delete Calendar, Contacts, Journal, Notes, and Tasks from the main PST. Also, make sure the Deleted Items folder is "emptied".

*Note: If any of these folders exist in the PST, it could bring the calendar back.

The only other thing to do is set up a client rule to deliver mail from the Mailbox-Username inbox to the PST inbox. DO NOT setup autoarchiving on the Mailbox-Username inbox.
**********************

I know this is all may seem confusing, but it will work if followed to the letter!!

 

[joegz]

About the Multi-Calendar viewer is the same profile being used for both the Viewer and for Outlook?

Regarding the question about adding appointment into the calendar, is the error message similar the other about not having sufficient permissions? joegz
"Sometimes you just need to find out what it's not first to figure out what it is."

 

[bubarooni]

cdogg,

Since I am not using offline folders I can not synch up the folders. When I try, it says I must have an offline folder.
I can find no exchng32.exe file on any of my clients. When I try to remove the folders from the pst file in Outlook the 'delete folder' option is grayed out and if I try to drag the folder into the deleted items folder I get an error message stating that 'special folders' cannot be moved.
I was able to remove the autoarchiving and create the rule to move mail.
I am running Outlook in the Corporate or Workgroup mode running off an Exchange 5.5 sp4 on an NT 4.0 sp6a server.


joegz,
yes, the same profile is being used. the error message states that the user doesn't have permission to write the other user's folder. I have given the user 'editor' rights on each users calendar to add the appointments.

Thanks

 

[cdogg]

bubarooni,

Ok. First of all, the exchng32.exe file was a hit and miss deal. Not everyone will have it unless they had MS Exchange installed at one point. Both Exchange and Outlook have the ability to read PST files, but Exchange gives you the ability to delete "special folders" such as the Calendar.

Secondly, I didn't mean to say "sychronize" the Calendars. I guess I should have rephrased that. You do want to make sure both Calendars are identical, and to do so, highlight the Server Calendar (not the one in the PST) and go to File->Import and Export. Choose "Import from another program or file" and hit next. Scroll down and select Personal Folder File (.pst) and hit next. On the next screen where it says "File To Import", hit the browse button, locate your .PST, then double click it. The full path should now be in that field. Change the option below to "Do not import duplicates". Hit next and select the Calendar under this PST. Make sure below that it says "Import items into the same folder in:" and the name of your PST is displayed. Then hit Finish.

This may take a while, but after it's finished, both Calendars should have the same appointments.


Now, in order to remove the Calendar from the PST, you're going to need a free 3rd-party app called ECM Utilities. If you are unable to locate a copy, email me at cdoggosu@aol.com and I'll email you a copy (over 2MB in size). Once you install this program, you'll be able to delete/modify any part of the PST that you want!! Just be sure to get rid of all 5 folders I mentioned in my first post from the PST...


~cdogg