Installing and Configuring Outlook Express

Outlook Express is the default e-mail client for Windows 98 and is included with a standard installation. You can configure Outlook Express settings from within the product as described in the following sections.

Administrators can configure certain Outlook Express settings, such as default e-mail and news servers, and default views, using the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) Profile Manager, which is supplied on the Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit compact disc. For more information about configuring Outlook Express with the IEAK Profile Manager, see "Configuring with the IEAK Profile Manager" later in this chapter.

Uninstalling Outlook Express

Outlook Express is installed with Windows 98. You can uninstall or reinstall it at any time by double-clicking Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel, clicking the Windows Setup tab, and then selecting or clearing the Microsoft Outlook Express check box.

Creating an E-mail Account

The first time you run Outlook Express, it starts the Internet Connection Wizard if you have not previously configured Windows for Internet use in the Internet Explorer browsing software. The wizard guides you through the process of setting up Outlook Express for e-mail (based on POP3 or IMAP4), news (NNTP), and directory service (LDAP) accounts for use with either an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or a local area network (LAN). For more information about the Internet Connection Wizard, see "Connecting to the Internet with the Internet Connection Wizard" in Chapter 20, "Internet Access and Tools."

Before creating an e-mail account, you need to know several pieces of information:

• The name and type (POP3 or IMAP4) of the incoming e-mail server.
• The name of the outgoing e-mail server. (It is not necessary to specify the type of server as it is always Simple Mail Transfer Protocol [SMTP].)
• Logon and security information, such as whether your ISP uses secure password authentication (SPA) for connecting to your accounts. SPA describes any authentication scheme where the actual password is not sent over the network.
• The type of Internet connection, including dial-up parameters if not using an existing connection.

You can access the Internet Connection Wizard at any time from within Outlook Express to modify existing account information or add new accounts.

To create an additional e-mail account

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. Click Add, and then click Mail. This launches the Internet Connection Wizard.
3. In the Display name box, type the name you want others to see when you send a message, and then click Next.
4. In the E-mail address box, type the e-mail address for your account, and then click Next.
5. Under E-mail Server Names, select the appropriate incoming e-mail server type, type the names of your incoming and outgoing e-mail servers, and then click Next.
6. Depending on your logon type, type your account name and password in the [POP/IMAP] account name and Password boxes.

   –Or –

   Click Log on using Secure Password Authentication (SPA).

   Note

   Whether you need your account name and password to log on, or you use SPA, needs to be determined before you can create an e-mail account. Contact your ISP or, if you are connected to the Internet on your corporate network, your network administrator to get this information.

7. In the Internet mail account name box, type a friendly name to identify the e-mail account you are configuring, and then click Next.
8. Select the connection type you use to connect to the Internet, and then click Next.
9. If you select Connect using my phone line, you are prompted to either create a new Dial-Up Networking connection or use an existing one. If Dial-Up Networking has been configured for your ISP, select Use an existing dial-up connection, select the name for your Dial-Up Networking connection in the list, and then click Next. If you already have an account set up with one ISP and you are setting up another account with a different ISP, you must create a new Dial-Up Networking connection.
10. Click Finish.

Configuring Outlook Express

You can configure and customize many aspects of Outlook Express, such as default views and e-mail servers, using the Outlook Express interface. As an administrator, you can configure additional settings, control which ones can be changed by your users, and customize certain views and functions of Outlook Express using the IEAK Profile Manager.

Configuring News, E-mail, and Directory Service Accounts

A news account is an account on a news server that you can use to read and post messages on newsgroups. News servers are maintained by ISPs, companies, groups, and individuals, and can host thousands of newsgroups.

You must have an e-mail account to read and send e-mail messages. This account specifies the e-mail servers, connection types, and server logon information for Outlook Express.

A directory service is an account that Outlook Express uses to look up e-mail addresses when you send messages. By default, Outlook Express is configured to connect to directory services provided by Bigfoot, Yahoo!, InfoSpace, SwitchBoard, VeriSign, and WhoWhere.

Creating News Accounts

Creating a news account for Outlook Express is much like creating an e-mail account. To create a news account, you need the server name and, if required, logon information (an account name and password).

To create a news account

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. Click Add, and then click News.
3. Follow the instructions in the Internet Connection Wizard, supplying your name and e-mail address, the actual and "friendly" names of your news server, and the type of Internet connection you use.
4. Click Finish to exit the wizard and create the account.
5. Click Close to close the Internet Accounts dialog box. At this point you are asked if you want to download the list of newsgroups.
6. Click Yes if you wish to see a list of newsgroups available on the news server.

To subscribe to a newsgroup

1. In the Folder List (tree view of folders), click the desired news server.
2. Click the Newsgroups icon on the toolbar. A newsgroup window appears, which lists your newsgroup servers and the groups available for subscription.
3. Click the desired newsgroup, and then click the Subscribe button. Outlook Express tags the newsgroup with a subscription icon.
   • Once you subscribe to a newsgroup, you can click Go to for a list of the subjects or headers in that newsgroup. As you click a subject, its content is downloaded and displayed.
   • To quit downloading, click OK. Outlook Express returns you to the list of newsgroups that appeared in step 1.

To unsubscribe from a newsgroup

• Follow steps 1 and 2 in the previous procedure, click the Subscribed tab, select the desired newsgroup, and then click Unsubscribe.

To view messages in a newsgroup

• Click on a newsgroup title, and then click Go to.

Tip

It is helpful to use the Display newsgroups which contain box to narrow down the list of newsgroups to just those that interest you. The list narrows down as you type each word.

Adding Directory Services

In addition to the directory services that it provides, Outlook Express allows you to connect to any other LDAP server.

To add a directory service account

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. Click Add, and then click Directory Service.
3. Follow the instructions in the Internet Connection Wizard, supplying the actual and "friendly" names for your Internet directory server, and specifying whether you want Outlook Express to automatically check addresses using this directory server.
4. Click Finish to exit the wizard and create the account.
5. Click Close to close the Accounts dialog box.

To remove a directory service account

• Follow step 1 in the previous procedure, click the desired directory service, and then click Remove.

Managing Your Newsgroups

Once you have connected to a news server and subscribed to one or more newsgroups, two files are created on your local machine for each news server:

• The Grplist.dat file contains a list of all available newsgroups. If the Notify me if there are any new newsgroups option in the General tab, under Options in the Tools menu is selected (this is the default), this list is compared against available newsgroups upon connection, and you are given the opportunity to view the newsgroups that have been added since your last connection.
• The Sublist.dat file contains a list of the newsgroups to which you have subscribed.

After newsgroups have been selected, Outlook Express downloads message header and/or body information to a corresponding NCH file. These files are located in a directory that matches the corresponding server name, and there is an NCH file for each newsgroup you subscribe to.

Note

The first time you view a newsgroup, it may take several minutes to download the messages. The next time you go to that newsgroup, it downloads faster because Outlook Express downloads only new messages.

Creating Newsgroup Filters

You can filter messages based on the following criteria:

• The sender’s e-mail address.
• The contents of the subject line.
• The size of the message.
• The length of time the message has been on the server.

You can filter all messages from all servers, only messages from a specific server, or messages from a specific newsgroup on a specific server.

To create a newsgroup filter

1. In the Folder List, click a news server.
2. On the Tools menu, click Newsgroup Filters.
3. Click Add.
4. In the Group(s) box, click the news server or newsgroups you want to filter.
5. Enter the desired criteria for the filter.
6. Click OK when you are finished.

To change the order of a filter

• Click the filter, and then click Move Up or Move Down.

Changing Existing E-mail or News Servers

To change an existing e-mail or news server

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. On either the Mail or News tab, click on a server, and then click Properties.
3. Change the server information as needed on the appropriate tabs.

   

Managing Multiple E-mail Accounts

It is becoming common for users to have more than one e-mail account. With Outlook Express, you can retrieve messages from multiple accounts and send e-mail from any of these accounts when composing a message.

Note

When you have more than one account and you only want to retrieve messages from one, click the Tools menu, point to Send and Receive, and then click the account name.

To add an e-mail or news account

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. Click Add, and then click Mail or News. Follow the instructions in the Internet Connection Wizard.
3. Click Finish to exit the wizard and create the account.

Configuring for Multiple Users

Outlook Express uses Windows profiles to handle multiple user scenarios. Users can log on to their respective profile and access their own mail store (file of incoming messages that have been retrieved). The Log Off user name option in the Outlook Express File menu or the Windows Start menu allows you to switch from one user to another. If profiles have not been set up on the user’s computer, the Profiles Setup dialog box appears, guiding the user through the process of setting up a new profile.

When the new user logs on and runs Outlook Express, they will have access to all of their own e-mail and newsgroup folders, rules, filters, and preferences.

Important

When you use the Log Off user name option in Outlook Express, it is important to realize that you are actually logging off of your Windows 98 session. If you have unsaved work in any other applications you are running, you should save it and then exit those applications correctly before logging off.

For more information about setting up Windows user profiles, see Chapter 7, "<a href="wrkc07.htm">User Profiles."

Setting Processing Rules with Inbox Assistant

The Inbox Assistant allows you to configure how messages are processed when they enter the Inbox. You can create rules on a per-account basis to easily sort and filter messages. You can construct rules based on the following criteria:

• Sender
• Addressees on the To: line
• Addressees on the Cc: line
• Subject
• Message size

At the present time, the Inbox Assistant only works with POP accounts. It does not work with IMAP4 accounts because IMAP4 keeps the e-mail on the server and there is no mechanism for applying rules on an e-mail server.

Tip

You can specify multiple filters or rules for incoming messages. If a message matches more than one of your criteria, it is sorted according to the first one it matches. You can also create rules after the fact and apply them to existing folders. For example, if your Inbox gets too large, you can create a rule and apply it to your Inbox even though you have already received the messages.

To create an Inbox rule

1. On the Tools menu, click Inbox Assistant.
2. Click Add. A Properties dialog box for the rule appears.
3. In the When a message arrives with the following criteria area, type the criteria you want to apply to the incoming messages.
4. In the Perform the following action area, select a check box, and then click the folder, person, or file you want to send the matching incoming messages to.
5. Click OK to add the rule.
6. To specify the priorities by which rules are applied to incoming messages, click the Move Up or Move Down button in the Inbox Assistant dialog box.

Important

The criteria for rules in Outlook Express are handled differently than for Windows Messaging or Outlook. In the Subject criteria, if more than one word is used as the conditional, the words are "and’ed" together, rather than "or’ed."

Storing Messages on E-mail Servers

If you use more than one computer to retrieve your e-mail, it can be useful to leave a copy of your messages on your mail server. When you log on to your account, Outlook Express downloads your messages according to the options you have set.

Note

If your account uses an IMAP4 e-mail server, messages will always be stored on the server. If your account uses a POP3 e-mail server, messages will be downloaded and deleted from the server unless you instruct Outlook Express to leave a copy of them there.

To store messages on an e-mail server

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. On the Mail tab, click the account, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. Under Delivery, select the Leave a copy of messages on server check box.

Tip

When you configure Outlook Express to leave a copy of messages on the POP3 e-mail server, it is a good idea to select Remove from server when deleted from ‘Deleted Items’; this prevents the number of messages on the server from growing without bound.

Security Options

Outlook Express takes advantage of the Internet Explorer browsing software security zones. Security zones provide fine-grained control over scripts and active content in HTML messages. Outlook Express also supports the industry security standard called Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME),which enables users to encrypt and digitally sign messages.

Configuring Security Zones

The Security zones feature of the Internet Explorer browsing software allows for custom security configurations. The default security zone for Outlook Express messages is the Internet zone. This zone allows scripts and active content to be run in HTML messages. To change that, you can choose the Restricted sites zone, or you can customize the settings for the Internet zone to disallow script execution, ActiveX controls, Java applets, and other Web features.

To change security zones

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Security tab.
3. Select a zone from the Zone list.

To customize security settings

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Security tab.
3. Click Settings.
4. Select a High, Medium, or Low security level.

   – Or –

   Select Custom, and then click Settings to modify the desired custom settings.

Note

Changing settings for a security zone in Outlook Express also changes them for the Internet Explorer browsing software.

For more information about the Internet Explorer browsing software security zones, see Chapter 20, "Internet Access and Tools," and Chapter 3, "Custom Installations."

Obtaining a Digital Certificate

In order to make full use of the security features included in Outlook Express, you must obtain a digital certificate. Digital certificates, which are also called digital IDs, provide a means for proving your identity on the Internet similar to the way a driver’s license does for people on a daily basis.

Digital certificates allow you to sign your e-mail in a way that recipients can be sure the message you send is actually from you and has not been tampered with. Also, digital certificates allow others to send you encrypted messages.

You obtain a digital certificate from a certifying authority, an organization that issues and verifies digital certificates. Microsoft’s preferred certificate provider is VeriSign, a leading provider of digital authentication products and services.

Before you can send signed e-mail, you must associate your digital certificate with the e-mail account you want to use. The following procedure lists the steps you would follow to obtain a Class I certificate from VeriSign. Other certificate providers may have different policies and procedures for issuing digital certificates.

To obtain a digital certificate

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Security tab.
3. Click Get Digital ID.
4. This will launch the Internet Explorer browsing software and open a site where you will be able to enroll for a digital certificate, through either VeriSign or another certificate provider.
5. Once the enrollment is completed and accepted, verification mail is generated and sent to the e-mail name specified on the enrollment form. This e-mail contains instructions for the installation of the digital certificate, a personal identification number (PIN), and a Web location for final certificate validation and installation.
6. The final step in the process is validation and installation of the digital certificate. After navigating to the page specified in the verification e-mail, entering the supplied PIN will display the details of the digital certificate.

   

Important

The previous process must be completed using the same browser on the same computer as was used during the enrollment process.

Installation is then simply a matter of clicking Install at the bottom of this screen. Final installation status will be displayed in a message box with either success text or an error code.

You must associate your digital certificate with an e-mail account before you can send digitally signed e-mail from that account.

To associate your digital certificate with an e-mail account

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
2. Select the account you want to use your digital certificate with, and click Properties.
3. Click the Security tab.
4. Select Use a digital ID when sending secure messages from.
5. Click Digital ID, and then select the default certificate for this account.

Sending and Receiving Encrypted Messages

Encrypting a message prevents other people from reading it while it is in transit over a network. To encrypt a message, you need to have a digital certificate, and you need to know the digital certificate of the person you are sending the message to. The digital certificate must be part of the person’s entry in the Address Book.

To send an encrypted message

• Before you send a message, click the Tools menu in the New Message window, and then click Encrypt.

  – Or –

  Click the Encrypt message icon on the New Message toolbar.

To add a digital certificate to your Address Book from a digitally signed message that you receive

1. Open the digitally signed message.
2. On the File menu, click Properties.
3. Click the Security tab, and then click Add digital ID to the address book.

To add a digital certificate to your Address Book from another source

1. In the Address Book, create a new entry for the contact, or double-click an existing contact.
2. In the Properties dialog box for the contact, click the Digital IDs tab, and then click Import.
3. Find the digital certificate file, and then click Open.

Note

When a contact has a digital certificate, a red ribbon is added to their card in the Address Book.

Sending and Receiving Digitally Signed Messages

Once you have obtained a digital certificate and associated it with an e-mail account, you can send digitally signed messages. It is not necessary for your recipients to have digital certificates.

To send a digitally signed message

• Before you send a message, click the Tools menu in the New Message window, and then click Digitally Sign.

  – Or –

  Click the Digitally sign message icon on the New Message toolbar.

For more information about security in Windows 98, see Chapter 9, "<a href="wrkc09.htm">Security."

Configuring for Offline Use

You can make more efficient use of your time online by downloading messages or newsgroups and reading them at a later time. You can also download just the message headers to view offline, and mark those you want to read next time you are connected to your ISP. Finally, you can compose messages offline and send them at a later time. After you have composed a message, select Send Later from the File menu, and Outlook Express will store the message in your Outbox until you click Send and Receive. Then it will prompt you to return to the online mode and attempt to establish your Internet connection.

To configure Outlook Express to work offline

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. Click the Dial Up tab.
3. Under When Outlook Express starts, select Do not dial a connection.
4. Select the Hang up when finished sending, receiving, or downloading check box, and then click OK.

To set up newsgroups for offline reading

1. In the Folder List, select a newsgroup.
2. On the File menu, click Properties.
3. Click the Download tab, select the When downloading this newsgroup, retrieve check box, and then select the option you want.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for as many newsgroups as you want.
5. Whenever you want to download the messages, click the Tools menu, and then click Download All.

Configuring with the IEAK Profile Manager

The Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) Profile Manager, which is supplied on the Microsoft Windows 98 Resource Kit compact disc, is a tool that administrators can use to preconfigure some Outlook Express settings. The Profile Manager is also the only way to turn on the Outlook Express InfoPane. This is a window that is displayed at the bottom of the main Outlook Express screen, and can contain a customized welcome message, frequently asked questions (FAQ), and support numbers.

Outlook Express policy settings that can be preset are the ability to send HTML messages, the security zone for HTML messages, and the elements in the default view.

To install the IEAK Profile Manager

1. Insert the Windows 98 Resource Kit compact disc into your CD-ROM drive. When the autorun screen appears, click Browse this CD.
2. Locate the Netadmin\Profmgr directory.
3. Copy the entire contents of this directory and its subdirectories to the desired location on your hard disk, making sure to maintain the directory structure.

To start the IEAK Profile Manager

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. Type the path to the location where you installed Profile Manager, and then type Profmgr.exe.

For more information about the IEAK Profile Manager, see the Microsoft Internet Explorer Resource Kit, which is available from Microsoft Press or can be downloaded from the Internet Explorer browsing software Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/ie/corp/.