Tips to Troubleshoot MS Calendar Woes

1. Tips to Troubleshoot MS Calendar Woes Kevin Szady Director of Technical Services Coyote Creek Consulting

2. Agenda • Polling Question • Meeting problems and calendar performance • Delegates and calendar permissions • Mobile devices and calendar issues • Best practices and common Outlook switches • Q&A

3. Polling Question How many hours per month do you spend troubleshooting end-user calendar issues? • 0-1 hour • 1-5 hours • 5-10 hours • 10-15 hours • Over 15 hours

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5. Meeting Problems and Calendar Performance -- Scenario • Mark has 2 delegates • Both send and accept his meetings • Problem with recurring meeting that’s frequently updated/modified • Mark’s delegates use • Outlook 2007 SP1 • Entourage on a MAC (and manages Mark’s calendar through OWA) • Mark runs Outlook 2007 SP2.

6. Meeting Problems and Calendar Performance -- Scenario • Both delegates have server-side rules • Filter meeting invites to a folder called “Meeting Invites” at the root of the mailbox. • Mark travels frequently • Sometimes accepts meeting invites or makes changes to recurring appointments on his iPhone.

7. Key Facts About the Scenario • Mark uses Outlook SP2 • His delegates use Outlook 2007 SP1 and OWA • Both delegates use server- side rules to move meeting invites out of the inbox and into a subfolder at the root of the mailbox • Mark uses his mobile device to update this recurring meeting • Mark has more than one delegate

8. Identifying Corrupt Calendar Items • Open the calendar and sort by View > All Appointments • Create a test calendar folder at the root of the mailbox • Move all calendar items from the default Outlook calendar to the test folder • Items that will not move are corrupt. The organizer should delete and re-create them • Once corrupt items have been identified and removed, move all items back to the default Outlook Calendar

9. Remove Corrupt Calendar Items and Stuck Reminders • If Outlook will not let you delete a corrupt item, use MFCMapi • Download and install MFCMapi from Microsoft website (see Guide) • Open mailbox and expand the root container, then expand Top of Information Store • Right click on the calendar or reminders folder. • Select Open Contents table • Delete the corrupt item from the mailbox • Follow the same process for removing reminders by expanding the reminders container

10. Remove Corrupt Calendar Items and Stuck Reminders • Abnormally large meetings can continue to replicate once they become corrupt • Can cause significant Outlook performance issues • This meeting was over 560 MB and resulted in the mailbox being closed due to quota limits • If Outlook crashes or hangs use MFCMapi to correct

11. Outlook Logging • Use to troubleshoot Mail or calendar issues • Go to Tools >Options >Other>AdvancedOptions • Restart Outlook • Logs located at: “c:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Temp\Outlook Logging” for Windows Vista and Windows 7. “c:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Temp\Outlook Logging” for XP • Turn Logging off when done

12. Delegates and Calendar Permissions -- Scenario • Mark recently started working with a new Executive Admin -- Amy • He delegates control of his calendar to Amy • His former Admin, Beth continues to receive meeting invites sent to Mark • Mark has also noticed that several other users are able to view his calendar, as well as other folders in his mailbox

13. Troubleshooting Delegates and Calendar Permissions • There are no permissions showing for Beth in Mark’s Calendar • The previous delegate entry for Beth has been removed from Mark’s Outlook properties • Beth continues to receive meeting invites sent to Mark • This can happen if: • Beth has permission somewhere else in Mark’s calendar that may not be visible when viewing in Outlook. • Permission has been given at the root of the mailbox or on a sub folder. • Use PF Dav Admin to check and remove Beth from all folders

14. Troubleshooting Delegates and Calendar Permissions • Use PFDAVAdmin to examine all folders and subfolders • Expand the user • Open Top of Information Store • Right click all folders and remove permission for users no longer needing it • Permissions that are not always visible in Outlook will be visible with PFDAVAdmin

15. Mobile Devices and Calendar Issues-- Scenario • Mark’s Admin is trying to sync his mobile device before a long business trip • She has rebooted the device multiple times but the calendar starts to sync then everything disappears • After rebooting multiple times the problem persists • When looking at the Mark’s Calendar we see: • Over 5,000 individual items in the Calendar • Mark has multiple PowerPoint attachments on multiple meetings • There are several recurring meetings without an end date

16. Troubleshooting Mobile Devices and Calendar Issues • Update the device’s firmware, reboot it and re-create the mobile profile. • Archive the calendar to reduce the overall item count • Remove all large attachments and store them on the client’s local computer or on a network share • Change the settings for items to sync a week or two of calendar items only • If all else fails, check both the contacts and calendar folder for corrupt items by moving everything off to a temp folder then back again.

17. Outlook Switches Outlook.exe /cleanfreebusy Outlook.exe /cleanreminders Outlook.exe /safe Outlook.exe /resetfoldernames. Outlook.exe /cleanviews Outlook.exe /cleanrules

18. Calendar Best Practices DO • Always process meeting invites from the Inbox • Assure that users and their delegates are all running Outlook 2007 SP2 or later • Avoid making frequent updates to recurring meetings • Make sure recurring meetings have an end date • No more than 12 months out

19. Calendar Best Practices, Cont’d DON’T • Forward meeting invites unless you are the owner • Have more than one delegate • Designate only one person to receive and accept meeting invites for you • You can share your calendar with others without giving them delegate access • Use OWA or mobile devices to update meetings that have been processed by Outlook

20. Q&A

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