O365 - Outlook fails to dload messages - themessagingco service

[Rigo]

In anticipation of a change of ISP I configured Outlook through POP3 with the outlook files folder in the documents folder.
The client gets the prompt to backup her stuff to OneDrive which she correctly believed it would be a backup process.
As we know everything gets relocated to OneDrive instead of just copying across.
Then Outlook complained it couldn't access the storage file.
In past cases I simply copied the PST file to a folder in C: then pointed Outlook to it.
This one is different.
Though Outlook could now find the PST file it now fails to access the POP server it says.
Removed and recreated the account, testing during the account re-creation process from control panel everything is successful. Green ticks on send and receive, no error message.
When launching Outlook sending is successful, but can't access POP server. Tried the repairs tool, that said successfully repaired but still no access to the receiving server. Increased timeout to 10 makes no difference.
SCANPST successfully repaired the PST, didn't help.
I might be wrong but I've got a suspicion something is stuck in Outlook making it try to still deal with the PST file that was relocated to OneDrive rather than the local one.
Deleting the instance in OneDrive didn't help.
Where in the registry would be such settings to reset?
Clean installing O365 may or not reset such settings then a nuke n pave may be required for something that appears so trivial
Using a sledge hammer to crack an egg!

 

[Sky-Knight]

You can login to the SMTP server, but not the POP server?

Your POP configuration settings are incorrect, you're in a rabbit hole! Come up for air!

Validate the POP3 server name in the configuration, make sure you've got SSL enabled vs not, make sure the port number is correct.

 

[britechguy]

Can you use IMAP instead?

 

[timeshifter]

Try a new profile for Outlook under her existing Windows user account. And or create a new Windows user and test it there. You may also want to test a different mail client, maybe use Thunderbird.

I'm just wanting to prove that something on your computer can get things from the POP server. And if you're doing POP for this make sure you're leaving messages on server.

Not clear on why you want POP. If it's to get all the mail downloaded to her computer you could accomplish the same thing by doing IMAP and then exporting to a PST to preserve a backup.

 

[britechguy]

Not clear on why you want POP. If it's to get all the mail downloaded to her computer you could accomplish the same thing by doing IMAP and then exporting to a PST to preserve a backup.

In Outlook Classic all one needs to make sure the slider is set as below in Account Name & Sync Settings:


I've never understood the fixation with having all messages saved locally. I've seen way more disasters losing these, particularly with POP access, when they are only saved locally and the usual POP method of deleting from the server upon download is used.

The email servers out there are far better backed up than your own home or office computer ever will be. IMAP keeps your entire email store on the server, no matter what, and you can choose to have the material saved locally as well for whatever period of time one wishes based upon that slider value for use when offline. Very few people need access locally to anything beyond the last few month's email, at that, when offline. When online, they have access to everything via the server, anyway.

 

[Rigo]

Can you use IMAP instead?

Using POP to have a PST ready when she changes ISP as she's using the ISP provided email system.
All settings are correct and working until the 'backup' to OneDrive mishap.

 

[Rigo]

Try a new profile for Outlook

Forgot about that I had used in the past indeed.
Will do and report back

 

[Rigo]

In Outlook Classic all one needs to make sure the slider is set as below in Account Name & Sync Settings:
View attachment 17275

I've never understood the fixation with having all messages saved locally. I've seen way more disasters losing these, particularly with POP access, when they are only saved locally and the usual POP method of deleting from the server upon download is used.

The email servers out there are far better backed up than your own home or office computer ever will be. IMAP keeps your entire email store on the server, no matter what, and you can choose to have the material saved locally as well for whatever period of time one wishes based upon that slider value for use when offline. Very few people need access locally to anything beyond the last few month's email, at that, when offline. When online, they have access to everything via the server, anyway.

That option doesn't apply to POP.
I have instead increased the POP server access timeout to max but that didn't change a thing.

 

[callthatgirl]

If this was my client, I'd ask if they want OneDrive and if not, make a new Windows local profile and get rid of it first.
then be sure the PST and the right size is in the c:/documents and point to it in the mail setup/mail app in control panel. I would to use the quick setup Outlook offers.

If you don't want to do that, then make 2 backup copies of the PST if you can and then cut the other one out of Onedrive completely

see if that helps.

I wish for once people would stop telling techs to use IMAP when there is a POP question. If you don't know how to fix a problem, you don't need to make a comment. I'm sure Rigo is familiar enough with Outlook to know this.

 

[Rigo]

Problem solved.
Although testing the connection to the server after setting the account worked, and during send/receive indicated sending worked but not receiving, it turned out SSL/TLS-465 was the problem for receiving.
That was the way it was setup and worked until the backup to OneDrive messed it all up.
Just for the sake of trying something else I changed the SMTP to STARTTLS-587 and after about 15 minutes POP was able to access the server. And never missed a bit afterward.
I'm reasonably sure STARTTLS did not work when the first time I set it up

 

[Sky-Knight]

TLS != SSL

They're on different ports, and the configuration of the mail client changes. Some providers do both, some do one or the other. And both protocols are possible on the POP3 / IMAP side, and on the SMTP side.

Honestly, this is the largest reason why I don't support this sort of mail access anymore. It's too much work.

If I want Outlook to be an Exchange client, I login with an email / password and if it doesn't work, I smack DNS until it does!

 

[fincoder]

For the majority of personal email accounts (e.g. gmail, internet provider email) Outlook (both Classic and New) auto-configures the IMAP server settings with no trouble at all.

In Australia, the ancient bigpond.net.au accounts sometimes need manual configuration. As does themessagingco (ex TPG Group ISPs) sometimes. It's not that difficult to find the IMAP server settings using google if needed. For us techs that service residential users, it's a fact of life.

 

[britechguy]

For us techs that service residential users, it's [IMAP] a fact of life.

For those of us who have small business clients that do not use Outlook (and they definitely do exist) it's a fact of life, too.

I have, for example, an Outlook.com account that, if configured with Outlook uses Exchange protocol. But if you configure it with Thunderbird, or Gmail webmail, or emClient, or any one of a number of clients that don't support Exchange, it's Microsoft's IMAP servers that are used for that same account. There are *lots* of users of email clients that are not one of the Outlooks.

IMAP will still be alive as a protocol long after I've been planted into the ground. The fact that POP still exists is irrefutable evidence that email access protocols do not "die off" after their heydays are long past. I'd be very willing to bet the IMAP has every bit as many, if not more, users as Exchange does outside of the world of large business entities. And by large I mean very large.

Gmail alone ensures that IMAP access protocol will be alive and well and living out a long life for many years to come.

 

[fincoder]

an Outlook.com account that, if configured with Outlook uses Exchange protocol. But if you configure it with Thunderbird, or Gmail webmail, or emClient

I agree with your post, except that (a small point) emClient does use the Exchange protocol for Microsoft email accounts. This is one reason why emClient is a direct Outlook replacement. Not many other 3rd party email clients do to my knowledge.

 

[britechguy]

emClient does use the Exchange protocol for Microsoft email accounts.

Interesting. I am not certain if it did the last time I was actively dealing with it, but good to know that some third-party client uses MS-Exchange.

 

[fincoder]

emClient has been able to do Exchange for a long time, perhaps over 5 years. This pic is from their website about setting up an Exchange account:

 

[britechguy]

@fincoder, well, in checking my email archive the last time I was actively involved with eM Client was back in early 2020, so I might have just missed this development. Of course, I could simply have forgotten this detail, too.

My central point is that a very great many email clients that are not in the Outlook family do not support Exchange.