Frequently Asked Questions

It is not possible to archive email using Outlook Web Access (OWA). OWA users who exceed their mailbox quota would be required to delete messages no longer required.

It is possible for staff to archive email via Outlook when using their Office PC - this option is not available if you use Outlook off campus.

For MDS users, the ITS have pre-configured the settings for AutoArchive in Outlook.

By default AutoArchive is disabled. To enable it go to Tools | Options. Click the Other tab followed by the AutoArchive button.

Tick box option to Run AutoArchive every xx days.

You can customise the options as required. However, if you change the location where old items are moved to, this will be reset when you next log on to MDS.

Non MDS users would need to check the default Archive settings for Outlook.

New users to Exchange will have to manually created their archive folder structure as Outlook archives on the Modified Date field (a hidden field in Outlook).

Please note that Auto Archive uses this modified date and not the created date so you can only archive messages based upon this date.

To manually archive email in Outlook 2010: 

1. Go to File | Cleanup Tools | Archive
2. Choose the option to Archive this folder and all subfolders
3. Click on the root (top level) Exchange folder to select it
4. Set the archive date prior to date your account was converted to Exchange
5. Ensure the archive file will be stored in j:/exarchive
6. Click OK

To manually archive email in Outlook 2007:

1. Go to File | Archive
2. Choose the option to Archive this folder and all subfolders
3. Click on the root (top level) Exchange folder to select it
4. Set the archive date prior to date your account was converted to Exchange
5. Ensure the archive file will be stored in j:/exarchive
6. Click OK

Your Exchange folders will be replicated under your live account. You will need to manually move messages from your live. You can do this by sorting by date order, selecting the messages you wish to move and dragging the messages to the corresponding archive folder.

Please note that if you rename a folder then this is not automatically reflected in the archived folders.

Outlook 2010:

1. Click the message containing the attachment.
2. In the Reading Pane, right-click the attachment and select Remove Attachment 

Outlook 2007:

1. Double-click the message to open it in a seperate window.
2. Right-click the attachment and select Remove from the options displayed
3. From the Menu Toolbar select File | Save
4. Close the message window

You can recall a message if the recipient hasn't read it.

Outlook 2010:

1. From the email folders list, click Sent Items
2. Double-click the message you want to recall
3. On the Message tab, in the Move group, click Actions, and then click Recall This Message
4. Click Delete unread copies of this message

Outlook 2007:

1. From the email folders list, click Sent Items
2. Double-click the message you want to recall
3. On the Message tab, in the Actions group, click Other Actions, and then click Recall This Message
4. Click Delete unread copies of this message

Outlook 2010:

1. File | Info | Cleanup Tools | Mailbox Cleanup | View Mailbox Size

Outlook 2007:

1. Tools | Mailbox Cleanup | View Mailbox Size

You can add delegates to your mail folders in Outlook.

This enables you to allow users to send mail, view Calendar/Journal entries and make modifications on your behalf.

Outlook 2010:

1. You need to make sure you have logged in using the correct account that you want to grant delegate access to.
2. From the Menu Toolbar select File| Info | Account Settings Delegate Access
3. Click the Add button.
4. You need to select the name of the person from the Global Address List (GAL), then press Add | OK. The Delegate Permissions window will open and from here you can grant the relevant permissions you want the user to have. Using the drop down menus for each folder, choose the type of access you wish to grant e.g. you may wish to grant editor access to your calendar and reviewer access to your Inbox.
5. Check the option to automatically send a message to summarize the access permissions you have granted and select OK.
6. By checking this option, the user or users you have granted delegate access to will receive an email informing them of this. The email also informs the user how to access the folder.

Outlook 2007:

1. You need to make sure you have logged in using the correct account that you want to grant delegate access to.
2. From the Outlook menu toolbar select Tools | Options
3. From the options window select the ‘Delegate’ tab.
4. Click the ‘Add’ button.
5. You need to select the name of the person from the Global Address List (GAL), then press Add | OK. The Delegate Permissions window will open and from here you can grant the relevant permissions you want the user to have. Using the drop down menus for each folder, choose the type of access you wish to grant e.g. you may wish to grant editor access to your calendar and reviewer access to your Inbox.
6. Check the option to automatically send a message to summarize the access permissions you have granted and select OK.
7. By checking this option, the user or users you have granted delegate access to will receive an email informing them of this. The email also informs the user how to access the folder.

Please note, when accessing folders using delegate access, it does not add the folder to your existing folder list. It only allows access to the folder whilst you are using it. If you come out of the folder or close Outlook then the folder will automatically close.

The following instructions are for MDS users running Outlook 2010, they may work on standalone PCs and previous versions of Outlook.

This configuration of secondary mailbox access is designed for accounts that are used by multiple people who do not wish to use the Send On Behalf as feature of Exchange. An example would be departmental or college administration account where each person using the account needs to see what messages have been sent to users and the sender of the message remains the same e.g. college.admin@durham.ac.uk.

In order to have full access to a secondary account, you first need to amend the access permissions of the account then add the account in Outlook.

1. Log onto an MDS computer with the secondary account user details and start Outlook
2. Right-click the top level folder and select Folder Permissions
3. Click Add, search for and add your account from the Global Address List
4. Set the appropriate permissions level e.g. Owner - this permission level will be applied to all the folders in the secondary account
5. Close Outlook and logout of MDS
6. Log onto MDS with your personal account details
7. Open the Mail App from Control Panel
8. Click the Email Accounts button then New...
9. Ensure Email Account is selected and click Next
10. Add the name, email address and password of the secondary account and click Next then Finish and Close (twice)
11. Start Outlook, when prompted add the secondary account username and password, opt to Remember my Credentials and click OK

You will now have full access to the secondary account. Message sent from the secondary account will appear in the corresponding Sent Items folder.

When you create a new message, reply to or forward a message you will see a From dropdown menu above the To: botton, click this to select the account you wish to send from.

In order to use the Send On Behalf Of feature for another users Exchange account (once you have been granted permission to their account), you need to add to the secondary account to your existing Exchange folder list.

Outlook 2010:

1. From the Menu Toolbar select File | Info | Account Settings
2. Ensure the default Exchange account is selected (It is listed as Microsoft Exchange) and click Change
3. Click More Settings
4. On the Window that appears select the Advanced tab.
5. Select the Add
6. In the Add Mailbox window, you need to put in the username of the account you need access to, and select Add
7. Click OK | Next
8. Then click Finish

Outlook 2007:

1. From the Outlook Menu toolbar select Tools | Account Settings
2. Ensure the default Exchange account is selected (It is listed as Microsoft Exchange) and click Change
3. Click More Settings
4. On the Window that appears select the Advanced tab.
5. Select the Add
6. In the Add Mailbox window, you need to put in the username of the account you need access to, and select Add
7. Click OK | Next
8. Then click Finish

You should now see the additional mail folders have been added to the existing folder list but will appear at the bottom of your folder tree.

If you have any problems accessing the folders after this, the first thing to do is check the relevant folder permissions.

The Exchange 2003 IMAP server details are as follows:

Incoming server: eximap.dur.ac.uk
Port: 143
Encryption method: None

Outgoing server: exsmtp.dur.ac.uk
Port: 25
Encryption method: None

Please note that Outlook configuration via the method below is only available for staff and research postgraduate accounts.

In order to connect Microsoft Outlook to the Durham Exchange service, your non MDS computer must meet the following minimum security policy.

1. You have McAfee ePO installed
2. You have enabled Windows Update using the ITS WSUS update server
3. You have Microsoft Outlook 2003 or 2007 installed
4. Your computer is connect to the University LAN

The utility below will install ePO, configure Windows Update and check which version of Outlook you have installed. Please note that you MUST have administrator rights on your computer to run the utility.

http://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/its/local/email/CISExchange.exe

Once the above criteria is met and/or verified you will be prompted for your ITS Username, you should enter this in the box provided.

Outlook will then prompt you to import email account settings, select Yes.

When prompted by Outlook for your username and password, you must prefix your username with mds e.g. mds\dcl0xxx

The final stage of the utility is to import Netscape/Mozilla/Thunderbird Address books. Please see the Infosheet below for further information.

http://www.dur.ac.uk/resources/its/info/infosheets/178addressbooks.pdf

If you do not wish to import any Address books, click No when prompted.

Once the utility has successfully completed Outlook configuration, you may run Microsoft Outlook.

If you have any secondary email accounts configured in Outlook, you will need to reconfigure these on restarting Outlook.

1. From within Outlook Select Tools | Options
2. Select the Mail Format Tab
3. Click the Signatures button
4. The create new signature window will open
5. Select New, and enter a name what you want to call the signature file
Leave Start with a Blank Signature selected if you want to create a brand new file, select Next
6. An Edit Signature window will open. Type what you want your email signature to be in here, then press Finish | Ok
7. You will now be back in the Mail Format tab. Where it states Signature for New Messages, you should see the name of the signature file you have just created. If it is not there, click on the drop down menu and select it from the list and select Ok

The easy way to check it has attached your Signature file successfully is to compose a new email. You should now see the signature inserted automatically.

1. From the main Outlook client select: Tools | Rules and Alerts
2. The Rules/Alerts window will open
3. Select: New Rule, the Rules Wizard window will then open
4. Select ‘Start creating a rule from a template’
5. In the ‘Select a template’ section, select ‘Move messages with specific words in the subject to a folder’
6. In the section beneath this titled ‘Edit the description rule’ select ‘Specific Words’
7. You need to add the specific words you want the rule to search for individually
8. Enter the following as shown: {Spam?} then click ‘Add’ then enter {Virus?} and click ‘Add’
9. Once you have added the words click Ok
10. Now you have added the words, you now need to select Move to specified folder. This will allow you to either select a current folder where you want Outlook to store the email which has been filtered, or allows you to create a new folder or you can select to automatically move them to deleted items and they will automatically be deleted
11. It is best to check the folder which you have chosen for virus/spam email from time to time to make sure that you haven’t missed any legitimate emails which may have been filtered by the rule you have created
12. Once you have done this, click Finish | Apply, you will now see the rule created in the Rules/Alerts window. It will be called: {Spam?} or {Virus?}
13. From the Rules / Alerts window you can also modify and delete the rules if you need to change them at a later date

To add dates such as those from www.dur.ac.uk/dates to your Outlook calendar, follow the instructions below:

1. Save the iCal file to your Computer.

2. In Outlook, Click file and select Import and export... to open the Import and Export Wizard.

3. From the list of options, select Import an iCalendar or vCalendar file (.vcs) and click Next >

4. Use the Browse window to locate the iCal file and then click Ok.

The dates will now be available in your calendar.

When creating a new message, in the message creation window, Select:
Options
Direct replies to

In the window that opens up check the box labelled:

Have replies sent to:

and enter the address required or select it from the Global Address Book.

Click Close

Type and send the message.

Its is not possible to set a reply-to field using Outlook Web Access

Outlook 2010:

1. Right-click the top level mail folder which is entitled: ‘Mailbox – Initial-Surname’ and choose ‘Folder permissions’ from the options available.
2. This will open up the ‘Mailbox’ properties and should show the ‘Permissions’ tab
3. Click ‘Add’ and choose the name of the person you want to add from the ‘Global Address List’
4. When you have highlighted the persons name from the Global Address list press ‘Add’
5. You will now see the persons name listed in the ‘Permissions’ box
6. You now need to set the permissions you want this person to have.
7. Make sure you have their name highlighted, and then using the drop down box labeled permission level, select the most appropriate title.
8. You now need to select the check boxes for the title you have chosen depending on what permissions you want the person to have.
9. Once you have done this, select ‘Apply’

Now you have added the access permission to the top level it does not automatically give the person access to the other folders in the mailbox.

Permission must be granted on a per folder basis.

You need to follow the above process for each folder you want to grant access to.

Once you have granted the relevant folder permissions, these now need to be added to the user’s Exchange account.

For instructions on how to add Secondary mailboxes please click the following link: Adding Secondary Mail Folders

Outlook 2007:

MDS users may make use of the the MailAccess utility to amend the access permissions of  their entire mailbox stored on Exchange. The utility is available via Windows Explorer at the following location: z::\exchange\mailaccess.exe - double click the file to run it, add the users you wish to access your mailbox and set the appropriate permissions.

Non MDS users must grant access to their mailbox on a per folder basis.

1. Right-click the top level mail folder which is entitled: ‘Mailbox – Initial-Surname’ and choose ‘Change Sharing permissions’ from the options available.
2. This will open up the ‘Mailbox’ properties and should show the ‘Permissions’ tab
3. Click ‘Add’ and choose the name of the person you want to add from the ‘Global Address List’
4. When you have highlighted the persons name from the Global Address list press ‘Add’
5. You will now see the persons name listed in the ‘Permissions’ box
6. You now need to set the permissions you want this person to have.
7. Make sure you have their name highlighted, and then using the drop down box labeled permission level, select the most appropriate title.
8. You now need to select the check boxes for the title you have chosen depending on what permissions you want the person to have.
9. Once you have done this, select ‘Apply’

Now you have added the access permission to the top level it does not automatically give the person access to the other folders in the mailbox.

Permission must be granted on a per folder basis.

You need to follow the above process for each folder you want to grant access to.

Once you have granted the relevant folder permissions, these now need to be added to the user’s Exchange account.

For instructions on how to add Secondary mailboxes please click the following link: Adding Secondary Mail Folders

Open up Outlook

Click on the 'Junk Email' folder

Right click on the email you want to add to 'safe senders' list

Go down to Junk Email

Select 'Add to Sender to Safe Senders List

To fix this issue the Outlook add-ins need to be re-initialised. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Close Outlook
2. Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\{Your username}\Local Settings\Outlook\
3. Delete the file  -   extend.dat
4 Restart Outlook

The following fix can be applied: -

Click START | RUN

In the RUN box type "outlook /resetnavpane" (without quotes)

Click OK

This will then reopen Outlook 2007 and you will now be able to read your emails.

In Microsoft Outlook go to View, Reading Pane then check Bottom. If you find you preferred the email to preview on the right hand side go to View, Reading Pane then check Right.

Exchange adds a secure redirect to web links in emails automatically. Not doing so would present a privacy risk to the end user. The secure URL also allows you to navigate away from and return to OWA without re-authenticating.

If the amended link was not added, when you clicked the unsecured link, your web browser would send the original URL as part of the HTTP referrer header. The referrer header would contain your username and the subject of the message that you where viewing at the time. By adding a secure URL, no confidential data is passed in the referrer request.
The above behaviour is by design and it is not possible to turn it off for privacy and security reasons, both for the individual and the University.

You may also see text which states that MailScanner has detected a potential fraud attempt. This message is displayed because MailScanner interprets the secure URL added by Exchange as a redirected webpage and as a result raises the potential fraud risk to the user.

Again, the MailScanner behaviour is by design and has been implemented to reduce the possibility of the recipient of the email being a victim of fraud.