PC Win: Using Mail Over RAS

ID: Q119581


The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Mail for Windows, version 3.2

Version 3.2 of Microsoft Mail for Windows is supported over a Remote Access Service (RAS), although it will be much slower than if you access mail directly over a network. (Version 3.2 of Microsoft Mail Remote for Windows provides faster access.) If you need to use Mail for Windows over RAS, you should compose and read messages offline.

To start Mail offline

To start Mail offline, double-click the MMF file referred to in the OfflineMessages line of the MSMAIL.INI file (located in the Windows subdirectory).

NOTE: With the Microsoft Mail for Windows NT, MSMAIL32.EXE, the command line option will work. However, if you double-click on the MMF in File Manager, the wrong name appears for the Mailbox only after trying to find the postoffice. If you are on the network, this should not take long. If you are using RAS, as this article indicates, this may take several minutes.

Another method is to create a second icon for offline Mail by copying the Mail icon and changing the properties to include /f <MMF name>. For example:
c:\msmail\msmail.exe /f myname.mmf
You can compose messages while working offline. Only the Personal Address Book (PAB) will be available while you work offline. To send and receive messages, exit and sign out and then double-click the (online) Mail icon to start Mail.

To improve performance

  1. Move the mail message file (MMF) to your local computer. You can do this from the Windows client by choosing Options from the Mail menu, then choosing Server. Moving the MMF to your local machine requires SHARE.EXE to be loaded on the machine. When the MMF is local, you are responsible for making regular and frequent backups.


  2. If the Global Address List (GAL) is available at the postoffice, use GALOnly=1 option in the MSMAIL section of the MSMAIL.INI file. If this entry is set to 1, the Mail address book will display only the GAL and the PAB. If this entry is set to 0, the Mail address book will display all possible address lists and the PAB.


  3. Turn AutoCompress off by using No_Compress=1 in the MMF section of the MSMAIL.INI file. This will disable background compression of the message store. You can compress your MMF when you are working offline by holding down the F5 key while you log in to Mail.


  4. Turn off Inbox Shadowing if you do not use other Mail clients such as the MS-DOS or Remote client to read your mail. You can do this from the Windows client by choosing Options from the Mail menu, choosing Server, and checking the Keep Copy Of Inbox For Dialin Access option.


  5. Keep the number of messages in the Inbox to a minimum.


  6. Perform any message manipulation, such as moving a message to a different folder or deleting a message, while you are working offline.


  7. Turn off the option to empty the wastebasket on exit by choosing Options from the Mail menu and unchecking the Empty Wastebasket When Exiting option. To empty the Wastebasket when you are working offline, select the Wastebasket folder, select the first message and press CTRL+SHIFT+END to highlight all the messages, and then press the DELETE key.


Additional query words: 3.20

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:3.2
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :


Last Reviewed: October 26, 1999
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