Comcast Web E-mail using IE is not working with MS Outlook 2003

Comcast Web E-mail using Internet Explorer is not working to enable sending
messages or transfer sent message with MS Outlook 2003. I can only transfer
my Inbox to Comcast Web E-mail, after something changed (MS update?) to stop
tranfer of my sent messages.

Comcast told me that their Web E-mail is not supported to work with MS
Outlook 2003. Has anyone figured out a fix for this problem?

If Comcast's service is not designed to work with Outlook, what do you
want us to do about it?
---
Leonard Grey
Errare Humanum Est

Security Tips for Everyone, from PC Magazine
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2334856,00.asp

Bryan wrote:
> Comcast Web E-mail using Internet Explorer is not working to enable sending
> messages or transfer sent message with MS Outlook 2003. I can only transfer
> my Inbox to Comcast Web E-mail, after something changed (MS update?) to stop
> tranfer of my sent messages.
>
> Comcast told me that their Web E-mail is not supported to work with MS
> Outlook 2003. Has anyone figured out a fix for this problem?

On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:19:01 -0800, Bryan wrote:

> Comcast Web E-mail using Internet Explorer is not working to enable sending
> messages or transfer sent message with MS Outlook 2003. I can only transfer
> my Inbox to Comcast Web E-mail, after something changed (MS update?) to stop
> tranfer of my sent messages.
>
> Comcast told me that their Web E-mail is not supported to work with MS
> Outlook 2003. Has anyone figured out a fix for this problem?

Web mail *only* works with HTTP clients; i.e., web browsers. Using a mail
client, such as MS Outlook 2003, requires either POP3, or IMAP for
downloading email, and SMTP for uploading email.

If you used Comcast web mail to send email, there is no way to synchronize
its "Sent Items" folder with MS Outlook. None. No way. Can't be done. To
synchronize client (MSOL) folders with server folders *requires* that the
server be either IMAP, or HTTPMail. Comcast offers neither.

--
Norman
~Shine, bright morning light,
~now in the air the spring is coming.
~Sweet, blowing wind,
~singing down the hills and valleys.

Bryan wrote:

> Comcast Web E-mail using Internet Explorer is not working to enable sending
> messages or transfer sent message with MS Outlook 2003. I can only transfer
> my Inbox to Comcast Web E-mail, after something changed (MS update?) to stop
> tranfer of my sent messages.
>
> Comcast told me that their Web E-mail is not supported to work with MS
> Outlook 2003. Has anyone figured out a fix for this problem?

Webmail is you using a web browser (usually over port 80 or 443) to
connect to their site which then behaves as the e-mail agent when using
their server-side scripts to paint a UI to present your e-mail account
with them. That has nothing to do with you using a local e-mail client
on your own host.

An e-mail client that you run on your own host must use an e-mail
protocol that is understood by the mail server. Comcast provides POP
and SMTP mail services. POP historically uses port 110. SMTP his
prominantly historically used port 25. However, the RFCs to define the
e-mail protocols do not define which ports must be used. Those
protocols can use whatever port the server admin wants their program to
listen for connect requests.

Comcast is moving (has moved) away from using port 25 for SMTP and gone
to using port 587. If you read their web help pages for you particular
e-mail client, they will show you the configuration settings - and they
show using port 587 for SMTP by MUAs (mail user agents). So change to
using port 587 to match up with what Comcast says to use.

If you enable SSL for your SMTP connects, you need to use port 465.

Comcast is quite right: Outlook never was and never will be designed to
work with some site's peculiar implementation of a webmail UI. Even
Microsoft doesn't do webmail screen scraping to navigate their own
Hotmail service when using Outlook or Outlook Express. Those e-mail
clients use WebDAV scripting to communicate over port 80 to Hotmail's
servers; however, Microsoft is dropping (or has dropped) the old WebDAV
protocol and moving to Deltasync, so OE won't work with Hotmail using
WebDAV (and development died for OE back in 2002 so it won't be upgraded
to support Deltasync) and Outlook 2003/2007 must install the Outlook
Connector add-on to add Deltasync support. So even Microsoft's own
e-mail client that connect to Microsoft's own Hotmail service don't do
web scraping to navigate the webmail interface to Hotmail. They use a
protocol whether it is an RFC-standard one or a Microsoft proprietary
one.

Webmail is just another interface to your e-mail account to read or send
e-mails. POP and IMAP other interfaces to retrieve e-mails. SMTP is
another interface to send e-mails. They are different interfaces to the
same service.

Starting at Comcast's home page (comcast.net), click on the Help link
(top right corner). Click on the Go button for Internet help. Click on
the Email link. Pick your e-mail client (Outlook, in this case).
Follow their instructions to define an e-mail account in your e-mail
client that will connect to and work with their mail servers.

OL Tools | Email accounts | View or change exisiting accounts | Select your
Comcast.net email account, and then click the Change button | On the
Internet E-mail Settings page, click the "More Settings..." button located
in the bottom right corner of the window | Select the Outgoing Server tab,
and put a check in the box labelled "My outgoing server (SMTP) requires
authentication" | Also select "Use same settings as my incoming mail server"
| Click on the Advanced tab and in the Outgoing server (SMTP) field,
delete the current value in this field and type in the value 587 | OK your
way out.

> ...I can only transfer
> my Inbox to Comcast Web E-mail, after something changed (MS update?) to
> stop
> tranfer of my sent messages.

That's how POP3 acccess works, Bryan. If you (can) access the account via
IMAP, you'd be able to synchronize the Sent Items folder on the SmartZone
webmail page with Outlook's Sent Items folder. Contact Comcast Support for
assistance on this.

Outlook-specific newsgroups include:

news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...utlook.general
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof....configuration
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...tlook.contacts
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...k.installation
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...utlook.interop
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...tlook.printing
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...ic.outlook.bcm
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...ic.outlook.fax
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...program_addins
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof....program_forms
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...ok.program_vba
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...ok.teamfolders
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof...thirdpartyutil
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-IE, Mail, Security, Windows Desktop Experience - since 2002
AumHa VSOP & Admin http://aumha.net
DTS-L http://dts-l.net/

Bryan wrote:
> Comcast Web E-mail using Internet Explorer is not working to enable
> sending
> messages or transfer sent message with MS Outlook 2003. I can only
> transfer
> my Inbox to Comcast Web E-mail, after something changed (MS update?) to
> stop
> tranfer of my sent messages.
>
> Comcast told me that their Web E-mail is not supported to work with MS
> Outlook 2003. Has anyone figured out a fix for this problem?