Outlook Manual Incoming (POP3) and Outgoing (SMTP) service setting

Incoming Mail (POP3) server names and settings:
         
  

Provider Name	Server Name	Port	SPA	SSL	Auth Required
AOL	pop.aol	110	OFF	OFF	ON
AT&T Yahoo	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	OFF	ON	ON
Charter	pop.charter.net	110	OFF	OFF	ON
Comcast	mail.comcast.net	995	OFF	ON	ON
Cox	pop.[insert region].cox.net	110	OFF	OFF	OFF
Gmail	pop.gmail.com	995	OFF	ON	ON
Juno	pop.juno.com	110	OFF	OFF	OFF
Microsoft Live	pop3.live.com	995	OFF	ON	ON
Netscape	pop.3.isp.netscape.com	110	OFF	OFF	ON
Netzero	pop.netzero.com	110	OFF	OFF	ON
Pacbell	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	OFF	ON	ON
PeoplePC	pop.peoplepc.com	110	OFF	OFF	ON
Qwest	pop.[enter state ID].qwest.net	110	OFF	OFF	OFF
Rogers	pop.broadband.rogers.com	110	OFF	OFF	ON
SBCGlobal	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	OFF	ON	ON
Swbell	pop.att.yahoo.com	995	OFF	ON	ON
Verizon	incoming.verizon.net	110	OFF	OFF	ON
Yahoo	pop.mail.yahoo.com	110	OFF	OFF	OFF

Outgoing Mail (SMTP) server names and settings:

Provider Name	Server Name	Port	SPA	AuthRequired	Encryption
AOL	smtp.aol.com	587	OFF	ON	None
AT&T Yahoo	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	OFF	ON	SSL
Charter	smtp.charter.net	25	OFF	ON	None
Comcast	smtp.comcast.net	587	OFF	ON	TLS
Cox	smtp.[insert region].cox.net	25	OFF	OFF	None
Gmail	smtp.gmail.com	587	OFF	ON	TLS
Juno	authsmtp.juno.com	587	OFF	OFF	None
Microsoft Live	smtp.live.com	587	OFF	ON	TLS
Netscape	smtp.isp.netscape.com	25	OFF	OFF	None
Netzero	authsmtp.netzero.com	25	OFF	ON	None
Pacbell	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	OFF	ON	SSL
PeoplePC	smtpauth.peoplepc.com	587	OFF	ON	None
Qwest	pop.[enter state ID].qwest.net	25	OFF	OFF	None
Rogers	smtp.broadband.rogers.com	587	OFF	ON	None
SBCGlobal	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	OFF	ON	SSL
Swbell	smtp.att.yahoo.com	465	OFF	ON	SSL
Verizon	outgoing.verizon.net	25	OFF	ON	None
Yahoo	smtp.mail.yahoo.com	25	OFF	OFF	None

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NTSC and PAL video standards

NTSC and PAL video broadcasting standards

There are currently two types of analog format used to broadcast video signals throughout the world. Certain parts of world use NTSC, which stands for National Television System Committee, while other parts of the world use PAL, which is short for Phase Alternating Line. There are several important differences between PAL and NTSC signals which are good to know about since they affect how certain technologies (such as DVDs) work in different countries. This Bamboo AV Advice article will help you to understand the differences between NTSC and PAL video standards, and will give you a good overview of what will happen to television systems and broadcasting standards in the future. NTSC will be the first video standard examined, followed by PAL.

NTSC format

NTSC stands for National Television System Committee, and is the analog format used by the majority of television American broadcasters. NTSC was developed in 1940 to establish a common broadcasting standard following the popularity of television and the introduction of analog television signals. NTSC images conform to a standard of an interlaced image made up of 525 horizontal lines with a refresh rate of 30 frames per second. Any standard definition picture with a maximum horizontal resolution of 720 lines and a 480 vertical resolution limit with a frame rate of 30 frames per second can be defined as NTSC and will play on a device designed for NTSC television. Numerous amounts of consumer video products, such as DVDs have been tailored to work to this standard and thus output in a resolution of 720 x 480. If a DVD uses an unsupported digital standard, many manufacturers of DVD players have implemented the ability to convert the signal to analogue and “squeeze” the image frame to fit the video.

Countries using NTSC

NTSC signals are used predominately in the Western hemisphere. The territories and some of the more notable countries that use NTSC broadcasts are listed below.

North America

Canada
Mexico
United States
Central America and the Caribbean

Costa Rica
Cuba
Guatemala
Honduras
Nicaragua
Panama
South America

Bolivia
Columbia
Peru
Asia

Burma
Japan*
Philippines
South Korea
*Japan uses a variant known as NTSC-J that has a slightly lower level of darkness.

PAL format

PAL, which stands for Phase Alternating Line, is the video standard used primarily in Europe and Africa for displaying television, DVD, and VHS pictures. The system was primarily introduced because of the inability of the 50 Hz power grids in European countries to accept the existing 60 Hz NTSC standard, and because of the colour shift that can occur during poor transmission weather. As a result, in 1963 Walter Bruch of Germany unveiled a television standard with a frequency of 50 Hz and a better quality picture than NTSC.

The PAL format outputs interlaced images at a resolution of 720 x 576 (86 more vertical lines than NTSC) with a refresh rate of 25 frames per second (5 less than NTSC). This means that while PAL broadcasts have a superior picture quality, NTSC images appear smoother, especially during high motion footage such as action films or sports.

Countries using PAL

PAL signals are most common in Europe and Africa. The territories and some of the more notable countries that use PAL broadcasts are listed below.

Africa

Nigeria
Ghana
Cameroon
South Africa
Asia

China
India
Philippines
Vietnam
Europe

Czech Republic
Denmark
Ireland
Italy
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Spain
Ukraine
United  Kingdom
South America

Argentina
Brazil
Paraguay
Uruguay
Oceania

Australia
New Zealand
A map showing the parts of the world that broadcast in PAL and NTSC

The image above shows a world map of the distribution of PAL and NTSC video standards usage.

The future of NTSC and PAL

In the last few years the penetration of High Definition televisions into homes has been consistently on the rise. As a result there has been an increased amount of demand for digital signals that can contain 5.1 audio and High Definition broadcasts. Both NTSC and PAL are analog formats, which means that they have a limited bandwidth incapable of broadcasting Dolby Digital sound or High Definition images. In the near future there will be little need for these analog signals.

Numerous countries around the world have set mandates to phase out and stop any further analog broadcasts and replace them with digital high definition broadcasts. For America, on February 8th 2006 George W. Bush signed the “Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005” into law. This set February 17th 2009 as the date when all NTSC transmissions will be turned off permanently. NTSC broadcasts will be replaced with ATSC (which stands for Advanced Television Systems Committee), a standard that will broadcast digital High Definition images.

In Europe there are already countries that have fully converted to digital signals. The countries currently using the new digital format DVB – T (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial) are listed below:

Andorra
Finland
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Sweden
Switzerland
The remainder of the European countries have all set deadlines similar to those of the United States for when PAL broadcasts will be permanently stopped.

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10 Tips to Solve Outlook problems

Outlook is currently standard email/calendaring client in the business world. Generally speaking, it works like a champ. But there are times when Outlook goes down in a ball of flames. When that happens, if you don't have a bevy of tricks to pull out of your pocket, you might find yourself in a world of pain.

But troubleshooting Outlook doesn't have to be a nightmare. In fact, you can almost script out the troubleshooting process with these 10 handy tips.

1: Scan PST

Those PST files will inevitably develop errors. When they do, they can prevent Outlook from working properly. When Outlook is starting to fuss, one of the first things I do is run scanpst.exe against each PST file used within Outlook. But be warned: Scan PST can take some time to run. It has to back up your data file, scan for errors, and repair any errors found. If the data file is large, this process can take quite some time. To run Scan PST, you’ll need to locate the scanpst.exe executable. (Its location will depend upon the version of Windows being used.)

2: Archive

Although not really a troubleshooting tip per se, there are times when a PST file will grow so large it causes problems with Outlook. Instead of letting that PST continue to get unwieldy, it’s best to set up archiving. When the data file has reached the excess of users’ allocated space, I always encourage them to archive by year. This method ensures that they will be archiving the largest amount of data to their local directory (thereby clearing up space on the server). This will also shrink the PST and alleviate issues associated with a too-large PST. After this is done, I recommend running Scan PST.

3: Rename OST

If users take advantage of a locally cached data file, sometimes renaming their current OST file is enough to resolve plenty of issues. Just close Outlook, open the folder that houses their data files, make sure you can see extension names, and change the .ost extension to something like .old. The next time Outlook opens, it will rebuild that .ost file and Outlook should be good as new.

4: Delete/rebuild profile

When all else fails (just shy of an uninstall/reinstall), delete the Outlook profile. Now you need to use caution with this. If Outlook is working with a POP account, the current Inbox (and calendars, etc.) will need to be exported as a data file (which can then be reimported after the POP account is re-created). If Outlook is connecting to either an Exchange server or IMAP account, this process is just a matter of deleting the profile and re-adding it. To do this, open the Control Panel, go to Mail | Profiles, and delete the profile.

5: Disable add-ons

The more add-ons that are connected to Outlook, the slower it becomes. If you have any doubt, start Outlook in safe mode (issue the command outlook.exe /safe) and see how much faster (and smoother) Outlook runs. If you find this to be the case, go into the Trust center, disable suspect add-ons, and restart Outlook normally. You’ll know when you’ve found the culprit, as Outlook should run normally. This is a tedious exercise, but one that will generally bear fruit.

6: Disable virus scan

Many antivirus tools have an Outlook connector that scans emails as they come and go from a system. In some cases, this can slow Outlook to a crawl. If you’re unsure where an Outlook issue is stemming from, temporarily disable the antivirus Outlook connection to see whether that solves the issue. If it does, you might need to update the antivirus software to fix the problem. Just remember, if you leave that connection broken, Outlook will be vulnerable.

7: Run in safe mode

As I mentioned before, running outlook in safe mode is a good way to troubleshoot. The one caveat is that a number of features will not work. This obviously means that running in safe mode is not a solution for a problem — just a way to help debug it. Sometimes, just the act of running Outlook in safe mode will resolve the problem at hand.

8: Run with resetnav

When you issue the command outlook.exe /resetnavpane, you reset all customizations to Outlook’s navigation pane (the left pane, with the folder hierarchy and app buttons). This is necessary when users have done something to the navigation pane (something they don’t remember doing) that causes Outlook to malfunction or have problems starting. Note that users will lose any customizations that have made to the navigation pane.

9: Migrate PSTs from the server

I’ve seen this happen so often. A user will have unusually large PST files (especially archives) housed on a shared (or redirected) drive on a server. Those files are best served from the local drive. If you have more than one PST file having to connect to a remote location, chances are Outlook is going to bog down. Move those archives to the C drive of the local machine to improve performance.

10: Adjust calendar permissions

If someone sends an invitation for others to use his or her calendar, but they can’t make or edit appointments, you need to change their permissions. Open the calendar in Outlook, right-click the shared calendar, click Properties, and then go to the Permissions tab. There, you can add users to the calendar and give them specific permissions that will allow them to do anything from reading to owning the calendar.

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How to Speed up your Outlook

If you’ve used Microsoft Outlook for a while, you know that it can slow down… way down. In fact, when not looked after, Outlook can become nearly useless. Fortunately, there are several things you can do to make Outlook not only usable, but significantly improved. And none of these techniques requires a single configuration change to your Exchange server (IMAP or POP3).

Of course, some of these suggestions might seem to have a bit more “‘duh” factor than others. But you never know what level of skills you’re dealing with, so we’ll cover all the bases. In the end, you should have a much faster Outlook experience.

Update Windows

Many people don’t realize that with Windows updates, the updates for Microsoft Office are also “hidden.” But it’s not just the Office updates that can help speed up Outlook. Make sure you allow the updates to happen. Why? There are times when Microsoft might update Exchange. In some cases, those updates can either break or cause problems with the communication between Outlook and Exchange. Or Microsoft might issue a patch to the application to resolve a speed issue or security hole.

Download complete items

When you connect Outlook with either IMAP or POP3, you should have Outlook set up to download the complete message (instead of just the header). If you do this, Outlook won’t have to sync with the server every time you click on a new item (as it will already be in the data file.) How you do this will depend upon which version of Outlook you’re using. But basically, you’re looking for the setting Download Complete Item Including Attachments.

Archive your Inbox

I can’t tell you how many times I see clients with thousands upon thousands (and in some cases tens of thousands) of emails in their Inbox. This can cause serious issues, especially when using PST files. Instead of just letting those Inbox folders grow to outrageous proportions, set up auto archiving so that your Inbox retains only a portion of those emails. I like to tell clients to keep the current and previous months’ email in the Inbox and archive everything else. When you archive, you effectively create a new data file, so Outlook doesn’t have to strain against the weight of an oversize PST or OST file

Use Cached Exchange Mode

If you use Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook, you effectively take the data file from the server (PST) and cache it on your local machine (OST). This can go a long way toward speeding up your Outlook experience because Outlook doesn’t have to read its data file across a network. Instead, all it has to do is read the locally stored data file. This option (obviously) is available only when connecting Outlook with an Exchange server.

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Compact your PST file

When the Outlook PST file gets out of hand, a built-in tool can keep the size of that file under control. One of the issues is that even when you delete email from your Inbox, the size of the PST file may remain the same. If you’re using Outlook 2010, you can go to Account Settings | Data Files and select the data file to be compacted. Once you’ve selected the file click Settings | Advanced | Outlook Data File Settings and click Compact Now. Depending on the size of your data file, this process can take some time.

Repair your PST file

Scanpst is often my go-to tool when Outlook is acting off kilter. It will scan through your data file and look for data inconsistencies and errors. Here’s the thing about Scanpst — it’s not always the easiest tool to find. Do yourself a favor and search through your C drive to locate the Scanpst.exe file. Make note of its location (usually within the Office installation folder). But be forewarned: This tool can cause PST files to become unusable. Make sure you back up that data file before you start the repair tool. Fortunately, should Scanpst find errors, it will prompt you to make a backup before it attempts to fix the errors.

Cut down on the published and shared calendars

Yes, it’s easy to publish and share your calendars with others. The problem is, the more you do it, the more drag you’re putting on Outlook. The more data Outlook has to share and pull down from the Internet, the slower it will perform. Sure, it’s fine to have one or two shared calendars (and even more if you have a lightning-fast data pipe). Just know that the more data you have to push and pull, the slower your connection will be.

Disable RSS

By default, Outlook will sync RSS feeds from Internet Explorer to the RSS reader in Outlook. If you have a lot of RSS feeds bookmarked in IE, that syncing could easily bring Outlook to a crawl. Disable this feature (if you don’t use Outlook as an RSS reader) from within Outlook 2010 by going to Options | Advanced and then unchecking both options under RSS Feeds.

Disable add-ins

How many times have you installed some program only to find it installed something else behind your back? This can happen to Outlook as well as Internet Explorer. Sometimes those add-ins can cause major Outlook slowdowns. To find out what add-ins you have installed in Outlook 2010, go to Options | Add-ins. Select COM Add-ins from the drop-down and click the Go button. The resultant window will list all add-ins available to Outlook. Search through this list and uncheck any that might seem suspect.

Fix ShoreTel Windows 7 integration

If you use the ShoreTel Communicator, you might notice some issues when trying to open and use Outlook. The problem lies in an incompatibility issue between ShoreTel and Windows 7. The fix is simple. Open up the Task Manager and look for a process called Agent.exe. Right-click that entry and click Properties |Compatibility. Choose the Run This Program In Compatibility Mode For option and then select Windows XP (Service Pack 3).

Other tricks?

There’s no reason why anyone should have to struggle with a bogged down Outlook that will have you pulling your hair out strand by strand. These tips should help you enjoy a much speedier and reliable Outlook experience.

What other methods have you found for improving Outlook performance? Share your suggestions with fellow TechRepublic members.

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