M365 on Anything About IT

Microsoft Threat Protection – Using advanced hunting to see what's going on with your mail

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 22:09:35 +0000

Last December Microsoft introduced Microsoft Threat Protection (MTP) including advanced hunting that allows us to run queries across multiple data sources i.e. Microsoft Defender ATP and Office 365 ATP. If you haven’t heard yet about MTP I recommend reading Christian Müller’s blog post Microsoft Threat Protection – unified huntingNow while the primary purpose of the unified hunting capability is to find information about indicators and entities, we can also use it to get an overview of what’s going on inside the systems that feed information into MTP i.e. Office 365. So, I created a few simple queries that summarizes various attributes from the EmailEvents table.

Stay in Control of AzureAD Enterprise Application registrations with Cloud App Security

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 22:33:04 +0000

Azure Active Directory provides a simple process that provides users with a single sign-on (SSO) experience for accessing cloud-based applications using their AzureAD identity. This is a great capability as it removes the need for users to manage multiple identities while enterprises keep visibility and if needed control over which applications are used by their employees.

By default, all users within Azure Active Directory have the rights to register an application and users can allow consent to apps accessing company data on their behalf.

New Group Policy Settings for Office 365

Fri, 02 May 2014 17:58:18 +0000

On April 28th 2014 Microsoft finally released an fix for the Office 2013 SP1 Office customization tool as the version released with SP1 caused some issues with Lync 2013 and OneDrive for Business. But there’s more in this update.A few new Group Policy settings for Office 365 are included as well.

Important. These new Group Policy settings only apply to Office 365 (click to run installations) and not to Office 2013 MSI based installations. The reason for this is because the settings relate to the update mechanism that’s build in to the Office 365 product.

Theme Configuration Group Policy support for Office 2013

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 21:29:49 +0000

As announced on the Office IT Pro blog a few days ago, there are updated Office 2013 administrative templates and Office updates that allow an administrator to pre-configure the Office 2013 Theme.

The term pre-configure is important, because the setting only applies as long as the user has not changed the theme before themselves via the GUI. When configuring the Theme via Group Policy, User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Microsoft Office 2013 \ Global Options Customize \ Default UI Theme, the setting is stored under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\15.0\common\default ui theme

How to partially remove the SkyDrive option in Office 2013 using Group Policy

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:05:46 +0000

If you have tried out the Office 2013 Preview you probably noticed the SkyDrive integration within the File Open and Save dialogs in Word, Excel and other Office Applications. Personally have started using SkyDrive all the time, but I can imagine that some companies rather do not want to see their users storing sensitive data on SkyDrive. So I wondered if this option could be disabled.

Well apparently there is a Group Policy setting for this called “Show SkyDrive Sign in” located under User Configuration / Policies / Administrative Templates / Microsoft Office 2013 / Miscellaneous

Microsoft Office 2010 System End User Training Toolkit

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:26:13 +0000

In addition to the Office 2010 Migration Guides that are available since a while Microsoft recently published the Microsoft Office 2010 System End User Training Toolkit. The Microsoft Office 2010 End User Training Kit is a set of end-user training content for Microsoft Office 2010 and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. Users can either download the full Office 2003 to 2010 or 2007 to 2010 upgrade Toolkit or select a training toolkit for an individual Office Application only.

Tip: Remove Redundant Messages from Outlook 2010

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:10:23 +0000

The title says it all, if you’re suffering from too much e-mail Outlook 2010 provides a nice feature to get rid of redundant messages with just a few clicks. Before trying this out, I suggest you read this article so you understand what is happening here and if you have some time watch the demo here.

Tip: How to extract Office 2010 Customization file content (MSP)

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:33:56 +0000

If you have an Office 2010 installation that is customized by use of the Office customization tool the customizations are stored within an MSP file that uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) format.

To extract the content you can use a vbscript that Microsoft has published on TechNet - View Office Customization Tool output in Office 2010

Simply copy paste the code provided within the article into a file called ExtractOctXml.vbs and then run the following command to extract the content:

How to disable Office Ribbon Items using Group Policy

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:20:56 +0000

Today I am going to show you how to disable a Ribbon Item using Group Policy, Okay, what’s the deal you might think, simply find the item within the Office GPO settings and enable it. Right,almost, it’s just that Microsoft didn’t list all possible settings within the Office ADMX/ADML file, probably because there are too many of them. But there is a setting called “Disable command bar buttons and menu items” that you can enable and specify the Ribbon Policy ID.

Tip: Broadcast your PowerPoint Presentation

Wed, 04 May 2011 18:59:09 +0000

Did you know that with PowerPoint 2010 you can broadcast your presentation over the internet? Well I didn’t. And I must say this is a really cool feature, especially when taking into account that sometimes it can be quite a challenge to get multiple participants join a virtual conference like Microsoft Live Meeting or similar live conference system. (especially when you collaborate with customers that work in a locked down environment and can’t install things themselves).

Office Communicator–Do Not Disturb

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:15:17 +0000

Nowadays most enterprises use some sort of instant messaging solution like Jabber or Microsoft Office Communicator which now is called Microsoft Lync.

While there are many advantages in using an instant messaging client such as quickly asking someone for information instead of writing an e-mail, or check someone’s availability for a short phone call, there are also some disadvantages. First people always expect to get an immediate response, second there is a risk that people get too much sidetracked.

ToolTip: Office 2010 Resource Kit Technical Library in Compiled Help format

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:10:42 +0000

For those that frequently need access to the Office 2010 Resource Kit, here’s an offline version available as downloadable CHM file. Download from here

In case you can’t open the CHM file, select file properties and Unlock the file.

ReadTip: Planning guide for Microsoft Office 2010

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:33:56 +0000

For anyone who is somehow involved in a Office 2010 deployment planning I strongly recommend reading the Planning Guide for Microsoft Office 2010. Microsoft just released an updated version. Don’t be shocked, the document counts 458 pages, but does contain a lot of useful and interesting information.

And in case you aren’t aware already about the KMS requirements for Office 2010, read the Office 2010 KMS Server Requirements blog post, I mention this often when speaking about Windows 7, Office 2010 and KMS, and it keeps being a big surprise.

ReadTip: Microsoft Office 2010 - Under the Hood Investments for Hardware and Performance

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:04:57 +0000

This whitepaper highlights the broad range of hardware supported by Microsoft® Office 2010 and describes the significant improvements in performance available in Office 2010. Results from internal testing by Microsoft are included to demonstrate the measurable performance gains users can experience when performing common tasks using different Office 2010 applications. These results indicate that in some cases uses can expect performance gains of 90% or higher compared with using corresponding Office 2007 applications.

ToolTip: UbitMenu for Office 2007 and 2010

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:46:29 +0000

For those that do still struggle with the Office Ribbon here’s a nice add-on from Ubit Software that brings back the classic menu for Office 2007 and Office 2010.

UbitMenu for Office 2007 and 2010 is free for private use. Download UbitMenu from here

ToolTip: Interactive menu to ribbon guide

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:58:07 +0000

Having difficulties finding menu and toolbar commands in Office 2010? Here’s a nice tool called the Interactive menu to ribbon guide. You can either download the offline versions here or access the guide directly from the web here.

ReadTip: For IT professionals: Deployment guide for Microsoft Office 2010

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:33:09 +0000

Microsoft recently published a deployment guide for Microsoft Office 2010. The content in this book is a copy of selected content from the Office 2010 Resource Kit Technical library. Download the guide from here

ReadTip: How Microsoft IT deployed Office 2010

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:15:38 +0000

If you are planning deploying Office 2010 throughout an enterprise read this.

ReadTip: Deployment guide for Microsoft Office 2010

Tue, 04 May 2010 19:43:34 +0000

This book covers information about the fundamentals of Deploying Microsoft Office 2010. Get it here

Office 2010 Administrative Template files and Office Customization Tool

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:06:40 +0000

Microsoft published the Office 2010 Administrative Template files (ADM, ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool. Get it from here

Office 2010 Resources

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:48:15 +0000

On march 4th Microsoft communicated on their Office 2010 Engineering blog that they are on Schedule with Office 2010 and will release it to manufacturing next month. For Enterprise customers Office 2010 will be available as of May 12th, consumers will get Office 2010 in June.

Microsoft Office 2010 Site

Planning, configuration, deployment and compatibility guides can be found here

Microsoft Office ONRAMP Site

Office OnRamp is the BPIO execution package that launches Office 2010 to the Enterprise business. Office OnRamp helps you drive the conversations you need to have with TDMs, ITPros and end users to renew EAs, drive Office 2010 deployment and win new EA business. OnRamp provides a complete set of orchestrated activities and marketing materials that give you the tools you need to demonstrate the value of Office 2010 in the BPIO framework and WIN!

Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:33:24 +0000

…….That’s the message i got yesterday when I wanted to start Outlook 2007. I solved the problem after having found the solution on MSOutlook.info Running the following command fixed the issue.

outlook.exe /resetnavpane

A complete reference of all the Microsoft Outlook 2007 command-line switches can be found here

Office 2007 Trusted location configuration

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:14:02 +0000

When opening an Excel file that contains macros, Microsoft Excel 2007 shows a security warning as shown in the picture below and disables the macros.

To continue using the Excel sheet and its macros, you must first enable then by clicking on the “Options…” button and selecting the “Enable this content” option. This is quite annoying if you must use that same file on a regular basis. You could of course completely disable this security warning on your entire system, but then there is a risk of opening content once that could contain unwanted code.

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Silent Install

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:57:41 +0000

Being one of the lucky ones who was able to sign-up to the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview program, I have started looking at the deployment of Microsoft Office 2010 today.

My first observation was that unfortunately the provided documentation seems to be ahead of the Office Installation sources that have been made available for download. I noticed this when making an attempt to run the setup.exe /admin command which would normally launch the Office Customization Wizard, but it wouldn’t because the necessary components that are usually located within the Admin folder aren’t available yet, in fact the whole Admin folder as such seems to be missing. OK, so no advanced customizations for now, back to basic.

ToolTip – Forgotten Attachments Detector

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:50:51 +0000

You probably all know this one. You write an e-mail that mentions an attachment and you send it out. Then a few minutes later, one of the recipients who actually did read your mail properly replies, telling you that there was no document attached. So you end up replying to all with the document mentioned attached and apologizing for not having it attached in your first message.

Today when I was actually searching for something totally different, but related to MS Office 2007, I came across the “Forgotten Attachment Detector” add-in for Outlook.

Removing large size content from outlook calendar

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:11:36 +0000

Most companies put storage limits on their users mailboxes. To avoid full mailboxes, some periodic housekeeping is required. This can be done by either using the archiving function or by deleting content manually.

To identify calendar entries with large attachments, select your calendar, select View, then Current View, then Outlook Data files. Then click on the “size” column to sort the calendar entries by size.

You should now see the calendar entries sorted by its size and start deleting those items that are not needed anymore.

Compaq Deskpro 486

Sun, 31 May 2009 17:42:59 +0000

For those who read my blog, know that from time to time a like to look back in history. Today I’ve found the Compaq Deskpro 486/33M Demo video. I remember well when we used these machines at our office. In fact Compaq had a very good concept in place in these days, allowing you to easily upgrade individual parts like the processor or graphics board without the need to replace the entire unit.

Microsoft Office Labs

Sat, 23 May 2009 09:10:17 +0000

What technologies will we use in the near future, how will our work environment look like? Watch the video below or explore the Microsoft Office Labs web site and see how Microsoft thinks this is going to look like.

Microsoft Office 2010

Sat, 16 May 2009 00:12:04 +0000

Office 2010 is underway. If you’re interested to join the technical preview, register yourself on the Office 2010 website. http://www.office2010themovie.com/

As announced on TechEd, the limited technical preview program will kick of in July 2009. For more information read the Office 2010 blog.

Office 2007 Service Pack 2 – All you need to know

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:10:29 +0000

Just came across these nice blog posts about the new Office 2007 Service Pack 2:

Office 2007 Service Pack 2 Kiosk

Office 2007 Service Pack 2 Kiosk, with more staples

More about Microsoft product lifecycles

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:10:52 +0000

As I wrote the previous blog entry I started thinking about all the other products I come across in my daily professional life and started creating the table shown below.

For those that are still running Windows 2000 Server systems, it’s about time to start migrating these because next year the extended support will end.

More product lifecycle information can be found on the Microsoft Product Lifecycle site.

v:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} x:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}

Classic Menu in Microsoft Word 2007

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 15:34:43 +0000

With the release of the Office 2007 suite, Microsoft made some radical changes to the UI. Gone were the menus and toolbars, replaced by the “Ribbon”

I’ve seen many users (including myself) struggling with the new user interface. It’s not that the concept of the Ribbon isn’t good, it’s rather the time it takes until you find the new location within the Ribbon to do something you have been doing for years with the old classic menu with just a few clicks.

Font Collection

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:31:33 +0000

Yesterday evening I was helping out my wife with creating some invitation cards for a children event that takes place during spring vacation. For the juniors there was a picture on the front side of the invitation that was okay, but we both decided that for the teen-agers we must use a different theme.

Finding the right picture wasn’t easy, so we decided to just write text, but to use a cool font. Although Office 2007 already comes with a large number of fonts, we were just looking for something different.

Don't send outlook messages without subject

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:13:36 +0000

This probably has happened to each of us, writing an e-mail, then added the recipients and then clicked the send button, and as you clicked it, you notice that you forgot to fill in the subject.

To prevent this from happening, I found the following script today that will bring up an alert when trying to send an e-mail without a subject.

To create the macro in Outlook 2003, go to Tools -> Macro -> Visual Basic Editor (this feature has to be installed). In Microsoft Office Outlook Objects -> ThisOutlookSession, then paste the following code:

Outlook add-in for Office Communicator

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:47:04 +0000

Those of you who work with Microsoft Outlook 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 might be interested in this one.

On the MSDN code Gallery you can find a Communicator Add In for Outlook 2007. Instead of switching between the two applications, the Add In embeds your Office Communicator contacts in Outlook 2007 as shown in the picture below.

ToolTip - Image Resizer

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:00:50 +0000

Just surfing a bit on the Internet, i get a Skype call from our friends who live in Perth Australia and asking me how to reduce the size of pictures before sending them via e-mail.

If you have Microsoft Office 2007 installed, images can be easily resized using the build-in export function.

An easy to read step by step guide for Microsoft Office Picture Manager can be found on the Towson University site.

History of Ethernet

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:38:15 +0000

We all use it every day, it’s one of the technologies that makes today’s world connected, at home, at the office over the cable and wireless it’s all Ethernet.

Watch the video below where Robert Metcalfe co-inventor of the Ethernet speaks about the history of Ethernet.

Conference Call Rules

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:38:04 +0000

As part of my job i am joining conference calls quite frequently, although whenever i can I stay away from them as mostly they aren’t productive, especially when there is more than 5 people in a call, as mostly you have 3 people having a dialogue and the rest stays quiet anyway even after the call ends :-)

But what I find most annoying and impolite is when people join that don’t understand some basic rules for participating conference calls. Noise, speaking in the background, hungry dogs are things that should be avoided when people join a conference call.

Microsoft Management Summit 2008 DVDs

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:59:35 +0000

Since a couple of days I have access to the MMS 2008 content that is available on 2 DVDs. For those that have access to it and work with Microsoft technologies, i do recommend to browse through the content and watch the recorded sessions.

I spend nearly 2 hours traveling to the office and back home per day, and watch the sessions on my laptop in the train. Till now i have captured a couple of interesting things, just by watching the sessions.