Troubleshooting

Does AOL Work with Outlook?

I'd like to add my AOL email account to Outlook. Can I just enter mail.aol.com as my incoming and outgoing mail servers?

No. AOL (America Online) uses a proprietary format for its email service. At one point, there was a beta MAPI service that allowed AOL users to access their email in Outlook 2000 and earlier versions, but that service has been discontinued. For more information on AOL's policy and Microsoft's response, see the Knowledge Base article 243336, located at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=243336 . There are two third-party add-ins that work with Outlook to give you limited email functionality. Those add-ins can be obtained from Slipstick Systems Exchange and Outlook Solution Center at http://www.slipstick.com/addins/services/online.htm.

Outlook Doesn't Know Me

I'm trying to create an Exchange account, and when I click the Check Name button, Outlook sits there for several minutes and then says that the name could not be resolved. Why doesn't Outlook recognize who I am?

There are a number of reasons why Outlook might not recognize your name. Outlook is communicating with the Exchange Server to determine whether you have an account on the Exchange Server. The first thing to check is the name of your Exchange Server. You can refer to an Exchange Server by name or by IP address. If the name is correct, try entering the Exchange Server's IP address to see whether that resolves the problem. If so, you might have a problem with your Hosts file that's preventing the Exchange Server name from resolving into an IP address. If that doesn't solve the problem, try pinging the Exchange Server to see whether your computer can find it. Type ping SERVERNAME (replacing SERVERNAME with the name of your Exchange Server) from a command prompt and click Enter. If there's no response, you have a network connectivity problem. If there is a response, it might be the name you entered that's the issue. Ask your Exchange administrator for your email alias. An alias is the short name that the Exchange Server uses to identify you. If none of these methods solves your problem, contact your Exchange administrator and network administrator for further assistance.

Why Do I Have Two Inboxes?

I created a Hotmail account in Outlook. I can send and receive Hotmail messages very easily. However, all my messages go to my Hotmail Inbox rather than my default Inbox. Can I change this?

Unfortunately, no. You can set up a rule to move messages received from your Hotmail account into a folder in your default message store, but all Hotmail messages are automatically received in your Hotmail Inbox. The Hotmail Inbox serves a special purpose. Clicking on the Hotmail Inbox folder immediately connects to the server and downloads new Hotmail messages.