Monthly Archives: November 2009

Ten Email Related Websites to be Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving!

To celebrate Thanksgiving we thought it would be fun to put up a list of the ten email related websites that we are thankful for. If you know of a tool that needs to be added to the list, please add it below in the comments. Keep in mind that this list is not in any particular order but is just a sampling of our favorites.
  1. Whatismyip.com – Helps users determine their server IP quickly. This tool is helpful for local PC IP addresses or if you need to determine the IP of your mail server.
  2. Telnet Test – Oftentimes it is very helpful to remove your mail server from the equation to see if there is an underlying network / reputation problem blocking mail flow. Telnet enables helps you manually send a test message using the telnet command built into every operating system.
  3. Mail Relay Testing – This service will check your server to see if it is possible for a third party to relay mail from your server and will also test several techniques for sending relayed mail, but no mail will actually be sent to your server.
  4. Google Apps – If you are looking for the best hosted solution out there, we would highly recommend Google Apps! Google’s web-based communication, collaboration and security apps are user friendly and the best of the best.
  5. Net Stat – This tool is helpful for determining if a local PC or mail server is blasting out spam. Keep in mind that this tool will only show you this type of activity if the trojan/virus is currently blasting spam. You can run this command from the cmd line: ‘netstat -a’ (without ‘) and if the computer is currently blasting spam it will reference SMTP or :25 // for example:  TCP    eTools-Dev4:4534       outbound-a1.mx-route.com:smtp  ESTABLISHED
  6. Traceroute – Traceroute tracks the path that a packet takes from your computer to a destination address. A traceroute also shows how many times your packets are being rebroadcast by other servers until it gets to the final destination. For windows users, the command is tracert. For Macintosh OS X users, its traceroute. We wold also like to mention the NetStat Agent product that is available for free download, seems to have some great features.
  7. Google Docs – We know that Google Docs aren’t really related to email but the way we are evolving to use this product does mean that email is included when sharing documents. While we love all Google products, we feel the recent improvements to Google Docs in particular are the most useful. Google’s new feedback systemseems to be a huge accomplishment for end users as our feature requests are being includedLast but not least, we would like to include three of our own tools which help make troubleshooting, diagnosing, and monitoring your email easier.
  8. untitled1Server Monitoring – Server Monitoring Takes the guessing out of server management.  If something is wrong with your email server, you need to know right away. MX Toolbox’s Free Email Server Monitoring lets you rest easy by sending you alerts when there is a problem with server performance, availability or reputation.
  9. untitled2MxToolBox Super Tool – This all-in-one tool includes a critical tool package for all system administrators: MX LookupBlacklistsDiagnosticsHeader AnalyzerSPF RecordsDNS LookupReverse LookupPort ScanWhois LookupARN Lookup and CNAME Lookup.
  10. untitled3Blacklist Checker – The MxToolBox Blacklist Tool checks your IP against a list of over 150 Real Time Blacklists. If your mail server has been blacklisted, some email you send may not be delivered.
If you know of a tool that needs to be added to the list, please add it below in the comments.

Google Docs Received More Improvements Last Week

As Google Partners we love to see the adoption of Google Apps and we love to see all of the updates!. If you would like information on how Google Apps can help your organization, contact one of our Google Apps specialists.

Now for a quick summary of the most recent updates to Google Docs.

Shared Folders

  • Shared folders: You now have the ability to share entire folders with other collaborators.
  • Upload multiple files: You can now upload multiple files to Docs simultaneously instead of uploading individually.
  • Return of ‘Items not in folders’ section.

We at MxToolBox like this update because we know everyone has their own filing structure and so now each user can create their own folders and then share with their neighbor. They also changed the interface a bit and it is much easier to create folders, move documents to those folders and then share the folders as well. They also have tweaked the functions when viewing all of your Google Docs so you can more easily share documents with your neighbors as well.

For more information:
http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2009/10/shared-folders-and-more-in-google-docs.html

Google Doc Editor

Google Docs editors are now more consistent across each product. The links, title area, menus, menu terminology, and toolbar are now nearly uniform across documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

This feature is nice because it was often confusing when the Edit section had different settings for different documents. This change will also help users feel more comfortable as they move from other word processing programs to try our Docs.

For more information:
http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2009/10/google-docs-now-more-consistent.html

Viewing Docs

You can now choose to open docs in a new window or not. You also have the ability to enable/disable the visual update indicators.

For more information:
http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2009/11/new-additions-to-settings-page.html

Google Releases New Export Options and More for Google Docs

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As Google Partners we love to see the adoption of Google Apps and we love to see all of the updates!. If you would like information on how Google Apps can help your organization, contact one of our Google Apps specialists.

Google has added some new features to the Google Docs list:

  • New export features which allow you to select multiple documents, convert them into your chosen format and download them as a zip file.
  • Indicators to show if a document has been viewed already or not.
  • A ‘New!’ indicator that shows you when a new document has been shared with you.

Editions included:
Standard, Premier, Education, Team and Partner Editions

Languages included:
All languages supported by Google Docs

How to access what’s new:

  • Select one or more files and then click on “Export” from the “More Actions” menu. Next, pick the format (e.g. PDF, Microsoft Word, etc) you want for your exported files. Finally, click “Continue” and it will create a zip file to download that has all your content. You can “export” up to 500 MB of content in a single zip file. It can sometimes take a few minutes to download so you also have an “email when ready” option to notify you when the zip file is ready.
  • “Unviewed” files are in bold, while “viewed” files are not. You can toggle this setting by selecting the item and clicking on “mark as (Un)Viewed” in the “More Actions” menu.
  • When an item is first shared to you, it will be bold (“Unviewed”) and marked as “New!”. Once you view this item, it’s listed normally. If the item is updated by someone else, then it will be marked as “Unviewed” again.

For more information:
http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2009/10/data-liberation-mark-as-viewed-and-new.html

MxToolBox is on Twitter! Make sure to follow us so that you stay up to date on any changes to our system, new blogs, new information etc.

Multiple calendars and more in new version of Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook

Version 1.6.155.1603 of Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook has been released for new installs and updates.

Editions included:
Premier and Education Editions

Languages included:
Available worldwide with US English interface

How to access what’s new:
– Multiple calendars
You can now create new calendars in Outlook and they will sync with Google Apps. For any of your Google Apps calendars for which you have write permissions, and that appear unhidden in your Google Apps Calendar list, these will also now be synced to Outlook.

– Support for querying free/busy information for Exchange users
If you are using Google Apps Sync in a mixed Google Apps/Exchange environment, you can query free/busy information for Exchange users by implementing Google Calendar Connectors and adding a new registry key to each computer on which Google Apps Sync is installed.

Get information about the Google Calendar Connectors here. Get information about setting up the new registry key here.

For more information:
https://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=153463

Attend a webinar to learn how to get this feature and more with Google Apps Premier Edition
11/10 9AM PST / 5PM GMT Register now
11/10 1PM AEDT / 2AM GMT Register now

As Google Partners we love to see the adoption of Google Apps and we love to see all of their updates!. If you would like information on how Google Apps can help your organization, contact one of our Google Apps specialists.


untitledMxToolBox is on Twitter! Make sure to follow us so that you stay up to date on any changes to our system, new blogs, new information etc.

Threat Advisory: Spam and Virus Trends from Postini

Postini data centers blocked more than 100 million viruses every day during the height of a virus attack in recent months. The majority (over 50%) of these viruses delivered through fake notices of underreported income from the IRS, and another large contingent of virus-infected emails included false package tracking attachments. Spammers also sent an email that asked for the recipient’s user name and password to their webmail account, and then used the compromised account to generate spam.

Postini continues to capture many of these phishing attempts before they reach your users’ inboxes. For unprotected mail systems, only a tiny fraction of the recipients need to be fooled for spammers to add hundreds of computers to their botnets every day.

For more information on this attack, see Spam & Virus Trends from Postini on the Google Enterprise Blog.