Outlook gotcha: only cached data is exported to data file (.PST)

This content is 8 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

This weekend, a family project that required its own mailbox ended, meaning I could reduce the number of licences in my Exchange Online subscription. That’s straightforward enough but I wanted to take a backup copy of the email before cutting the mailbox loose.

From the last time I did any Exchange Online administration, I recalled that one of the limitations was that you can’t back up a mailbox to a PST from PowerShell. That may have changed but the advice at the time was to backup to an Outlook data file (also known as a Personal Folder) in Outlook. It’s clunky but at least it’s functional.

I couldn’t work out why not all of the data was being exported; only the items that were cached and not the ones that appeared if I clicked on “There are more items in this folder on the server/click here to view more on Microsoft Exchange”. Then I found a clue in a Spiceworks post from Joe Fenninger, where Joe says “Dont [sic] forget to download all [Office 365] content prior to export.”.

I needed to adjust the cached mode settings for the mailbox to change how much email is kept offline, after which Outlook could export all items to the Outlook Data File, rather than just the ones that were cached locally.

Securing the modern productive enterprise with Microsoft technology

This content is 8 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

“Cybercrime costs projected to reach $2 trillion by 2019” [Forbes, 2016]

99: The median number of days that attackers reside within a victim’s network before detection [Mandiant/FireEye M-Trends Report, 2017]

“More than 63% of all network intrusions are due to compromised user credentials” [Microsoft]

The effects of cybercrime are tremendous, impacting a company’s financial standing, reputation and ultimately its ability to provide security of employment to its staff. Nevertheless, organisations can protect themselves. Mitigating the risks of cyber-attack can be achieved by applying people, process and technology to reduce the possibility of attack.

Fellow risual architect Tim Siddle (@tim_siddle) and I have published a white paper that looks at how Microsoft technology can be used to secure the modern productive enterprise. The tools we describe are part of Office 365, Enterprise Mobility + Security, or enterprise editions of Windows 10. Together they can replace many point solutions and provide a holistic view, drawing on Microsoft’s massive intelligent security graph.

Read more in the white paper:

Securing the modern productive enterprise with Microsoft technology

Generating a GPX file for Strava after the tech let me down

This content is 8 years old. I don't routinely update old blog posts as they are only intended to represent a view at a particular point in time. Please be warned that the information here may be out of date.

This afternoon was glorious. The sun was shining and, even though it was a work day, the company I work for had arranged an afternoon out for staff at Cannock Chase (Go Ape). High ropes, Forest Segway, or Mountain biking activities were all available – right up my street!

I decided I’d like to Segway but I was in the second group (which meant waiting around for an hour or so), so I took a bike out for a little ride whilst I was waiting. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my Garmin with me and my iPhone’s attempts to capture my movements on Strava were woeful.

Shortly after setting off on “Follow The Dog“, I lost the rest of the group (whilst messing around with Strava!) and decided that I would rather come back and ride another day with my son than ride on my own and (potentially) miss the Segway opportunity. But I still wanted to capture the details of the (admittedly short) ride…

Generating a GPX file to upload to Strava is straightforward enough – I used Mapometer for that. Unfortunately though, Strava won’t allow GPX files without time information to be uploaded.

The workaround is to estimate some time data and insert it in the file – which is where the excellent Gotoes site helped! Goetoes has several utilities for Strava and Garmin Connect including:

  • Combining FIT, GPX or TCX files
  • Merging heart rate and position files (FIT/TCX)
  • A bookmarklet to export GPX from Garmin Connect
  • The ability to upload to Strava via email

and…

Using this with an estimate of my time, a known distance (so an estimated speed) and Gotoes’ ability to work out what my speed might have been at different points on the route came up with something approximate to put into Strava. I’ve hidden it from leaderboards – because it’s “fake data” – but it’s enough for me to track the distance and the fact I did go for a little bimble.

Strangely, the iPhone’s GPS performed OK for the Segway ride (which I’ve recorded as an eBike and alse hidden from leaderboards):