OL98: (CW) Configuring Outlook to Automatically Dial Your ISP

MORE INFORMATION

WARNING: These steps do not work if you are using Outlook with Microsoft Windows NT, and may cause damage to your dial-up networking if you perform them. The Microsoft Dial-Up Networking 1.3 Upgrade described in this article is designed for Windows 95. This issue should not arise when using Windows NT.

The steps described in this article will set up Outlook and the Internet E-mail service to do the following:

• When you start Outlook it immediately dials your ISP and checks mail.
  
  
• After a three minute idle time your dial-up connection disconnects.
  
  
• At an interval you set, Outlook automatically dials your ISP and checks mail.
  
  
• If Outlook is not connected to your ISP and you send a mail message, Outlook immediately connects to your ISP and sends the message.

Setting up Outlook to connect automatically to your ISP at a regular interval is a five part process.

• Install the Microsoft Dial-Up Networking 1.3 Upgrade
• Set your e-mail connection type to LAN
• Configure your connection to disconnect if idle
• Configure your Dial-Up connection
• Set the Dial-Up interval

Install the Microsoft Dial-Up Networking 1.3 Upgrade

NOTE: You do not have to install the Microsoft Dial-Up Networking 1.3 Upgrade if you have Windows 95 OSR2. OSR2 is an OEM version of Windows and only available with a new personal computer.

To make Outlook automatically call your ISP you must install the Microsoft Dial-Up Networking 1.3 Upgrade, available on the Microsoft Internet site at the following Web address: NOTE: Type the Web address above as one line into your Web browser.

After you install the Microsoft Dial-Up Networking 1.3 Upgrade, follow these steps to setup Outlook to check your ISP e-mail account at regular intervals.

Set Your E-mail Connection Type to LAN

Set the connection type to LAN for all accounts that you want to have automatically check for new mail. To set the connection type in Outlook follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook.
2. On the Tools menu, click Services.
3. Click to select your Internet E-mail service and click Properties.
4. Click the Connection tab and click to check "Connect using my local area network (LAN)." Click OK to close Internet E-Mail Properties.
5. Click OK to confirm the message that changes will take effect when you restart Outlook and then click OK.
6. On the Tools menu, click Options and click the Internet E-mail tab.
7. Click to select "Check my local network connection(s)for new mail every <X> minutes" where <X> is the interval you wish check to for mail. Type the number of minutes in the box.
8. Click to select both "Check Internet Explorer or 3rd party dialer connection." and "Automatically dial when checking for new messages."
9. Click OK and then on the File menu click Exit And Log Off to quit Outlook.

If you have configured multiple accounts, repeat the above steps for each account that you want to have automatically check for new mail.

Set Your Connection to Disconnect If Idle

1. On the Windows Taskbar, click Start, point to Settings and click Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel double-click the Internet icon.
3. Click the Connection tab.
4. Click to select "Connect to the Internet using a modem." Click Settings and then in the "Use the following Dial-Up Networking connection" box, click to select your ISP's Dial-Up Networking connection.
5. Click to check "Disconnect if idle for" and set the timeout to three minutes and click OK (Three minutes is the minimum allowable setting).

Configure Your Dial-Up Connection

1. On the Windows Desktop, double-click My Computer and then double-click Dial-Up Networking.
2. Double-click the Dial-Up Networking connection you specified in Step 5 of the section, "Set Your Connection to Disconnect If Idle." Type your user name and password and click to select Save Password. Click Connect and wait for the connection. Once connected to your ISP, click Disconnect.
3. On the Connections menu, click Settings and click to clear "Prompt for information before dialing." Click OK to close all dialog boxes.

Set the Dial-Up Interval

1. Start Outlook.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
3. Click the Internet E-mail tab.
4. Click to select "Check my local network connection for new mail every <X> minutes," where X is the number of minutes for your connection interval. Make sure this number is greater than three (such as 15 or 20) or Outlook will stay connected constantly.
5. Click OK to close the Options dialog box.

When you start Outlook for the first time after completing this configuration, the Dial-up Networking dialog box will appear. Ensure that Save Password is selected and then select Connect Automatically and then click Connect.