PC Win: Offline Symbol Appears in Status Bar

• Microsoft Mail for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0a and 3.0b

SYMPTOMS

The offline (or net disconnect) symbol appears in the status bar of Microsoft Mail versions 3.0, 3.0a, and 3.0b for Windows; however, Mail appears to function as usual.

CAUSE

An ownerless mail message file (*.MMF) on the Microsoft Mail postoffice on a Novell NetWare server may cause this symbol to appear.

RESOLUTION

To assign ownership, the supervisor must run Filer (select the root of the postoffice when all users are off Mail) and change the entire directory tree to supervisor ownership.

MORE INFORMATION

In the Novell NetWare operating system, a file on a server receives ownership when it is created or copied within the server, with ownership assigned to the user who last effected the file. If a user is removed from the bindery (the Novell server database of users and resources), all files under ownership of the user at the time become ownerless. The files will remain ownerless--even if the user is added back to the bindery--until a user (or users) affect the files.

To check for ownerless files, type "NDIR" (without the quotation marks) at the command prompt from the directory in question. An excerpt from a sample NDIR listing follows:

LECTOR/SYS:PUBLIC

   Files        Size        Last Updated         Flags       Owner

IBM$RUN OVL     2,400     7-13-89   9:30a     [RoS---DR]     LECTOR
IBM4201 PDF       368     9-21-88  10:02a     [RoS---DR]     LECTOR
IBMPRO2 PDF       369     9-21-88  10:02a     [RoS---DR]     LECTOR
OWNRLES TXT        35     1-21-93   4:11p     [Rw-A----]     N/A
LISTDIR EXE    26,235     1-23-91   2:45p     [RoS---DR]     LECTOR