Connect to Outlook Ribbon button disabled /greyed

Connect to outlook is disabled in SharePoint 2010- why? Any mystery? If yes then we needs to find out? Root cause? Workarounds? Resolutions?

Problem Description:

·         Connect to outlook is disabled in SharePoint 2010

·         The Ribbon button is disabled for the List

·         Connect to Outlook button is grayed out

Check List:

Is this problem list specific or library specific?
Is this problem site specific or farm specific?
Specifically which list we are trying to connect? Whether it’s a contact list or custom list or calendar list? –very imp to find out
Permissions??
Features --site features/site collections features??
Does the SharePointStssync Handler enable in your IE?
Does the IE belong to 32 bit or 64 bit?
Is Client Integration disabled in the Web Application Settings?

Very Important info: Connect to Outlook is available on the following list types  only- Calendar, Tasks, Project Tasks, Contacts, Document Library and Discussion Boards

Resolution:

Multiple resolutions are available so please select the one which is feasible as per your requirements.

Resolution 1--Try to open the same list (where we the problem is) in SharePoint Designer 2010 and then check the results.

Resolution 2—Enable the client integration feature at the web application level  (note: if the problem is farm wide)

Resolution 3—if the problem is occurring because of IE then enables the sync handler

How to enable this:

Internet Explorer—Tools--Manage Add-ons--Enable or Disable Add-ons

·         In the Show drop down and select "Add-Ons currently loaded in IE " and find for -" SharePoint Stssync Handler "

·         if it’s not there then click on Show drop down and select "Add-Ons that have been used by IE" and find for " SharePoint Stssync Handler "

·         Enable it

·         Restart the browser and then check "Connect to Outlook" option is visible or not.

Product applies to:

1.    Windows 7 client Operating system

2.    Office 2010

3.    IE 7.0 or IE 8.0

4.    SharePoint 2010

5.    SharePoint Foundation 2010

References:

How to Synchronize SharePoint 2010 content with Outlook 2010

Synchronizing SharePoint content with Outlook

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know.

I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues…

Thank you…

Windows could not start the SharePoint Server Search 14 service on Local Computer

Problem Description:

Recently we faced the problem in reference to search and while doing some deployment activities, we need to pause the running crawl. As soon as I clicked on Pause, it switched into “Pausing” mode and we waiting to see the idle status.

Farm details:

SQL SERVER2008-R2

WINDOWS 2008-R2

SHAREPOINT 2010- SP1 (Along with latest patches updated)

What was the status when we started facing issue?

In "Manage Services on Server" (Central Administration):

SharePoint Foundation Search was "Stopped"

SharePoint Server Search is "Stopped"

In "Manage Services Application" (Central Administration):

Search Administration Web Service for Search Service Application was "Started"

Search Service Application was "Started"

In Windows Services MMC

SharePoint Foundation Search V4 is "Disabled"

SharePoint Server Search 14 is "Disabled"

SharePoint Server Search 14 is "Automatic" but status is not "Started"

Attempting to start "SharePoint Server Search 14” via the Services MMC results in the error:

Windows could not start the SharePoint Server Search 14 service on Local Computer.

Error 6: The handle is invalid.

Troubleshooting Done:

1.    Restarted the search services – by means of services.msc console

2.    Checked the ‘manage services on server’—by means of Central Administration

3.    Net stop commands as follows:

stsadm -o osearch -action stop

then

stsadm -o osearch -action start

4.    Start-stop PowerShell commands

5.    Checked the windows application as well as SP logs

6.    Restarted the timer services

net stop SPTimerv4

net start SPTimerv4

Resolution:

I have resolved it by using the following command:

Stop-SPServiceInstance -Identity <ServiceGUID>

Note: Where <ServiceGUID> is the GUID of the service. If you do not know the service GUID, you can retrieve a list of all services in the farm together with their GUIDs by using the Get-SPServiceInstance cmdlet.

Product Applies To:

SharePoint Server 2010

SharePoint Foundation 2010

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know. I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issue…

Thank you.

Your client does not support opening this list with windows explorer windows 2008

Error message

“Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer" when you try to "Open with Explorer" on a SharePoint document library

Troubleshooting:

-          Treid to open in Windows  XP. Works fine.

-          Treid to open in Windows Server 2003, gives error messsage.

-          Treid to open in Windows Server 2008, gives above error message.

-          Removed the ‘s’ from the http protocol.

-          Supplied the correct user name and password.

-          Started the ‘webclient’ service and installed desktop support expirence as a features in Windows server 2008. Still does’t work.

Resolution:

Add https://*.sharepoint.com to Local intranet site

To configure Web browser, open “Internet Options” menu, navigate to the “Security Tab”, and add https://*.sharepoint.com to Local intranet site.

Steps Featuring artcile:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/asiasupp/archive/2011/06/13/error-message-quot-your-client-does-not-support-opening-this-list-with-windows-explorer-quot-when-you-try-to-quot-open-with-explorer-quot-on-a-sharepoint-document-library-in-office-365-site.aspx

Applied to:

-          Windows Server 2008

-          SharePoint Server 2010.

Disabled accounts in AD show up in SharePoint as active profiles

Problem Description:

If the proper filer is not applied in import connections then it can lead to hundreds of unwanted / disabled profile in ssp database. Sometimes due to IT audits we want to get rid of those profiles from SharePoint.

Product Applies:

1.    MOSS2007 (Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007)

2.    WSS3.0 Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)

Error Message: N/A

What exactly I did? How exactly I configured and came to know about the issue?

1.    In AD, I have created lots of user and disabled few of them.

2.    Configured SSP to import user profile by using the default filter

(&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user).

3.    That’s it-Problem started and found lots of profiles in view user profile.

Resolution:

·         At first apply filter (&(objectCategory=person)(objectClass=user)(

!(userAccountControl:1.2.840.113556.1.4.803:=2))) to just import active profiles in

connection.

·         Run full profile import three times back to back.

·         After that you will find users in view user profile > Profile Missing from import.

·         You can manually delete these unwanted profile or wait till clean up job delete them.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know, Thank you.

Your current Contributor Settings prevent you from creating, editing and deleting workflows

Guys, we are well are aware about SharePoint Designer and how it can be very useful for the site customizations. One of my user got this error.

Error Message:

Your current Contributor Settings prevent you from creating, editing and deleting workflows

Probable Cause: 

By Default the Contributor Settings will be enabled on your site. You will notice this in the SharePoint Designer task pane.

Resolution:

This is because your account is present in the Content Authors group, which may “Restrict the use of some features” as the task pane mentions. This behavior can be modified if you turn off the "Contributor Settings" in SPD.

1. Open the site in SharePoint Designer

2. Site Menu

3. Choose Contributor Settings.

4. Click on Disable Contributor settings

5. Refresh the page you should not see the message. 

Important Information:

If you are a site manager or administrator, you are probably working with various groups such as Web designers or content authors who are working on different aspects of a Web site. With so many groups working simultaneously, you are probably worried that somebody might inadvertently break a site — for example, by changing the design of the home page, modifying the style sheet, saving files in a wrong location, or breaking the site navigation or search functionality. If you are concerned, the good news is that you can avoid these scenarios by using Contributor Settings to turn on and configure Contributor mode in Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007.

Reference site: http://office.microsoft.com/en-in/sharepoint-designer-help/introduction-to-contributor-settings-HA010117469.aspx