Can't stop Outlook 2002 from checking email when offline

[jsulmeyer]

Hi,

A while back I upgraded from Outlook 2000 to Outlook 2002 and can't get the
program to stop checking for email when I'm offline - and continually
notifying me that it is unsuccessful. Because I still use a dial-up modem,
I have the program set to check for new mail every two minutes, but only when
I'm online. While this worked with Outlook 2000, Outlook 2002 seems to ignore
the "online only" setting.

In the Options->Mail Setup->Send/Receive groups dialog, I have my accounts
setup to send/receive when online only. However, when I disconnect from the
Internet, I get the pop-up send/receive window every two minutes, indicating
that there were errors when trying to check my email. There MUST be a way to
set up Outlook 2002 in such a way that it will check my email automatically
when I'm online, but STOP when I'm offline.

I'd greatly appreciate any assistance.

Much thanks,

John

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Online and offline do not refer to your Internet Connection status. They
refer to your status to Exchange Server, which you are not using if you are
using Internet Mail.
Outlook is unaware of your Internet connection status. It will always assume
you are online until you tell Outlook to work offline--which you can do in
the File menu.
Polling every 2 minutes is a bad idea, especially over dial up. Minimum time
should be 10 minutes.

 

[jsulmeyer]

Thanks, Russ. I'm curious about a couple of things:

1. Why do you think I was able to prevent Outlook 2000 from checking for
email while offline (i.e. not connected to the Internet) whereas with Outlook
2002, the program checks regardless of whether I'm connected to the Internet
or not? Is this a new "feature" of Outlook 2002?

2. I found the "work offline" item in the file menu a while back - and even
tried using it. It worked as a sort of "workaround" to my problem, but it
turned out to be more trouble than it was worth, since I had to
enable/disable this feature every time I connected to the Internet. Is there
anyway to get Outlook 2002 to recognize that I'm not connected, as it did
with Outlook 2000?

3. I'm curious why 10 minutes is the recommended interval for checking for
email...

MUCH thanks,

John

Online and offline do not refer to your Internet Connection status. They
refer to your status to Exchange Server, which you are not using if you are
using Internet Mail.
Outlook is unaware of your Internet connection status. It will always assume
you are online until you tell Outlook to work offline--which you can do in
the File menu.
Polling every 2 minutes is a bad idea, especially over dial up. Minimum time
should be 10 minutes.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi,

A while back I upgraded from Outlook 2000 to Outlook 2002 and can't get
the
program to stop checking for email when I'm offline - and continually
notifying me that it is unsuccessful. Because I still use a dial-up
modem,
I have the program set to check for new mail every two minutes, but only
when
I'm online. While this worked with Outlook 2000, Outlook 2002 seems to
ignore
the "online only" setting.

In the Options->Mail Setup->Send/Receive groups dialog, I have my accounts
setup to send/receive when online only. However, when I disconnect from
the
Internet, I get the pop-up send/receive window every two minutes,
indicating
that there were errors when trying to check my email. There MUST be a way
to
set up Outlook 2002 in such a way that it will check my email
automatically
when I'm online, but STOP when I'm offline.

I'd greatly appreciate any assistance.

Much thanks,

John

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Nothing really changed with these settings between Outlook 2000 and Outlook
2003. No version of Outlook has ever been aware of your Internet connection
status. There are too many variables unknown in your setup to hazard a
guess, but you may have had one of your settings different, like the
connection type you specified for your mail account or your dial up
connection settings. Also, Outlook 2003 did make some behind the scenes
changes in how it does automatic mail polls that are not under user control.
If fact, if Outlook 2000 had been working properly, you would have seen the
same thing with it.
Outlook was not designed for use over dial up connections so these settings
have never been optimized for the dial up user (nor will they be, most
likely).
Automatic mail polls of less than 10 minutes put an unnecessary strain on
mail servers and can too easily result in conflicting polling requests.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks, Russ. I'm curious about a couple of things:

1. Why do you think I was able to prevent Outlook 2000 from checking for
email while offline (i.e. not connected to the Internet) whereas with
Outlook
2002, the program checks regardless of whether I'm connected to the
Internet
or not? Is this a new "feature" of Outlook 2002?

2. I found the "work offline" item in the file menu a while back - and
even
tried using it. It worked as a sort of "workaround" to my problem, but it
turned out to be more trouble than it was worth, since I had to
enable/disable this feature every time I connected to the Internet. Is
there
anyway to get Outlook 2002 to recognize that I'm not connected, as it did
with Outlook 2000?

3. I'm curious why 10 minutes is the recommended interval for checking for
email...

MUCH thanks,

John

Online and offline do not refer to your Internet Connection status. They
refer to your status to Exchange Server, which you are not using if you
are
using Internet Mail.
Outlook is unaware of your Internet connection status. It will always
assume
you are online until you tell Outlook to work offline--which you can do
in
the File menu.
Polling every 2 minutes is a bad idea, especially over dial up. Minimum
time
should be 10 minutes.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi,

A while back I upgraded from Outlook 2000 to Outlook 2002 and can't get
the
program to stop checking for email when I'm offline - and continually
notifying me that it is unsuccessful. Because I still use a dial-up
modem,
I have the program set to check for new mail every two minutes, but
only
when
I'm online. While this worked with Outlook 2000, Outlook 2002 seems to
ignore
the "online only" setting.

In the Options->Mail Setup->Send/Receive groups dialog, I have my
accounts
setup to send/receive when online only. However, when I disconnect
from
the
Internet, I get the pop-up send/receive window every two minutes,
indicating
that there were errors when trying to check my email. There MUST be a
way
to
set up Outlook 2002 in such a way that it will check my email
automatically
when I'm online, but STOP when I'm offline.

I'd greatly appreciate any assistance.

Much thanks,

John

 

[jsulmeyer]

Thanks, Russ. I appreciate your help.

Regards,

John

Nothing really changed with these settings between Outlook 2000 and Outlook
2003. No version of Outlook has ever been aware of your Internet connection
status. There are too many variables unknown in your setup to hazard a
guess, but you may have had one of your settings different, like the
connection type you specified for your mail account or your dial up
connection settings. Also, Outlook 2003 did make some behind the scenes
changes in how it does automatic mail polls that are not under user control.
If fact, if Outlook 2000 had been working properly, you would have seen the
same thing with it.
Outlook was not designed for use over dial up connections so these settings
have never been optimized for the dial up user (nor will they be, most
likely).
Automatic mail polls of less than 10 minutes put an unnecessary strain on
mail servers and can too easily result in conflicting polling requests.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Thanks, Russ. I'm curious about a couple of things:

1. Why do you think I was able to prevent Outlook 2000 from checking for
email while offline (i.e. not connected to the Internet) whereas with
Outlook
2002, the program checks regardless of whether I'm connected to the
Internet
or not? Is this a new "feature" of Outlook 2002?

2. I found the "work offline" item in the file menu a while back - and
even
tried using it. It worked as a sort of "workaround" to my problem, but it
turned out to be more trouble than it was worth, since I had to
enable/disable this feature every time I connected to the Internet. Is
there
anyway to get Outlook 2002 to recognize that I'm not connected, as it did
with Outlook 2000?

3. I'm curious why 10 minutes is the recommended interval for checking for
email...

MUCH thanks,

John

Online and offline do not refer to your Internet Connection status. They
refer to your status to Exchange Server, which you are not using if you
are
using Internet Mail.
Outlook is unaware of your Internet connection status. It will always
assume
you are online until you tell Outlook to work offline--which you can do
in
the File menu.
Polling every 2 minutes is a bad idea, especially over dial up. Minimum
time
should be 10 minutes.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hi,

A while back I upgraded from Outlook 2000 to Outlook 2002 and can't get
the
program to stop checking for email when I'm offline - and continually
notifying me that it is unsuccessful. Because I still use a dial-up
modem,
I have the program set to check for new mail every two minutes, but
only
when
I'm online. While this worked with Outlook 2000, Outlook 2002 seems to
ignore
the "online only" setting.

In the Options->Mail Setup->Send/Receive groups dialog, I have my
accounts
setup to send/receive when online only. However, when I disconnect
from
the
Internet, I get the pop-up send/receive window every two minutes,
indicating
that there were errors when trying to check my email. There MUST be a
way
to
set up Outlook 2002 in such a way that it will check my email
automatically
when I'm online, but STOP when I'm offline.

I'd greatly appreciate any assistance.

Much thanks,

John