Prevent Dial-up connection when "offline"

[Double Dumbass On You]

I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6 Internet
Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange server at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a Send/Receive,
the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then disconnects. However,
this interupts other things that I might be doing on the Internet like
browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account that uses
the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create different
groups. However, that will only allow me to enable/disable the account
altogether. I still want it to check when the VPN is connected. Also, I
tried checking "Manually control connection state" in the Account
Properties>General for the Exchange account. This has no effect.

Any helpful suggestions?

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6
Internet Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange
server at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a
Send/Receive, the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then
disconnects. However, this interupts other things that I might be
doing on the Internet like browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account that
uses the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create
different groups. However, that will only allow me to enable/disable
the account altogether. I still want it to check when the VPN is
connected. Also, I tried checking "Manually control connection
state" in the Account Properties>General for the Exchange account.
This has no effect.

Any helpful suggestions?

My (slightly off topic) suggestion is that you use a separate profile for
your Exchange mail (via VPN) and tell OL to prompt you for a profile to use.
For one thing, it will stop the problem you're experiencing now. For
another, it will keep all your Exchange mail in your Exchange mailbox, where
it probably belongs. And it doesn't mix up personal/business mail in the
same storage, which I think is very important (unless you own the company
that hosts the Exchange server, and perhaps even then ---think of recent
events at Boeing!).

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP Outlook]]

There are several reason why this may not be possible. Outlook 2003 was
not designed to manage dial up connections, especially when you have
dial up and continuous connections in the same profile. Having Exchange
and Internet accounts in the same profile is also going to create
problems when each uses a different connection. Outlook cannot be made
aware of your Internet connection status in advance of a mail poll
unless you tell it expressly with the "Work Offline" command.

Why can't you put your Exchange account in its own Send/Receive group
and set its connection type to Phone Line?

Any reason you can't use separate profiles? That would work best.

 

[Double Dumbass On You]

Actually, I thought of the separate profile idea and having it prompt me.
However, if I have Outlook open and I am doing normal Internet mail stuff or
I want the Email notification and then decide to check my company Email by
connecting the VPN connection, I don't want to have to close Outlook and
reopen it just to switch Profiles. Also, I *DO* want all of my mail stored
in the same profile. Instead of indicating the Public/Server folders as the
default, I use a local profile so that my calendar and all that good stuff
are accessible in their entirety offline.

It seems pretty harsh to me that there isn't a simple, straight-forward way
to say "For the (e-mail address removed) account use this connection: VPN1, and
when it is NOT connected, don't check the messages when doing a
send/receive." BTW, what *DOES* "Manually control connection state"
indicate if not what I just described??

-J.T. Kirk

There are several reason why this may not be possible. Outlook 2003 was
not designed to manage dial up connections, especially when you have dial
up and continuous connections in the same profile. Having Exchange and
Internet accounts in the same profile is also going to create problems
when each uses a different connection. Outlook cannot be made aware of
your Internet connection status in advance of a mail poll unless you tell
it expressly with the "Work Offline" command.

Why can't you put your Exchange account in its own Send/Receive group and
set its connection type to Phone Line?

Any reason you can't use separate profiles? That would work best.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6
Internet Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange server
at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a
Send/Receive, the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then
disconnects. However, this interupts other things that I might be doing
on the Internet like browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account that
uses the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create
different groups. However, that will only allow me to enable/disable the
account altogether. I still want it to check when the VPN is connected.
Also, I tried checking "Manually control connection state" in the Account
Properties>General for the Exchange account. This has no effect.

Any helpful suggestions?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP Outlook]]

Did you try what I suggested? The only time Outlook will even attempt to
manage a connection is if you set "Phone Line" as your connection type.
You have not even stated the connection type you set for your Exchange
account.
I never said anything about manually controlling your connection state.
I said you had to tell Outlook what your Internet connection state is.
It does not know.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Actually, I thought of the separate profile idea and having it prompt me.
However, if I have Outlook open and I am doing normal Internet mail stuff or
I want the Email notification and then decide to check my company Email by
connecting the VPN connection, I don't want to have to close Outlook and
reopen it just to switch Profiles. Also, I *DO* want all of my mail stored
in the same profile. Instead of indicating the Public/Server folders as the
default, I use a local profile so that my calendar and all that good stuff
are accessible in their entirety offline.

It seems pretty harsh to me that there isn't a simple, straight-forward way
to say "For the (e-mail address removed) account use this connection: VPN1, and
when it is NOT connected, don't check the messages when doing a
send/receive." BTW, what *DOES* "Manually control connection state"
indicate if not what I just described??

-J.T. Kirk

There are several reason why this may not be possible. Outlook 2003 was
not designed to manage dial up connections, especially when you have dial
up and continuous connections in the same profile. Having Exchange and
Internet accounts in the same profile is also going to create problems
when each uses a different connection. Outlook cannot be made aware of
your Internet connection status in advance of a mail poll unless you tell
it expressly with the "Work Offline" command.

Why can't you put your Exchange account in its own Send/Receive group and
set its connection type to Phone Line?

Any reason you can't use separate profiles? That would work best.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6
Internet Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange server
at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a
Send/Receive, the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then
disconnects. However, this interupts other things that I might be doing
on the Internet like browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account that
uses the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create
different groups. However, that will only allow me to enable/disable the
account altogether. I still want it to check when the VPN is connected.
Also, I tried checking "Manually control connection state" in the Account
Properties>General for the Exchange account. This has no effect.

Any helpful suggestions?

 

[Double Dumbass On You]

I guess you missed the

part. It is a dial-up connection, just in case you need me to say it again.

Also, I never said it was 2003. It's Outlook XP.

And, as I said, I don't want to use separate profiles because I don't want
to have to constantly be switching back and forth just to check my work
mail.

Did you try what I suggested? The only time Outlook will even attempt to
manage a connection is if you set "Phone Line" as your connection type.
You have not even stated the connection type you set for your Exchange
account.
I never said anything about manually controlling your connection state. I
said you had to tell Outlook what your Internet connection state is. It
does not know.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Actually, I thought of the separate profile idea and having it prompt me.
However, if I have Outlook open and I am doing normal Internet mail stuff
or I want the Email notification and then decide to check my company
Email by connecting the VPN connection, I don't want to have to close
Outlook and reopen it just to switch Profiles. Also, I *DO* want all of
my mail stored in the same profile. Instead of indicating the
Public/Server folders as the default, I use a local profile so that my
calendar and all that good stuff are accessible in their entirety
offline.

It seems pretty harsh to me that there isn't a simple, straight-forward
way to say "For the (e-mail address removed) account use this connection: VPN1,
and when it is NOT connected, don't check the messages when doing a
send/receive." BTW, what *DOES* "Manually control connection state"
indicate if not what I just described??

-J.T. Kirk

There are several reason why this may not be possible. Outlook 2003 was
not designed to manage dial up connections, especially when you have dial
up and continuous connections in the same profile. Having Exchange and
Internet accounts in the same profile is also going to create problems
when each uses a different connection. Outlook cannot be made aware of
your Internet connection status in advance of a mail poll unless you tell
it expressly with the "Work Offline" command.

Why can't you put your Exchange account in its own Send/Receive group and
set its connection type to Phone Line?

Any reason you can't use separate profiles? That would work best.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:

I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6
Internet Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange server
at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a
Send/Receive, the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then
disconnects. However, this interupts other things that I might be doing
on the Internet like browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account that
uses the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create
different groups. However, that will only allow me to enable/disable
the account altogether. I still want it to check when the VPN is
connected. Also, I tried checking "Manually control connection state" in
the Account Properties>General for the Exchange account. This has no
effect.

Any helpful suggestions?

 

[Double Dumbass On You]

Also, you still haven't even explained what "Manually control connection
state" does on the General tab of the Microsoft Exchange Server dialogue.
This is accessed by going to Mail>View or change existing e-mail accounts,
selecting the Microsoft Exchange Server account, and clicking Change...

Did you try what I suggested? The only time Outlook will even attempt to
manage a connection is if you set "Phone Line" as your connection type.
You have not even stated the connection type you set for your Exchange
account.
I never said anything about manually controlling your connection state. I
said you had to tell Outlook what your Internet connection state is. It
does not know.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Actually, I thought of the separate profile idea and having it prompt me.
However, if I have Outlook open and I am doing normal Internet mail stuff
or I want the Email notification and then decide to check my company
Email by connecting the VPN connection, I don't want to have to close
Outlook and reopen it just to switch Profiles. Also, I *DO* want all of
my mail stored in the same profile. Instead of indicating the
Public/Server folders as the default, I use a local profile so that my
calendar and all that good stuff are accessible in their entirety
offline.

It seems pretty harsh to me that there isn't a simple, straight-forward
way to say "For the (e-mail address removed) account use this connection: VPN1,
and when it is NOT connected, don't check the messages when doing a
send/receive." BTW, what *DOES* "Manually control connection state"
indicate if not what I just described??

-J.T. Kirk

There are several reason why this may not be possible. Outlook 2003 was
not designed to manage dial up connections, especially when you have dial
up and continuous connections in the same profile. Having Exchange and
Internet accounts in the same profile is also going to create problems
when each uses a different connection. Outlook cannot be made aware of
your Internet connection status in advance of a mail poll unless you tell
it expressly with the "Work Offline" command.

Why can't you put your Exchange account in its own Send/Receive group and
set its connection type to Phone Line?

Any reason you can't use separate profiles? That would work best.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:

I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6
Internet Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange server
at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a
Send/Receive, the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then
disconnects. However, this interupts other things that I might be doing
on the Internet like browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account that
uses the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create
different groups. However, that will only allow me to enable/disable
the account altogether. I still want it to check when the VPN is
connected. Also, I tried checking "Manually control connection state" in
the Account Properties>General for the Exchange account. This has no
effect.

Any helpful suggestions?

 

[Gordon]

Actually, I thought of the separate profile idea and having it prompt me.
However, if I have Outlook open and I am doing normal Internet mail stuff or
I want the Email notification and then decide to check my company Email by
connecting the VPN connection, I don't want to have to close Outlook and
reopen it just to switch Profiles.

Well that takes all of *TEN* *SECONDS* so what's the problem?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP Outlook]]

I didn't miss anything (except your Outlook version which obviously you
should have mentioned in the beginning). I did not ask you what type of
connections you had. You told me that.
I asked you what type of connection your SET for each mail account.
You have never told me that, and it matters because that is what
controls how and whether Outlook will manage a connection.
If you don't know, look at your accounts properties again. ("DSL" and
"dial up" are not connection types you can set. You choices are Phone
Line, LAN, or 3rd party dialer).

I understand why you do not want to use separate profiles. But I
strongly doubt any version of Outlook can be configured to manage both
Exchange Server and Internet Mail accounts in the way you want. Are you
trying to use Offline Folders or deliver to a local PST? Very few users
attempt this and when they do they are doing the opposite: accessing
Internet Mail over dial up and Exchange over a LAN.

Outlook was never really developed to manage Internet connections.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I guess you missed the



part. It is a dial-up connection, just in case you need me to say it again.

Also, I never said it was 2003. It's Outlook XP.

And, as I said, I don't want to use separate profiles because I don't want
to have to constantly be switching back and forth just to check my work
mail.

Did you try what I suggested? The only time Outlook will even attempt to
manage a connection is if you set "Phone Line" as your connection type.
You have not even stated the connection type you set for your Exchange
account.
I never said anything about manually controlling your connection state. I
said you had to tell Outlook what your Internet connection state is. It
does not know.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Actually, I thought of the separate profile idea and having it prompt me.
However, if I have Outlook open and I am doing normal Internet mail stuff
or I want the Email notification and then decide to check my company
Email by connecting the VPN connection, I don't want to have to close
Outlook and reopen it just to switch Profiles. Also, I *DO* want all of
my mail stored in the same profile. Instead of indicating the
Public/Server folders as the default, I use a local profile so that my
calendar and all that good stuff are accessible in their entirety
offline.

It seems pretty harsh to me that there isn't a simple, straight-forward
way to say "For the (e-mail address removed) account use this connection: VPN1,
and when it is NOT connected, don't check the messages when doing a
send/receive." BTW, what *DOES* "Manually control connection state"
indicate if not what I just described??

-J.T. Kirk




There are several reason why this may not be possible. Outlook 2003 was
not designed to manage dial up connections, especially when you have dial
up and continuous connections in the same profile. Having Exchange and
Internet accounts in the same profile is also going to create problems
when each uses a different connection. Outlook cannot be made aware of
your Internet connection status in advance of a mail poll unless you tell
it expressly with the "Work Offline" command.

Why can't you put your Exchange account in its own Send/Receive group and
set its connection type to Phone Line?

Any reason you can't use separate profiles? That would work best.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:


I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6
Internet Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange server
at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a
Send/Receive, the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then
disconnects. However, this interupts other things that I might be doing
on the Internet like browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account that
uses the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create
different groups. However, that will only allow me to enable/disable
the account altogether. I still want it to check when the VPN is
connected. Also, I tried checking "Manually control connection state" in
the Account Properties>General for the Exchange account. This has no
effect.

Any helpful suggestions?

 

[Double Dumbass On You]

Did you have anything of worth to say, or were you just feeling lonely and
unloved and felt you might draw some attention to yourself with an assinine
post?

-J.T. Kirk

 

[Double Dumbass On You]

Of course I know, I thought it was pretty obvious because I have never seen
a VPN setup with anything but a phone-line connection. That is, even though
the physical connection is still via ethernet/DSL, the connection is setup
in Windows via the Dial-up Connection dialogue. I don't know of anyone that
configures it differently.

A few years ago when my company started getting anal about the number of
messages and other stuff being stored on the Exchange server, I decided to
create a set of personal folders in a PST which is on my local HDD. I then
designated this as the default for Outlook and all my messages are passed
through to my local folders. As I said, I also did this because I have a
laptop and if I don't have connectivity to the Exchange server, I can still
access my Email archive, contacts, calendar data, etc. So, in a sense, I am
using the the local PST as a way to manage content offline. There are many
people who do this. The only difference is that I am also using Outlook to
manage business Emails I have that are Internet based. It is a fairly
straight-forward configuration, meaning, that I didn't have to work any
miracles or anything to configure all these things. I simply followed the
prompts of the dialogus in Outlook. Maybe MS never thought the whole thing
through.

For the third time, what does "Manually control connection state" mean
precisely?

-J.T. Kirk

I didn't miss anything (except your Outlook version which obviously you
should have mentioned in the beginning). I did not ask you what type of
connections you had. You told me that.
I asked you what type of connection your SET for each mail account.
You have never told me that, and it matters because that is what controls
how and whether Outlook will manage a connection.
If you don't know, look at your accounts properties again. ("DSL" and
"dial up" are not connection types you can set. You choices are Phone
Line, LAN, or 3rd party dialer).

I understand why you do not want to use separate profiles. But I strongly
doubt any version of Outlook can be configured to manage both Exchange
Server and Internet Mail accounts in the way you want. Are you trying to
use Offline Folders or deliver to a local PST? Very few users attempt this
and when they do they are doing the opposite: accessing Internet Mail over
dial up and Exchange over a LAN.

Outlook was never really developed to manage Internet connections.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I guess you missed the

I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work.

part. It is a dial-up connection, just in case you need me to say it
again.

Also, I never said it was 2003. It's Outlook XP.

And, as I said, I don't want to use separate profiles because I don't
want to have to constantly be switching back and forth just to check my
work mail.

Did you try what I suggested? The only time Outlook will even attempt to
manage a connection is if you set "Phone Line" as your connection type.
You have not even stated the connection type you set for your Exchange
account.
I never said anything about manually controlling your connection state. I
said you had to tell Outlook what your Internet connection state is. It
does not know.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:

Actually, I thought of the separate profile idea and having it prompt
me. However, if I have Outlook open and I am doing normal Internet mail
stuff or I want the Email notification and then decide to check my
company Email by connecting the VPN connection, I don't want to have to
close Outlook and reopen it just to switch Profiles. Also, I *DO* want
all of my mail stored in the same profile. Instead of indicating the
Public/Server folders as the default, I use a local profile so that my
calendar and all that good stuff are accessible in their entirety
offline.

It seems pretty harsh to me that there isn't a simple, straight-forward
way to say "For the (e-mail address removed) account use this connection: VPN1,
and when it is NOT connected, don't check the messages when doing a
send/receive." BTW, what *DOES* "Manually control connection state"
indicate if not what I just described??

-J.T. Kirk




There are several reason why this may not be possible. Outlook 2003 was
not designed to manage dial up connections, especially when you have
dial up and continuous connections in the same profile. Having Exchange
and Internet accounts in the same profile is also going to create
problems when each uses a different connection. Outlook cannot be made
aware of your Internet connection status in advance of a mail poll
unless you tell it expressly with the "Work Offline" command.

Why can't you put your Exchange account in its own Send/Receive group
and set its connection type to Phone Line?

Any reason you can't use separate profiles? That would work best.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:


I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6
Internet Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange
server at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a
Send/Receive, the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then
disconnects. However, this interupts other things that I might be
doing on the Internet like browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account that
uses the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create
different groups. However, that will only allow me to enable/disable
the account altogether. I still want it to check when the VPN is
connected. Also, I tried checking "Manually control connection state"
in the Account Properties>General for the Exchange account. This has
no effect.

Any helpful suggestions?

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP Outlook]]

Actually, your configuration is quite atypical in several regards.
Many if not most VPN connections today use broadband, not dial up.
Most Exchange administrators frown deeply on configuring a PST file as
the default delivery location for an Exchange mailbox.
Your question about "Manually control connection state" is an Exchange
question not an Outlook question and is probably not germain to the this
topic. It should be directed to your Exchange administrator or an
Exchange newsgroup.
I wish it were possible to configure Outlook the way you want, but it is
just not the environment for which Outlook was designed.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Of course I know, I thought it was pretty obvious because I have never seen
a VPN setup with anything but a phone-line connection. That is, even though
the physical connection is still via ethernet/DSL, the connection is setup
in Windows via the Dial-up Connection dialogue. I don't know of anyone that
configures it differently.

A few years ago when my company started getting anal about the number of
messages and other stuff being stored on the Exchange server, I decided to
create a set of personal folders in a PST which is on my local HDD. I then
designated this as the default for Outlook and all my messages are passed
through to my local folders. As I said, I also did this because I have a
laptop and if I don't have connectivity to the Exchange server, I can still
access my Email archive, contacts, calendar data, etc. So, in a sense, I am
using the the local PST as a way to manage content offline. There are many
people who do this. The only difference is that I am also using Outlook to
manage business Emails I have that are Internet based. It is a fairly
straight-forward configuration, meaning, that I didn't have to work any
miracles or anything to configure all these things. I simply followed the
prompts of the dialogus in Outlook. Maybe MS never thought the whole thing
through.

For the third time, what does "Manually control connection state" mean
precisely?

-J.T. Kirk

I didn't miss anything (except your Outlook version which obviously you
should have mentioned in the beginning). I did not ask you what type of
connections you had. You told me that.
I asked you what type of connection your SET for each mail account.
You have never told me that, and it matters because that is what controls
how and whether Outlook will manage a connection.
If you don't know, look at your accounts properties again. ("DSL" and
"dial up" are not connection types you can set. You choices are Phone
Line, LAN, or 3rd party dialer).

I understand why you do not want to use separate profiles. But I strongly
doubt any version of Outlook can be configured to manage both Exchange
Server and Internet Mail accounts in the way you want. Are you trying to
use Offline Folders or deliver to a local PST? Very few users attempt this
and when they do they are doing the opposite: accessing Internet Mail over
dial up and Exchange over a LAN.

Outlook was never really developed to manage Internet connections.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I guess you missed the



I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work.


part. It is a dial-up connection, just in case you need me to say it
again.

Also, I never said it was 2003. It's Outlook XP.

And, as I said, I don't want to use separate profiles because I don't
want to have to constantly be switching back and forth just to check my
work mail.






Did you try what I suggested? The only time Outlook will even attempt to
manage a connection is if you set "Phone Line" as your connection type.
You have not even stated the connection type you set for your Exchange
account.
I never said anything about manually controlling your connection state. I
said you had to tell Outlook what your Internet connection state is. It
does not know.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:


Actually, I thought of the separate profile idea and having it prompt
me. However, if I have Outlook open and I am doing normal Internet mail
stuff or I want the Email notification and then decide to check my
company Email by connecting the VPN connection, I don't want to have to
close Outlook and reopen it just to switch Profiles. Also, I *DO* want
all of my mail stored in the same profile. Instead of indicating the
Public/Server folders as the default, I use a local profile so that my
calendar and all that good stuff are accessible in their entirety
offline.

It seems pretty harsh to me that there isn't a simple, straight-forward
way to say "For the (e-mail address removed) account use this connection: VPN1,
and when it is NOT connected, don't check the messages when doing a
send/receive." BTW, what *DOES* "Manually control connection state"
indicate if not what I just described??

-J.T. Kirk





There are several reason why this may not be possible. Outlook 2003 was
not designed to manage dial up connections, especially when you have
dial up and continuous connections in the same profile. Having Exchange
and Internet accounts in the same profile is also going to create
problems when each uses a different connection. Outlook cannot be made
aware of your Internet connection status in advance of a mail poll
unless you tell it expressly with the "Work Offline" command.

Why can't you put your Exchange account in its own Send/Receive group
and set its connection type to Phone Line?

Any reason you can't use separate profiles? That would work best.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:



I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have a
dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6
Internet Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange
server at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a
Send/Receive, the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then
disconnects. However, this interupts other things that I might be
doing on the Internet like browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account that
uses the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create
different groups. However, that will only allow me to enable/disable
the account altogether. I still want it to check when the VPN is
connected. Also, I tried checking "Manually control connection state"
in the Account Properties>General for the Exchange account. This has
no effect.

Any helpful suggestions?

 

[Gordon]

Did you have anything of worth to say, or were you just feeling lonely and
unloved and felt you might draw some attention to yourself with an assinine
post?

Of course - if the setting up of a second profile is the answer to your
self-inflicted problem, and the process of switching takes *ten*
*seconds* I can't see your problem with doing that. Or are you *SO* busy
that *ten* *seconds* of your *very* valuable time is time wasted?

I think the nickname you post with reflects your mentality.

Sheeeeesh!

 

[Double Dumbass On You]

Over the last 7 years, the three corporations that I have worked for (in no
particular order: Sony; Fair,Isaac Corporation; Caterpillar), have all used
dial-up networking to configure the VPN under XP/2000. Again, this is over
a broadband connection, not via modem. I am a software engineer, not an IT
guy. So it isn't my place really to question this logic. If I want to
connect, I have to follow their procedures.

Precisely how should one configure Outlook to ensure that their data is 100%
available offline? The only thing I *don't* have access to, with my current
configuration, is updating my calendar, since it needs to connect to the
server for that. Again, at all three corporations, we were asked to move
our data off of the Exchange server because it was too bloated. I figured,
"Why not go one step further and just have everything delivered locally in
the first place?" It saves me having to move it and I don't take up any
real estate on the server. What are the cons to doing this anyway?

I got the point that there is no easy way to make Outlook behave. Thanks
anyway.

-J.T. Kirk

Actually, your configuration is quite atypical in several regards.
Many if not most VPN connections today use broadband, not dial up.
Most Exchange administrators frown deeply on configuring a PST file as the
default delivery location for an Exchange mailbox.
Your question about "Manually control connection state" is an Exchange
question not an Outlook question and is probably not germain to the this
topic. It should be directed to your Exchange administrator or an Exchange
newsgroup.
I wish it were possible to configure Outlook the way you want, but it is
just not the environment for which Outlook was designed.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Of course I know, I thought it was pretty obvious because I have never
seen a VPN setup with anything but a phone-line connection. That is,
even though the physical connection is still via ethernet/DSL, the
connection is setup in Windows via the Dial-up Connection dialogue. I
don't know of anyone that configures it differently.

A few years ago when my company started getting anal about the number of
messages and other stuff being stored on the Exchange server, I decided
to create a set of personal folders in a PST which is on my local HDD. I
then designated this as the default for Outlook and all my messages are
passed through to my local folders. As I said, I also did this because I
have a laptop and if I don't have connectivity to the Exchange server, I
can still access my Email archive, contacts, calendar data, etc. So, in
a sense, I am using the the local PST as a way to manage content offline.
There are many people who do this. The only difference is that I am also
using Outlook to manage business Emails I have that are Internet based.
It is a fairly straight-forward configuration, meaning, that I didn't
have to work any miracles or anything to configure all these things. I
simply followed the prompts of the dialogus in Outlook. Maybe MS never
thought the whole thing through.

For the third time, what does "Manually control connection state" mean
precisely?

-J.T. Kirk

I didn't miss anything (except your Outlook version which obviously you
should have mentioned in the beginning). I did not ask you what type of
connections you had. You told me that.
I asked you what type of connection your SET for each mail account.
You have never told me that, and it matters because that is what controls
how and whether Outlook will manage a connection.
If you don't know, look at your accounts properties again. ("DSL" and
"dial up" are not connection types you can set. You choices are Phone
Line, LAN, or 3rd party dialer).

I understand why you do not want to use separate profiles. But I strongly
doubt any version of Outlook can be configured to manage both Exchange
Server and Internet Mail accounts in the way you want. Are you trying to
use Offline Folders or deliver to a local PST? Very few users attempt
this and when they do they are doing the opposite: accessing Internet
Mail over dial up and Exchange over a LAN.

Outlook was never really developed to manage Internet connections.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:

I guess you missed the



I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have
a dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work.


part. It is a dial-up connection, just in case you need me to say it
again.

Also, I never said it was 2003. It's Outlook XP.

And, as I said, I don't want to use separate profiles because I don't
want to have to constantly be switching back and forth just to check my
work mail.






Did you try what I suggested? The only time Outlook will even attempt
to manage a connection is if you set "Phone Line" as your connection
type.
You have not even stated the connection type you set for your Exchange
account.
I never said anything about manually controlling your connection state.
I said you had to tell Outlook what your Internet connection state is.
It does not know.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:


Actually, I thought of the separate profile idea and having it prompt
me. However, if I have Outlook open and I am doing normal Internet
mail stuff or I want the Email notification and then decide to check
my company Email by connecting the VPN connection, I don't want to
have to close Outlook and reopen it just to switch Profiles. Also, I
*DO* want all of my mail stored in the same profile. Instead of
indicating the Public/Server folders as the default, I use a local
profile so that my calendar and all that good stuff are accessible in
their entirety offline.

It seems pretty harsh to me that there isn't a simple,
straight-forward way to say "For the (e-mail address removed) account use this
connection: VPN1, and when it is NOT connected, don't check the
messages when doing a send/receive." BTW, what *DOES* "Manually
control connection state" indicate if not what I just described??

-J.T. Kirk





There are several reason why this may not be possible. Outlook 2003
was not designed to manage dial up connections, especially when you
have dial up and continuous connections in the same profile. Having
Exchange and Internet accounts in the same profile is also going to
create problems when each uses a different connection. Outlook cannot
be made aware of your Internet connection status in advance of a mail
poll unless you tell it expressly with the "Work Offline" command.

Why can't you put your Exchange account in its own Send/Receive group
and set its connection type to Phone Line?

Any reason you can't use separate profiles? That would work best.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:



I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have
a dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6
Internet Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange
server at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a
Send/Receive, the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then
disconnects. However, this interupts other things that I might be
doing on the Internet like browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account
that uses the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create
different groups. However, that will only allow me to
enable/disable the account altogether. I still want it to check
when the VPN is connected. Also, I tried checking "Manually control
connection state" in the Account Properties>General for the Exchange
account. This has no effect.

Any helpful suggestions?

 

[Double Dumbass On You]

It's actually a defensive quote from Star Trek IV by Capt. Kirk in reaction
to a rude jerk; in this case, you. I don't have the time to school you in
netiqette just now. I urge you to use Google in order to help yourself
learn how to interact with others. With that, I consider this conversation
closed.

-J.T. Kirk

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP Outlook]]

Normally one would use an OST file for that. Most Exchange
administrators I know do not want their users using PST files. I don't
work with Exchange so if you want more inforamtion on that you can ask
in an Exchange group. Here's the reference with which I am familiar:
http://www.swinc.com/resources/exch... 5.5&sectionID=1013&sectionName=Why PST = BAD

------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Over the last 7 years, the three corporations that I have worked for (in no
particular order: Sony; Fair,Isaac Corporation; Caterpillar), have all used
dial-up networking to configure the VPN under XP/2000. Again, this is over
a broadband connection, not via modem. I am a software engineer, not an IT
guy. So it isn't my place really to question this logic. If I want to
connect, I have to follow their procedures.

Precisely how should one configure Outlook to ensure that their data is 100%
available offline? The only thing I *don't* have access to, with my current
configuration, is updating my calendar, since it needs to connect to the
server for that. Again, at all three corporations, we were asked to move
our data off of the Exchange server because it was too bloated. I figured,
"Why not go one step further and just have everything delivered locally in
the first place?" It saves me having to move it and I don't take up any
real estate on the server. What are the cons to doing this anyway?

I got the point that there is no easy way to make Outlook behave. Thanks
anyway.

-J.T. Kirk

Actually, your configuration is quite atypical in several regards.
Many if not most VPN connections today use broadband, not dial up.
Most Exchange administrators frown deeply on configuring a PST file as the
default delivery location for an Exchange mailbox.
Your question about "Manually control connection state" is an Exchange
question not an Outlook question and is probably not germain to the this
topic. It should be directed to your Exchange administrator or an Exchange
newsgroup.
I wish it were possible to configure Outlook the way you want, but it is
just not the environment for which Outlook was designed.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Of course I know, I thought it was pretty obvious because I have never
seen a VPN setup with anything but a phone-line connection. That is,
even though the physical connection is still via ethernet/DSL, the
connection is setup in Windows via the Dial-up Connection dialogue. I
don't know of anyone that configures it differently.

A few years ago when my company started getting anal about the number of
messages and other stuff being stored on the Exchange server, I decided
to create a set of personal folders in a PST which is on my local HDD. I
then designated this as the default for Outlook and all my messages are
passed through to my local folders. As I said, I also did this because I
have a laptop and if I don't have connectivity to the Exchange server, I
can still access my Email archive, contacts, calendar data, etc. So, in
a sense, I am using the the local PST as a way to manage content offline.
There are many people who do this. The only difference is that I am also
using Outlook to manage business Emails I have that are Internet based.
It is a fairly straight-forward configuration, meaning, that I didn't
have to work any miracles or anything to configure all these things. I
simply followed the prompts of the dialogus in Outlook. Maybe MS never
thought the whole thing through.

For the third time, what does "Manually control connection state" mean
precisely?

-J.T. Kirk



I didn't miss anything (except your Outlook version which obviously you
should have mentioned in the beginning). I did not ask you what type of
connections you had. You told me that.
I asked you what type of connection your SET for each mail account.
You have never told me that, and it matters because that is what controls
how and whether Outlook will manage a connection.
If you don't know, look at your accounts properties again. ("DSL" and
"dial up" are not connection types you can set. You choices are Phone
Line, LAN, or 3rd party dialer).

I understand why you do not want to use separate profiles. But I strongly
doubt any version of Outlook can be configured to manage both Exchange
Server and Internet Mail accounts in the way you want. Are you trying to
use Offline Folders or deliver to a local PST? Very few users attempt
this and when they do they are doing the opposite: accessing Internet
Mail over dial up and Exchange over a LAN.

Outlook was never really developed to manage Internet connections.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:


I guess you missed the




I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have
a dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work.


part. It is a dial-up connection, just in case you need me to say it
again.

Also, I never said it was 2003. It's Outlook XP.

And, as I said, I don't want to use separate profiles because I don't
want to have to constantly be switching back and forth just to check my
work mail.







Did you try what I suggested? The only time Outlook will even attempt
to manage a connection is if you set "Phone Line" as your connection
type.
You have not even stated the connection type you set for your Exchange
account.
I never said anything about manually controlling your connection state.
I said you had to tell Outlook what your Internet connection state is.
It does not know.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:



Actually, I thought of the separate profile idea and having it prompt
me. However, if I have Outlook open and I am doing normal Internet
mail stuff or I want the Email notification and then decide to check
my company Email by connecting the VPN connection, I don't want to
have to close Outlook and reopen it just to switch Profiles. Also, I
*DO* want all of my mail stored in the same profile. Instead of
indicating the Public/Server folders as the default, I use a local
profile so that my calendar and all that good stuff are accessible in
their entirety offline.

It seems pretty harsh to me that there isn't a simple,
straight-forward way to say "For the (e-mail address removed) account use this
connection: VPN1, and when it is NOT connected, don't check the
messages when doing a send/receive." BTW, what *DOES* "Manually
control connection state" indicate if not what I just described??

-J.T. Kirk






There are several reason why this may not be possible. Outlook 2003
was not designed to manage dial up connections, especially when you
have dial up and continuous connections in the same profile. Having
Exchange and Internet accounts in the same profile is also going to
create problems when each uses a different connection. Outlook cannot
be made aware of your Internet connection status in advance of a mail
poll unless you tell it expressly with the "Work Offline" command.

Why can't you put your Exchange account in its own Send/Receive group
and set its connection type to Phone Line?

Any reason you can't use separate profiles? That would work best.
------
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Double Dumbass On You wrote:




I have a persistent connection to the internet via DSL. I also have
a dial-up connection to access the VPN at my work. My Outlook has 6
Internet Email accounts configured and the one from the Exchange
server at work.

When the VPN connection is *NOT* connected and Outlook does a
Send/Receive, the VPN connection connects, does its thing, and then
disconnects. However, this interupts other things that I might be
doing on the Internet like browsing and such.

How can I tell Outlook *NOT* to Send/Receive for the one account
that uses the Exchange server?

I have tried using Tools>Options>Mail Setup>Send/Receive to create
different groups. However, that will only allow me to
enable/disable the account altogether. I still want it to check
when the VPN is connected. Also, I tried checking "Manually control
connection state" in the Account Properties>General for the Exchange
account. This has no effect.

Any helpful suggestions?