Configuring Email Software for SMTP Authentication

Can you get mail, but can't send it out? Do you get a 550 error?
Email Spammers have been trying to use any mail servers they can find to send junk mail through the internet. Our servers require a username:password when trying to send email. Many email desktop clients allow you to enter a username:password into the outgoing SMTP server setup options.

The following document describes how to configure your email application to use SMTP Authentication to send email. This will be required to send email if you want to continue to use mail.yourdomainname.com as your sending (SMTP) server.

If after you read this document you are still confused, please email us at administrator@stealthsystems.com.

Some of you may be using older email clients that do not support the SMTP Auth feature. Rather than go through the trouble of installing a new desktop email package, you may prefer to use the mail server at your local ISP to send mail out. Local ISP's (AT&T, Bell South, Earthlink, MindSpring, Etc.) typically provide this for free, and usually do not require SMTP Auth, because your local ISP can tell that you are a valid sender (because your machine is connected to their network via a phone line). Just call your local service provider and ask them for the name of their SMTP server and ask if you need a username and password to send mail out. Since you are paying them a monthly fee to connect to the internet, they are usually happy to help you do this! They may also assume that you want to use them as your receiving (pop3) mail server. But don't do this - or you won't be able to get your mail at you@yourdomainname.com. You only want to use their SMTP server to send email.

Because of the great variety of email software that our customers use, we have had to choose the most common ones to cover here. If you use software that is not listed here, please refer to its documentation (both printed and online help features), or the website for the software that you use.

The following are the minimum software versions that support SMTP Authentication:

Microsoft® Outlook 2000
Microsoft® Outlook Express 5.0
(installed with Microsoft Internet Explorer)
Netscape® Navigator 6.0
Qualcomm® Eudora 4.3
Any versions that come after these also support this feature. You can find out what version you are using by starting the program as you typically do and then going to the Help menu and choosing About program name. The splash screen that appears will list the version of the program along with other information.

Unfortunately, if you do not currently use one of the versions that support SMTP Authentication, you will need to upgrade to a version that does (Or send mail out through your local dialup ISP). All of these are free downloads, except Microsoft Outlook which is part of the Microsoft® Office suite. You can download new versions at the following locations: www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.htm for Microsoft® Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, home.netscape.com/download/index.html for Netscape Navigator, or www.eudora.com/products/eudora/download for Eudora Email. If you upgrade within the same program, for example, from Microsoft Outlook Express 4 to Outlook Express 5, the software will automatically keep your account settings from the previous version. Once you have one of the necessary versions installed and your email account settings in place, please follow the appropriate directions below to configure your software for SMTP Authentication.

Microsoft Outlook 2000 and Outlook Express 5.0 and 5.5 for Windows

  1. Open Outlook or Outlook Express.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
  3. Select the email account you wish to modify and click the Properties button.
  4. Click the Servers tab.
  5. Under the Outgoing Mail Server, click to select the My server requires authentication check box.
  6. Click the Settings button.
  7. In the Logon Information dialog box, click to select the Use same settings as my Incoming Mail server option.
  8. Click the OK button until the Internet Accounts dialog box appears, and then click Close.
  9. Exit from Outlook or Outlook Express. The next time you start Outlook or Outlook Express the new settings will take affect.

Microsoft Outlook 2000 for Microsoft Exchange Server for Windows

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Services.
  3. Select the Internet Email account you wish to modify and click the Properties button.
  4. Click the Servers tab.
  5. Under the Outgoing Mail Server, click to select the My server requires authentication check box.
  6. Click the Settings button.
  7. In the Logon Information dialog box, click to select the Use same settings as my Incoming Mail server option.
  8. Click the OK button to return to the Services window, and then click OK button to return to Outlook.
  9. On the File menu, click Exit and Log Off to close Outlook. The next time you start Outlook the new settings will take affect.

Microsoft Outlook 2002 (also known as Outlook XP) for Windows

  1. Open Outlook.
  2. On the Tools menu, click E-mail Accounts.
  3. Select the View or change existing e-mail accounts option and click the Next button.
  4. Select the email account you wish to modify and click the Change button.
  5. In the E-mail Accounts window click the More Settings… button.
  6. Click the Outgoing Server tab.
  7. Click to select the My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication check box.
  8. Click to select the Use same settings as my incoming mail server option.
  9. Click the OK button.
  10. Click the Next button on the E-mail Accounts window.
  11. Click Finish to complete the configuration changes.
  12. Exit from Outlook. The next time you start Outlook the new settings will take affect.

Microsoft Outlook Express 5.0 (and greater) for Macintosh

  1. Open Outlook Express.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
  3. Click to select the email account you wish to modify and click the Edit button.
  4. Under Sending Mail, click the Click here for advanced sending options.
  5. Click to select the SMTP server requires authentication check box.
  6. Click to select the Use same settings as incoming mail server option.
  7. Click the small, square Close button in the upper left of the Advanced Sending Options drop down window to return to the Edit Account window.
  8. Click the OK button to return to the Accounts window.
  9. Click the square Close button in the upper left of the Accounts window to return to the primary Outlook Express window.
  10. Quit Outlook Express. The next time you start Outlook Express the new settings will take affect.

Netscape 6.0

  1. Open Netscape.
  2. On the Tasks menu, click Mail.
  3. On the Edit menu, click Mail/News Account Settings.
  4. In the left pane of the Account Settings window, click to select Outgoing (SMTP) Server.
  5. Click to select Always use name and password check box.
  6. In the User Name: box, enter your complete email address replacing the “@” symbol with the “%” (percent) symbol. For example, mailbox%yourdomain.com.
  7. Click the OK button on the Account Settings window.
  8. The next time you Send a message through Netscape you will prompted for your password. Enter the appropriate password in the dialog box. You may choose to have Netscape save your password so you will not be prompted for it in the future. To do so, when prompted for your password, click to select Use Password Manager to remember this password option.

Qualcomm Eudora and Eudora Pro
Eudora and Eudora Pro are installed with the proper settings for SMTP Authentication activated by default. You will not need to make any configuration changes unless you have modified your settings after the installation. You can test this by attempting to send email. If you can successfully send email, you do not need to change your configuration. If not, then you need to check your configuration. Because of the many versions of Eudora and Eudora Pro that were released and are no longer available for download, we are unable to confirm the process for changing the configuration for all versions. Please check your version’s help system for a more accurate description of this process. The instructions here are for version 5.1. Eudora supports SMTP Authentication from version 4.3 and up.

  1. Open Eudora.
  2. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  3. Under the Category heading on the left of the Options window, click Sending Mail.
  4. Click to select Allow Authentication on the right side of the Options window. This may already be selected (with a check-mark visible in the box), if so, do not change this setting.
  5. Click the OK button to return to Eudora. The next time you send email Eudora will automatically use SMTP Authentication.