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Problems getting "Windows Live Mail" to connect to "Exchange Server" via IMAP.

I typically use "Outlook 2013" (and what a complete pile of junk that is ...) to access my "Exchange" server.  However I also need to be able to access technical NNTP newsgroups, and copy messages between there and my "Exchange" mailbox.

I use "Windows Live Mail" (WLM) for reading the NNTP newsgroups.  However I cannot add IMAP access to my "Exchange" server.

I've added the account, but when it tries to connect it just times out.

Looking at a "WireShark" trace of what's going on, I can see WLM establishing a connection to "Exchange" and receiving the usual banner prompt ("* OK The Micosoft Exchange IMAP4 service is ready.") but then WLM does absolutely nothing else; it makes no attempt to log in or, indeed, do anything at all.
Eventually the "Exchange" server gets bored and sends "* BYE Connection is closed.  13" and closes the connection.  WLM doesn't even recognise this; it will still eventually time out and report a "Non network related error" and suggest I might be running low on memory or other resources.  Unlikely with 6Gb or so physical RAM free ...  Or not even notice the socket close at all and ask whether I'd like to continue to wait.

It's not limited to IMAP connections to "Exchange" either.  If I put up the Washington Uni. "imapd" on a Unix box, and try to connect to that, I see exactly the same behavior - the IMAP server sends its' initial banner and WLM completely ignores it; the IMAP server eventually gives up and closes the connection automatically, which WLM may or may not (typically "not") notice.

So just what do I have to do to get WLM actually to condescend to talk to the IMAP server and not just ignore the connection completely?  It's a pretty poor showing if one Microsoft product (WLM) won't even talk to another Microsoft product ("Exchange Server 2010 SP3") isn't it!?
Hi,

We appreciate the detailed information you've provided. We're sorry that you were unable to connect to Exchange server via IMAP. Please be guided that if it is a Microsoft account(@hotmail.com, @outlook.com) you cannot set it up for IMAP. This can only be set up for POP and Delta sync.

However, if the account is non-Microsoft or from other e-mail provider(eg. Gmail), you can set it up for IMAP provided that it has to be IMAP enabled first before setting it up on Windows Live Mail. You may refer to your e-mail provider to assist you on how to enable IMAP for your account.

I hope this helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks!

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Hi,

We appreciate the detailed information you've provided. We're sorry that you were unable to connect to Exchange server via IMAP. Please be guided that if it is a Microsoft account(@hotmail.com, @outlook.com) you cannot set it up for IMAP. This can only be set up for POP and Delta sync.

However, if the account is non-Microsoft or from other e-mail provider(eg. Gmail), you can set it up for IMAP provided that it has to be IMAP enabled first before setting it up on Windows Live Mail. You may refer to your e-mail provider to assist you on how to enable IMAP for your account.

I hope this helps. If you have further questions, feel free to ask.

Thanks!
Hiya Julius,
Well, thanks for taking the time to read and try and help.  Unfortunately you do seem perhaps to have missed the point slightly; no, it is not a Microsoft account, neither is it Gmail.
The connection is, as I said, to "Exchange Server 2010 SP3"; this server is on the LAN; as is the other server I mentioned, a Washington Uni. "imapd" server.

So that's two completely different local IMAP services, neither of which seem able to be connected to correctly by WLM.  Each returns the initial banner prompts, which are received on my workstation, but never actioned by WLM which continues to behave as though the banner prompts had not been received.

Other IMAP clients will talk to both of these IMAP servers correctly (which also confirms that the accounts are set up correctly; E.g. enabled for IMAP, and with the appropriate IMAP services running), it's apparently just WLM which won't.

Many thanks, and regards,

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Hi,

 

I understand that you are having problems connecting Windows Live Mail to the server. Let me assist you on this matter and rest assured that I will definitely do my best to help you sort this out.

 

Have you tried using Microsoft Office Outlook Hotmail Connector?

 

Did you try to remove/add your account to Windows Live Mail?

 

Have you tried to change the server settings for your email service provider?

 

Please reply to this thread and let us know the results so that if in can continue our support on this issue. We'd love to hear from you again.

 

Thank you.

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Hiya Jeffrey,

I have now managed to resolve the issue, thank you.

I was also having similar problems with "Outlook 2013" (which would correctly connect to "Exchange Server" but also would not connect to any IMAP server).

A complete removal (including using supplementary cleanup tools to remove the parts of the installation that the uninstallers left) and re-installation of both "Outlook 2013" and "Windows Live Mail" seems to have resolved the issues.  Both were upgrades to prior versions, rather than clean installations in their own right, so it appears that perhaps the upgrade processes for both these mail clients may be flawed.

Many thanks for the assistance from both yourself and Julius.

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Last updated December 26, 2022 Views 5,630 Applies to: