Bring back SharePoint if WSS folder gets deleted

I had a developer working on an install script for a project and part of it was to clear out old files and write the new ones in its place. As part of that the script deleted the entire WSS directory killing SharePoint 2010. Luckily this did not touch the SQL Server that hosts all the databases (I had a backup even if it did though). To restore your SharePoint environment in this case with the least amount of effort is to disconnect the web frontend server from the farm and then rejoin the server. It doesn’t even require a reboot. Everything will be up and running in a matter of minutes.

 

Lync PowerPack

Today I came across the Lync PowerPack which is part of the Microsoft Lync Adoption and Training Kit. This has some really cool features. My favorites are:

1. IM an Expert- Have you ever been working on something an needed to get a quick answer from an person in your company who is an expert in that subject matter? I know I have had to ask a few developers some questions. Wouldn’t it be nice to just send out one IM and not have to go to two or three people for the right answer? IM an expert handles the searching for you and gets the IM to the right person for the question

2. Tabbed Conversation- Before switching to Lync out company was using Live messenger and of of the cool things is that you could have all your conversations in one place. With Lync each conversation is in a new window. Not anymore. You can install this client side add-in and it puts them all in a tabbed view. One note about this one is that once you install it you have to go to the start menu and run the program once to get it working.

3. Conversation Translator- This is helpful is your company has people worldwide who don’t all speak the same language. Now Lync can translate for you.

4. Lync Custom Intranet Site- This is a great resource for the Lync Admin. Instead of having to answer questions from every user they can point people on one site that will help them all. Of coarse there will be some things that this won’t answer but it will answer the repeat questions.

There are a few other great tools that everyone should check out if you are running Lync. Most of these are client side tools and require nothing from the Lync admin, and that also means that they should be useable with hosted versions of Lync.

 

Auto Archive missing

Have to tried to turn on Auto-Archiving in Outlook to notice that the option is just not there? You checked on the folder, tried from the ribbon, and even went into the options menu and it is just gone! This is because of a feature in Exchange called online Archiving. This feature requires an enterprise CAL. This is set by the administrator on a per user basis. This allows for a few great benefits.

1. You can access your archive from multiple computers even Outlook Web Access!

2. Old emails are stored on the server instead of in a PST file on the computer. This saves space on your machine and incase a laptop goes missing or the hard drive fails the emails are safe on the server not lost on the machine.