Utility: Convert Outlook NK2 File to Stream_Autocomplete*.dat File

This little gem came via fellow MVP Robert Pearman:

• Microsoft Office Forum: How to import/export .NK2 to Stream_Autocomplete*.dat file for outlook 2010

Quote:

Note: Please ensure Outlook 2010 is closed.

1. Download NK2Edit from http://www.nirsoft.net
   • Please Note: The third-party product discussed here is manufactured by a company that is independent of Microsoft. We make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding this product's performance or reliability.
2. Open the old Nk2 file (associating the file with NK2 does not work with version v1.12
3. Click Save As, Change the Save as type to "Outlook 2010 AutoComplete .dat file".
4. Navigate to the following directory in the address bar within the Save As Window. %AppData%\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\RoamCache
5. Save over the current Stream_Autocomplete file.
• Note: To avoid unexpected problems, you can first back up the Stream_Autocomplete*.dat file to other place.
6. Test the AutoComplete feature.

Best Regards,

Sally Tang

Our previous post on this topic:

• MPECS Inc. Blog: Outlook 2010 – “My Address Book Is Gone” Importing The NK2 File

We mention this second option to the original process because the import process did not always work with us subsequently being stuck for a method to bring in those addresses.

It is surprising to see just how many folks use that list as their address book with their actual Contacts list being relatively empty!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Outlook 2010 – “My Address Book Is Gone” Importing The NK2 File

How many of us have heard, “My address book has disappeared!” after migrating the user to a new workstation.

We learned the hard way in the past to migrate the NK2 file, or what is called the Nickname Cache, to the new workstation _after_ creating a new one in Outlook 2007 or earlier.

With Outlook 2010, we need to go through an import process in order to get those nicknames into the user’s new Outlook mailbox setup.

• Microsoft KB980542: How to import .NK2 files into Outlook 2010

To import .nk2 files into Outlook 2010, follow these steps:

1. Make sure that the .nk2 file is in the following folder:

   %appdata%\Microsoft\Outlook

   Note The .nk2 file must have the same name as your current Outlook 2010 profile. By default, the profile name is "Outlook." To check the profile name, follow these steps:

   1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
   2. Double-click Mail.
   3. In the Mail Setup dialog box, click Show Profiles.
   4. 
   5. The original Outlook 2007 file is shown above.
2. Click Start, and then click Run.
3. In the Open box, type outlook.exe /importnk2, and then click OK. This should import the .nk2 file into the Outlook 2010 profile.
4.  
5. Note After you import the .nk2 file, the contents of the file are merged into the existing nickname cache that is currently stored in your mailbox.

Note The .nk2 file is renamed with a .old file name extension on the first start of Outlook 2010. Therefore, if you try to re-import the .nk2 file, remove the .old file name extension.

Make sure to follow the profile name verification as the import does not work if that step is not followed. The Outlook 2007 file was named Default.NK2.

Also:

Our Outlook.NK2 file did not get the .OLD extension tied onto it after the file was imported into Outlook. We could tell that the file was indeed in there because typing a letter in the TO field of a new e-mail brought up _lots_ of e-mail addresses.

Obviously our client would not have been too happy if their address book was deleted.

Now, what happens when we want to move them from this system to another system whether with Outlook 2010 or newer version of Office has yet to be seen. Given that the above KB is a “Fast Publish” article, we can only hope that an avenue to move that nickname cache between Outlook 2010 profiles or to newer Office versions will happen.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Software Installer Setup.exe Link On Companyweb

With Office 2010 being such a large install there are some difficulties around deploying Office 2010 via Group Policy.

An alternative to deploying by Group Policy is to provide users with a simple way to access the Setup.exe file.

In our case, what we have been doing is dropping a link to Setup.exe on our client’s Companyweb site.

Users will get a couple of security prompts which they can click through and then the Office setup routine will start.

The format of the link when we set it up on the site is as follows:

• file:///\\MY-SBS\ClientApps\Office2010ProPlus\Setup.exe

Once the link is created we will send out a memo to users indicating that they can find a link to the Office 2010 install on their Companyweb site.

The above screenshot would be in that memo as all users have their Internet Explorer open to the Companyweb page.

Note that this method can only be used with an Open License version of Office.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Microsoft Office 2010 And SharePoint – Add Server Button To Quick Access

When working with Microsoft Office documents located on a local or remote SharePoint library we are discovering that we need to know the Check In/Out status of the document either being opened or worked on.

To do that click on the arrow that points down just to the right of the Quick Access Toolbar (Customize Quick Access Toolbar).

The command we are after is not to be found in any of the button groups after clicking More Commands…

Change the Choose commands from: list to All Commands.

Click on the first item in the commands list and hit the “S” key on the keyboard to drop down to the commands that start with that letter.

After finding Server click the Add button to get the command into the Quick Access Toolbar.

Once the Server command is on the Quick Access Toolbar we will have easy access to the needed SharePoint related information.

The problem that we were running into had to do with a document being saved and closed but for some reason not being checked back in. If the document is checked out, and someone attempts to open that document and edit it, even the same user editing it from another location, the user will run into Read Only and “Notify when available” messages.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Office 2010 OPK is Now a Download

As a registered System Builder with the Microsoft OEM Partner Centre (sic), we gain access to reselling Microsoft’s OEM products.

In the case of Office 2007, we needed to obtain a kit from one of our Canadian distribution points that contained the necessary install media, licensing information, and the deployment toolkit.

Now, that kit is available as a download from the OEM System Partner Centre (sic).

After clicking the above link, we see:

We have had a few clients that have asked for French language versions of products in the past, but for the most part we deal with English speaking and writing clients.

Once we click on the English download, we are greeted with the following:

Answer any of these questions incorrectly, and a rubric shows up indicating that we cannot qualify. So, we went through and made sure we were in the right with the above answers.

Office Starter 2010 is a non-starter for us. ;)

We do not do a lot of OEM licensed products. Pretty much all of the OEM licensing are for one-off situations as is the case here.

Okay, so we go through and answer the above questions. We then have to sign the System Builder Download License Agreement. It is a bit of a read, so be prepared to either PDF it, or print it off to go through before signing it as the session will likely time out by the time we read it all.

Once through all of the above steps, we finally had our download on the way:

Once we have the OPK downloaded, we can load the software on a new system and also sell our client a Product Key Card.

From Microsoft:

Purchase a Product Key Card to activate preloaded Microsoft® Office 2010 software on this PC. Product Key Cards provide one installation for one preloaded PC only.

The Product Key Card part numbers for us in Canada are:

• Office Home Standard 2010: 79G-02020
• Office Home Business 2010: T5D-00295
• Office Professional 2010: 269-14834

Now that we have all of that figured out, we can get a PKC for Office Home Business 2010 for our client.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Some Office 2010 Resources

A trial copy of Office 2010 is available for download.

• Evaluation Center: Download Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010
• Evaluation is for 60 days.
• Trial product must be uninstalled prior to installing RTM.
• Evaluation Version Release Notes.

The Office 2010 user guides are a good source for learning the product’s various abilities.

• Microsoft Download Center: Office 2010- Product Guides

We manage our client’s Microsoft Office deployments using Group Policy. To do so, we need to create and link a custom GPO and import the respective templates into that GPO.

• Microsoft Download Center: Office 2010 Administrative Templates and OCT

Since there are now two architecture based versions of Office, one for x86 (32bit) and amd64/x64 (64bit), we need to be mindful of any caveats to running the newly created 64bit version.

• Microsoft Download Center: 64-bit Client Installation of Office 2010
• MSDN: What is the difference between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office 2010?

And finally, Microsoft has simplified the number of versions of Office down to three.

• Office 2010: Which suite is right for you?

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Channel 9: Top 5 Features in Microsoft PowerPoint 2010

If you have a few minutes to kill and would like to have a look at some of the new features in PowerPoint 2010, then check out this Channel 9 video:

• Channel 9: Top 5 Features in Microsoft PowerPoint 2010

Doug Thomas who is a content producer for Office.com goes through and explains each of the key features now included in PowerPoint.

The video is also a good place to send client users when it comes time to introduce them to PowerPoint 2010 and its new features.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Installing Office 2010 RTM Requires Prerelease Uninstall First And 64bit From 32bit Rule

Just as has been the case in previous Release To Market products, Office 2010 will require that the Release Candidate or Beta versions of the product be uninstalled prior to running the install:

Setup Errors

Setup is unable to proceed due to the following error(s):

Microsoft Office 2010 does not support upgrading from a prerelease version of Microsoft Office 2010. You must first uninstall any prerelease versions of Microsoft Office 2010 products and associated technologies.

Correct the issue(s) listed above and re-run setup.

Fortunately we do not have a lot of workstations with the Release Candidate installed so the time required to “correct the issues” will not be too consuming.

One more thing to keep in mind too:

If there is a plan to use the 64bit version of Office 2010, then any installed 32bit of Office will need to be removed prior to the install too.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Office Professional Plus 2010 RTM Available Via TechNet/MSDN

Yes, we are a bit behind on things. We have been _that_ busy lately.

Office Pro Plus 2010 is available in both 64bit and 32bit flavours on the TechNet and MSDN download sites for subscribers.

We have our 64bit version coming down now with the 32bit version to follow later.

It will be interesting to see what bugs we encountered that were addressed and those that were not.

All in all, Office 2010 is a big step in the right direction for productivity here in our shop.

The Word 2010 Navigation Pane is awesome for jumping around our client audits to get to certain pieces of info quickly. When we open the same document in Word 2007 we end up taking a bit more time to either jump down by page or search.

The changes to the ribbon seemingly take what was really good about the Office 2003 GUI and blended it into the Office 2007/2010 ribbon structures. We like the changes there.

We _really_ appreciate the ability to get more than one Exchange account into Outlook 2010. That feature request has been around for _a long_ time!

Congratulations to the Office Team for what looks to be a great product version! Good job folks!

Now to figure out how to tweak our Group Policy scripts to look for both 64bit and 32bit versions when delivering Office via GP settings!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Excel 2010 – Multiplies Cells Containing Formula Results with a Slightly Off Result?

Okay, this is just plain weird:

That calculation is taking a raw number “8” and multiplying it by the result of a series of calculations found in the second cell with the result of “$20.55”.

The end result states that 8 * 20.55 is 164.38 which for most of us seems to be really wrong. Especially for a program that is supposed to do this right!

So, just how do we “fix” this?

A quick search turned up the culprit:

Under File –> Tools –> Advanced we find the Set precision as displayed setting.

When we enable it and click OK Excel becomes quite unhappy about it:

 Microsoft Excel

Data will permanently lose accuracy.

Well, be that as it may, that “loss in accuracy” helps the old human brain to see what it really needs to see:

 

That is the expected result! This works for all versions of Excel too.

The solution was found here:

• CPearson.com: Rounding Errors In Microsoft Excel 97

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Office 2010 Beta – A Step In The Right Direction

Indeed, the Dev Team has fixed one of the most critical problems with the Release Candidate!

The above screenshot is of our own audit notes opened from a remote SharePoint library.

Since we use SharePoint a lot for our document collaboration, having the ability to open SharePoint documents remotely is absolutely critical to the way we do business. That bug put a quick end to the use of Office 2010 Release Candidate in our company.

It looks as though that will change as of tonight!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Office 2010 Beta Available For Download For TechNet Subscribers

It’s official, the Office 2010 Beta has arrived . . . at least for TechNet Plus subscribers:

We shall soon see if Microsoft has addressed some of the issues that plagued us with the Release Candidate as the Beta has been downloaded and will be trialed on the Asus Eee PC that is here in Calgary with me.

Our main concerns:

• Remote documents stored in a SharePoint library will open properly.
• Outlook Search does not keep breaking.
• Recurring Calendar items do not get deleted when only one in the series is deleted.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Installing Office 2010 Technical Preview x64

Office 2010 will now be in two architectural flavours: x86 32bit and x64 64bit.

What does that mean exactly?

Well, in the case of the Office 2010 Technical Preview, which is seemingly retail, it means this:

Setup Error

You cannot install the 64-bit version of Office 2010 because you have 32-bit Office products installed. These 32-bit products are not supported with 64-bit installations:

• Microsoft Office Project Professional 2007
• Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007
• Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007
• Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007

Hopefully the Open License version of the software that we will distribute via Group Policy will take care of the uninstalls properly.

More to come on Office 2010 . . .

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer