James E. O'Brien

Microsoft Press is giving away ten free e-books on SQL Server 2008 and 2012, MS Office 365 and 2010, Deploying Windows 7, Visual Studio 2010, Programming Windows Phone 7, and Virtualization Solutions. Get ‘em while they’re hot!

Introducing Microsoft Server 2012   (Download in PDF Format – 288 pages; 10.8 MB)  The final and complete version of Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012, by Ross Mistry  and Stacia Misner. 10 Chapters covering Introduction, Disaster-Recovery Enhancements, SQL Server 2012 Editions and Engine Enhancements, Data Administration, Performance and Scalability, , Security Enhancements, Programmability and Beyond-Relational Enhancements,  Integration Services,  Data Quality Services,  Master Data Services, Analysis Services and PowerPivot, and Reporting Services.

Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2  (Download in PDF Format (216 pages; 7.74 MB) or XPS Format) Ten Chapters covering SQL Server 2008 R2 Editions and Enhancement, Multi-Server Administration, Data-Tier Applications, High Availability and Virtualization Enhancements, Consolidation and Monitoring, Business Intelligence Development, Scalable Data Warehousing, Master Data Services, Complex Event Processing with StreamInsight, Reporting Services Enhancements, and Self-Service Analysis with PowerPivot.

Introducing Windows Server 2008 R2 (Download in PDF Format (11 MB) or XPS Format (28 MB)) – Nine chapters covering What’s New in Windows Server R2, Installation and Configuration: Adding R2 to Your World, Hyper-V: Scaling and Migrating Virtual Machines, Remote Desktop Services and VDI: Centralizing Desktop and Application Management, Active Directory: Improving and Automating Identity and Access, The File Services Role, IIS 7.5: Improving the Web Application Platform, DirectAccess and Network Policy Server, and other Features and Enhancements.

Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions – Second Edition (Download in PDF Format (10.5 MB) or XPS Format (27.2 MB)) Six chapters covering Why Virtualization, Server Virtualization, Local Desktop Virtualization, Remote Desktop Virtualization, Virtualization Management, and Cloud Computing.

Microsoft Office 365: Connect and Collaborate Virtually Anywhere, Anytime (Download in PDF Format (21 MB) .ePub Format (21.7 MB) or .mobi Format (8.1 MB))   13 Chapters including Introduction to Cloud Computing, Introduction to Office 365,  Collaborating in the Cloud, Versions of Office 365, and Working  Across Multiple Devices.

First Look Microsoft Office 2010 (Download in PDF Format (10.5 MB) or XPS Format (28 MB)) 14 Chapters covering Introduction to Office 2010, Collaborating with other Office users, Creating and Sharing Documents, Using  Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneNote, SharePoint Workspace, Publisher, and Access. Part Three includes Security and Training, and Putting it all Together.

Security and Privacy for Microsoft Office Users (Download in PDF Format (7.2 MB) or .mobi Format (3.6 MB)  or ePub Format (8.9 MB)) Four Chapters covering end-user security considerations and responsibilities, working with protected documents, understanding document properties, encrypting documents and restricting editing.

Deploying Windows 7, Essential Guidance (Download in PDF Format (6.5 MB)) Twelve Chapters covering Deployment Platform, Planning Deployment, Testing Application Compatibility, Developing Disk Images, Migrating User State Data, Deploying Applications, Preparing Windows PE, Configuring Windows Deployment Services, Using Volume Activation, Deploying with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, plus six articles from Technet Magazine: Migrate Already! Why You Should Migrate to Windows 7 If You’re Still Waffling, 8 Common Issues in Windows 7 Migrations, 9 Things You Should Know About Windows 7, Can’t We All Just Get Along? Running Windows 7 in Mixed Environments, Integrating Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2, and The Good Computing Seal of Approval: Windows 7 Certification.

Moving to Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 (Download in PDF Format (18.2 MB)) This book is divided into three sections covering migrating from Visual Studio 2003, 2005, and 2008, consecutively. Each section covers business logic and data, designing look and feel, debugging applications, and deployment.

Programming Windows Phone 7 (Download in PDF Format (38.6 MB) Twenty-four chapters covering the Windows Phone 7, an Introduction to Touch, Sensors and Services, Issues in Application Architecture, Silverlight, XAML Power and Limitations, Elements and Properties, The Intricacies of Layout, the Apps Bar and Controls, Dependency Properties and Data Binding, Graphics and animations, and many more topics. About a thousands pages!

Source: I have linked the free eBooks from Microsoft Press on this one page for your convenience. If you would like more detailed information on these books, and don’t mind clicking through a few pages for some of them, please check out the Microsoft Press entry page for these books at blogs.msdn.com. 

It seems that accidentally deleting a distribution list in Microsoft Outlook 2010 is a fairly common issue. The problem is that the Delete Group button is right next to the Save & Close button in the Contact Group pane. Fortunately, recovering a deleted distribution list is fairly easy.

Depending on whether you are using Outlook as a stand-alone e-mail client or using Outlook in conjunction with Microsoft Exchange Server, the process to recover accidentally deleted distribution lists is as follows:

Recovering a distribution List

1. In the Navigation pane, click Deleted Items
2. Find the distribution list that was accidentally deleted, and drag it to the Contact button at the of the Navigation pane.

Recover a distribution list once the Deleted Items folder has been emptied

 Note:   Your Exchange administrator specifies the retention time for items that are deleted permanently on the server running Exchange. After this time elapses, you cannot recover the deleted items.

If you use a Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Exchange Server 2003, or Exchange Server 2000 account, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 provides a way to recover items after you delete them permanently, even after you empty the Deleted Items folder.

1. In the Deleted Items folder, click Recover Deleted Items on the Tools menu.
2. Locate the distribution list and then click Recover Selected Items.
3. In the main message list, drag the distribution list to the Contacts button at the bottom of the Navigation Pane.

Note: You must use an Exchange account for this command to appear. If you use an Exchange account and do not see the command, contact your Exchange administrator.

• This procedure adds the distribution list to your main (default) Contacts folder.
• Your distribution list might be listed according to the date that it was created; in that case, scroll through the deleted items.

Source: Microsoft.com

This is a great resource for average Outlook users and support technicians to find solutions to common Outlook problems, and also find great tips and solutions to help you use Outlook to your best advantage. I often refer to this website for Outlook issues, and I consider it a great resource.

About Outlook Daily Tips

Owned by Outlook MVP Diane Poremsky, President and CEO of CDOLive LLC, Outlook Tips website was founded in July 2003 to help users learn to use Outlook, one day at a time through the Outlook Tips mailing list providing tips to subscribers mailboxes 3 days a week. Content previously published to poremsky.com is now available on Outlook Tips.

Recent books written by Diane include Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours from Sams Publishing, along with two books in the Visual Quick Start series for PeachPit Press, OneNoteTM 2003 and Google and Other Search Engines. She also recently recorded a training video for Makau Corporation on using Outlook 2003.

Diane was first awarded Microsoft MVP status in October 1999 for her volunteer work in the Microsoft newsgroups and forums and re-awarded each year since then. Along with working in the forums at Microsoft Answers, she is a moderator and contributor on the Win-home mailing list at Lsoft.com, which provides assistance to home users and small office/home office (SOHO) users of all versions of Microsoft Windows and related software. She was recognized as the Microsoft MVP Insider in June 2005.

Website Link: Outlook Daily Tips

Microsoft Office is a very powerful productivity suite, and it can be daunting to learn how to effectively use. Since Microsoft Office is the most popular productivity suites in the world, demand is high for employees with proficient Office skills in any job market.

I thought it would be a good idea to share some great resources for anyone looking to learn or advance their Office skills.

This first resource takes you to the Mouse Training Company, a technical training company in the United Kingdom. They have made all of their Microsoft Office Training Manuals and Quick Reference Guides available to the public for free.

These training  manuals and quick reference guides cover:

• Microsoft Word 2010, 2007, 2003
• Microsoft Excel 2010, 2007, 2003.
• Microsoft Outlook 2010, 2007, 2003.
• Microsoft Access 2010, 2007, 2003.
• Microsoft Project 2010, 2007, 2003.
• Microsoft Publisher 2010, 2007, 2003.
• Microsoft Visio 2010, 2007, 2003.

So if you want to learn how to use Microsoft Office products, or you want to brush up on your current skills, or you want to become your office’s Super-Guru of MS Office, jump on over to the Mouse Training Company and download your free manuals today.

The Mouse Training Company

Recommended Reading

If you would prefer something in book-form, I have hand-picked these books to recommend to you. I have also put together a selection of very handy laminated reference cards. These are great to keep near your desk, always handy!

An e-mail signature typically looks something like this:

Sincerely,
James O’Brien
OBrienPC.net
206.555.9999

That’s a very simple and basic signature that takes about 10 to 20 seconds to type into my outgoing e-mails. But if I am sending and answering e-mails all day long, it can get tedious to type my signature with every e-mail. Most e-mail clients, Outlook included, provide a method of automatically inserting a signature in your outgoing email.

Here’s how you do it:

1) Select “Tools | Options…” from the menu in Outlook

2) Go to the “Mail Format” tab

3) Go to the “E-mail Signature” tab

4) Type the new signature’s desired name

5) Type the desired text of your signature under “Edit signature”

6) Click OK, and then OK again

Typically, when you delete an item from a folder in a mailbox, that item is first transferred to the Deleted Items folder of that mailbox. You can then remove the item from the Deleted Items folder. This provides a measure of protection in case you accidentally delete an item. After the items are removed from the Deleted Items folder, you can still recover them if Microsoft Exchange Server 5.5 or Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server has been configured to retain deleted items.

Steps:

1. Exit Outlook.
2. Open the Windows registry editor.
3. Browse to My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\Client\Options.
4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
5. Type the name DumpsterAlwaysOn.
6. Set the DWORD value to 1.
7. Restart Outlook.

Source: support.microsoft.com/kb/178630