FatCow Web Hosting & Domain Names

Difference between POP and IMAP settings

POP - an internet standard for retrieving email. POP stands for "Post Office Protocol." May also be referred to as "incoming mail."

POP is a one-way communication path. This means that when you access your email from your computer or other local device, your email client (such as Outlook or Thunderbird) will save a local copy of the email to your computer, then delete the original from the mail server. Email accessed using POP ties it to a specific computer or device, thus you will be unable to view your webmail from multiple sources. However, POP is useful for storing local copies of email to be read offline or when not connected to the internet, as well as for ensuring that your webmail mailbox in MailCentral will retain plenty of storage room for accepting more email in the future.

IMAP - an internet standard for retrieving email. IMAP stands for "Internet Message Access Protocol." May also be referred to as "incoming mail."

IMAP is a two-way communication path. This means that when you access your email from your computer or other local device, any changes that are made will be synchronized with your webmail on the mail server. For example, if you log in to MailCentral, create a new folder in your webmail, then put a message into that folder, this change will instantly and automatically appear in your email client (such as Outlook or Thunderbird), and on your mobile device. Also, if you are at work and you begin a message then save it, it will still be there in your mailbox when you log in from a different email client, such as one on your home computer. 

IMAP provides a better method to access your mail from multiple devices, say from work, home, and your mobile, through two-way syncing capabilities between your mail clients and the FatCow mailbox. However, because IMAP saves all your messages on the server, be sure frequently clean up your mailbox, deleting old messages and saving the ones you want to keep to a local computer. 

Email server names and ports

The Email Server Names settings are:

• Incoming Mail Server - pop.example.com OR imap.example.com
• Outgoing Mail Server - smtp.example.com
  
  where "example.com" is your hosting account's PrimaryDomain, which is set in DomainCentral

NOTE: Please refer to the Difference Between POP and IMAP settings article to determine which incoming mail retrieval standard is a best fit for your current needs.

The email server ports are:

• POP: 110
• IMAP: 143
  
• SMTP: 587

For assistance regarding configuring POP/IMAP email for an iPhone/iPad or Android device, please refer to the appropriate article:

• Configuring an iPhone/iPad for your FatCow POP/IMAP mailbox
  
• Configuring an Android device for your FatCow POP/IMAP mailbox

Configure email server names and ports for SSL

SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is a protocol that transmits information over the Internet in an encrypted form for security purposes. POP/IMAP/SMTP over SSL encrypts all data exchanged between your mail client and the FatCow mail server with a digital security certificate to protect your password and messages.

To send and receive email securely using SSL, follow these general steps. Refer to the online help within your mail client for specific instructions on where to set SSL options.

1. Use a mail client that supports SSL. Most recent versions of mail clients support SSL. Some older versions do not. The following clients support SSL:
   
   
   • Eudora version 6.1.x and up
   • Outlook Express version 5 and up
   • Outlook 2000 and up
   • Netscape Messenger versions 4.5 and up
   • Entourage 2001 for OS 9 and V.X for OS X
   • Mac OS X Mail version 1.2x and up
   • Apple Mail
   
   If the mail client that you are using is not listed, please refer to that email client's online help for further assistance with SSL support.


2. In your mail client, select the incoming/receiving mail option for using SSL (such as "Use SSL" or "Use secure connection (SSL)"). Most clients will set the port automatically when you select the SSL option.
   
   NOTE: This is not the same as "Secure authentication."
   
   
3. Make sure that the port is set to the correct value:
   
   
   • POP: 995
     OR
     
   • IMAP: 993
     
     NOTE: Please refer to the Difference Between POP and IMAP settings article to determine which incoming mail retrieval standard is a best fit for your current needs.
     


4. Select the outgoing/sending mail option for using SSL (such as "Use SSL" or "Use secure connection (SSL)").
5. Verify that the SMTP server port is set to 465
6. Verify that your Email server names are:
• Incoming: pop.fatcow.com OR imap.fatcow.com
• Outgoing: smtp.fatcow.com
  

Configure Outlook as your Email Client to access your POP mailbox (automated)

1. Log in to MailCentral.
2. Click Setup next to the mailbox that you want to configure with Outlook.
3. Click Get Setup Registry File.
4. You will be prompted to download an "outlooksetup.reg" file. Please save this file to your desktop.
   
5. Double-click the "outlooksetup.reg" file on your desktop to open it. A warning will appear notifying you that changes to your registry will occur if you proceed. Click OK on the warning dialog indicating that you wish to proceed.
   
6. A registry warning will display that asks if you wish for these new items to be added to your registry. Click Yes.
   
7. A dialog will display notifying you that the changes have been made. Click OK.
8. Open Outlook. A dialog will display informing you that Outlook has detected a new account, and will ask you if you wish to import it. Click Yes.
   
9. A "Network Password" dialog will appear. The dialog shows the POP account information, and will ask you to enter your password.
• Server - FatCow's server is listed
• User - the mailbox you are connecting to Outlook, such as admin@example.com
• Password - enter the mailbox password here (the password of the mailbox that you are connecting from your FatCow account)
• Save Password - check this box so that Outlook can save your mailbox password
10. Click OK.

Configure Outlook as your Email Client to access your POP mailbox (manual)

The process below adds a POP mailbox as an account in your existing Outlook profile.

For assistance regarding configuring POP/IMAP email for an iPhone/iPad or Android device, please refer to the appropriate article:

• Configuring an iPhone/iPad for your FatCow POP/IMAP mailbox
  
• Configuring an Android device for your FatCow POP/IMAP mailbox

1. Log in to MailCentral.
2. Click Setup next to the mailbox that you want to configure with Outlook. The information you need to configure the new account (ports and mailservers) is displayed:
   
3. Open Outlook
4. Select Tools > E-mail Accounts...
   
   
5. Select Add a new email account, then click Next
   
6. Select POP3, then click Next
7. Fill out the input fields as shown (all information necessary is in step 2 above):
   
   
   
   
   • Your name: the name that you wish to appear on your emails in the "From" field
   • Email Address: the email address of the mailbox
   • Incoming mail server (POP server): see step 2 above - for example: pop.example.com (where "example.com" is your hosting account's PrimaryDomain)
   • Outgoing mail server (SMTP server): see step 2 above - for example: smtp.example.com (where "example.com" is your hosting account's PrimaryDomain)
   • User name: your full mailbox name, for example: administrator@example.com
   • Password: your mailbox password
     
     
8. Click More Settings...
   
   • Select the "Outgoing Server" tab
   • Select "My Outgoing Server (SMTP) requires authentication"
   
   
   
9. Click OK
10. Click Test Account Settings. All settings should work.
11. Click Next, then click Finish.

Configure Apple Mail as your email client (IMAP)

To configure Apple Mail, you first need to verify your primary domain, then check the IMAP settings for an email client :

1. Verify your primary domain
1. Log in to your control panel, then go to DomainCentral
   
2. Your primary domain is denoted by a globe icon. In this example, our primary domain is demotutorials.net
2. Start Apple Mail. Select File > Add Account. The Add Account wizard opens - it guides you through this process step by step
   
3. Fill out the following fields:
• Full Name - enter the name of the mailbox owner, exactly how you want it to appear in the "From" field on your emails. For example, John Forth
• Email Address: enter the full address of your FatCow mailbox. In this example, it's administrator@demotutorials.net
• Password - enter the mailbox password. If you don't remember what the password is, go back to MailCentral. You can reset mailbox password there.
  
  Click Continue once you've completed this step.
  
  
4. For Incoming Mail Server, complete the fields as follows:
• Account Type - select IMAP from the dropdown
• Description - enter an email account description, which will appear in your Apple Mail account list. You might want to make this descriptive, like "Hosting Admin Mailbox"
• Incoming Mail Server - enter imap.primarydomain, where primarydomain is the domain you verified in the first step. In this case the primary domain is demotutorials.net, so the incoming server is imap.demotutorials.net
• User Name - enter the full address of your mailbox (a common mistake is to enter just Administrator, or the name, not the actual full address)
• Password - enter the mailbox password (should be filled out already)
  
  Click Continue once you've completed this step.
  
  
5. For Outgoing Mail Server, complete the required fields as follows:
• Description - enter the same description as in the previous screen
• Outgoing Mail Server - the outgoing mail server is smtp.primarydomain. In this case, the primary domain is demotutorials.net, so the setting is: smtp.demotutorials.net
• Use Authentication - check the box
• User Name - enter your full mailbox address
• Password - enter your mailbox password
  
  Click Continue once you've completed this step.
  
  
6. Check the account summary to make sure that all setting were entered correctly. If it is correct, click Create. You are done!
   
   
7. Your new account appears in the list of Mailboxes in your Apple Mail. Notice that the mailbox description that you created in step 4 above is displayed as this mailbox's name.
   
   

Configure Thunderbird as your Email Client to access your POP/IMAP mailbox (manual)

The process below adds a POP/IMAP mailbox as an account in your existing Thunderbird profile.

1. Log in to MailCentral.
2. Click Setup. The information you need to configure the new account (ports and mailservers) is displayed
   
   
3. Open Thunderbird
4. Select Tools > Account Settings
   
5. Click Account Actions, then select Add Mail Account
   
   
6. Fill out the input fields as shown (all information necessary is in step 2 above):
   
   • Your name: the name that you wish to appear on your emails in the "From" field
   • Email address: the email address of the mailbox
   • Password: your mailbox password
     
     Click Continue once you've completed this step.
     
     
7. Thunderbird will begin to look for your email configuration based off of the information you entered in step 6 above. Once found, you will have the option of choosing an IMAP or POP connection for incoming mail.
   
   NOTE: Please refer to the Difference Between POP and IMAP settings article to determine which incoming mail retrieval standard is a best fit for your current needs.
   
   
8. To complete your account setup:
   
   • If you plan on using the default settings (recommended for most users), click Create Account and proceed to step 9.
   • To manually configure your email server settings (recommended for advanced users), click Manual Config. The additional information shown in the screen below will appear. You will now be able to manually enter the server hostname, port information, SSL information, and how you want Thunderbird to authenticate the account for the Incoming and Outgoing mail settings. Click Create Account to finish the manual configuration of your email in Thunderbird.
     
     
     
9. You will be taken back to the "Account Settings" screen. You may choose to modify the details for your email account here (please refer to Thunderbird online support for further assistance with this). Once you have completed reviewing this information, click OK.
   
   
10. You will be taken back to the "Local Folders" screen. You have now successfully set up a mailbox in Thunderbird. Your mailbox will appear in the list on the left side of this screen. Click "Inbox" under the name of your email address that you configured to get started using your mailbox.
    
    

Configuring Outlook 2003 as your email client

This tutorial teaches how to add a pop mail box or set up a pop email account in Outlook 2003.

Configuring Outlook 2007 as your email client

This tutorial teaches how to add a pop mail box or set up a pop email account in Outlook 2007.

Configuring Mac OS X mail as your email client

This tutorial teaches how to add a pop mail box or set up a pop email account in Mac OS X Mail.

Why do I get this error - Too many recipients - when trying to send email?

When sending mail through a mail client using our Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP), there are limits as to how many messages can be sent at one time. If you exceed this limit, you will most likely receive the "Too many recipients" error.

Why do I get this error - Socket error: 10061, Error Number: 0x800ccc0e - when trying to send email?

This error occurs when your ISP provider is blocking port 25, and you are using Outlook as your email client. To correct this problem:

1. Open Outlook
2. From Tools, select Email Accounts...
3. Select View or change existing email account and click Next.
4. Select the account that you have configured to read your POP3 mail, and click Change... The Internet Email Settings dialog is displayed.
   
5. Click More Settings, then the Advanced tab.
6. Change the Outgoing Server port from 25 to 587.
7. Save all settings