OL97: Configuring the Internet Mail Information Service

• Microsoft Outlook 97

SUMMARY

In Outlook 97, the Internet Mail Information Service stores information that allows you to login to your Internet Mail Server and by which means to initiate the login process. Outlook provides this service during a typical setup scenario. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) provides most of the information that populates the configuration pages of the Internet Mail Information Service.

MORE INFORMATION

You must properly configure the Internet Mail information service to send and receive mail with Outlook. To configure this information service, follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook, and on the Tools menu, click Services.

2. In the Services dialog, click Internet Mail information service, and click Properties. If Internet Mail is not listed, click Add, click Internet Mail, then click OK.

3. Type in the required properties, using the following guidelines.

General Tab:

The General tab contains information needed to connect to your mail server. Your ISP will supply most of this information to you. Type the following information in the appropriate boxes:

Personal Information:

Full Address - This should be your full name

Email Address - This is the email address that your ISP provides to you. Your email address usually takes the form of a combination of your first and last name and the name of your ISP, separated by the @ symbol and periods. For example, John Doe uses an ISP by the name of MYISPNET. The ISP may assign an email address of JohnD@myispnet.net

Mailbox Information:

Your Internet Mail Server:

This information, also provided by your ISP, is the name of the POP3 server that holds your mail before you download it to your computer. This may be in the form of a name such as mail.myispNet.net, or it could be in the form of an IP address such as 222.333.22.1.

Outgoing Mail Server:

Some ISP's use two different Mail Servers. One for incoming mail (POP3) and another for outgoing mail (SMTP). If this is the case, use the Advanced button to type in the SMTP server name or IP address.

Account Name:

This information is your Internet Mail Server account name. Your ISP may call this your Mailbox name. It usually takes the form of everything to the left of the @ symbol of your email address.

Password:

This information is your key to your mail server. Generally, you define your own password. Your ISP may have assigned an initial password however, you should change it as soon as possible.

Connection tab

The Connection tab contains information on how to connect to your mail server. There are two ways to connect to your ISP's mail server. You can connect through a Dial-up Networking connection (modem) or you can connect through the current network.

Connecting to Internet Mail:

Choose the appropriate connection type listed in this section.

Connect using the network:

This connection allows you to login to your mail server through your existing network connection. Your network configuration must support access to the Internet. Please see your network administrator for more details.

Connect using the modem:

For a modem connection, The Internet Mail Service looks for a Dialup Networking connection to establish a login with your ISP. Once logged in to your ISP, it attempts to connect to your ISP's mail server.

If this section is dimmed or not available, it may indicate that the Windows Dialup Networking feature is not installed on your computer. Please refer to the section below titled "If Dialup Networking is not installed".

After selecting "connect using the modem", you must define a Dialup Networking connection to use. You can select an existing connection from the list, or you can use Add New Entry to create a new connection.

Add New Entry:

If you do not have an existing connection, you can add a new connection by clicking the Add Entry. This starts the Dialup Networking Connection Wizard.

Edit Entry:

You can modify an existing connection by clicking Edit Entry; this will take you to the existing connection's Properties page.

Transferring Internet Mail

This section specifies how messages are to be transferred.

Work Offline and Use Remote Mail:

Click this check box to select it, to initially display message headers. You can then scan the headers using Remote Mail on the Tools menu, to mark the messages you want to receive, copy, or delete. While using Remote Mail, you can compose messages and send them to your Outbox at any time, and send and receive messages when you connect to your mailbox.

Clear this check box to deliver all messages from the mail server automatically. You can use the Schedule button to define how often Outlook check for mail.

Schedule:

Click this option to set the time interval for message delivery. This applies to both modem and network connections.

Log File:

Click this option to create a file that records events during your mail sessions. A log file is useful for troubleshooting when you have problems with Internet Mail.

For more detailed information on Internet Mail Connections and Transfer options, please refer to the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge base:

   Article-ID:Q162597
   Title     : OL97: Internet Mail Connections and Transfer Options

If Dialup Networking Is Not Installed

To use a modem connection, you must install and configure Dialup Networking included with Windows 95. Your ISP will supply the following information to you:

• User name
• Password
• Local access phone number
• Your host and domain name
• DNS server IP address
• Authentication technique (whether or not a terminal window is used)

For more detailed information on configuring Dialup Networking in Windows 95, please refer to the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   Article- ID: Q138789
   Title: OL97: How to Connect to the Internet in Windows 95

Keywords          : cfgIM kbfaq
Version           : WINDOWS:97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto