Simplify E-mail Account Configuration When Setting Up Outlook

I hate setting up a new PC -- installing all those programs, getting it configured on the network, updating drivers. But none of that holds a candle to the most annoying thing of all: Configuring Outlook to check my many and various e-mail accounts. If Outlook only manages a single account, that's not so bad. But what if you check six accounts (like I do)? Setting POP and SMTP, various ports and passwords, forwarding, and so on is a real hassle. Now I've found a better way.

CodeTwo Outlook Autoconfig is a free tool that automatically sets up e-mail based just on your e-mail address. Enter the address, and Autoconfig does all the heavy lifting. Even better, the program works with other e-mail programs as well -- including Outlook Express (if you still have Windows XP) and Windows Live Mail.

I found it worked well for a number of my accounts, and CodeTwo says that if you encounter an e-mail provider that's not in their database, contact them and they'll add it. The only problem I encountered was with e-mail accounts based on custom domains -- those you'll still have to do on your own, becuase the software has no way to know who the underlying service provider is.

If you find yourself setting up a lot of e-mail accounts on new PCs, Outlook AutoConfig is a handy way to save you a lot of work -- be sure to check it out.