E-mail settings Outlook

Basically there are two ways to send and receive e-mail messages: with an e-mail application or web based with an internet browser like the Internet Explorer or Firefox (download: www.firefox.com). Most web based solutions are straight forward and easy in use (and available wherever you are able to browse the internet because your mail are stored on the server of the e-mail provider). With an e-mail application you are able to store your send and received e-mail on your computer. To do so, you need an e-mail application like Outlook or Outlook Express. On this page the different settings of the Office Outlook e-mail application are described. Click here for Outlook Express e-mail settings

E-mail settings Outlook

Setting up Outlook is not that much different from the Outlook Express procedure. From your e-mail provider you probably received the settings like e-mail address, POP3 and SMTP server, user account and password. Most times, this is all the information you need. In Outlook you click Tools, E-mail Accounts in the toolbar followed with the option Add a new e-mail account and a wizard appears.




In the appearing wizard you first have to choose the type of e-mail server, most times POP3 (HTTP for Hotmail accounts). In the next screen you enter your name, followed with your e-mail address (enter your e-mail address correctly, else nobody will be able to reply your e-mail!). You also have to enter the POP3 and SMTP server (provided by your provider). The POP3 server is the incoming mail server of the e-mail provider, while the SMTP server is the outgoing mail server (most times you have to use the SMTP server of your internet provider (probably the same as your e-mail provider)). Furthermore you need to provide the Logon Information: the username and password, provided by your e-mail provider.

By clicking More Settings you are able to change some properties. On the first tab you are able to change the name (as identification for yourself) and if needed changing the default port numbers on the tab Advanced. On the bottom of this tab your are able to leave the messages on the server for a certain amount of time. This can be interesting if you would like to download your e-mail on more then one computer!

With most e-mail providers it is not possible to send e-mail with SMTP-server while your active internet connection is not from the same provider. For sending an e-mail, you don't need to have a valid e-mail address. The reason is simple: if you are not logged in with the same provider, you can't be traced in case of sending SPAM. This can be irritating, especially when you would like to reply on e-mail messages on your vacation-address. However, some e-mail providers support SMTP-authentication, where you use your username and password of the e-mail address to identify yourself. In Outlook, you can activate authentication with your e-mail account settings, button More Settings, tab Outgoing Server.

If the SMTP-authenticatie is not supported by your e-mail provider, you can have a look at the tool Autoroute SMTP (download: www.mailutilities.com/ars). By using the address 127.0.0.1 (redirects to localhost, your own computer instead of the SMTP-server of your provider), Autoroute SMTP will pick up the send e-mail and redirect them automatically to the right SMTP-server (the SMTP-server of the internetprovider providing the internetconnection at that moment).

If you are using an very old Hotmail or MSN account, sometimes you are able to use Outlook or Outlook Express in stead of the well known webbased option. In stead of POP3, you need to choose for HTTP in the appearing combo box, followed with one of the following HTTP servers (which are probably already available):

Hotmail: http://services.msn.com/svcs/hotmail/httpmail.asp
MSN: http://oe.msn.msnmail.hotmail.com/cgi-bin/hmdata

Most Hotmail addresses are only available by HTTP in your e-mail application if you paid for it. Try and find out.

Changing default Outlook settings

The default Outlook settings aren't always that comfortable, I prefer to change some of them:

With a simple tweak you are able to minimize Outlook to the system tray on the right of your taskbar. This is done with the registry editor by creating the DWORD-value MinToTray with value 1 in the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Office\xx.0\Outlook\Preferences.

For Outlook there is no work around for the secured attachments, like Outlook Express has. You need to make changes in the registry to disable (partly) the security options. Navigate to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security (9.0 for Outlook 2000SP3, 10.0 for Outlook 2002/XP). Add the String Value Level1Remove. Change the value with the allowed file extensions, separated with the ;-sign (example: exe;com).

Actually I advice to use the add-in called Outlook Attachment Options (download: www.slovaktech.com). After installing this add-in, it is available in Outlook by Extra, Options, tab Outlook Attachment Options. By choosing the allowed extensions and restarting Outlook, you can temporary change the settings! With this add-in, you are also able to minimize Outlook to the system tray, as described above.

Changing database location Outlook

The aim is to create an image of the Windows partition, to be able to recover Windows quickly, without loosing personal data. For that reason, you need to change the Outlook database location to a different partition! Outlook stores the complete archive (OUTLOOK.PST file (ARCHIVE.PST for the older e-mail)) in the following folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\user account\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
(Windows 98/ME C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook)

NOTE: Normally these files are hidden in the Windows Explorer! To unhide: Tools, Folder Options, tab View, enable Display the content of system folders, enable Show hidden files and folders, disable Hide extensions for known file types and disable Hide protected operating system files. If you are not able to find the files, you can always use the Windows search function to find these files (Start, Search, "OUTLOOK.PST").

By a simple cut and paste action from the OUTLOOK.PST file to a new location (example: D:\DATA\MAIL (use the Windows Explorer to create this folder)), you are able to change the current archive location! (By replacing the OUTLOOK.PST you are able to switch between archives!) After the start of Outlook, you receive a database error because the missing OUTLOOK.PST file. Navigate to the new location and restart Outlook again, and the new location has been set.

Probably you will have a problem with the Outlook Address Book, especially if you overwrite the OUTLOOK.PST file with the archive from you previous Windows XP installation (Tools, Address Book). To solve this problem, right click the Contact icon the folder view on the left pane (if the different archive folders are not visible, enable this by View, Folder List) and choose Properties, tab Outlook Address Book and enable the option Show this folder as an e-mail Address Book (if you feel the need to you can change the address book name). The next step in Outlook is Tools, Address Book, and in the new appearing window Tools, Options, and change the two combo boxes and in the lower pain remove the upper address book referer.

I advise to disable the auto archiving option. This option is enabled by default, which will move old e-mail to the ARCHIVE.PST file. This way, they are no longer visible, and very difficult to find. Disable this option by Tools, Options, tab Other, button AutoArchive. (changing the default location to a save location (example D:\DATA\MAIL) is also possible here). If you already have an ARCHIVE.PST file with old e-mail and would like to import them to your current OUTLOOK.PST file, you can import those by File, Import and Export, Import from another program of file, Personal Folder File (.pst) and Browse to the PST-file.

Not able to save the password

In some cases Outlook doesn't save your password, even if you enable the option to save the password. This error is caused by a malfunctioning of the Protected Storage Space from Windows. To solve this problem, run the registry editor and navigate to the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Protected Storage System Provider. You will find a key with a long name starting with S-1-5-21 which you have to delete (probably it's save to create a back-up of this key by File, Export). In most cases the problem is solved and next time the passwords will be saved. Be carefull: by doing this you will lose all stored passwords. Read the back-up page how to recover these passwords.

If this doesn't solve the password issue (or if it's not possible to delete the key), there is probably a problem with the permissions of your user account. Select the key Protected Storage System Provider, right click on it and choose  Permissions, button Advanced. Make sure that your user account has Full Control for this key and subkeys. Activate the option Reset permissions on all child objects and enable propagation of inheritable permissions, click OK and repeat the earlier mentioned procedure. If needed, check the Microsoft KB files (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290684). Here you will find more information how to reset the protected storage system provider.

Opening hyperlinks doesn't work and other problems

Frequently people ask me how to fix the issue with hyperlinks in an e-mail message which won't open anymore (and other strange problems). Most of the time this is caused by the  registry of the DLL files. You can fix this by using the following commands in Start, Run:

regsvr32 urlmon.dll
regsvr32 shdocvw.dll
regsvr32 actxprxy.dll
regsvr32 oleaut32.dll
regsvr32 mshtml.dll
regsvr32 browseui.dll
regsvr32 shell32.dll

This can be done easely by selecting them one by one, copy (CTRL-C) and paste (CTRL-V) in the Run box. The next thing is to start the Internet Explorer and choose Extra, Internet-options, tab Programs, button Reset Web Settings. Most of the time the troubles are solved.

TIP: It can be irritating that clicking on a hyperlink in an e-mail will overwrite the current Internet Explorer webpage. You can solve this issue by disabling the option Reuse windows for launching shortcuts. You can find this option in the Internet Explorer, Tools, Internet options, tab Advanced, Browsing area.

If you would like to send sesitive files as an attachment in your email, you probably would like to encrypt it first to make sure the information is secured. This can be done with the free tool AxCrypt (download: www.axantum.com/AxCrypt). In a few clicks you can create an encrypted file which can be send safely as an attachment by email. The recipient only requires the key to decode the send file. Of course, this tool is also very useful to send big sensitive files with a site like www.yousendit.com.



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