Win NT / Outlook Express

Richard · Feb 13, 2002

Have a friend whose work pc uses NT. She has an interest in using Outlook Express for some of her emails. Her work place has told them that they cannot ADD any new software and as such, Windows Explorer seems to be not 'available", nor is "run"...seems they have battened down the hatches on what is available to use or even see on her pc.

As I was via phone, trying to find out what was aviailable to her to try to help, we finally went into Word and browsed her C drive to find out that Outlook Express IS in fact on her machine. SOoooooooo, I told her why not try to use it..after all, her compaly said she cannot ADD any software and OE is in fact, already ON her machine, as provided to her by them.

Well, this made sense to her...so NOW, the question is, how to access it?

Her desktop as I understand it (again via phone, not seen myself) has her basic icons..Word, Excel, Netscape, though they are now changing over to IE.

The program IS on her machine, yet because of her windows explorer not being evidently accessable, nor her run command..I'm clueless as to HOW we can try to access OE, or even if it is possible.

Any thoughts/suggestons?

(if this works...does this make me a hacker?)

/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

(what if it doesn't work??)
/w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

Richard

gws · Feb 13, 2002

If she is running a locked down desktop then You may not be able to run it. At work there are some machines that are controlled. We dont want users doing anything that they are not suppose to do. If they dont need outlook they dont get to use it. even if its on their machine. You might want to find out if your friend will get in trouble if they use something they are not suppose to. Maybe they dont want people to use outlook because its one of the most buggy, virus prone software packages on the market.

Wingnut · Feb 13, 2002

if she can see the programs, then all she has to do is use one of the file managers (Explorer, I would imagine) to go to the directory and then find the outlook.exe file and doubleclick on it.
While in Explorer, she can also create a shortcut and drop it on the desktop.

Wingnut

Richard · Feb 13, 2002

I suspect the term "locked down" will describe her situation. The only thing I can say is the memo said that their tech people would NOT support nor be responsible for any software that she ADDED to the machine...as such, that is my cue that she can use it since they did not remove it!!

Richard

Richard · Feb 13, 2002

She has NO access to a file manager as far as I know. She has NO access to her "run" command in her start bar. So this avenue doesn't seem to be available. The only way she seems to have to see what is even on her c drive is through Word or someting like that where she can browse to find a file. We DID find the exe file for OE, and tryied to copy it so she could paste it to her desktop....didn't work.

I suspect the "lock down" as so aptly described above will prevent us from getting it to work.

Richard

looch · Feb 13, 2002

As the sys admin for our company, I would be somewhat irritated by any attempts to circumvent the policies that have been put in place. Your interpretation of the policy may very well be valid, but it's what I call "fishing." Besides, a company that locks down desktops like that probably has a firewall in place that prevents POP3 from reaching the internal network anyway.

You know, we don't just dream up these rules on a whim to try and make things difficult for the users.

Richard · Feb 13, 2002

I whole heartedly agree with the irritation one may feel by the fishing (I like that) others may do. So if "I" were the sys admin, I would simply delete that which I did not want them to have so that they could not obfuscate what the meaning of is..is. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif. In other words, only install that which "belongs" (by decree of what ever the policy is). Then one would have to in fact, violate the policy to achieve their goal, rather than to try to twist the ingredients that are already there.

I had not thought about the POP3 not being accessable.

Touche' !!
/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Richard

MossRoad · Feb 13, 2002

I'm pretty sure that the machine is locked down by policies set in NT. If she goes through all the trouble of setting it up, the next time she logs out and back in, it probably won't be there. She might also raise the wrath of the MIS department, and it takes a lot of licorice to get those folks back on your good side. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Also sounds like a good way to get a reprimand in your file. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Richard · Feb 13, 2002

HER file!!!

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

MossRoad · Feb 13, 2002

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif That depends how good a friend she is /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

GlueGuy · Feb 14, 2002

There is another "run" command available, but not known by many people. Have her do the following chord: <CTRL><SHIFT><ESC> (control-shift-escape).

This will bring up the Windows NT task manager. At the bottom of the task manager is a button labeled "run". Same as the run on the start menu. If she gets there, she could also run "cmd" (command line), which would allow her to do almost anything. Not much harm in any of this, as most of the stuff that can get turned off in NT stays that way as a matter of OS policy. When the machine is restarted (or she logs off), most, if not all she modifies will go away.

Also, if she can "see" files from the Word browser, then she has the ability to create a shortcut to anything she wants to run. The Word browser will allow her to navigate to anyplace on the the machine, so she could navigate to where OE is, then click (and hold) the OE file, then drag it to the desktop (yes, you can do that from there). She can put any darn thing she wants on the desktop that is already on the system.

RoyJackson · Feb 14, 2002

Have a friend whose work pc uses NT. She has an interest in using Outlook Express for some of her emails. Her work place has told them that they cannot ADD any new software and as such, Windows Explorer seems to be not 'available", nor is "run"...seems they have battened down the hatches on what is available to use or even see on her pc

I suggest she ask why these programs are locked down before attempting to use them.
Folks get very territorial with their work computers...but you gotta remember these machines belong to a company, not the individual.
Circumvention of any system in place would likely result in disciplinary action.

I'm sure part of the lock down procedures have resulted from folks downloading incompatable .exe files, or infecting the LAN with a virus.
If e-mail is part of her job, and she doesn't have it, she can go to her boss and make her case. If she wants it for personal e-mail...sorry, that's not her right on a business computer.

Always remember, e-mail is never private...especially on a company LAN.

gws · Feb 14, 2002

Richard,
Deleteing the items mean a custom disk load for each users. This is fine when you have a few users. Doesnt work when you have thousands of users like I do. Its a lot easier to have a one load fits all then use the NT ACL control on each machine to allow a user to use a program that they need. Just seeing the program as somone noted may not allow them to run it.

Richard · Feb 14, 2002

Wow..to any/all that have read/responded here..I don't wish to sound defensive, but I did not realize I may have stirred a flys nest! (specifically chose to not say hornets nest cause I dont' want to infer I think anyone is "upset" (bad word choice) with my idea, because I don't think that)

As the IT manager for my firm...(there are all of two of us /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif ) I am not aware of some of the larger issues that have been in fact been brought up here.

I certainly do not wish to cause any consternation on behalf of her boss/work situation, and in fact, we have pretty much dropped the idea.

Tis simply amazing the array of advice & experience that one can receive here...you have no idea how much I sometimes wish that I could offer more than I in fact receive. /w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif

Wingnut · Feb 14, 2002

Paul ... since the software was there ... I was just offering suggestions on how to access it ... not on different ways to irrritate the gods of I/T.
Obviously, from your response, you've had experience with that.
The only "argument" you'd get from me is your comment that you don't make the rules on a whim. Well ... maybe YOU don't .... but there's a whole world of sysadmins out here (and I have been one in another life) who love to set standards because it makes THEIR life easier ... to heck with the actual users of the system
And then there's the I/T groups that set "standards" for software that they don't use, have never used and are at odds with the software in general use in the company at the time ... because ... hmm ... well, the I/T director had M$ stock in his portfolio.
Forgive me if I sound like I'm jumping on you ... I'm not ... I just have a running battle with the I/T folks in our organization ... trying to keep the apps that I'm responsible for out of their incompetant hands ...my experiences may well be unique in the annals of the networked comuter.

peter

looch · Feb 14, 2002

<font color=blue>...who love to set standards because it makes THEIR life easier ... </font color=blue>

We support the users. If our life is easier, it's because we're not getting many support calls, because the user's workstation is functioning properly. Most users think we're out to get them, I'm pretty used to that. I'm sure you can agree that the M$ operating system (pick one) has much to be desired in the way of stability. I do a fair amount of testing before I allow an application into our production environment. At the same time, I don't want the user to feel like he/she is being treated like a child, so I allow some freedom. What makes me steam is when a user complains about the reliability of their machine when they have a dozen "self-installed" applications.

However, being exposed to this kind of hostility can jade a person. There are times when I really have to eat my words after blaming a user for something that was entirely my fault. Slowly I realize that it "costs" a bit more up front to be nice, but in the long run it's much cheaper.

Back to tractorin'...

MossRoad · Feb 14, 2002

Yeah! Sometimes it is so hard to bite your tongue when someone calls to report a production machine down. You go to take a look at it the first thing you do is go to the "add/remove programs" and besides all of the company authorized programs this is what you see:

AOL
Angels
Coupon Grabber
Dolphin
Felix The Cat
Free Solitaire
Gator
Hot Mail
Lycos Games
Media Player 6.4
MSN Messenger Service 3.0
Netscape 6.0
Offer Companion
Outlook Express
Sports Ticker
Weather Bug
Webshots

I should start keeping a list(oops, I already have).

It is so hard to convince someone to not download things that can kill a production machine. It is not their personal machine. It belongs to the company and is there for one reason; to make the company money.

Now stop calling me in the IT department... You're interrupting my TBN. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif

looch · Feb 14, 2002

<font color=blue>You're interrupting my TBN</font color=blue>

/w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

jdrotert · Feb 14, 2002

Paul, You hit the nail on the head with your first post!! I'm a sys admin for a large call center. When I came on the scene two years ago, all PC's were running WIN98. Can you say: users and applications running rampant?? I got them to switch to WinNT with locked down policies and my job became SO much easier. Mostly it was "brought-in" screen savers crashing our phone client app.

About the original ?-If the sys admin(s) have locked down the run line, etc., they have probably restricted SMTP on that user also. Here, when a user tries to send SMTP mail when they're restricted, the mail will go to the Systems department director. We have a laugh at most of the stuff, then pass it along to the user's director. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

scruffy · Feb 14, 2002

Ahhhhh! The joys of running a VAX/VMS system! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif I let the NT guy handle his network, which I have admin privs to, and I don't have grey hair, while he does! Yup, good ol' bug ridden M$ products! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif