Unable to connect to an outlook anywhere exchange server

[elinoir]

I have recently purchased a new laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium x64. I installed Office 2007, which has updated to SP3.

Using XP I used to be able to successfully use Outlook 2007 for my office email, which uses a microsoft exchange server. I have not been able to get this to connect using Windows 7 despite using exactly the same settings. I have also tried a number of other combinations as advised from other sites but I can't get anything to work - please help.

This microsoft fix was also of no help... Error messages when you try to connect Outlook 2007 to Exchange Server: "The action cannot be completed" or "Your Microsoft Exchange Server is unavailable" or "Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook".
I have tried various username combinations: username or domain\username.
I have tried various password security options.

This is the error message I get:
Outlook cannot logon. Verify you are connected to the network and are using the proper server and mailbox name. The Connection to Microsoft Exchange is unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action.

I use the following setting:
Use Cached Exchange Mode - unchecked
Encrypt data between MicroSoft Office Outlook and MicroSoft Exchange
Server - checked
Connect to my Exchange mailbox using HTTP - checked
Proxy authentication settings: Basic Authentication

Please help, this is driving me crazy and I have been passed between Outlook and Microsoft Exchaneg forums already. I did read somewhere that Windows 7 Home is not setup for rpc - is this correct, and can I do anything about it?

 

[roncerr]

Comarison chart of Windows 7 editions here: Windows 7 editions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[elinoir]

Thanks - I'm afraid a lot of that doesn't mean much to me. Is it the Windows Server domain feature that is relevant to my problem? and there is no work around for Home Premium?

 

[roncerr]

Thanks - I'm afraid a lot of that doesn't mean much to me. Is it the Windows Server domain feature that is relevant to my problem? and there is no work around for Home Premium?

I'm afraid I don't know. Do you need to be able to join a Windows Server domain to use an "outlook anywhere exchange server"?

Perhaps this will help: Windows domain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"A Windows domain is a collection of security principals that share a central directory database. This central database (known as Active Directory starting with Windows 2000,[1] Active Directory Domain Services in Windows Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2, also referred to as NT Directory Services on Windows NT operating systems, or NTDS) contains the user accounts and security information for the resources in that domain. Each person who uses computers within a domain receives his or her own unique account, or user name. This account can then be assigned access to resources within the domain."

Or this: http://www.msexchange.org/tutorials/outlookrpchttp.html
"The RPC over HTTP protocol allows your full Outlook 2003 MAPI clients to connect to Exchange 2003 Servers using HTTP/HTTPS. This solves the problem remote Outlook 2003 users have when located behind restrictive firewalls."

This sounds like you need "Professional"
http://www.petri.co.il/how-can-i-co...s-on-exchange-2003-single-server-scenario.htm : "Client requirements

• The client computer must be running Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 1 (SP1) or later."

 

[elinoir]

Hi,

Thanks for that info, it does look like that is related to my problem. Not being very computer literate I did not realise that 7 Home Premium would prevent me from simply accessing my work emails using Outlook. I would have paid the small amount extra to have Professional installed in my new laptop if I had known, but now I have 7 Home it is too expensive for me to pay to upgrade to 7 Professional. I guess there is no work-around, to solve the problem using 7 Home Premium?

 

[roncerr]

...Not being very computer literate I did not realise that 7 Home Premium would prevent me from simply accessing my work emails using Outlook....

Someone must be responsible for the Exchange Server; perhaps they would know for sure; or perhaps one of your co-workers using the same server. Most of the advice given about which version of 7 to buy implied that "Home Premium" would satisfy most people's needs except for hosting a remote desktop and backing up to a network, things only an IT guy would care about.

 

[elinoir]

Unfortunately IT support at my workplace has changed recently and they are less interested in individual problems. I have been advised to use webmail instead - but that is very frustrating as it will time out and has less functionality. I don't think I will get much further there, which is why I have been posting to fix the problem myself.

Having tried a lot of regsitry edits and other suggestions online with no luck it sounds as though Microsoft have really taken pains to prevent any Professional functionality being possible in Home Premium. Very frustrating as, like you say, having looked at the 7 Home Premium vs Professional description on the MS website there was nothing that I thought was relevant to my needs.

I am able to get hold of a Windows 7 Professional (x64) Upgrade at a very reasonable price through my workplace, but it is not Upgrade Anytime, so I don't think it is going to work to upgrade 7 Home Premium to Professional.

 

[roncerr]

...I am able to get hold of a Windows 7 Professional (x64) Upgrade at a very reasonable price through my workplace, but it is not Upgrade Anytime, so I don't think it is going to work to upgrade 7 Home Premium to Professional.

You can do a clean install with upgrade media. Since your current hard disk would be cleaned in the process, you should back up your data, emails, etc. first: Clean Install Windows 7 with Upgrade Media

 

[UsernameIssues]

I looked at more than a dozen EDU websites (since they offer fairly details steps to connectivity) and they just mention XP, Vista or Windows 7 (no flavors mentioned). I would think that they would tell students that W7HP would not work if that were the case.

www.google.com/search?q="windows+7"+"outlook+anywhere"+site:.edu

Outlook Anywhere <<< TCU.EDU a bit slow to load for me

 

[UsernameIssues]

And according to this post:

I am running Windows 7 Home Premium, Outlook 2010, connecting to a corporate Exchange 2007 server using "Outlook Anywhere" (RPC over HTTP). This is a wonderful feature. I got sick of having to VPN into the network every time I wanted to launch Outlook and didn't want to resort to POP or IMAP.
--Shane

Edit: and this post:
We have a user based at home who accesses email using Outlook Anywhere (RPC over HTTP) from his Windows 7 Home Premium PC.
~~~
We are using Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003.


So the OP's W7HP w/ Office 2007 should work fine... even if the Exchange server is as old as 2003.

 

[roncerr]

UsernameIssues may be correct. There are numerous posts about people having trouble setting up Outlook Anywhere with no mention of the OS version. The proposed solutions are often quite complex involving setting up the server and client properly. Perhaps this will help:
Use Outlook Anywhere to connect to your Exchange server without a VPN - Outlook - Office.com

 

[elinoir]

Hello,

Well, I ended up getting an upgrade to Windows 7 Professional - and still the same problem!!!! so I guess that indeed that might not have been the problem after all.

So, now I still have to try and figure out how to solve it. The frustrating thing is that it works on my XP machine (with Office 2007) with no problems - so surely it must be possible!

I have tried this MS fix, and have also edited my NTLM settings - see two thirds down the page here.

The settings I have in the original instructions I have (and that work for XP) are:

• Use Cached Exchange Mode - unchecked
• Encrypt data between MicroSoft Office Outlook and MicroSoft Exchange
  Server - checked
• Proxy authentication settings - Basic Authentication
• Username - username (I have also tried domain\username)

and the error I receive is:


Outlook cannot logon. Verify you are connected to the network and are using the proper server and mailbox name. The Connection to Microsoft Eschange is unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action.


All suggestions gratefully received

 

[roncerr]

Did you follow the instructions in my last post: Use Outlook Anywhere to connect to your Exchange server without a VPN - Outlook - Office.com

 

[elinoir]

Hello,

Yes, I have very similar ones from my workplace (before they stopped offering support).

As it turns out I managed to get it working last night. I am not sure what I did. The last thing I did was change the NTLM authorisation settings (which I couldn't get to in Windows 7 Home), but that was a few days ago and I still couldn't get it to work. I tried some different combinations of settings last night - mostly to do with the SSL / HTTP / TCP checkboxes and it started working :shock:.

I am sure I had done the same before, but I'm not complaining .

Thnaks for all your help.