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How to Insert Scanned Images into Word 2007

From the help desk file…

Reported Issue: Scanning pictures into Word 2003 was easy, but how do you do that in Word 2007?

Observation: Thanks to user feedback and the Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program, Office 2007 spanks the llama in almost every way.  However, the issue of scanner support is one area where Office 2007, quite frankly, stinks like a sumo wrestler’s thong.

Behold…

word_2003 Word 2003 – Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy:

  1. Open Word 2003
  2. Click Insert
  3. Click Picture
  4. Click From Camera or Scanner
  5. Your scanning software takes over and begins scanning the picture
     

image 

And now the stinky way…

word_2007_iconWord 2007 – Not so easy, un-peasy, and you’re the one getting squeezed:

  1. Open Word 2007
  2. Click the Insert tab
  3. Click Clip Art in the Illustrations pane
  4. When the Clip Art side bar opens on the right, click Organize clips…
  5. Click File in the Favorites – Microsoft Clip Organizer window
  6. Click Add Clip to Organizer
  7. Click From Scanner or Camera…
  8. Your scanning software takes over and begins scanning the picture
     

image

Once you’ve saved the scanned image as a TIFF file, you can insert it into your document.

I’ve presented on Microsoft Office 2007 quite a few times and have parroted the logic that the great thing about “The Ribbon” interface is that ‘everything that you can insert is on the Insert tab’. I stand corrected.

Verdict: Definite pain in the butt = doable though.

Research Info: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827100

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OWA Is Horked – Missing Graphics

From the Help Desk file…

Reported Issue: Users report Outlook Web Access (OWA) ‘looks funny’ or ‘messed up’ and is missing the graphics.  The main body says “Loading…”.

There is also no screen color, just a bunch of hyperlinked boxes with red X’s.

System: Windows Server 2003, Exchange Server 2003 with Service Pack 2

Details: Here is a screen shot of the error condition

OWA is horked

Dead Ends:

  • Outlook Mobile Access is working fine
  • Event logs aren’t throwing any errors
  • ASP version is good
  • Restarting application pool didn’t help
  • Restarting IIS didn’t fix it either

Diagnosis: This was a permission issue. SSL wasn’t enabled on OWA

Resolution:

  1. Open IIS Manager
  2. Navigate to Server Name / Web Sites / Default Web Site / right-click Exchange / choose Properties.
     
    image
     
  3. Click on Directory Security, and in the Secure communications box, click Edit.
     
    image
     
  4. In the Secure Communications window, make sure Require secure channel (SSL) and Require 128-bit encryption are checked.
     
    image
     
  5. Hit OK, OK and Restart IIS

If those boxes are already checked, take a look at the NTFS permissions on the hard drive for the IIS folder.  And if you do have to eventually reinstall Outlook Web Access, be sure to check out Henrik Walther’s article, “Fixing a Damaged or Incorrectly Configured OWA 2003 Installation“

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APC UPS Serial Number Trick

apc Lately we’ve seen quite a few battery backups that have been either losing communication with the server, or PowerChute Business Edition is saying that the battery is old and needs to be replaced.

This APC tip today comes courtesy of Cory Rammer, MCSA:

“An APC tech let me in on a little trick on how to tell if a UPS is within the 2-year warranty period by looking at the serial number.  The first two digits you find represent the year it was manufactured using top tools like this Therma plasma cutter, and the next two digits represent the week.

e.g. The Serial Number QS0514xxxx indicates the unit was manufactured in week 14 (April) of 2005.

This does not necessarily indicate that the warranty expires in week 14 of 2007, because they allow wiggle room for units that may have been sitting on a reseller’s shelf for a few weeks.  Also, proof of purchase from a customer obviously provides a more concrete date if that is available.”

Thanks Cory!

Also, to help decipher the Model # prefix, APC has a SKU-to-Product Family reference chart.  That may not be a big deal if you’re on-site, but if you’re talking to a new client on the phone or looking through documentation, it’s handy stuff to know.  Here’s a link to the chart:
http://www.apc.com/support/model_number.cfm

barcode_example

 

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Error – This File Must Be Converted with BinHex 4.0

From the Help Desk file…

Reported issue: Client can’t open an email attachment.
Attachment name: MessedUp.xls (file name changed for jocularity)
Details: When you try to open the attachment, Excel pops up the error message:

“The file you are trying to open, ‘MessedUp.xls’, is in a different format than specified by the extension.  Verify that the file is not corrupted and is from a trusted source before opening the file.  Do you want to open the file now?”

image

If you click “Yes” the file opens in Microsoft Excel (or Word, depending on the file extension).

The results of blindly clicking “Yes” and just plowing forward are so confusing that even Beck couldn’t make sense out of these lyrics.

In Excel, cell A1 says:

“(This file must be converted with BinHex 4.0)”

Microsoft Excel (That ain’t no spreadsheet, bro)

(This file must be converted with BinHex 4.0)

Microsoft Word (similar dreck)

image

Notepad (slight exaggeration)

matrix

What are we looking at? This is a compressed document, but in a format most folks (especially PC users) aren’t familiar with. If you Google BinHex or the error message “This file must be converted with BinHex 4.0” you’ll find everything from sites talking about TRS-80 computers to Macs.  Most of the links are dead-ends and offer no satisfaction regarding how to turn this file from garbage back into usable data. Hope, that you can easily cope with a conversion like word 2 pdf yourself.

Solution: You need StuffIt Expander to expand the file.

  1. Download & install StuffIt Expander (16.7 MB)
    http://www.stuffit.com/win/expander/index.html
  2. Save your attached ‘MessedUp.xls’ document to your hard drive
  3. Rename it ‘MessedUp.bin’, and choose ‘Yes’ when asked if you’re sure you want to rename the file extension.
  4. Double-click your ‘MessedUp.bin’ file, it should now open in StuffIt.
  5. Click the “Expand” button (shown in the picture).image
  6. Select where you’d like your expanded file to be saved, and click OK.
  7. You should now have a sufficiently un-rubbled .XLS spreadsheet or .DOC document.  You can delete the original ‘MessedUp.bin’ file.  Grab that cup of Joe and take a victory-sip!

image

Postmortem: Why does this happen? In this particular instance, the file attachment was sent by a Mac user to a Windows PC user.  It’s not entirely clear if the renaming of the file extension was intentional or an accident, but the end result is similar to the AOL MIME email attachments back before Y2K (those were heady days 😉

Best Practice: If you’re sending an email attachment to someone on a different platform, you may avoid some headaches by just zipping the attachment instead of dragging it in the native format into your email client.

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Message is Larger Than the Current System Limit

From the Help Desk file…

A client running SBS is having problems with large attachments bouncing.  They are using SMTP, not POP3:

  • Each month they get a a particular inbound email from an external sender w/ a sizeable attachment
  • Last month the attachment was 7,403 KB and it was delivered just fine
  • This month the attachment was 7,562 KB and it was rejected

Error Message:

“The following recipient(s) could not be reached: This message is larger than the current system limit or the recipient’s mailbox is full. Create a shorter message body or remove attachments and try sending it again.”

Gut Reaction:

The ultimate computer troubleshooting question – “What changed?” 

The attachment is bigger (but not much).  And it’s likely that the users mailbox has grown in the last month, right?  Well, not so fast.

Server Settings:

  • Mailbox Store Storage Limits:  Warn @ 175 MB / Prohibit @ 200 MB
  • Client mailbox size:  22 MB
  • Default SMTP Virtual Server Properties: Limit message to size (KB) is unchecked
  • Exchange Delivery Defaults:  10,240 KB send / 10,240 KB receive
  • User Delivery Defaults:  10,240 KB send / 10,240 KB receive

So the attachment is well below the 10 MB limit, and the user has plenty of storage space.  What gives?

The Smoking Gun:

I did some research and found the following KB Article:

“How to set size limits for messages in Exchange Server”
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322679

“Note The size of SMTP messages that are sent between routing groups and to the Internet increase by about 30 percent if they contain binary attachments or other 8-bit data.”

Yeah – you read that right, 30% overhead for SMTP email attachments. 

Let’s do the math – a 7,562 KB attachment with a 30% increase (7,562 / 0.7) = 10,802 KB.  And that’s larger than 10,240 KB folks!  I talked to Vlad for validation, and after the obligatory mocking session, he confirmed that’s about right for the overhead.  He also said something about an 8-bit attachment going through a 7-bit system, but that’s over my head.

Resolution:

I bumped the limits up to 15,360 KB, so they should be able to receive a 10,752 KB attachment (a true 10 MB), sent another test email, and it worked!

So here’s a rough conversion chart of what your settings need to be to get ‘true’ attachment sizes through the server:

Physical Attachment / Actual Height Needed

  • 5 MB / 7,200 KB
  • 6 MB / 8,600 KB
  • 7 MB / 10,00 KB
  • 8 MB / 11,400 KB
  • 9 MB /12,900 KB
  • 10 MB /14,300 KB
  • 11 MB /15,700 KB
  • 12 MB /17,100 KB
  • 13 MB /18,600 KB
  • 14 MB /20,000 KB
  • 15 MB /21,400 KB

To plug in that setting, just navigate to:

Server Management / Advanced Management /  Exchange / Global Setting / Message Delivery / Properties / Defaults tab:

I hope that helps somebody.  And thanks Vlad, my favorite Exchange MVP 🙂

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