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Table of Contents

  1. Administrivia
  2. Definitions
  3. Technical Stuff
  4. Third Party Software and Add-Ons
  5. The End
  6. The Ed Crowley Server Move Method
  7. The Ed Crowley Never Restore Method
  8. How to Upgrade from Exchange 5.0 to Exchange 5.5 SP4
  9. What to Do *Before* You Post
  10. How to Change the Exchange Service Account
  11. Why PST = BAD
  12. Microsoft Outlook Web Access HOWTO
  13. How to Configure the IIS SMTP Service as a Mail Relay
  14. Monitoring Queues
  15. Martin Blackstone's List of Danger
  16. How to: Move a Microsoft Exchange 5.5 Site to a new NT domain


Other FAQs

Exchange 2007 FAQ
Exchange 2003 FAQ
Exchange 2000 FAQ
Exchange 5.5 FAQ


FAQs / Exchange 5.5 / What to Do *Before* You Post

01


Keep it generally on topic. Just think how much we could be learning about Exchange 2000 if we weren't all dealing with the 80%+ off-topic bickering, blathering, and bantering on this list.

Consult the documentation included with the product. The documentation generally does a good job explaining most of the basics. Besides the printed material, please don’t forget to check the manuals supplied on the distribution media and Readme.txt files in the product directory on your hard disk drive. Don't forget the Exchange Books Online. This is a friendly reminder that the odds of a sarcastic response or outright flaming go up significantly if the answer to your question is easily found in the index or table of contents of these resources.

Check the Microsoft Knowledge Base. The Microsoft Knowledge Base is a huge collection of text articles that document many of the most common problems, bugs, and questions that Microsoft Technical Support has encountered. You can access the Microsoft Knowledge Base on the Web at http://support.microsoft.com/, or through FTP from ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/bussys/winnt/kb if you already know the article ID. You can also send an email to mshelp@microsoft.com with "Qxxxxxxx" in the subject line (where Qxxxxxx is the number such as Q123456) and it will be sent to you.

Check the online troubleshooters information on TechNet. The support troubleshooters were written by technical support specialists to help users with common problems. The troubleshooters for Exchange may be found in the Troubleshooters section of the Microsoft Technical Support Page

Check the FAQ for the product you are using (most products have a technical FAQ) and this mailing list is no exception. As a side note: please encourage those who post frequently asked questions that are covered in the FAQ to get and read the FAQ! If you don’t do this, people will keep posting those same questions over and over. Help us break this cycle of over-dependency on knowledgeable and kind-hearted newsgroup users. The current copy of the FAQ is maintained at http://www.swinc.com/resource/exch_faq.htm. This link is in the footer of every list message as well.

Read through the existing list and newsgroup content. You probably aren’t alone. In fact if you are working with Exchange 5.0 (gasp!) or Exchange 5.5, 99.99999% of the questions have already been asked. These products have not changed in over a year. Many people run into the same problems, and chances are good that others have already discussed the issue you need help with. List archives are available from http://www.swynk.com and http://mlarchive.ima.com/msexchange/index.html. Newsgroup archives are available from http://groups.google.com/. A CD copy of the Archives is also available for purchase so that you can search to your heart's content without consuming one bit of bandwidth.

For those of you just joining the list... Give it a few hours to start delivering mail. Your topic may already be under discussion. This is especially true if you are looking for information on a virus/worm/etc., but is also true of questions about third party products, backups, and all the other things in the FAQ. Again, a good way to up your odds of receiving an invitation to dinner from Cthuhlu, a smack from Chris' bat, Missy's 6" heels on your toes, or the collective raspberry of the list is to post a question asking something that was answered mere minutes ago. Since many people lurk for years before posting, there is no way to know you have only been around for 10 minutes. Rest assured you are not receiving "special" treatment.

Thoroughly test the problem you are encountering. You are more likely to get some useful help if you can speak intelligently about the problem you are having, and what you have done to try and fix or get around the problem.

When posting, make sure you give a detailed description of the problem, as well as include your configuration information, operating system revision level (including any installed service packs), and steps taken to resolve the issue. Helping each other with problems and questions is what this list is all about. If you have done your homework, you will probably be met with helpful responses to your inquiry.

The subject of your post should describe the problem. For example, use a subject line like "Exchange 5.5 database size does not change" rather than "HELP!!!" Share successful resolutions with the list. If you get six answers to a problem, post back to the topic if one of them worked particularly well. Consider forwarding the resolution to the problem to ExFAQ@swinc.com for inclusion in future FAQs.

Consider carefully whether posting is the most appropriate way to get the answer. There are many ways to find answers without forcing thousands of people to read your question (and several helpful volunteers to spend time responding).

Remember, this is a peer support mailing list. You should not expect a speedy response, or expect a response at all. If you do not receive a response to your question, the problem may be badly stated, or an answer may be unknown by those who have read it. Have patience and be polite.

Remember to respect the time of others. This is a list of peers, not a free training course, nor a hand-holding exercise for the excessively bored. There is a phenomenal amount to be learned from the collective knowledge of this list (in particular from the archives - almost everything has been discussed more than twice, even *your* question - really!). Just like you shouldn't approach a seminar in Elizabethan Poetry without knowing how to read, neither should you expect to be coddled here. Cogent thoughts, the ability to synthesize ideas and formulate complete sentences will take you far.

Lastly, maintain a thick skin and remember that the people on the mailing list have distinct personalities that may or may not be readily apparent, and may take some getting used to. Remember that you may meet any one of these people in person someday - it is a strangely small world. (with deference to Daniel who contributed large parts of this as an article for the newsgroups)

Last Updated by Simpler-Webb on 8/7/2003 1:59:40 PM (QID #1194)
Categories: Exchange 5.5/What to Do *Before* You Post |