0
jjiimmyyt

IT geek help required...

Recommended Posts

I'm pulling my hair out here. Any fellow geeks got any ideas?

Got a customer who wants to be able to email internally with Outlook 2003 on XP desktops setup in a workgroup, no server. I applied a patch to install the old MS Mail services to XP. When I try and connect to the Workgroup Post office it asks for username, password and domain. Username and password are OK however it comes back saying the domain is wrong. Anyone come across this before?

cheers

"This isn't an iron lung, people. You can actually disconnect and not die." -Dave

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
$85/hr, skydiver rate :>

-R

Quote

I'm pulling my hair out here. Any fellow geeks got any ideas?

Got a customer who wants to be able to email internally with Outlook 2003 on XP desktops setup in a workgroup, no server. I applied a patch to install the old MS Mail services to XP. When I try and connect to the Workgroup Post office it asks for username, password and domain. Username and password are OK however it comes back saying the domain is wrong. Anyone come across this before?

cheers



You be the king and I'll overthrow your government. --KRS-ONE

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
You may want to give up on that route since the old Mail post office is littered with bugs, and the DB has been known to crash a lot before and go unrecoverable on your ass. At least that's how it was with me when I used to admin one part time... the clients were using the old DOS MSMail client (ewe).

Can you at least setup a Linux box somewhere and have Outlook connect to that? Sendmail should work ok, and you can just show them how to setup a new unix account for each new user on the system(most unixes have an "adduser" command prompt util). Use POP or IMAP to connect Outlook to and you're all set.

Plus there is always the next option after that (setting up a real MX on the internet).

Question: with Yahoo supporting 100MB now... why not just have the users use that? If you pay the money you can also connect Outlook2003 to it.

____________________________________________________________
I'm RICK JAMES! Fo shizzle.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
No, client is cheapass or I wouldn't have to frick around like this, I've suggested he gets a cheap box with SBS or Linux, won't spring for it. Even offered him one of my treasured Cobalt Qubes at a knockdown price. :S

"This isn't an iron lung, people. You can actually disconnect and not die." -Dave

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Are these machines in a domain or workgroup environment ?

Have you tried specifying the machine name of the box containing the post office?



They are in a workgroup, and yup, tried that as well.

"This isn't an iron lung, people. You can actually disconnect and not die." -Dave

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
I'm not a network guy, but how bout the name of the box that you're setting up as opposed to the name of the box where the mail server resides for the domain. I used to be running XP with outlook 2000 and don't remember having to specify a domain name when I setup a secondary mail server, and my XP box was NOT on the domain.

I also agree with several posts up about the rinky dink mail server. There are some out there for free that even include the source code.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

No, client is cheapass or I wouldn't have to frick around like this, I've suggested he gets a cheap box with SBS or Linux, won't spring for it. Even offered him one of my treasured Cobalt Qubes at a knockdown price. :S



Seems like he's going to spend more on your billed hours making this less attractive solution work.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

tired tried that also.

Starting to think one of the freeware servers is the way to go, just wanna get this to work coz other people seem to and I don't want to give up.



You are probably better off just busting down a cost estimate breakdown for him. (Think the feature grids you see in PC magazines) Sounds like you are dealing the PHB type (pointy-haired boss).

If you run it like a car salesman perhaps he'd be more inclined to take the most technically maintainable solution instead of duct-tape.

____________________________________________________________
I'm RICK JAMES! Fo shizzle.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

When I try and connect to the Workgroup Post office it asks for username, password and domain.

Check your settings. You could have outlook setup to connect to mail server. Do the workstatoins connect to a domain or a workgroup? We connect our workstations to an Exchange Server which is part of our "DOMAIN". When the exchange server is down, outlook, pops up a window requesting for: user name, pw & domain. Check your mail setup options. What does it read? I'm assuming the workgroup post office is a workstation in which the mail server resides in, correct? Where does the e-mail server client reside in?

What's the most you ever lost in a coin toss, Friendo?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It won't work!

Outlook 2002 does not support Microsoft Mail Server and Microsoft Mail Fpr PC Networks (which was the mail postoffice technoloy that shipped as part of Windows for Workgroup and Windows 95).

Microsoft Outlook 2002 can be used with a wide variety of e-mail servers and services. The primary e-mail servers and services supported by Outlook include the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), the Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3), the Internet Mail Access Protocol version 4 (IMAP4, the Messaging Application Program Interface (MAPI), which includes servers such as Microsoft Exchange Servcer, Lotus Domino/Notes Server, and Lotus cc:Mail Server.

Office SP customers who are using Microsoft Mail Server can upgrade to Microsoft Exchange Server, upgrade to any other POP3, IMAP4, HTTP, or other MAPI servers, or choose to use a variety of e-mail services provided by ISPs and other service providers.

Additional information can be found on the Office XP Resource Kit on the Microsoft We Site. A good starting point is at Microsoft Office XP.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/ork/xp/four/outa00.htm

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
So specifying the workgroup name as the domain doesn't work? All the boxes have the same workgroup name?

Here's a possible twine, ducktape, chewing gum solution. ;)

Install Windows NT, 2000, or 2003 on one of your own PC's and connect it to the network. Try joining just the Post Office PC to the domain and see if the computers can connect. If they can't, join them to the domain as well but continue to use the local user accounts. If this works, pull the "domain controller" off the network and see if it still works. This would put them in a domain.
This would make it hard to add a new PC. You'd have to either restore the domain controller, or rejoin everyone when you created a new domain controller if all computers had to be in the domain.
The other alternative is to install the domain controller on one of their PC's as a separate partition. Not quite sure it's legal, but my guess is this guy isn't concerned... :)
Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

If you join a bunch of pcs to a domain and then remove the domain controller, forget about sharnig any resources between them.



Not if you are using local accounts. Pass through authentication will still work. You'll have a system log full of can't connect to the domain errors. :)
Stupidity if left untreated is self-correcting
If ya can't be good, look good, if that fails, make 'em laugh.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0