Because Outlook 2007 supports the HTTP protocol, you can access your HTTP-based mail services (such as Hotmail) through Outlook 2007 instead of using a Web browser to send and receive messages. Using Outlook 2007 gives you the ability to compose and reply to messages offline, potentially saving you connect charges if you use metered Internet access. HTTP-based mail support also gives you the advantages of Outlook 2007 composition, filtering, and other features that you might not otherwise have when managing your mail with a Web browser.
The following section explains how to set up an account in Outlook 2007 to process your Hotmail account. You can use the same information for almost any HTTP-based account, changing the settings as needed to point to the appropriate URL for the server. Although the following assumes that you’re setting up the account for Hotmail, it also provides additional information on configuring other HTTP-based accounts.
Because Hotmail is a service owned and operated by Microsoft, it’s no surprise that Outlook 2007 includes built-in support for sending and receiving messages through Hotmail.
Follow these steps to configure a Hotmail account in Outlook 2007:
In Outlook 2007, click Tools, Account Settings.
On the E-Mail tab, click New, accept the Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP, or HTTP option, and then click Next.
The Auto Account Setup dialog box is displayed. To automatically configure your Hotmail account in Outlook 2007, provide the following information:
Your Name. Specify your name as you want it to appear in the From box of messages you send.
E-mail Address. Enter your Hotmail e-mail address in the form <user>@hotmail.com, where <user> is your user account screen name.
Password and Confirm Password. Enter your Hotmail password in the Password field, and then confirm the password in the Retype Password field.
After you have entered your name, Hotmail address, and password, click Next. Outlook 2007 will connect to the Hotmail server and download any e-mail that is waiting to be collected.
To manually configure Hotmail server settings in Outlook 2007, in the Auto Account Setup dialog box in step 3 of the preceding procedure, click the Manually Configure Server Settings Or Additional Server Types, and then follow these steps:
Click the Internet E-Mail option, and then click Next.
Note
If you want to use multiple profiles and want to learn how to configure settings and accounts for a specific profile, see "Understanding Profiles" in Chapter 3.
On the Internet E-Mail Settings page, specify the following information:
Your Name. Specify your name as you want it to appear in the From box of messages that others receive from you.
E-Mail Address. Specify the e-mail address for your Hotmail account, in the form <account>@hotmail.com, where <account> is your Hotmail account name.
Account Type. In the drop-down list, verify that HTTP is selected.
HTTP Mail Service Provider. After you enter your Hotmail e-mail address, Hotmail will be automatically selected in this drop-down list (or you can select Other if you’re configuring Outlook 2007 for a different HTTP-based mail service). If you select Hotmail, Outlook 2007 fills in the Server URL option with the appropriate URL for accessing Hotmail through Outlook 2007.
Server URL. If you are setting up an account for an HTTP-based service other than Hotmail, specify the URL for the server’s Web page that provides access to your mail account. This is not necessarily the same URL you would use when accessing your account by using a browser.
User Name. Specify the user account on the server that you must use to log on to your mailbox to retrieve your messages. For a Hotmail account, specify your e-mail address, including the @hotmail.com part of the address, such as [email protected].
Password. Specify the password for the user account entered in the User Name box.
Require Logon Using Secure Password Authentication (SPA). Select this check box if your HTTP-based e-mail server uses SPA to authenticate your access to the server. Hotmail does not use SPA, so you can leave this check box cleared for Hotmail accounts.
Click OK to accept the settings shown in Figure 7-8, or click More Settings to modify the connectivity settings described in the section "Using Internet POP3 E-Mail Accounts" earlier in this chapter.
Note
For more information about configuring properties for HTTP-based accounts, see "Using Internet POP3 E-Mail Accounts" earlier in this chapter. Most of the settings for HTTP and POP3 are the same.
Hotmail provides several options to establish e-mail accounts, one of which is free (MSN Hotmail), and two of which are paid accounts (MSN Hotmail Plus and MSN Hotmail Premium). Although the free Hotmail account allows for Web-based access via a browser, to use Outlook 2007 to access and manage your e-mail with Hotmail, you must have either an MSN Hotmail Plus or an MSN Hotmail Premium account.
Outlook 2007 stores mail messages for Hotmail and other HTTP e-mail accounts locally, just as it does for POP3. When you add a Hotmail or other HTTP account to a profile, Outlook 2007 creates a .pst file specifically for that account, regardless of whether the profile already includes other accounts. Outlook 2007 delivers new messages to that .pst file, even if the default delivery location is elsewhere. For example, assume that you create a profile with an Exchange Server account as the default delivery location for new mail. You add a POP3 account, and your mail is delivered to your Exchange Server mailbox. You then add a Hotmail account and an IMAP account. Each of these last two accounts gets its own .pst file, and Outlook 2007 delivers new messages for each account to its respective .pst file.
The Prodigy e-mail service functions as a standard POP3 server. You therefore can use Outlook 2007 to send and receive e-mail through your Prodigy account. Configure the account for pop.prodigy.net as the incoming mail server and smtp.prodigy.net as the outgoing mail server. Specify your Prodigy account and password for authentication, add a .pst if you don’t want to use the default delivery location (such as an Exchange Server mailbox), and configure other settings as you would for any other POP3 account.
Although MSN mail accounts are available through the Hotmail Web site, you must configure Outlook 2007 with a different URL (not the Hotmail URL) to retrieve your MSN mail. To configure Outlook 2007 to connect to MSN mail servers, start the Add New E-Mail Account Wizard, enter your name and e-mail address (in the form [email protected]), and then select HTTP as the account type. When the wizard prompts you for the account information, select MSN in the HTTP Service Provider drop-down list, and the Server URL information is automatically filled in. To complete your MSN configuration, specify your MSN account name and password in the Logon Information area of the dialog box, and then click Next. Outlook 2007 creates a .pst file in which to store the messages. In addition, the MSN paid e-mail service (MSN Premium) and ISP service (MSN Dial-Up) include the Microsoft Outlook 2007 Connector, which allows you to manage your MSN account and e-mail offline, as well as synchronize messages, contacts, calendars, notes, and tasks.
Note
For additional information about configuring HTTP account properties, see "Using Outlook with Hotmail Accounts" earlier in this chapter.