You cannot receive new e-mail notifications in environments that use the Network Address Translation in Outlook 2002

If you use Network Address Translation (NAT), you may not receive new e-mail notifications in Outlook 2002.

This problem can occur in a NAT environment because Outlook 2002 never receives the UDP (Universal Datagram Packets) that the Microsoft Exchange Server sends, and you cannot route the UDP packets to a computer that is running Outlook 2002.

The computer that is running Outlook 2002 returns to polling the Exchange Server for new e-mail messages by using the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) to work around this problem. However, a logic error exists with the Exchange Server and it does not reply to the polling request.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Office XP. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: To resolve this problem, use the following two methods to configure Outlook 2002 to use polling instead of UDP to receive new e-mail notifications:

• Apply the associated hotfix to the computer that is running Outlook 2002.
• Manually add registry entries.

How to Use the Hotfix

A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem.

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, submit a request to Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language.

The English-language version of this fix should have the following file or later: The fix is also available for the following language(s): German.

How to Manually Add Registry Entries

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

To add the registry values to the computer that is running Outlook 2002, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type Regedt32.exe, and then click OK.
3. Locate the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\
4. On the Edit menu, click Add Key, and then add the following registry key:Key Name: RPC
   Class: None
   
   
5. Click OK.
6. Locate the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\RPC\
7. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:Value Name: ForcePolling
   Data Type: REG_DWORD
   Value: 1
   
   
8. Locate the following key in the registry:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\
9. On the Edit menu, click Add Key, and then add the following registry key:Key Name: Office
   Class: None
   
   
10. Locate the following key in the registry:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\
11. On the Edit menu, click Add Key, and then add the following registry key:Key Name: 10.0
    Class: None
    
    
12. Locate the following key in the registry:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\10.0\
13. On the Edit menu, click Add Key, and then add the following registry key:Key Name: Outlook
    Class: None
    
    
14. Locate the following key in the registry:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\
15. On the Edit menu, click Add Key, and then add the following registry key:Key Name: RPC
    Class: None
    
    
16. Locate the following key in the registry:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\RPC\
17. On the Edit menu, click Add Value, and then add the following registry value:Value Name: ForcePolling
    Data Type: REG_DWORD
    Value: 1
    
    
18. Close the Registry Editor
19. Restart the computer.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Office XP Service Pack 1.

Outlook 2002 uses both UDP and polling to notify you of new e-mail messages.

With UDP, Outlook 2002 sends the server the client's Internet Protocol (IP) address and notifies the server to send the UDP when there are e-mail messages waiting on the server.

The polling mechanism occurs when Outlook 2002 starts a thread that requests information from the server every 60 seconds with the RPC, by default, for any outstanding e-mail messages.

The default preference for e-mail notification in Outlook 2002 is UDP, and if that fails, then it uses polling. The previously mentioned registry value defines whether or not to use polling as the default for new e-mail notification. The value of 1 indicates that polling is used as the default by Outlook 2002 and that UDP will not be used. The default polling time is 60 seconds and is set at the Exchange Server.