Exchange guru's....issue with incoming htm mail showing as...

[YeOldeStonecat]

Had a client with a peer to peer network, Outlook 2000 retrieving POP3 mail. They get leads from an ecommerce website, LabX, ..mail arrives in htm format..used to be able to view it in as the e-mail body itself.

Since flipping them to SBS2K3...it now comes as an attachment, blahblahInquiry_.htm

It's a big pain for them..as they need to view these as body to quickly go through sales leads....
Even after upgrading to Outlook 2K3..problem remains, again, problem began while they were still using Outlook 2000.

Outlook settings..tried all that I can think of...there has to be some sort of setting in Exchange to prevent, rather, allow this? How to get them back to being able to see these attachments as the body?

 

[dbwillis]

In the Outlook setting, under Tools, Options, is the mail format set to text, rich text format, or html?

html may work

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

html....
Even though this issue is happening on SBS, I had him forward a mail to us, we run vanilla Exchange 2003, and it exhibited the same behavior.

Yet...if you get those Microsoft Partner e-mails that come a few times a month...those will show up just fine as the entire body of your e-mail. Yeah right click to allow a few graphics to load..but the body is fine.

Have seen similar issue at some forums...posted at smallbizserver.net...some also have run across it. It appears to be, probably the e-mail being generated, is somehow not compliant with Exchange.

It's not related to Outlook 2003...as this happened soon as I hooked their workstations to the SBS box and pumped their mail through Exchange via the POP3 connector. At that time..they were on Outlook 2000...soon as they went from stand alone POP3 clients...to the Exchange server ....this began.

 

[pigster]

I had this issue on a SBS2003 network, and am pretty sure it's a problem with the MS POP3 connector.

You either need to use SMTP mail or you could try something like Popbeamer (they have a 30 day trial)

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

I had this issue on a SBS2003 network, and am pretty sure it's a problem with the MS POP3 connector.

You either need to use SMTP mail or you could try something like Popbeamer (they have a 30 day trial)

They are using the POP3 connector.....however when this client forwarded the mail to me, our own vanilla Exchange 2K3 server (no POP3) exhibited the same behavior. Leading me to think it's something specifically Exch related.

 

[pigster]

They are using the POP3 connector.....however when this client forwarded the mail to me, .

Any mail forwarded has already been mutilated by the POP3 connector, so I'm not sure that would prove anything...unless you're saying that the mail was forwarded from the POP3 server without ever having been in the SBS network

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Any mail forwarded has already been mutilated by the POP3 connector, so I'm not sure that would prove anything...unless you're saying that the mail was forwarded from the POP3 server without ever having been in the SBS network

Hmmm.....I can see your point. A better test would be to see if this place (LabX.com) could send a sales query directly to me

 

[pigster]

Hmmm.....I can see your point. A better test would be to see if this place (LabX.com) could send a sales query directly to me

Or turn off the POP3 connector for a bit, and log in to the POP3 server and forward it

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Well I'll be....the LabX guy shot me the e-mails they get..since our E2K3 box is SMTP, no POP3 connector to muddle things up. Sure enough they show up full text, as they originally did.

Looks like the solution is found, or more like, the culprit is found.

Wow..first time I've seen the POP3 connector have an ill effect on e-mails.

Looks like I'll be telling him to upgrade his DSL to static IP (which IMO he should have in the first place...being a business).

Thanks mucho Pigster...I owe you a few pints of Guinness!

 

[swatbat]

Looks like I'll be telling him to upgrade his DSL to static IP (which IMO he should have in the first place...being a business).

While I agree static is better what would that fix here?

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

While I agree static is better what would that fix here?

Right now he's using the POP3 connector that Small Business Server has...to retrieve his e-mail from the webhost. He's on a basic dynamic DSL account.

Solution to his problem is to fully use Exchange....open up SMTP, have his mx records point to his WAN IP address instead of his wehosts POP3 mail servers. Eliminate the use of his POP3 connector.

Granted you can fudge the mx record to point to his dynamic dns alias...but not the highest in reliability.

 

[pigster]

You could also try Popbeamer if you can't change to SMTP, it doesn't have some of the issues of the MS POP3 connector. (But SMTP is really the best answer)

 

[swatbat]

Right now he's using the POP3 connector that Small Business Server has...to retrieve his e-mail from the webhost. He's on a basic dynamic DSL account.

Solution to his problem is to fully use Exchange....open up SMTP, have his mx records point to his WAN IP address instead of his wehosts POP3 mail servers. Eliminate the use of his POP3 connector.

Granted you can fudge the mx record to point to his dynamic dns alias...but not the highest in reliability.

Ah ok I was under the impression he was using the pop to access mail from exchange. Not exchange pulling in email.

Anyway for that I would go with no-ip or another service like it(take your pick). Have them forward your mx records to your exchange server. They even have a backup feature where if your exchange server goes down they will hold the mail for 7 days and forward it back to your server when it goes back up.