OL2000: How to Activate Diagnostic Logging

ID: Q240347

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Outlook 2000
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SUMMARY

To troubleshoot Internet Mail connections it is useful to log certain aspects of the connection. There is no option in Outlook to enable logging for Internet, SMTP, and POP sessions. You can enable logging by editing the Windows Registry.


MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

To Enable Logging of Internet Mail Sessions

Enable logging of Internet mail sessions by adding a key to the Windows Registry:
  1. Quit Outlook.


  2. Click Start, click Run, and in the Open box, type regedit, and click OK.


  3. Move to, and click to select the following key:


    4. Hkey_Current_User\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook\Options\Mail
  4. On the Edit menu, point to New, and click DWORD Value.


  5. Type the name Logging, and press ENTER.


  6. In the Value data box, type 1, click OK, and close the Registry Editor.


  7. Start Outlook to create the logs.


After establishing or attempting to establish an Internet Mail session, three files will be created at: 

C:\Windows\Temp\Outlook Logging
The files are stored in this folder within a folder that corresponds to the name of the account. There will be a log folder for each account on the computer. The subfolder will contain 3 files for logging various activities:
  • InetXP.txt logs the Internet session


  • Pop3log.txt logs mail-retrieval activity


  • Smtplog.txt logs mail-sending activity



REFERENCES

For additional information about interpreting the SMTP and POP3 logs, please click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q155455 How to Enable and Interpret the Smtp.log File
Q155515 How to Enable and Interpret the Pop3.log File

Additional query words: OL2K

Keywords :
Version : WINDOWS:2000
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbinfo


Last Reviewed: August 31, 1999
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