LDAP Directory Unavailable

[Tom Kaplan]

There are 25 messages posted similar to the one below regarding LDAP
Directory popup window. The majority have been answered by Russ Valentine,
Brian Tillman and Neo. No one appears to have escalated this issue.

Each of the 25 posts answers the same question, yet they continue to be
posted. Why? Because for every 1000 people who search the news group, one of
them can't find the answer and posts the question again. So there are
probably 1000s of sophisticated beta users who can't figure this issue out on
their own. There will be millions when Outlook hits production.

The responses address how a user can fix the problem. There are no
responses addressing how Microsoft intends to fix it. The technical term for
this is "blame the user."

Russ commented "I never use an upgrade installation with Office. The upgrade
routine would have to improve a bit even to qualify as poor." While this
might make for interesting conspiratorial trivia for sophisticated insiders,
real users in the real world are going to use the upgrade installation that
comes in the box, and they are going to be confused and upset by these
annoying pop-up boxes. I know i was.


Typical message follows:

When I open Outlook 2003, a box appears with the title "Microsoft LDAP
Directory"

Inside the box, a tab marked "Connection Details" with the following
fields:

Server Name
Port
User Name
Password

Use Secure Password Authentication (SPA)


How can I prevent the box appearing every time I start outlook? and what
causes it?

----------------
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[neo [mvp outlook]]

Hi Tom,

I hear your frustration, so let me reverse the role a bit. In your opinion,
how should Microsoft handle the importing of accounts from Outlook Express?
(Microsoft Outlook will imports in the LDAP account(s) defined in Outlook
Express as it is considered an "Address Book")

 

[Roady [MVP]]

-----Don't abuse the suggestion feature for issues-----

The post is concerning Outlook 2003 how would this affect the current
Outlook 2007 BETA?

To answer the issue; if LDAP isn't used simply remove the account.

The fact that these issues still get posted isn't that black/white as you
scetch it. There are millions of other reasons why they might get posted. I
could list lots but that would be a waste of time as I'm sure you can think
of most of them as well. Note that we are dealing with a LDAP connection
which isn't very commonly used by Outlook users in a home configuration so
the amount of affected users will reduce significantly. Also a step by step
to configure the e-mail account of an ISP in Outlook is most often provided
by the ISP as each ISP has its specific settings. In addition it is a "one
time only" configuration settings and not a user function; because of this
settings are simply less known as features.

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003


-----
There are 25 messages posted similar to the one below regarding LDAP
Directory popup window. The majority have been answered by Russ Valentine,
Brian Tillman and Neo. No one appears to have escalated this issue.

Each of the 25 posts answers the same question, yet they continue to be
posted. Why? Because for every 1000 people who search the news group, one
of
them can't find the answer and posts the question again. So there are
probably 1000s of sophisticated beta users who can't figure this issue out
on
their own. There will be millions when Outlook hits production.

The responses address how a user can fix the problem. There are no
responses addressing how Microsoft intends to fix it. The technical term
for
this is "blame the user."

Russ commented "I never use an upgrade installation with Office. The upgrade
routine would have to improve a bit even to qualify as poor." While this
might make for interesting conspiratorial trivia for sophisticated insiders,
real users in the real world are going to use the upgrade installation that
comes in the box, and they are going to be confused and upset by these
annoying pop-up boxes. I know i was.


Typical message follows:

 

[Tom Kaplan]

Hi Tom,

I hear your frustration, so let me reverse the role a bit. In your opinion,
how should Microsoft handle the importing of accounts from Outlook Express?
(Microsoft Outlook will imports in the LDAP account(s) defined in Outlook
Express as it is considered an "Address Book")

 

[Tom Kaplan]

Although the post i copied referred to Outlook 2003, my issue arose when I
installed Outlook 2007 Beta. I upgraded directly from Outlook 2000.

See additonal comments in my reply to Neo

-----Don't abuse the suggestion feature for issues-----

The post is concerning Outlook 2003 how would this affect the current
Outlook 2007 BETA?

To answer the issue; if LDAP isn't used simply remove the account.

The fact that these issues still get posted isn't that black/white as you
scetch it. There are millions of other reasons why they might get posted. I
could list lots but that would be a waste of time as I'm sure you can think
of most of them as well. Note that we are dealing with a LDAP connection
which isn't very commonly used by Outlook users in a home configuration so
the amount of affected users will reduce significantly. Also a step by step
to configure the e-mail account of an ISP in Outlook is most often provided
by the ISP as each ISP has its specific settings. In addition it is a "one
time only" configuration settings and not a user function; because of this
settings are simply less known as features.

--
Robert Sparnaaij [MVP-Outlook]
Coauthor, Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003


-----
There are 25 messages posted similar to the one below regarding LDAP
Directory popup window. The majority have been answered by Russ Valentine,
Brian Tillman and Neo. No one appears to have escalated this issue.

Each of the 25 posts answers the same question, yet they continue to be
posted. Why? Because for every 1000 people who search the news group, one
of
them can't find the answer and posts the question again. So there are
probably 1000s of sophisticated beta users who can't figure this issue out
on
their own. There will be millions when Outlook hits production.

The responses address how a user can fix the problem. There are no
responses addressing how Microsoft intends to fix it. The technical term
for
this is "blame the user."

Russ commented "I never use an upgrade installation with Office. The upgrade
routine would have to improve a bit even to qualify as poor." While this
might make for interesting conspiratorial trivia for sophisticated insiders,
real users in the real world are going to use the upgrade installation that
comes in the box, and they are going to be confused and upset by these
annoying pop-up boxes. I know i was.


Typical message follows:

When I open Outlook 2003, a box appears with the title "Microsoft LDAP
Directory"

Inside the box, a tab marked "Connection Details" with the following
fields:

Server Name
Port
User Name
Password

Use Secure Password Authentication (SPA)


How can I prevent the box appearing every time I start outlook? and what
causes it?

 

[Tom Kaplan]

Sorry I think my reply didn't post properly.

In my opinion, the simplest answer is the best answer. Microsoft should not
change the way it imports the accounts from prior installations. However,
the pop-window in Outlook 2007 should be changed to be more informative and
useful to the user.

My suggestion would be something like this:

Outlook 2007 was unable to connect to the LDAP Server "__________".

An LDAP server allows users to connect to additional address books over the
web or over a company's intranet. For example, many companies maintain a
company-wide address book containing email addresses for all employees.

A prior installation of Outlook on this computer might have been configured
to connect to this LDAP server. If you no longer wish to connect to this
LDAP server, CLICK HERE to delete the LDAP server from your account settings.

If you want Outlook to connect to this LDAP server, contact your company's
IT department or the LDAP server provider to obtain the appropriate settings
to connect to this server.

Your current settings for LDAP servers and other address books can be viewed
and modified in Outlook 2007 by selecting the "Tools" menu, choosing "Account
Settings", and clicking on the tab labeled "Address Books."