Description of user profiles and information services in Outlook 2000 with the Corporate or Workgroup option

In Outlook 2000, information services enable you to control how e-mail systems address and deliver your messages, as well as how your messages and folders are stored. This article describes the information services that are available with Outlook, and how to add them to your user profile.

User Profiles

A user profile is a group of settings that define how Outlook is set up for a particular user. For example, a profile may include access to a mailbox on Microsoft Exchange Server, and specify that the Outlook Address Book appear in the Address Book dialog box. A profile can contain any number of information services.

You need some additional information to create a profile that only your Internet service provider (ISP) can provide, or your system administrator. This information includes your account name, password, and the server names required to connect to the e-mail server. Please contact your ISP, or systems administrator to obtain this information.

Generally, you only need one user profile. If you sometimes need to work with a different set of information services, it may be helpful to create an additional profile to use those services. If more than one person uses the same computer, each person should have a separate profile to keep personal items secure.

You can copy an existing user profile, rename it, and then modify it as needed to create your profile. You can have Outlook start with the same profile every time, or you can select a profile to use each time you start Outlook.

How to Add a User Profile

Use the following steps to add a user profile to your computer:

1. Click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click either the Mail or the Mail and Fax icon.
3. Click Show Profiles.
4. In the Mail and Fax dialog box, click Add.
5. Follow the prompts of the Inbox Setup Wizard.

How to Receive a Prompt for a User Profile

If you have set up more than one profile on your computer, you can have Outlook prompt you for the profile that you want to use when it starts. To do this:

1. Start Outlook.
2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
3. On the Mail Services tab, click Prompt for a profile to be used, and then click OK.
4. On the File menu, click Exit and Log Off.

This takes effect the next time that you start Outlook.

Information Services

Information services are settings that make it possible to send, store, receive messages, and specify where to store addresses. Before you can use an information service, you must add it to your user profile.

You can have multiple information services in a user profile. For example, you can have multiple sets of personal folders (.pst) files in a single profile. However, you cannot always have two of the same e-mail services in a profile, for example, two Exchange Server services. Personal folders (.pst) files and Internet e-mail are the exception. If the service does not allow a duplicate in your profile, for example the Exchange Server service, when you try to add the second copy of the service ,you may receive the following error message: You can specify the delivery location for incoming messages, the location of your Personal Address Book, and the use of any personal folders (.pst) files that you create with information services. You can also set up information services to connect to other e-mail systems. For example, you may have two information services in your user profile, Exchange Server for sending and receiving messages and a Personal Address Book for storing personal distribution lists.

Microsoft Exchange Server

The complete Outlook feature set is available with Exchange Server, which supports a server-based message store, message transport, and global address book. In the Corporate Workgroup configuration, Outlook offers advanced e-mail features, group scheduling, personal information management, document explorer, and custom groupware applications.

NOTE: The Exchange Server service is included with Outlook, but users must acquire an Exchange Server client access license separately.

NOTE: It is not a recommended practice to include the Internet email service in the same mail profile as the Exchange Server service. For additional information about this, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Internet E-mail

With the Internet e-mail service, Outlook functions as a full- featured e-mail client integrated with desktop information management and the Outlook document explorer. You store messages locally in a .pst file, and remotely connect to and download messages from an Internet e-mail service provider (ISP). You can store e-mail addresses in the Outlook Contacts folder or a Personal Address Book.

Microsoft Mail

If you use the Microsoft Mail service, you store messages locally in a personal folders (.pst) file, but work connected primarily through the Local Area Network (LAN) to a postoffice. The postoffice provides the messaging transport and central address book or e-mail directory. In this configuration, Outlook functions as a full-featured e-mail client integrated with basic group scheduling, for example, sending and receiving meeting requests, personal information management, and the Outlook document explorer.

How to Add an Information Service

Use the following steps to add an information service to a user profile:

1. On the Tools menu, click Services, and then click Add.
2. In Available Information Services, click to select the information service that you want to add, and then click OK.
3. Follow the prompts for adding specific information for the Information service that you selected.

If the information service you need is not in the list, you may need to install it separately.

Additional Services

The following are the additional information services.

Outlook Address Book

The Outlook Address Book is created from contacts in your Contacts folder and includes an entry in the E-mail field or a Fax telephone number field, and you can have multiple e-mail addresses for each contact. When you update your contacts in the Contacts folder, the Outlook Address Book is updated at the same time. The Contacts folder appears as a separate entry under Outlook Address Book. A new feature in Outlook 2000 allows you to create distribution lists from your contacts. To do this, open your Contacts folder, and then click new Distribution List on the Actions menu.

Personal Address Book

A Personal Address Book is best used to store personal distribution lists that you frequently address messages to, such as a list of everyone on the racquetball team. If you use Exchange Server, you can also add an address for a public folder to the Personal Address Book. Personal Address Book files have a .pab extension, and can be stored on a disk.

NOTE: The ability to create a Distribution List in your contacts may eliminate the need for a Personal Address Book.

Personal Folders (.pst) Files

Personal folders (.pst) files are folders that you create to store messages on your hard disk, or on another server. You add a main personal folders (.pst) file as a service to the user profile, and give it a file name. Personal folders (.pst) files have a .pst extension.