Setting up email in Outlook Express

Important note:

This tutorial is based on the procedure required to set up email in Outlook Express version 6. Note that 'Outlook Express' is not the same program as 'Outlook'. They are both from Microsoft but are different. Outlook Express is the one which comes included with any Window's operating system, while 'Outlook' is included with Microsoft Office. It is possible that you therefore have both. We are only concerned here, with Outlook Express.

Before you start following our instructions:

When you open Outlook Express for the very first time, it will prompt you to create a new account or import settings from another email client. So that we can all start at the same point, please cancel any questions like that and proceed to the main program.

Let's begin:

1. Go to the Tools menu at the top of the screen, then click Accounts in that menu.
   A dialog box with the title 'Internet Accounts' will open.
    
2. Near the top there are four tabs displayed. Click the one which says Mail.
   The dialog box should now contain a list of currently set up email accounts in Outlook Express. If you don't yet have any, the box will be empty.
    
3. On the right hand side of the box, there is a column of buttons. Click the top button which is labelled Add, then click Mail in the menu which displays at the side.
   A window should have opened with the title 'Internet Connection Wizard'.
    
4. The first thing it asks is your "Display name". This is the name which is displayed in the 'from' field when you send an email. It can be anything you like, but it probably makes the most sense to put some like "John Smith" or whatever your name is. Remember to use a capital letter for the first letter of each word - it looks more professional that way.
   It may pre-fill some or all of the fields for you. If it does, be sure to check that it has done so correctly. Don't trust it! When you are ready, press Next
    
5. It then asks for your email address. Now you need to already have created an email account with your Internet Service Provider. All we are doing here is making a way to down load your emails from your existing email account which is hosted online. Here you type the address you were given or chose, when you created your email account. Be very careful to enter it correctly and in full. If you get it wrong, you may still be able to send email and receive email, but when your friend replies to those emails, they will go to the wrong address and you will never see them. When you are ready, press Next
    
6. Next you choose the mailserver type. We will deal only with 'http' and 'pop3' here, since 'IMAP' is less common. First of all, I will explain the difference between the two.
    
   1. HTTP is usually the free email accounts like Hotmail, MSN, Google & Yahoo. They are accounts which you might refer to as 'webmail accounts'. This guide will cover setting up only Hotmail or MSN mail if you have a webmail account.
      Note that most email accounts do also have a webmail interface but they are not primarily webmail accounts. The webmail is just provided for convenience so you can still access your mail from a PC which is not yours.
       
   2. POP3 Outlook Express was designed for this kind of account. This is a standard email account provided by most Internet Service Providers. If in doubt, I would suggest that you choose this one. You would also use this one if you have your own domain name. After you have selected it, proceed to the next step.
       
7. If you chose:
    
   1. HTTP you will now be shown another dropdown selection box from where you need to select either Hotmail, MSN or Other. If you chose 'Other' you will have to obtain the server address from your email provider if you don't know it. The other two will automatically fill in the correct server details.
       
   2. POP3 you will need to type in your server names. Now you need the printed copy that you made when you originally signed up for your email account online with your Internet Service Provider. You did print it like they told you? If you didn't and you don't know what the server names are, you will need to visit your service provider's website and search for their email settings or email there technical support. Add this page to your favourites now, so that you can come back here when you have the information.
      If you do know the names of your servers you can type them in the boxes provided. Be sure to type them carefully. The POP3 one will probably be in the format of mail.snowweb.net or pop3.snowweb.net (or something like that, and the SMTP server may be like mail.snowweb.net or smtp.snowweb.net.
       
   Press Next when you are ready.
    
8. You are now asked for your account name. This is a little mis-leading. What they really want is your 'username' that you use when you access your email. This is normally your full correct email address. Enter it carefully in lowercase (as all email addresses should be).
    
9. Next enter your password that you use when you access your email. This will be on the sheet that you printed and kept safe after you originally signed up your email account. It is case sensitive. That means that it does matter whether it is in upper case or lower case. You need to enter it in the same case that you originally used when you signed up. If you are not sure, try using all lowercase as this is the most common. Before you press Next, put a tick in the box "remember password" unless you want to enter your password each time you send or receive mail from that account. Leave the "Secure Password Authentication box unchecked though.
    
10. Click Finish
     
11. The window now closes and the account is setup. You should be able to see it in the list of accounts now. It will be called by the name of your POP3 server if you chose pop3 as your mailserver type. I think that is a very strange way to identify a mail account, so we will now change it to something more sensible. Select the account by clicking once on it (it will now become highlighted blue). Click the button on the right, called Properties.
     
12. The account properties window now opens and the 'General' tab is selected. The very top field has the name of your mailserver. Change it now to something sensible like. "My AOL email" or "Work email", "Personal email account", etc. It is just a name so that you can easily identify the account in the future if you have more than one account. It's best to set it now, rather than wait until then, when you may get confused!
     
13. While you are on that tab, you can put your organisation or company name in the 'Organization' field. Some email programs (like "The Bat!"), display this field when they display email.
     
14. Leave the "Reply to:" field empty, unless you want people to reply to a different address than the one you sent from.
     
15. Now press OK at the bottom and Close on the window beneath. Make sure you are still connected to the Internet and if you are, perform a "Send and Receive" by clicking the button on the toolbar. Hopefully it will connect and retrieve any email on the server. Try sending an email to your address too, to check both sending and receiving capability.
     

Troubleshooting

If all else fails, contact your email service provider.