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Outlook dials ISP even tho set to LAN

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16 replies

by techrep

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I recently setup a mail server on a network and removed the external ISP mail accounts from some PCs. Mail accounts were set-up to connect using Local Area Network in Outlook Express 5.5. All worked fine except one PC insists on dialing the ISP usedfor connecting to the internet. I have reinstalled everything and yet it still dials. An exact duplicate model of this PC works normally. I have tried everything I can think of. Any ideas anyone?

16 replies

by dklippert

Check the settings on Internet Explorer. OE shares the settings. Compare them with the PCs that work.

by xiaxiong

To clarify what he said, go to tools --> internet options --> connections tab and check the "never dial a connection" circle. If it was set to "always dial a connection" that should fix it. If it was set to "dial when connection not present", thenyou probably have a problem with your LAN connection on that machine.

by pete

You have probably tried this but here goes. Check IE - Tools - Internet Options - Connections - Dial up and Virtual Private network settings - Settings - Dial up settings - Properties - Security - Authentication - Connect Automatically uncheck the box.
If that is OK then you have checked just about everything as the others have covered the main ones to check. I would start looking at the hardware and device setups. You may find that this machine has a modem that wants to connect when the software is opened.

by techrep

Thanks. All the devices are the same as the machine that works normally. I think I am looking for a registry hack.

by timthetoolman

Hi,

If you think you've covered everything, then try this...

Remove the dial-up adaptor entirely.
Now check that Outlook express works correctly and if it doesn't then you may get some idea of where to look...
Add the dial-up adaptor back again and verify that OE is still working ok.

Cheers,
Tim.

by techrep

Thanks Tim. I had previously removed all network components along with DUN which made no difference. Anyway I removed the adapter again but OE still dials the isp without the adapter. Obviously it & IE cannot connect as there is no protocol but themail is still received from the LAN mail server as it should be.

by ciscoboy1

Run your Internet Connection Wizard and tell it you connect to the internet via LAN. That should clear out anything that might have been overlooked.

What OS are you running? Because you can also go into your Dial-up Networking folder and one of the drop downs has a setting for auto-dialing/conecting before opening terminal window. Need more information from you to give detailed instruction.

For example, if it is 2k Pro you go to:

Start>Settings>Network&DIal-up Settings

Highlight your Dial-up Connection

Then click Advanced>Dial-up Preferences
and you can check the box that says "Diable autodial for current session" And uncheck "Always ask me before autodialing.

If nothing else, this will point you to another location to look.

by techrep

Thanks for the reply. Ran the wizard as suggested. No change. The computer is 98se. I don't think these options are available in 98se or at least I haven't seen them. I have been into DUN settings and toggled all the options without success. An interesting setting in IE is "Dial whenever a network connection not present". One would expect that with OE set to LAN an IE set to this it would suit my requirements. It does stop OE from dialing the ISP but also stops IE too. That is odd as IE is notset to LAN and therefore should dial as no network connection exists!

by timthetoolman

Hi,

I think you may be getting a little confused by this. Without a dial-up adaptor, your software wont attempt to dial - its not even an option, so I dont see how it could try after removing the dial-up adaptor.

IE and OE share the IE networksettings but I believe you can override this under the account settings in EO. Make sure the specific mail account has appropriate settings in properties -> connection tab.

Cheers,
Tim.

by techrep

Tim, thanks for hanging in. You certainly cannot set-up a dial-up without an adapter but once it is set-up it will allow you to remove the adapter and still attempt to dial. Even after a reboot. I have tested this on a different machine that is working normally using 98se. You are still correct though, I am confused. Everything I have done with respect to the original problem should have worked! If an OE account is set to always use the LAN and there is only one account the rest is irrelevant. There is more to this story but I was reluctant to tell, as it may be a red herring. I have set-up my network at home to emulate the office network but different IP?s. The first time I brought it home with the problem I reinstalled the original software from the master CDs and all worked fine. Took it back to the office and it gave the same problem. Thought I had imagined it working ok so a week later I took it home again and just put a bare 98se system and OFF97 SP2b on it. It worked fine at home. Got it back to the office and the problem was immediately there. I cannot see what the network has to do with it. The only difference being IP?s. Anyway I tried changing privileges but it did not make any difference. Yes I am confused:-)

by timthetoolman

Hi,

Given the extra bits of your answer, I'd say its not dialing strictly because of OE's mail connection.

I'd say it wants something else on the network that it cant find and so dials to get to the internet to try there.

Sorry that was such a vague answer - without seeing what its doing, its hard to be specific. It could be as simple as the first message in the inbox having a URL that tries to be resolved due to auto-preview.

Cheers,
Tim.

by techrep

Tim
Sorry for the long delay. Yet again I wiped everything. Installed only win98se and IE/OE5.5, the first few goes it got the mail correctly from the network without dialling. Just when I thought it was ok it dialed the modem. I now think it maybe a problem on the network card. If it is not getting a fast enough response from the network it then may think the network does not exist and dials the modem. I'm just guessing here! When I sugeested swapping hardware I was told not to bother anymore. So thats the end of it for now. My street cred has dropped a notch and the problem is still knawing at me.
Thanks for your contributions Tim, I appreciate it.
Ron

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