Outlook 2007 cannot connect to Exchange 2000 mailbox

Try turning off encryption between outlook and the exchange server. Which is on the "Security" tab mentioned in the steps below.

OR

 try NTLM authentication
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927612
Control Panel-->Mail click your Outlook profile, and then click Properties.
Click E-mail Accounts, and then click Change.
In the Change E-mail Account dialog box, click More Settings.
In the Microsoft Exchange dialog box, click the Security tab.
In the Logon network security list, click Password Authentication (NTLM), and then click OK.
Click Next, click Finish, and then click Close two times

Tried NTLM authentication but it didn't work.

Tried turning off encryption and it also didn't work. Any other ideas? Any changes needed on Exchange 2000 server?

What about turning off encryption between outlook and the Exchange server?

ignore my post above

Are you sure the mailbox you are connecting to is on Exchange 2000 and not Exchange 5.5? Outlook 2007 does not connect to Exchange 5.5.

Another thing to check is that you have installed all the outlook 2007 updates as these resolve several password issues.

I am positive it's Exchange 2000 and all Outlook 2007 updates are applied.

have you tried
DOMAIN\Username

Or

UPN

as the username?

I have tried both for the username and it still won't work

Any other ideas?

I just did an XP install with Outlook 2007 and it connects to exchange 2000 without any problems so it may be a setting with the Server 2008 - 64 bit operating system.

One more piece of information - we can connect via IMAP.

I will try this tomorrow. Is it 2008 R2 or normal 2008?

Have you tried non cached mode?

2008 R2 - I have tried non cached mode and it does not work.

MegaNuk3:

Definitely appreciate your time on this - it shouldn't be this difficult.

I have just installed outlook 2007 (no service packs) onto a Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise server (64bit) that was in a Workgroup with no updates and using DHCP and was able to connect to an Exchange 2003 mailbox after entering the username and password (because it is not a domain joined machine you would have to enter credentials)

I'll dig around and see if I still have any Exchange 2000 anywhere...

If you share a folder from the Exchange 2000 server can you map to it from the Windows 2008 r2 server and access the share?

hmmm, I have just finished installing Exchange 2000 & SP3 on a Windows 2000 Advanced SP4 server (which I have also just installed to test this) and I can access a mailbox from Outlook 2007 on Windows 2008 R2 x64

So unfortunately that doesn't help you, but at least we now know that Outlook 2007 can talk to Exchange 2000 from a Windows 2008 R2 x64 machine

This does help me as I now know it's doable - you're going the extra mile for sure on this. I will doublecheck the share business.  

As far as the 2000 server you set up, is the Windows 2008 R2 machine a member of the domain or is the process the same as with the 2003 box - that you have to enter your name and password again when connecting via Outlook?

If the 2008 box is not a member of the 2000 domain how are you getting Outlook to connect to the Exchange 2000 - OWA?

Some additional info.  


XP machine joined to the 2000 Domain

When I log in from the XP VM running Outlook 2007 that is joined to the domain and go into local admin properties everything looks good (the local admin has the same name/password as the domain admin. so I see for example assuming the domain is called GA,

the administrator 'picture' with the title Administrator beside it

and then below that the doubleheaded administrator picture with the title GA\ Domain Admins.


2008 Server joined to 2000 domain:

However when I look at the Administrator properties on the 2008 box - again local admin has same name and password as 2000 Domain Admin -  joined to the same domain, I see

the first line the same - e.g. the single head icon and the title Administrator

but then on the following line I see GA\Administrator - and then a whole pile of numbers/letters e.g. S-1-5 .... -

and then on the line below that - the 3rd line - I see GA\Domain Admins\number/letter business again

Can you check your 2008 Server joined to the 2000 domain and see if you have the same type of configuration.

Thanks in advance.

Sorry, I am away this week, so can't get back on my lab till this weekend.

My windows 2008 r2 machine is in a workgroup by itself and not a member of any domains. I use the windows 2000 dc for dns resolution, then when outlook connects to the mailbox via MAPI, I am prompted for credentials because my Windows 2008 username and password are different to the domain ones.

Did you try the share test?

I will try the share - got distracted. As far as your comment about 2008 not being part of Domain I am not familiar with connecting from an Outlook running on a non-member system to Exchange on a DC. Our 2000 system is the DNS server so are you saying that we can unjoin the 2008 from the domain and then point the 2007 Outlook on the 2008 box to the 2000 box running Exchange and connect via MAPI.  How do we signify the Exchange server then when we are mapping Outlook to the Exchange store - UNC? IP? Also is there a way around having to enter the credentials each time? If we had local 2008 accounts with the same name?

You can use the exchange servername because you are using the 2000 dns server for name resolution. Using the same username and password on the non domain joined windows 2008 server should allow outlook to open without a credentials prompt.

I will give that a try.

You shouldn't have to disjoin the w2k8 server from the domain, but it might help if there is domain / machine account trust issue that is causing your problem. I would expect the share test to fail too in that case.

Here are screen shots that show the weird admin properties issue I mentioned.
GA--XPLOCAL.bmp
GA---2008LOCAL.bmp

I'll add my W2K8 server to the W2k domain and see what I get...

I have also tested creating a local user called w2kuser1 which has the same password as the w2kuser1 domain account and can open outlook without a password prompt on the W2k8 server while it is stil in a workgroup... I will add the W2k8 server to the domain and do some more testing...

I've added my W2K8 server to the W2K domain and can log in as W2K\w2kuser1 and W2K\w2kuser2 (new user) and access their Exchange 2000 mailboxes in both cached mode and non cached mode wihout and issue.

After adding the W2K8 server to the domain I looked in the W2k8\Administrators (local group) and it shows the local administrator account and just a SID (S-1-5-21-...... number) for the W2K\Domain Admins group.

I can "net view \\w2k-e2k-01"  (my E2k server and W2K server) from the w2k8 server can you do the same?

I am going to mess around a bit more to see if I can get my SID to resolve to "W2K\Domain Admins"

Hmmm, I have now added some more W2K users to the local Administrators group and the display name is displaying as well as the SID in brackets next to it like yours, so I think this is a "feature" of W2k8 so you can ignore it.

Try creating a new W2k user with an E2k mailbox with a strong password like P@55w0rd and then see you can open that mailbox from the W2k8 box after logging on as this new user...

I will give your suggestions a try.

Still have the password prompt problem. What operating system is the Server 2008 and Office your running? I am running Windows Server 2008 R2 64 bit with Office Home/Business 2010 (32 bit). The 2000 box is Server 2000 Advanced Server.

I am running Windows Server 2008 R2 64bit with Outlook 2007 SP2 (not office just outlook). I thought this problem was originally with outlook 2007 not outlook 2010. 1.) Did you upgrade in an effort to try and resolve the issue?

2.) Have you tried starting outlook with /safe to see if then connects so you can rule out any 3rd party add-ins.

3.) Also with the new user account you created, did you logon to the W2k8 server as that account and then try and setup outlook OR did you just setup a new outlook profile and provide the new credentials? If you logged onto the W2k8 server as that account then it proves that there is nothing wrong with that account.

4.) Also from the W2K8 server you should be able to open internet explorer and go to http://e2kservername/exchange and then enter the credentials and access the mailbox via OWA. Does this work for you? Or does that also tell you that the credentials are incorrect?

See @@@

I am running Windows Server 2008 R2 64bit with Outlook 2007 SP2 (not office just outlook). I thought this problem was originally with outlook 2007 not outlook 2010. 1.) Did you upgrade in an effort to try and resolve the issue?

@@@  My mistake, I am running Windows Server 2008 R2 64 bit with Office 2007 (32 bit) (Just Outlook). The 2000 A/D/ Exchange 2000 box is Server 2000 Advanced Server.

2.) Have you tried starting outlook with /safe to see if then connects so you can rule out any 3rd party add-ins.

@@@ Same problem still exist

3.) Also with the new user account you created, did you logon to the W2k8 server as that account and then try and setup outlook OR did you just setup a new outlook profile and provide the new credentials? If you logged onto the W2k8 server as that account then it proves that there is nothing wrong with that account.

@@@ I created the account on the 2000 box, logged onto the W2K8 server as that account and loaded up Outlook to try and connect to Exchange.

4.) Also from the W2K8 server you should be able to open internet explorer and go to http://e2kservername/exchange and then enter the credentials and access the mailbox via OWA. Does this work for you? Or does that also tell you that the credentials are incorrect?

@@@ OWA works without any problems.

Try telling Outlook to prompt for credentials
Control Panel-->Mail click your Outlook profile, and then click Properties.
Click E-mail Accounts, and then click Change.
In the Change E-mail Account dialog box, click More Settings.
In the Microsoft Exchange dialog box, click the Security tab.
Tick the 'Always prompt for logon credentials' tickbox and then click OK.
Click Next, click Finish, and then click Close two times

close and re-open outlook and then enter the credentials, do you have the same issue? can you post the error outlook is presenting?

Same problem. There is no error message, it keeps prompting for password even though it's correct. When I connect to Exchange 2000 on my Server 2003 box running Outlook 2007 it connects without any problem or passsword prompt.

This is so odd. when you open OWA does it open straight to the mailbox or does OWA prompt you for credentials too?

See if there are any stored credentials affecting this...

Start->Run->type "Control keymgr.dll" (without the quotes) and press Enter, then delete the saved passwords & let me know the status

NOTE: You might want to backup the stored passwords first.

Will try this.

Still has the password prompt message.

Does Outlook have to work on there for an application or something? Maybe you should re-install Outlook or try a different version.

Or download MFCMAPI and see if that can access the mailbox without the password prompt issue to see if it is a MAPI issue or Outlook issue.

I will try the MFCMAPI idea - sounds promising.

Yes we need Outlook and we need Outlook 2007.

I used the MFCMAPI utility and chosed Session > Login with Flags. It prompted for a Mail Profile which I typed "Outlook" and it went through the Outlook creating an account wizard. I filled in the information for exchange server/username and it still prompts for password.

Do you have any other MAPI applications installed on that server? What about Exchange System Manager?

Maybe it is time to uninstall Outlook 2007 and then re-install it and see if that fixes your MAPI logon issue OR uninstall Outlook and install Exchange System Manager (if not installed on there aleady) and then see if MFCMAPI can logon to a mailbox or not.

There is no other MAPI applications or Exchange System Manager installed on the Server 2008 box. I have already uninstalled Outlook 2007 and installed 2003 and it still has the password prompt issue. I have also reinstalled the Server 2008 box and put a fresh copy of Outlook 2007 and I still have the same problem. The problem does not exist with Windows XP or Windows 2003 - there isn't even any password prompt when I setup the account in Outlook using Windows XP or Windows 2003.

Should we pack this in? Are you aware if the EE protocol allows for us to allow you to remote into our system?  Or does that have to be done outside of EE? I'm not sure if you would want to do that and even if you did whether it would be ok per the rules that rule here.

What happens if you install a fresh W2k8 server on different hardware or a VM and then don't join it to the domain (leave it in a workgroup) and try and access the mailbox? It should prompt for a password only once and then let you in.

Or install windows 7 64bit which is pretty much a client version of Windows 2008 and then see if Outlook can connect from it.

Otherwise setup netMon and see what packets are being returned from where when the password prompt issue hits...

Sorry I have been away for a few days. I will take up your suggestions.

Still prompts for password on a fresh install of Windows 2008 64 Bit and Windows 7 64 bit.  It's leaning toward some sort of setting needing to be done on the Exchange Server? The same problem happens using Outlook 2003. XP connects fine without any problem using Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2003.

Did you add those 64 bit machines to the domain or leave them in the workgroup?

Did you ever get round to trying the share test?

Left it in a workgroup - I can access shares without password prompt.

Does the Exchange server or DC log anything in the event logs when you try and connect and get the password prompt?

Did you create a share on the E2k server and only give your test account read rights? This is to verify your test account can access the E2K server over RPC... much like MAPI.

I don't see any event logs under system/application log files under the DC/Exchange server related to the password prompt.

I created a share on the E2K server with read access on the test account and I can access without any problems.

Hmmm, are you in the US? I am in the UK

have you thought about setting up a lab with a new E2k server in it (in it's own AD forest) and see if you can connect to that from W2k8? And then if you can you can compare the 2 E2k servers and see what the difference is...

We are in Canada.  Is it acceptable to have Experts remote in for situations like this? I'm thinking you might see something we're missing. Or does that kind of thing go outside of the Experts Exchange loop?

Hmmm, I don't see why remoting in would be a problem. As long as we post what the solution to the problem was..

email me:  MegaNuk3   at   yahoo  dot  com

Will set things up at this end and will get in contact with you.  Thanks for all the work and patience.

sorry, I have been informed that me remoting is against the terms of use of EE, so won't be connecting to your system.

I will get some of the other Exchange Experts to have a look at this question and see if they have any 'fresh' ideas.

Ok.  I did wonder about that in my earlier question.

Megannuk3:

I will do as you suggest with the Autoconfig test.

Just says "Autoconfiguration is unable to determine your settings!"

Thanks. I will give this a try.

endital1097/MegaNuk3

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc960646.aspx  - it worked!!!

Thank you, thank you.

Thanks to endital for highlighting that! I can stop pulling my hair out and sleep at night.

What was the lmcompatabilitylevel set to?

great, thanks for the update

Feel free to close the question and give Endital1097 the points, or at least most of them ;-)

I'm upping the points and will split.

Thanks, what was the lmcompatabilitylevel set to? I will check my lab later where it was working and see what the default level is from install

it was set to 1.  Again thanks for all the effort.

My E2k W2k machine had lmcompatibility set to 0
and my W2k8 machine didn't have it at all
(the above settings worked for me from the moment I installed the servers during testing)

what were your values on both servers?