easily switch SMTP servers?

[Dabbler]

I have a client who accesses their email using cable broadband provider
when at the office and then uses a different isp for dialup. The problem
I have is that they need to switch the smtp server when using dialup
because the broadband smtp server does not allow connections that don't
come through their network.

Is there a writeup of the ideal way to setup outlook to switch back and
forth between SMTP servers? I have setup 2 accounts and two send/receive
groups but I don't want the user to have to go into Options/Mail
Setup/Send Receive then have to choose an account then check include
group and schedule an automatic send/receive. This is just too confusing
for someone who doesn't want to be an outlook administrator and would
use this infrequently enough to forget the steps.

Is there some way to write a script that would set the configuration
which could then be invoked from an icon on the desktop? I could then
create two scripts (office and road trip) and they would only have to
push a button.

Thanks for any suggestions on this. Any sample scripts would be
appreciated.

Michael

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Best option - see if one of the SMTP servers can be used while 'off network'
if the client authenticates to it. Check with the ISPs. This means no change
will be necessary.

Second best option - see http://www.ashemimry.com/ for a third-party add-in.

 

[Vanguard °°°]

I have a client who accesses their email using cable broadband
provider when at the office and then uses a different isp for dialup.
The problem I have is that they need to switch the smtp server when
using dialup because the broadband smtp server does not allow
connections that don't come through their network.

Is there a writeup of the ideal way to setup outlook to switch back
and forth between SMTP servers? I have setup 2 accounts and two
send/receive groups but I don't want the user to have to go into
Options/Mail Setup/Send Receive then have to choose an account then
check include group and schedule an automatic send/receive. This is
just too confusing for someone who doesn't want to be an outlook
administrator and would use this infrequently enough to forget the
steps.

Is there some way to write a script that would set the configuration
which could then be invoked from an icon on the desktop? I could then
create two scripts (office and road trip) and they would only have to
push a button.

Thanks for any suggestions on this. Any sample scripts would be
appreciated.

Michael

I never found a way to have Outlook detect which SMTP server to use
(i.e., which e-mail account) based on which connectoid was active (LAN
or dial-up). About the only thing I can think of would be to determine
2 mail profiles, one for the broadband connection and another for the
dial-up connection. You're the one that syncs these: when on the
broadband then use profile 1, and when on the dial-up then use profile
2. You will need to configure the mail profile setup to prompt you to
select which profile to use when Outlook starts up (rather than always
use the default one).

 

[Dabbler]

Thanks.. DesertFish Roamer was just what I needed!

Best option - see if one of the SMTP servers can be used while 'off
network'
if the client authenticates to it. Check with the ISPs. This means no change
will be necessary.

Second best option - see http://www.ashemimry.com/ for a third-party add-in.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

Glad to help - I've never used it, so test it a bit & report back w/your
findings, if you don't mind - would like to know if it's worth it.

 

[Vanguard]

"Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"

Glad to help - I've never used it, so test it a bit & report back
w/your findings, if you don't mind - would like to know if it's worth
it.

So how is using a separate application to define multiple SMTP servers
based on location easier than defining multiple mail profiles (that
could be named according to location) in which the e-mail accounts would
specify the correct SMTP server (and leave it setup to prompt you for a
profile when Outlook starts up)?

"The next time I am at that location, all I have to do is choose my
location, and "BAM" Outlook now has the right SMTP to send e-mail."
(Authors claim for DesertFish Roamer)

"The next time you need to use a different SMTP server, all you have to
do is select the appropriate mail profile, and "BAM" Outlook now has the
right SMTP to send e-mail." (My rephrase when using mail profiles to
switch which set of e-mail accounts get used within a session of
Outlook.)

Of course, the real solution is to have Microsoft allow you to assign a
default mail profile to each connectoid. So when you are using the
broadband connectoid from home then you use the "home" mail profile, and
when travelling and using a dial-up connectoid then you use the
"thatISPdialup" mail profile.

Don't mail profiles permit the user to define *different* sets of e-mail
accounts within each profile, and each can have *independent* settings
for servers?

 

[Colin McKenzie]

Could you please tell me how you sync the 'personal folders' used with a
'home' profile' and the standard folders used with Exchange server? Am I
right in thinking that 'enable off line folders' only applies to the
exchange folders in the 'office' profile?

many thanks
Colin

 

[Vanguard]

Could you please tell me how you sync the 'personal folders' used
with a 'home' profile' and the standard folders used with Exchange
server? Am I right in thinking that 'enable off line folders' only
applies to the exchange folders in the 'office' profile?

many thanks
Colin

I don't have access to Exchange mail anymore and just use SMTP servers
via broadband and dial-up. According to the Help in Outlook 2002:

Create an Offline Folder file (.ost)
1. On the Tools menu, click E-Mail Accounts, click View or change
existing e-mail accounts, and then click Next.
2. In the Outlook processes e-mail for these accounts in the following
order list, click Microsoft Exchange Server, and then click Change.
3. Click More Settings.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Offline Folder File Settings.
5. In the File box, type the path to the file you want to use as the
Offline Folder file.
The default file name is outlook.ost. If this file already exists,
you are prompted for a new name.

Since you are changing the settings for an Exchange-based e-mail
account, my presumption is that an .ost file is used only for an
Exchange-based e-mail account
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;296080). I
remember being able to download messages off the Exchange server into my
..pst file so I could read them despite the Exchange server going down or
becoming unreachable within the corporate network. I also recall that
Microsoft recommends NOT to use .pst files on mapped (network) drives
and to use .ost files instead
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305519). It's
been too long since I had to use Exchange as my mail server.

I haven't done sync'ing between profiles but here's my guess:
- Open the Mail applet in Control Panel.
- Click Show Profiles.
- Create a new mail profile. A new .pst file gets created for that new
profile.
- With the new profile highlighted, click Properties.
- In the Mail Setup dialog, click Data Files.
- Click Add and navigate to the .pst file for your other [old] mail
profile.
- After adding the old .pst file to your new profile, click Settings.
- Change the Name of the information store (i.e., .pst file). This will
become evident later when you need to select it as the one to receiving
incoming e-mails. Each information store (data file) should have a
unique name so you can differentiate them later. Having them all named
"Personal Folders" makes it quite difficult to tell them apart.
- Click Close to exit the Data Files dialog and return to the Mail Setup
dialog (which is still for your new profile).
- Click E-Mail Accounts.
- Select "View or change existing e-mail accounts".
- In the "Deliver new e-mail to the following location" drop-down
listbox, select your old .pst file.
- Click Finish to exit the E-mail Account dialog (and return to the Mail
Setup dialog). You get a warning that you have changed the information
store used to save your e-mail, calender, and so on. Click Close the
return to the Mail dialog.
- Select the "Prompt for a profile to be used" so when you start Outlook
you get prompted for which profile you want to use at that time.

You now have 2 profiles with each using the same information store (.pst
file) for delivery of e-mail. Since they share the same contents, your
calendar, journal, contacts, and so on will be the same regardless of
which profile you log under. Only the e-mail accounts and the servers
configured for them will be different.

Since you could define the same Exchange-based e-mail account in each
profile (i.e., they all point to the same server and mailbox), I would
think that would keep you using the same Exchange mailbox in each
profile. Similarly, you could define multiple e-mail accounts with
exactly the same POP and SMTP servers (but then the mail profiles would
be duplicates and superfluous) but you could then define different
information stores for the same servers (which would actually be
un-sync'ing the mail received while under one profile from the e-mail
received while under the other profile, and the same for calender,
contacts, etc.) I suppose if you wanted to use separate mail profiles
to the same e-mail servers to separate your Contacts that this would be
one way. Although you have multiple mail profiles, the e-mail accounts
within them can be for the same or different servers, and they can share
information stores (.pst files) or use separate ones. You can wind up a
very complicated ball of configuration spaghetti. Since you can have
only one mail profile open at a time, you don't have to worry that 2 or
more profiles share the same .pst file.

Now if Microsoft could add an option to a connectoid (a network or
dial-up connection) to specify which mail profile to make the default
when that connectoid is active then switching to the correct mail
servers would occur automatically depending on which connectoid you
used. I know that I can have more than one connectoid active at a time,
like the LAN (cable Internet) and dial-up (modem to ISP) can be
concurrently active. This will often cause problems because you
probably don't have your host configured to operate as a gateway and
your network and/or ISP probably doesn't behave well or like you
operating as a gateway, so Microsoft really needs an option to specify
mutual exclusion amongst connectoids.

 

[Colin McKenzie]

many thanks Vanguard - will try all this and report back

yours
Colin

Could you please tell me how you sync the 'personal folders' used
with a 'home' profile' and the standard folders used with Exchange
server? Am I right in thinking that 'enable off line folders' only
applies to the exchange folders in the 'office' profile?

many thanks
Colin

I don't have access to Exchange mail anymore and just use SMTP servers
via broadband and dial-up. According to the Help in Outlook 2002:

Create an Offline Folder file (.ost)
1. On the Tools menu, click E-Mail Accounts, click View or change
existing e-mail accounts, and then click Next.
2. In the Outlook processes e-mail for these accounts in the following
order list, click Microsoft Exchange Server, and then click Change.
3. Click More Settings.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Offline Folder File Settings.
5. In the File box, type the path to the file you want to use as the
Offline Folder file.
The default file name is outlook.ost. If this file already exists,
you are prompted for a new name.

Since you are changing the settings for an Exchange-based e-mail
account, my presumption is that an .ost file is used only for an
Exchange-based e-mail account
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;296080). I
remember being able to download messages off the Exchange server into my
.pst file so I could read them despite the Exchange server going down or
becoming unreachable within the corporate network. I also recall that
Microsoft recommends NOT to use .pst files on mapped (network) drives
and to use .ost files instead
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;305519). It's
been too long since I had to use Exchange as my mail server.

I haven't done sync'ing between profiles but here's my guess:
- Open the Mail applet in Control Panel.
- Click Show Profiles.
- Create a new mail profile. A new .pst file gets created for that new
profile.
- With the new profile highlighted, click Properties.
- In the Mail Setup dialog, click Data Files.
- Click Add and navigate to the .pst file for your other [old] mail
profile.
- After adding the old .pst file to your new profile, click Settings.
- Change the Name of the information store (i.e., .pst file). This will
become evident later when you need to select it as the one to receiving
incoming e-mails. Each information store (data file) should have a
unique name so you can differentiate them later. Having them all named
"Personal Folders" makes it quite difficult to tell them apart.
- Click Close to exit the Data Files dialog and return to the Mail Setup
dialog (which is still for your new profile).
- Click E-Mail Accounts.
- Select "View or change existing e-mail accounts".
- In the "Deliver new e-mail to the following location" drop-down
listbox, select your old .pst file.
- Click Finish to exit the E-mail Account dialog (and return to the Mail
Setup dialog). You get a warning that you have changed the information
store used to save your e-mail, calender, and so on. Click Close the
return to the Mail dialog.
- Select the "Prompt for a profile to be used" so when you start Outlook
you get prompted for which profile you want to use at that time.

You now have 2 profiles with each using the same information store (.pst
file) for delivery of e-mail. Since they share the same contents, your
calendar, journal, contacts, and so on will be the same regardless of
which profile you log under. Only the e-mail accounts and the servers
configured for them will be different.

Since you could define the same Exchange-based e-mail account in each
profile (i.e., they all point to the same server and mailbox), I would
think that would keep you using the same Exchange mailbox in each
profile. Similarly, you could define multiple e-mail accounts with
exactly the same POP and SMTP servers (but then the mail profiles would
be duplicates and superfluous) but you could then define different
information stores for the same servers (which would actually be
un-sync'ing the mail received while under one profile from the e-mail
received while under the other profile, and the same for calender,
contacts, etc.) I suppose if you wanted to use separate mail profiles
to the same e-mail servers to separate your Contacts that this would be
one way. Although you have multiple mail profiles, the e-mail accounts
within them can be for the same or different servers, and they can share
information stores (.pst files) or use separate ones. You can wind up a
very complicated ball of configuration spaghetti. Since you can have
only one mail profile open at a time, you don't have to worry that 2 or
more profiles share the same .pst file.

Now if Microsoft could add an option to a connectoid (a network or
dial-up connection) to specify which mail profile to make the default
when that connectoid is active then switching to the correct mail
servers would occur automatically depending on which connectoid you
used. I know that I can have more than one connectoid active at a time,
like the LAN (cable Internet) and dial-up (modem to ISP) can be
concurrently active. This will often cause problems because you
probably don't have your host configured to operate as a gateway and
your network and/or ISP probably doesn't behave well or like you
operating as a gateway, so Microsoft really needs an option to specify
mutual exclusion amongst connectoids.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

You're correct - offline folders are for Exchange only. And ideally, you
don't wanna have POP mail in your Exchange profile anyway - it isn't
supported in versions of Outlook prior to OL2002, and is not the best idea
in my book regardless.

If you have Exchange, don't use Personal Folders for delivery - if you must
use them, use them for archive purposes only. Stick with the Exchange
mailbox.