Setting up Microsoft Outlook as your mail client

• Before You Start
• Dial Up Networking
• Configuring Internet Mail In Outlook

A "mail client" is software that allows you to receive, read, compose, send, and organize e-mail messages. There are popular stand-alone mail clients such as Eudora and Pegasus. Mail clients are built into most Web browsers such as Netscape and Internet Explorer. A mail client may also be part of a comprehensive package of software called a "suite" that performs nearly all of your daily business functions.

"Outlook" is part of the Microsoft office suite. It is integrated with other Microsoft products to provide a common gateway to word processing, scheduling, and other office functions. It includes a mail client. Most people who are setting up Outlook for the first time find that it is not straightforward. This sheet is offered to provide some initial guidance for setting up Outlook, but nothing substitutes for reading the manual (if you have one) or consulting the Microsoft technical support site on the World Wide Web.

BEFORE YOU START

Here's the information you need handy before you start.

• The Bitwise dial-up connection phone number.
• Your "user name," usually the same as the first part of your e-mail address.
• Your "Log-in account," the same as your full e-mail address or POP account but with one major difference. With Bitwise Internet, it is your username@bitwise.net, regardless if you own a domain name or not. Once connected to Bitwise, you may send & receive e-mail using your domain name e-mail address, if you own one (i.e. joe@yourdomainname.com or joe@bitwise.net).
• Your password.
• The Internet address of Bitwise's "POP server". It's the computer that receives e-mail from the outside world and forwards it to you (mailbox.bitwise.net or mail.yourdomainname.com).
• The Internet address of Bitwise's "SMTP server". It's the computer that receives your email and sends it to the outside world; often the same as the POP server (mailbox.bitwise.net or mail.yourdomainname.com).

Setting up Outlook is a two-stage process: setting up a "dial up networking" profile, and setting up your profile in Outlook itself.

DIAL UP NETWORKING

• Double click on the "Dial-up Networking" icon, which you may find under "My Computer" from your Windows 95/98 desktop. Alternatively, you may find "Dial-up Networking" under "Accessories," which is under the "Programs" menu item that pops up when you click on the "Start" button at the bottom of your Windows 95/98 opening screen.
• If you don't already have a connection to Bitwise, double click on "Make New Connection"
• From the "Make New Connection" dialog box:
• Give this connection a name, such as "Bitwise" or any other name as you see fit.
• Choose your modem (Windows 95/98 usually does this for you). You should not need to do any special configuration, unless you have call forwarding. You can instruct Outlook to disable call forwarding during your dial-up connect sessions (recommended) by filling in the appropriate information under the "Configuration" dialog box.
• When you have finished with the "Make New Connection" dialog box, click on "Next."
• In the next dialog box, fill in the dial-up connection phone number and any other appropriate information.
• When you have completed the information, click on "Finish".
• A new icon will appear under "Dial up Networking" with the name you choose. Double click on it.
• Fill in your user name and password, and check to make sure the telephone number is correct. If everything is as it should be, click on "Dial Properties."
• In the "Dial Properties" dialog box there are a number of items to customize your connection, for instance, dialing "9" for an outside line or dialing a telephone credit card number before the dial-up number. If these out as needed. When you have finished with the "Dial Properties" dialog box, click on "OK."
• The "Connect To" dialog box should reappear. At this point you may want to test the connection by clicking on the "Connect" button. If your computer's audio is working, you should hear a dial tone, followed by touch-tones, followed by beeps and what sounds like static. After several seconds and a few messages stating the status of your connection, you should get a message announcing that you have successfully logged on to the host computer.

CONFIGURING INTERNET MAIL IN OUTLOOK

Outlook assumes that you are working on a computer that is part of a permanent network, as you might in a business or university environment. To use Outlook with a dial-up Internet account, you need to do some special configuration.

• Open up Outlook. Usually Outlook opens up and shows the "Inbox" page. If not, select "Inbox" under the "View" menu.
• From the Inbox page, select the "Tools" menu.
• Under "Tools," select "Services."
• Under "Services," highlight "Internet Mail" and click on the "Properties" button.
• Under the "General" tab, fill in the information requested.
• Under "Advanced Options," fill in the mail server information.
• Click on the "OK" button.
• Under the "Connection" tab, select "Connect using the modem." The dial-up connection you configured ahead of time should appear in the box. Highlight it, if it isn't already highlighted.
• Click on the "Log in asimages_files." button, and fill in your user name and password.
• When finished, click on the "Apply" button, and then the "OK" button.

The new configuration information will only take effect after the close out Outlook and reopen it.

When you want to use Outlook, it should not be necessary to establish your Internet connection beforehand using Dial Up Networking. Outlook should initiate the Dial Up Networking sequence when you do something in Outlook that requires a network connection, such as retrieving new mail.

When you reply to an e-mail message or compose a new one, Outlook will hold the message until you finish your session and log off. Then it sends all outgoing messages as a batch.