This is Part 2 of a two part article about potential configuration issues and Outlook.

I’ve written in the past about various issues involving Outlook and security, third-party software, add-ins, etc. But there are also less email specific issues that can affect the basic working functionality of Outlook. These basic issues can be addressed with some standard troubleshooting procedures.

I already discussed the use of the “ping” command to ensure your internet connection is working by pinging servers using only their IP address and also by using only their domain name – which has the added benefit of confirming a correct DNS configuration.

You can also use the “nslookup” command to verify that you are talking to the correct DNS server that you are expecting to use for your DNS name lookups. The nslookup command is a good tool that allows administrators to perform a reverse lookup of an IP address of a domain or host on a network.

From the command prompt window you would issue the nslookup command as follows:

C:Documents and SettingsAdministrator>nslookup
Default Server:  machinedns-1.server.company.com
Address:  (some IP address output here)
>

If you ping address and DNS commands don’t produce the expected results showing a successful connection then there is also the chance that you may just have a problem with the system’s network interface card. It is best to bring in your hardware support if you suspect this as the source of your problem.

Additionally, you might want to check and verify that there are no active firewalls on the specific system having trouble.  Sometimes your end users may inadvertently or purposely for that matter, setup firewall software for test purposes and then get interrupted or distracted while testing and forget to turn off that firewall service or forget to reopen relevant communication ports. You can make this check by issuing the following command from a Command Prompt window: “netsh winsock reset”. Netsh is a network configuration tool. You can type “netsh /?” to learn more about it. Type “exit” at the “netsh>” prompt to exit the tool. After issuing the command you can then restart the system.

You might also need to recheck your VPN settings or your subnet configurations. And in the past there were problems with having your profile setup to include multiple services that required a modem connection. There were problems if, for example, internet and fax services were setup in the same profile. They sometimes caused conflicts within Outlook.

In terms of your profile configuration a default profile exists that is called Microsoft Outlook. This default profile is created by Outlook. During the administration process most administrators will either add services to this profile or create a new profile with new services. When you encounter problems sending and receiving email one of the first troubleshooting steps you can perform, after verifying that your network settings and configuration is working properly, is to create a new profile that includes only the service that is giving you the problems. Then you can begin testing that profile’s ability to send and receive email.

After each success you then add another service, test, and then add another service, test, and then continue the process until finally you reach a point that an error is produced. This process of adding services, testing, and then adding more services will lead you to the service which is either the cause of the problem or at least a contributing cause of the problem. This is a very basic way of diagnosing which service is producing the error messages.

You can create a new profile from Control Panel. In the lower left hand corner of your screen click on the Start button and then click on Control Panel. Note that you may have to click on Settings before being able to click on Control Panel depending on how your system is setup. Once your Control Panel is up then find and click on Mail And Fax or just simply Mail. Next, locate the Services tab and then click on Show Profiles to list your profiles. You can then startup the Inbox Setup Wizard by clicking on the Add button. Verify that the “Use the following information services” option is set as the default setting. Find the service that you have already identified as the source of your problems and then clear all other services. Click Next and then type in a new profile name, such as “Test Profile”, in the Profile Name field. Continue to follow the Inbox Setup prompts until you are able to successfully exit.

Remember to add only one service at a time during your testing process.