outlook express services

[roy67ss]

I think I just did a dumb thing !!

Thinking I would 'clean' things up a bit in OE, I deleted a bunch of services that were listed as 'local area network' under tools - accounts - all. There were about 6 items of various directory services like bigfoot, yahoo etc. Now, it seems that I cannot send emails but can recieve ok.

How do can I restore these services without re-installing windows 98se, (presuming that they are required for sending mail)?

FYI, they did not go to the recycle bin when I deleted them.

[Sylvander]

If there are no other configuration changes that you have made and would like to keep, you could just "jump back" to the configuration setup you had before you made this change.

To do this you enter the DOS command "scanreg /restore" [without the inverted commas] at a DOS prompt.
I suggest you restart your PC and go to the "Startup Menu" and select either "Command Prompt Only" or "Safe Mode Command Prompt"".
I think you will be given "C:\>", so add to it to make "C:\>scanreg /restore" then blip "Enter" [remember to put the space after the g and before the /].
You will be shown 4 or 5 backup dates.
Select the backup that was made on the first Startup after midnight on the day you made the regretted change.

I'm assuming that these configuration settings will be included in the configuration files [the main one being the Registry] and that there has been no new software or hardware installed/uninstalled

[roy67ss]

Sorry guys, I guess I jumped the gun. I can still send emails. I was trying to send myself an email on the second site that I have outlook express check for mail.

That kind of makes sense, I think, if outlook express would be, in essence, sending mail to itself.

[Sylvander]

One way to send yourself e-mails is to have two different identities.
Those two identities can use any account with any ISP.
I have two identities.
Each has a different "Alias" at the same account with Telewest Blueyonder [each account can have 4 aliases].
I can send e-mails from one identity to my other identity to check whether everything is working ok.
Another check is to use "Mailwasher" to fetch the mail headers.
Sometimes Mailwasher succeeds in fetching the headers, but Outlook Express fails to connect to the POP3 server.

Go figure!

[Budfred]

You can send email from yourself to yourself on the same account too....

[Paul Komski]

If you want the Directory Services back, download the attached DirServs.zip - and unzip it. Inside are the 5 exported sevices as iaf files from OE. Just go into accounts and import them back into the accounts section.

There should never be any problem sending oneself eMails and it is a great way of checking sending and receiving. They will be sent using one's provider's send server and received using one's provider's receive server. AFAIK the servers will not distinguish the fact that they are actually sent and received from the same mail client - about the only thing that some servers care about is spam and the like.

but Outlook Express fails to connect to the POP3 server

Possibly - but bear in mind that messages can normally only be downloaded once (the inbox remembers what it has downloaded even after the mails have been deleted) - and with some ISPs if the mails are read as webmail they are marked and no longer appear to be there when they are later accessed as pop mail from a mail client such as OE. Both such scenarios can mean there are still messages on the server but OE will "not see them".