Fix for 'Rules in Error' - 'Cannot Reply to Message' for Outlook 2007 Out-Of-Office rule

I was trying to set up an out-of-office rule in Outlook 2007. If you have Exchange, this is very easy, but if you are using POP (and maybe IMAP?) account, you'd need to duplicate the effect with an email rule and leave Outlook running. You can follow the directions on Microsoft KB# 311107 to set up such an out-of-office rule without Exchange.

For Outlook 2007, I got a pop-up message with a title 'Rules in Error' indicating simply 'Cannot Reply to Message'... which was not helpful. My Outlook 2007 is up-to-date, and a Google search (example) of the error led me to believe this is actually a bug in Outlook 2007.

The rule I set up is very basic and always replies with the same template (screenshot), yet I received the error message (screenshot). Contrary to (seemingly) popular opinion, there are ways to resolve this. I have found two things to make Outlook 2007 POP3 out-of-office work.

1. Update to Office 2007 SP2 and use a plain-text Outlook template.
2. Process the rule once manually and leave Outlook running.
   

Option 1: Update to SP2 and use a plain-text template
If you read Microsoft's directions carefully, it tells you to use a Plain Text template in Outlook 2007, but it does not specify plain text template for previous versions. I made a plain text template and my out-of-office rule worked just fine.

I am running Outlook 2007 SP2, but on a computer with Outlook 2007 SP1 the out-of-office rule did not work (plain-text or not). I used option #2 (see below), but later updated to Office SP2 (available at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b444bf18-79ea-46c6-8a81-9db49b4ab6e5&displaylang=en) and used the plain text template.

So, that's one way... what's the other?

Option 2: Process the rule manually once
Thanks to this post at Lockergnome, there is another workaround. After you set up an email rule and it generates the error, the rule is disabled. The rule itself seems valid, and you can run it manually. So, restart Outlook and re-enable the rule, and run the rule once manually and apply it to your existing messages before another email is received. Voila, it works!

1. Set up the out-of-office rule
2. Close Outlook 2007
   
3. Start Outlook 2007 and click on Tools > Rules and Alerts and turn on your rule
4. Still in Rules and Alerts, click on 'Run Rules Now...' and select your out-of-office rule and click on Run Now
5. Close the Rules and Alerts and leave Outlook 2007 running

Interestingly, at least one email needs to be in your Inbox when you run the rule, or it doesn't seem to work. If you have trouble finishing these steps before the rule is applied, try disconnecting your network cable or setting Outlook to work offline.

Pros and Cons
Option 2 has the advantage of working with graphical templates and does not require updating to SP2. However, it stops working if Outlook 2007 is restarted - you'll have to run the rule manually again.

Option 1 has the advantage of being more 'reliable' -- you start Outlook 2007 and it keeps working. However, it is plain text and it may require a sizable update.

Summary
If you don't mind updating to Office 2007 SP2, you can create a plain-text Outlook template and use it with your out-of-office rule. If you object to either plain-text replies or to installing SP2, you can run the rule manually once and it should keep running.

Vista and Windows 2008 Service Pack 2 available now

You can now download the Vista and Windows 2008 Service Pack 2 installation files. The main page is here at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd262148.aspx.

• ISO for Windows Server 2008 x86/x64/ia64 and Windows Vista x86/x64
• x86 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x86
• x64 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x64
• ia64 for Windows Server 2008 ia64

Most people will want either the x86 or x64 version. I grabbed the ISO as well since I install it stand-alone so often.

Oliver is OK

Oliver is going to be O.K.

After getting a different officer, Oliver was examined on Friday by the O.C. Animal Services. Like I said, the process was triggered automatically by the doctor's visit. We have to quarantine Oliver for 10 days, and then OCAS examines him again to make sure he does not have rabies. After that, he's free again.

The dad of the girl is moving today (Tuesday) and we moved Friday. The mom made no issue of it and the dad dropped it. The little girl (her name means Princess in Hebrew) even asked to pet Oliver again and is still very attracted to doggies, so that's good.

Oliver is adjusting from the move. I have since decided that I need to be a better dog owner, so I've begun reading up on dog ownership. It's not that we've been bad to him, but I think we can, and especially I can do a better job building his confidence so he'll be less likely to respond in fear when he is surprised.

:-D

Oliver is probably moving to a shelter

So... lots of stuff happened today. First of all, Oliver bit a child yesterday. It turns out that he didn't draw blood or break skin, but he did bruise her shoulder. Yes, the child ran up to Oliver and surprised him. No, the mom didn't make an issue of it, but the dad was very upset. There were some threats of calling the police. We offered to pay for the doctor's visit, but their insurance is somehow through the Department of Health Services (DHS) so it didn't cost anything.

Because their coverage is through DHS, they automatically get a visit from Orange County Child Protective Services -- which didn't make the dad happy at all. They're a very nice family, but OCSSA doesn't know that.

While I can't find the ordinance, a couple of antedotal reports, one shelter and a OC Register story (here and here) all indicated that parents can press for Oliver to be euthanized. Unfortunately, the dad was certainly leaning towards it.

Last night, we went back and forth on keeping Oliver, giving him away, putting him down... Cathy was pretty adamant that we need to have him put down because a dog that bit will bite again. That's how we went to sleep.

Well, Cathy instant messaged me today, and we decided that we'd keep him and just move a week sooner. Now, we decided to move earlier to avoid the awkward feeling of living next to someone that... well, let's just say it is uncomfortable. We figured we'd keep Oliver and move, end of problem, and we'd just be really careful.

As it turns out, the involvement of DHS / OCSSA supposedly means the involvement of OC Animal Care Services and Olver possibly being destroyed. The idea of Oliver being hauled away by strangers and dying scared and alone in a cage in a county facility was terrible. I'd rather put him down myself when he's happy and calm than have strangers scare him and kill him.

The only no-kill shelter I found in SoCal wouldn't take a 'biter' - and I have no relatives that do not have children around. I even checked with Rhonda but she has no resources, either.

So, I came home to spend some time with Oliver before we took him to the vet ourselves. The neighbors seemed appeased at the news -- the mom was even sad for us. I said my goodbyes and then we drove Oliver to the vet.

Now, when the vet learned that Oliver bit someone, they told us that the law forbids them from euthanizing Oliver for 15 days. I thanked the receptionist and we left quickly, first in confusion and then in relief. But, the threat of Oliver being taken from us remains...

There are two pieces of good news, though. First, the doctor who examined the child indicated that some soap and water will take care of the scratches and the bruising will go away on its own. The child got a tetanus shot as well... so she is not badly injured and she does not even display fear for dogs (which isn't exactly good at this point). Second, a shelter out-of-state has offered to take Oliver, and Cathy jumped at the idea of driving or flying Oliver to the shelter.

So, if the dad doesn't press the issue, and if OCSSA doesn't call Animal Care Services, and if nothing happesn for the next two weeks, we should be OK. Cathy still wants to send Oliver to a no-kill shelter, though, as she is convinced that we'll eventually screw up and Oliver will bite someone and draw blood -- then he'll be taken away and put down and who knows what trouble we'd be in. So... we may be saying 'see you later' to our dog.

But, first, we have to get past the next two weeks...

Oliver needs a new home

OK, my dog bit a neighbor's kid. We don't want to be forced to destroy him, but we can't keep him, either. Living in an RV, there's just too many children and dogs coming and going all the time.

Do you know someone in Southern California that could help me place him? We're looking for a new home for him. Comment below, or call me, or facebook me.

The vet thinks Oliver is part Basset Hound and part Wire Hair Terrier.

He's 42 pounds, 8 or 9 years old (we're not sure as he is a rescue). He's great with our cats but he doesn't do well with kids. He ignores some dogs but can't stand others - I am not sure what the difference is.

Here's some photos:
Photo 1, Photo 2, Photo 3

Worried about Conficker?

Are you worried about Conficker? It's set to go off on April 1st.

It only affects Windows computers, so if you're running Macs or Linux machines, don't worry about it. (Mac users, don't feel too smug, as the recent PWN to OWN demonstrated an exploit of a fully updated Mac in mere seconds).

There's a fairly detailed analysis at Windows Secrets. If you think you might have Conficker, try visiting http://www.symantec.com/ or http://www.mcafee.com/; if you cannot, you may have it.

To remove Conficker, visit http://www.bdtools.net/ and download BitDefender's single-PC conficker removal tool. If that doesn't work on the infected PC, download it from another and run it on the infected PC.

If you are a network admin, go get Nmap (see also this) and run the following command:

nmap -PN -T4 -p139,445 -n -v --script=smb-check-vulns --script-args safe=1 [subnet]

where subnet is something like 192.168.1.0/24 -- you can thank Doxpara for that.

I would also suggest that you use OpenDNS. They have been blocking conficker since February, and there's more detail here. Seriously, sign up for OpenDNS if you are not using it yet; it's free and does more than just provide DNS. I've talked about them before, but not enough.

Sphincter Moments

I had a very tense morning on Friday, what my coworker refers to as a Sphincter Moment.

The Background
On Thursday, I was doing a server migration from UNIX to Windows. The UNIX server is getting really old and the hardware is no longer reliable.

The data transfers over without conversion, so I could simply send the files via FTP. For convenience, I usually collect the files into a TAR or GZIP file before sending the files. I got people out of the system at 5 PM, made sure last night's backup had ran OK, then created my TAR files for the transfer.

The Reboot
The FTP download wouldn't complete, so I investigated. The UNIX time was off by 80 minutes (no one applied the new timezone patch), and restarting TCP didn't seem to help. System uptime was 287 days, so I figured, "Well, I have two backups, I'll correct the time, reboot and see if that helps."

I flushed the disk controller's cache to disk via the sync command, then issued a shutdown and restart command. Twenty minutes later, I still can't log in and I can't ping it locally... and my contact person on site answered the phone but just left (argh).

The next morning, the client discovered that the server room was locked and nobody had the key. After getting the vice president who had the key to unlock the server room, he turned the machine back on, followed some onscreen instructions, and we were back in business.

"Oh Crap"
I went to my backup folder to try a transfer before they got busy... and my files were gone. The timezone was still wrong, and some other files and changes I made last night were missing, too. I checked the MAC address to make sure I was on the right system, but it was like someone erased all my work. "Weird," I thought, "someone deleted my changes? Oh well, I'll re-do the backup."

Then came the call, "Hey, Lee, we have nothing in our dispatch board. No appointments, period." Then the call from accounting that the fiscal year was wrong. And as I looked at the system logs, I noted that there was a huge gap between 09/25/2008 and 03/27/2009, as if the server had been off for six months. Even our databases were the same way... no data was entered after the morning of 09/25/2008.

I restored the backup from tape (as my TAR backups disappeared with everything else), and the client lost a day of work. Fortunately, it was a light day and they could re-input their data quickly. Out of the IT director, the CIO, CTO, my manager, and myself, I was the one most bent out-of-shape over the whole thing.

What Happened
We pieced it together after the fact. The IT director is new as the previous one left without warning and without leaving any passwords or configuration information. He knew the UNIX server was having problems, but not what problems.

Nobody was monitoring the RAID array, and it is a RAID-1 with a LSIL on-board controller. The LSIL had a neat feature, in that if the array is broken, both the online drive and the offline drive retain data, and the array can be rebuilt with either drive. This allows you to build an array from existing drives without losing data on the drive you copy from.

Well, DISK 0 probably went offline in 09/2008, while DISK 1 kept working. When the server restarted, it either 1) asked which drive to set as primary and defaulted to the old data on DISK 0, or 2) defaulted to DISK 0 without asking. In either case, the drive from 09/2008 became the primary, thus causing a six-month black hole.

The Moral
The moral of the story? Make sure you have backups, make sure you have OFFLINE backups, and make sure those backups can be accessed and restored -- test your backups! Thank God Almighty that the backup restored OK, or that client would be out of business within months. *whew*

NTFS event ID 55 backing up with Volume Shadow Copy (VSS)

OK, I have this client that had failed backups and event viewer showed NTFS errors with event ID 55. The event log entry suggested that I "please run the chkdsk utility on the volume \Device\HarddiskVolumeShadowCopy1".

I performed the obligatory searches of Microsoft's KB database and asked Google, and the closest I got to an exact match was an unanswered call for help on Symantec's forums.

Here's the symptoms:
Backup failed and the indicated the following errors:
Could not access portions of directory System State\COM+ Class Registration Database.
Could not access portions of directory System State\Registry.
Event Viewer showed NTFS errors with event ID 55.
I could make a copy of unopened files.
"VSSADMIN LIST WRITERS" showed no errors.
CHKDSK /F showed no errors.

EventID.NET had a suggestion but it didn't seem to apply. Microsoft has a whole bunch of articles about VSS. The most drastic suggestion was 'do a backup, format and restore' -- except, of course, I couldn't do an online backup.

Anyway, in the end, here's what worked: I emptied the recycle bin, ran disk cleanup, and everything was fine with NTBackup again. Go figure.