[Samba] Error in documentation: Samba 3 By Example: Chapter 5 - Making Users Happy in re: Outlook

[Jonathan Johnson]

Chapter 5 of Samba 3 By Example (
http://www.samba.org/samba/docs/man/Samba-Guide/happy.html ) states thusly:

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Configuration of MS Outlook to Relocate PST File

Microsoft Outlook can store a Personal Storage file, generally known as
a PST file. It is the nature of email storage that this file grows, at
times quite rapidly. So that users' email is available to them at every
workstation they may log onto, it is common practice in well-controlled
sites to redirect the PST folder to the users' home directory. Follow
these steps for each user who wishes to do this.

Note
It is presumed that Outlook Express has been configured for use.

Launch Outlook Express 6. Click Tools->Options->Maintenance->Store
Folder->Change.

Follow the on-screen prompts to relocate the PST file to the desired
location.

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First, it should be noted that the above documentation is confusing, as
it first mentions Outlook then mentions Outlook Express. I recommend
updating the documentation:

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Configuration of MS Outlook to Relocate PST File

Microsoft Outlook can store a Personal Folders file, generally known as
a PST file. It is the nature of email storage that this file grows, at
times quite rapidly. So that users' email is available to them at every
workstation they may log onto, it is common practice in well-controlled
sites to redirect the PST folder to the users' home directory. Follow
these steps for each user who wishes to do this.

To redirect the Outlook PST file in Outlook 2003 (older versions of
Outlook are slightly different), follow these steps:

1. Close Outlook.

2. From the control panel, launch the Mail icon

3. Click Email Accounts

4. Make a note of the location of the PST file(s). From this location,
move the files to the desired location.

5. Add a new data file, selecting the PST file in the desired location.
Give this entry (not the filename) a different name such as "Personal
Folders - on server"

6. Close the Data Files window and click Email Accounts.

7. Select View or Change existing email accounts then click Next

8. Change the Mail Delivery Location to the "new" data file.

9. Go back to the Data Files window and delete the "old" data file entry.

Note that you may have to remove and reinstall Outlook Address Book
(Contacts) entries, otherwise the user may be unable to retrieve
contacts when addressing a new email message.

NOTE: Outlook Express store files are quite different from Outlook store
files. Outlook Express store files can not be redirected to network
shares (the options panel won't allow it), but they can be moved to
folders outside the user's profile, or excluded from synchronization
with the roaming profile. While it is possible to redirect the data
stores by editing the registry, experience has shown that data
corruption and loss of messages will result. Like Outlook store files,
Outlook Express store files can become quite large, and when used with
roaming profiles can result in excruciatingly long login and logout
times while the stores are synchronized. For this reason, it is
recommended not to use Outlook Express in a roaming profiles environment.

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To expand on the last note about Outlook Express -- using OE's tools (as
described in the confusing documentation above) will allow you to change
the location where the OE store files are kept. However, it will only
permit you to change it to a local drive. This path is stored in the
registry. I have attempted to change to a network path via the registry,
which indeed does take, but I've run into problems. It seems that
Outlook Express expects very fast response when reading these files. If
there is any lag at all, such as you might find across a network, it
assumes the files are unavailable and creates new, blank store files.
Old messages are effectively lost, and cannot be retrieved without the
use of third-party mailbox recovery tools. If you ask me, that's sloppy
and irresponsible programming on Microsoft's part -- but then again,
maybe it's intentional to force you to buy Outlook.

-- 
--Jon Johnson
Sutinen Consulting, Inc.
www.sutinen.com
(360) 270-9317 cell