Mail format and Mailto links using Outlook Web Access OWA plus Exchange 2000 Server

[Nick Walton]

Have just installed Exchange 2000 Server at our neighbourhood level IT training facility so that we can train local people in the use of email as well as all the usual office stuff. I have been interested in using Outlook Web Access (OWA) as the client as one of my main requirements is to allow users to roam. All client PCs used by these users are running Windows 2000 Pro SP2 (with both servers running Windows 2000 Server SP2). However, in testing so far I have come across two annoying problems with OWA:

1) outbound email to the Internet is not stripped of formatting despite setting this in Exchange System Manager:

Global Settings > Internet Message Format > Message Format tab > Message encoding:
set to MIME, provide message body as plain text; Apply content settings to non-MAPI clients

The formatting is stripped if I send from the full Outllook 2000 client. The reason I know is that I send test mail to a private email address which I can access across the Internet: U-net Webmail displays email as plain text. Mostly the failure to strip formatting is not going to be a huge problem because other clients such Eudora and Outlook Express can read the formatted email. However, it is a concern and someone might just have come across a fix...

2) OWA is not launched in response to clicking on a mailtto: link on a web page. This was known to be an issue on 22 October 2000 in Knowledge Base article Q249/4/54 but no solution was suggested. I have got halfway to a fix by editing the Registered file type:

URL: MailTo Protocol
to
/exchange/?Cmd=new

This launches a new email in OWA but I cannot find any kind of command line switch which will put the contents of the mailto variable into the To: field on the new email. I have searched the MS Knowledge Base and using Google but with no success. I have also tried all manner of combinations that ought to have the right sort of syntax but with no joy. Anyone have any suggestions?


Failing the above I guess I will have to try to configure Outlook 2000 for roaming users but I'm not sure how to get the connection profile and other local files to be located in the network share owned by the user.

Any help much appreciated.

Regards,

Nick Walton
Windmill Hill Community Forum
England

[Paul R. Dittrich]

Compared to functionality of the "full" Outlook client, OWA is cripple-ware. We have struggled with it's limited abilities for years. Exchange 2000 is better but still not very good. Our latest idea is to put an Exchange server in the DMZ outside the firewall, let it replicate from the main servers inside, and let our roaming users connect to this server with the full Outlook client instead of OWA.

HTH,
Paul

[Enes Dizdarevic]

If you want to use Outlook 2000 for roaming users you can define roaming profile for users. Connection profile for outlook is part of users profile. Using Group Policy you can redirect My Documents folder to network share too, so roaming users will have their local files available. Microsoft recomends redirecting My Documents folder to network share differnt from profile share to avoid huge file transfers during logon time.

[Nick Walton]

Thanks all.