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The Microsoft Outlook E-Mail and Fax Guide
Last Updated 7/27/2009 2:10:28 PM
Chapter 6: Setting Up Internet Email
This chapter steps you through setup of the Internet Email service. If you get your mail from an Internet Service Provider or your organization uses a mail server that works just like an ISP, then you need the Internet Email service.
If you get your mail from an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or your organization uses a mail server that works just like an ISP, then you need the Internet E-mail service. Another buzzword that indicates you need the Internet E-mail service is POP3, short for “Post Office Protocol version 3.”
With the Internet E-mail service, you can:
- Exchange e-mail with anyone who has an Internet E-mail address, including people who use online services such as America Online (AOL), CompuServe, and Prodigy
- Send and receive file attachments without going through a separate encoding or decoding procedure
In general, Internet E-mail is a mail service that connects you with people outside your organization. However, your organization may operate an internal mail server that you can use Internet E-mail to connect to.
If you are using Exchange Server, you may not need Internet E-mail. Check with your system administrator to find out whether the Exchange Server already has a connection to the Internet that lets you send and receive mail without installing this additional service.
Internet E-mail vs. Internet Mail:
There are actually two Internet mail services from Microsoft for Outlook. One, called “Internet Mail,” was included with the original Outlook product. However, it has been substantially updated and renamed “Internet E-mail.” Because the Internet E-mail service provides many more of the features that Internet Mail users expect, it’s the one I recommend and cover in this chapter. It’s definitely the service you need if you want to get mail from more than one Internet account or if you want to control the line length, quoting character, and other aspects of your Internet messages.
If, instead of the dialog boxes depicted in this chapter, you see an Internet Mail service with only two tabs, General and Connection, you definitely have the older service and should upgrade. Choose Help, Microsoft on the Web, Free Stuff.
As if that isn’t confusing enough, Microsoft also has a self-contained Internet Mail program that comes with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0.
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REQUIREMENTS
To use the Internet E-mail service with Outlook, you must have:
- An account on a mail server that supports POP3 for incoming mail and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) for outgoing mail
- A way to connect to the mail server, via either dial-up networking with a modem or a direct network connection
- The Internet Mail Enhancement Patch (IMEP) or Outlook 8.02 or later
If you don’t have the IMEP patch, choose Help, Microsoft on the Web, Free Stuff and download it. Run the Outlimep.exe file to install the software and make it one of the services available to your Outlook profile.
If you will be connecting with dial-up networking, create a DUN connection using the procedures covered in Chapter 2 and make sure it works before installing Internet E-mail.
How to Get an Account
If you don’t already have an Internet E-mail account, you can get one from any number of local or national providers.
You can sign up with an ISP for as little as $20 a month, and sometimes even less. For that price, you usually get dial-up access to the provider (often unlimited), an e-mail account, and sometimes even space for a personal Web site. When shopping for an ISP, make sure they support POP3/SMTP mail with MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) attachments.
Many ISPs provide e-mail software such as Eudora or Pegasus when you sign up. The advantage that Outlook offers over these programs is that you can manage not just Internet e-mail, but also messages from other sources — plus contacts, appointments, and tasks — all in the same folders.
You can have more than one Internet E-mail service in your Outlook profile. For example, you might connect to a POP3/SMTP server at work and use an account with an ISP for your personal e-mail.
Preinstallation Checklist
Before you set up Internet E-mail, fill out this checklist (Table 6.1) for each of the accounts that you plan to use. Get the information from the ISP or, if you’re connecting via a local server, from your network administrator.
SETTING UP AN INTERNET E-MAIL ACCOUNT
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TABLE 6.1: INTERNET E-MAIL CONNECTION TYPES |
| Connection Type |
Features |
Limitations |
| I use a LAN connection |
• Sends messages immediately
• Supports automatic scheduled connections |
• Cannot use Remote Mail |
| I connect manually |
• Allows you to manage the connection yourself (useful with multiple ISPs or more than one DUN connection) |
• Does not support automatic scheduled connections
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| I use a modem to access my e-mail |
• Dials your ISP for you
• Can be set to disconnect automatically after mail sessions |
• Does not support
automatic scheduled connections
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Unlike the other services we’ve explored, Internet E-mail does not come with a wizard to walk you through the required configuration settings. If you add Internet E-mail as part of a new profile, you can still use the Inbox Setup Wizard, but it requires you to enter information directly in the Internet E-mail Properties dialog box. Therefore, in this section, we look at the four tabs that control Internet E-mail. You should review the settings on each tab, every time you set up a new Internet E-mail service. You can set up more than one Internet account in your profile, simply by adding another copy of the Internet E-mail service.
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