IBM Lotus Notes was introduced in 1989 by Lotus Domino Corps, but in 1995 it was acquired by IBM and became famous as Lotus development division of IBM. Throughout the journey Lotus Notes is greatly improved and emerged as an adroit email client application. Technically it proved itself competent and reliable and now most of the advance users prefer it over rest of the emailing application. Until version 4.5 both client and server application was referred as Lotus Notes but later the server application was termed as Domino server and client as a Lotus notes. It can be used for various purposes like information sharing via emails, calendaring, PIM.
The email client application can be used as an IMAP and POP client with non-Domino mail server. Notes is also integrated with web browser that allows user to access information from web. Domino can act as a web server for HTML files as web services interface has been attached with Notes from version 7. All in all it is quite understandable that Lotus Notes is loaded with advanced and vital features that are require running business process smoothly. Lotus Notes stores files in .nsf format and unlike other file formats Lotus Notes files are also susceptible to vast numbers of errors. In this article let us consider most general and frequent error messages encountered by Lotus Notes users.
Scenario 1:
“Internal Error-2343, please contact product support for assistance.”
Cause: The aforementioned error is encountered when users open PST files. The probable cause for the occurrence of error is improper un-installation of Lotus Notes which results in conflicting between properties of Notes and Outlook.
Solution: Let us discuss possible solutions to overcome the abovementioned issue.
Microsoft provides a free utility which can solve the internal error 2343. The tool can be downloaded from the website of Microsoft free of cost.
( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/234435 )
The conflicting issue can be solved by user manually just by renaming Notes.ini files in the system. The user can locate the files at %systemroot%\system or %systemroot%\system32. The renaming of file can bypass the issue, however it is advisable to maintain backup before modifying any file system.
User can also solve the error by updating Win.ini file, initially user has to delete Lotus Notes entries from Win.ini file. After this user is advised to create backup copy of Win.ini file and then run Win.ini command from command prompt. After this user has to remove following entries from the content displayed.
nsf=c:\notes\Notes.exe ^.nsf
ns3=c:\notes\Notes.exe ^.ns3
nsg=c:\notes\Notes.exe ^.nsg
nsh=c:\notes\Notes.exe ^.nsh
ns2=c:\notes\Notes.exe ^.ns2
ntf=c:\notes\Notes.exe ^.ntf
After deleting above entries remove Win.ini file from the registry. Then search Lotus Mail section in Win.ini and delete application: Notes, Program: c:\notes\Notes.exe NoDialogs. After performing these steps click “Save” in File menu then “Exit”.
Scenario 2:
The corruption of NSF database is the most common reason that results in data inaccessibility. In Lotus Notes 4.5.2 when user tries to open the Lotus Notes document, following error is encountered.
"Generic LSE Failure (No More Information)” Opening or Saving Document”
The error can also be seen when user tries to save a document which contains component based upon user defined templates.
Solution: The following steps can be followed to rectify aforementioned error:-
- Open Lotus Notes 4.5.2.
- Add a new component object to the Lotus Notes document.
- Copy all the information from the existing object and paste into the newly created object.
- Then delete the old existing object and restart Lotus Notes 4.5.2.
Scenario 3:
It is well known that Lotus Notes is armored with latest and forefront technologies. It has a unique and crucial mechanism of folder locking system, which enhances the security aspect of Lotus Notes. The Access control list allows administrator to apply access rights for specific NSF files. Which clearly state that only few sections with authority can open and update those files. But in practical scenario sometimes this feature becomes a major setback for an organization. Suppose a condition when administrator is not present and user needs a data on urgent basis. In that case an error message is displayed whenever user tries to open the file.
"You are not authorized to perform that operation"
Or
"You are not authorized to access Lotus Notes database"
Therefore even for small or less important query user has to seek permission from an administrator. Hence the un-necessary check points hampers the normal flow of work and irony is that user cannot ignore these security checks if he is using Lotus Notes.
It is well known that Lotus Notes is armored with latest and forefront technologies. It has a unique and crucial mechanism of folder locking system, which enhances the security aspect of Lotus Notes. The Access control list allows administrator to apply access rights for specific NSF files. Which clearly state that only few sections with authority can open and update those files. But in practical scenario sometimes this feature becomes a major setback for an organization. Suppose a condition when administrator is not present and user needs a data on urgent basis. In that case an error message is displayed whenever user tries to open the file.
"You are not authorized to perform that operation"
Or
"You are not authorized to access Lotus Notes database"
Therefore even for small or less important query user has to seek permission from an administrator. Hence the un-necessary check points hampers the normal flow of work and irony is that user cannot ignore these security checks if he is using Lotus Notes.
Scenario 4:
Till now we have been quite assure that Lotus Notes, although a good emailing application but not suitable for all sections of user. Due its complexity and high installation and maintenance cost Lotus Notes is avoided by most of the users. Therefore it can be observed that many users are migrating from Lotus notes to Outlook. But some users even find trouble while migrating because they choose improper or risky way for the process. Many of us are aware of Exchange Migration Wizard, an extraordinary utility used for migrating data from foreign emailing system. The bright aspect of this tool is that it can be used for NSF to PST migration, after migration the converted file can be saved in either PST or XLS format. But there are situations when user finds the utility not providing expected or desired result. Whenever user tries to operate the utility it shows an error message stating:
Error ID: 10053.
Description: You don't have permission required to complete the operation.
or
Error ID: 10008.
Description: Unnecessary Keyword “PostOffice”, found in control file. The keyword will be ignored.
Unnecessary Keyword “Container”, found in control file. The keyword will be ignored. Unnecessary Keyword “NTAccounts”, found in control file. The keyword will be ignored. Unnecessary Keyword “Port”, found in control file. The keyword will be ignored.
Unnecessary Keyword “Accounts”, found in control file. The keyword will be ignored.
Reason: The error occurs if user uses Mailmig.exe and if the NTAccounts parameter is set to “No” in control file.
Solution: To overcome this issue user can switch to GUI mode of the wizard instead of working on command line. By using GUI mode user can easily check on bulk migration of file, it also plays vital role in avoiding the occurrence of aforementioned error.
All the above mentioned scenarios are tangible if we use proper technique to solve it. We all know Lotus Notes is a highly complex device hence only few advance users feel comfortable with it. Therefore the solution is also not very simple to implement if we are not familiar with the Notes technology. Hence choosing a simple and recommended way will ensure the safety of data and in business environment it is the utmost priority to secure data from any threat. Therefore the only safe and result oriented solution to migrate Lotus Notes data to Outlook is third party NSF to PST converter tool. There are large numbers of converter tools available in the market but it is tough task to choose a reliable tool.
On the behalf of my personal experience I would like to share that I too was a Lotus Notes user. After sometime I stared facing trouble to manage the complex client-server application. Then on the recommendation of one of my technical expert friend I planned to switch to Outlook. The same guy endorsed a third party converter tool known as Stellar NSF to PST converter tool. Using this tool I recovered all my Notes data easily and safely. Initially I used a demo version of the tool and after experiencing the flawless functionality I ordered a complete version of the software.
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