Running ExSync.exe creates an Outlook profile with a random string of characters for its name

Problem:

When ExSync.exe (the signature update agent for Exclaimer Signature Manager Outlook Edition) is run for a user who does not have an existing Outlook profile, a profile with a random string of characters for its name is created. This profile is not completed until the user opens Outlook and adds an email account.

Reason:

ExSync.exe requires that Outlook is installed, and that an Outlook profile exists before it is run on a user’s PC. Typically, this problem occurs the very first time a user logs on to a PC; they need to run Outlook once to create a profile, but ExSync.exe is run during logon - before they have an opportunity to open Outlook for the first time.

Solution:

You can use the following VBScript script to run ExSync.exe. This will only launch ExSync.exe if the user already has an Outlook profile:

'CHECK FOR OUTLOOK PROFILE 
 
 Const HKEY_CURRENT_USER = &H80000001 
 strComputer = "." 
 Set objRegistry = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv") 
 strKeyPath2010 = "Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles" 
 strKeyPath2013 = "Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Outlook\Profiles"
 strKeyPath2016 = "Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Profiles"
 strValueName = "DefaultProfile" 
 objRegistry.GetStringValue HKEY_CURRENT_USER,strKeyPath2010,strValueName,dwValue 
 objRegistry.EnumKey HKEY_CURRENT_USER,strKeyPath2013, arrSubKeys2013
 objRegistry.EnumKey HKEY_CURRENT_USER,strKeyPath2016, arrSubKeys2016
 
 If IsNull(dwValue) AND IsNull(arrSubKeys2013) AND IsNull(arrSubKeys2016) Then
     Wscript.Echo "No Outlook Profile exists" 
 Else 
    call signature()
 End If 
 
 Function signature()
 Set wshShell = WScript.CreateObject ("WSCript.shell")
 wshshell.run """\\EXCHANGE\Signatures\exsync.exe""", 6, True
 End Function

Here, replace \\EXCHANGE\Signatures\exsync.exe towards the end with the full UNC path to ExSync.exe in your deployment share (keep all three sets of quotation marks).

The script checks that a profile for any version of Outlook exists, before running ExSync.exe. If no profile is found, the user will see a popup stating that “No Outlook Profile exists”. You can remove the prompt by deleting the following line from the IF statement:

Wscript.Echo "No Outlook Profile exists"

This allows the user to run Outlook for the first time and create a profile, before ExSync.exe is run automatically by your login script. As such, their Outlook profile is created with your company’s standard name and settings.

Next time they log on to the PC, ExSync.exe will run as normal and their signatures will be deployed to their existing Outlook profile.