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Working with Profiles

Security, Spam, & Junk Mail

 

Understanding an Outlook Profile (PRF)

This is from an automatically generated PRF file from the Microsoft Office Customization and Installation Wizard (CIW)

This explains the sections that you can edit. Sections 2 and 4 are covered here and sections you shouldn't edit are not included. Most of the editable fields are self-explanatory, but I'll explain them anyway.

Taken from the Sample profile file. You can view the contents of this file with Notepad  If you accidently run it and create a profile in Outlook, go to Control Panel, Mail and click the Show Profiles button. Delete My Outlook Profile from the list.

Section 1 - Profile Defaults

[General]
Custom=1

ProfileName=My Outlook Profile  This is the name of your profile.
DefaultProfile=Yes Is the profile going to be set as default? Yes or No are valid
OverwriteProfile=Yes Do you want to replace the profile or append the changes to it? Valid entries are Yes, No, and Append. Use Append to update a profile.
ModifyDefaultProfileIfPresent=FALSE  Modifies the default profile if one exists, even if the profile name is different from the one in the PRF.
BackupProfile=No Undocumented property to avoid creating backup copies of a profile.

Section 3 - List of internet accounts

Each account in your profile is listed in this section, followed by the account type. If you add more accounts in Section 5, be sure to add the accounts here, incrementing the Account#.  If you have 6 email accounts, you'll 6 accounts listed, numbered 1 through 6. The account types (POP3, IMAP, HTTP) can be in any order, the examples on this page came from the sample PRF where they were in POP3, IMAP, HTTP order.

[Internet Account List]

Account1=I_Mail I_Mail indicates Account1 is a POP3 (Internet) mail
Account2=IMAP_I_Mail IMAP_I_Mail indicates Account2 is a IMAP account
Account3=INET_HTTP INET_HTTP indicates Account3 is a HTTP account

Section 5 - Values for each internet account.

Each account needs to be listed here, using the proper format for the account type. The CIW leaves some fields blank, as shown here,  unless you selected More options as you added the profiles. To add new accounts, copy the proper account type and paste it following the last account, changing the account information as needed. Don't forget to change the Account# here and add it to section 3.

POP3 account settings

[Account1] Account number. It needs entered here and in Section 3. Use a different number for each account.
UniqueService=No Can you add the account type more than once? Because you can have more than one POP3, IMAP, or HTTP, you'll use No.
AccountName=Outlook Tips POP3 The name displayed in the Accounts dropdown and on the Send/Receive list.
POP3Server=mail.outlook-tips.net POP3 server name
SMTPServer=mail.outlook-tips.net SMTP server name
POP3UserName=outlookt The username you use to log on to your account
EmailAddress=tips@outlook-tips.net Your email address.
POP3UseSPA=0 Do you use SPA? In most cases, the answer is No, or 0. Enter 1 if you do use SPA.
DisplayName=Diane Poremsky Enter the display name to be used when you send messages.
ReplyEMailAddress= If you use a different reply to address, enter it here.
SMTPUseAuth=1 Are you required to authenticate before sending email? 1 = Yes, 0 = No.
SMTPAuthMethod=0 What authentication method do you use?
0= use same as POP3 logon.
1= Use different credentials.
2= POP before SMTP
SMTPUserName=dianep Username to use when you use different credentials to send mail.
ConnectionType=0 How do you connect to the internet?
0 = LAN.
1 = Use IE's dialer
2= Use Phone line
3 = Use modem if LAN unavailable.
LeaveOnServer=0x0 Leave mail on the server?
0x0 = No.
0x50001 = Yes, days option unchecked, never delete.
0x90003  = Yes, 9 days, don't delete.
0x50007 = Yes, 5 days, Delete from server when emptying Deleted items
ConnectionOID=MyConnection Dial up connection (DUN) to use.
POP3Port=110 The POP3 port. Leave it on the default of 110 unless you are told to change it.
POP3UseSSL=0 Do you use SSL? In most cases, it's No, which is 0.
ServerTimeOut=60 What is your server time out? 60 seconds is default.
SMTPPort=25 SMTP port number. 25 is default but some servers use 2525 or 587. Leave it at 25 unless you need a different port.
SMTPUseSSL=0 Does your SMTP server use SSL? Leave it on 0 (No) unless told otherwise.

IMAP account

[Account2] Account number. It needs entered here and in Section 3
UniqueService=No Can you add the account type more than once? Use No for HTTP, POP#, or IMAP accounts.
AccountName=AOL-IMAP The name displayed in the Accounts dropdown and on the Send/Receive list.
IMAPServer=imap.aol.com IMAP server
SMTPServer=smtp.aol.com SMTP server
IMAPUserName=poremsky Your username, used to logon when you check email.
EmailAddress=poremsky@aol.com Email address
IMAPUseSPA=0 Use SPA? 0 = No, only change it if you do need to use SPA.
DisplayName=Diane Poremsky The display name you want to use when you send messages
ReplyEMailAddress= Reply to email address, if different than your sending email address.
SMTPUseAuth=1 Do you need to authenticate to send email? 1= Yes.
SMTPAuthMethod=0 What authentication method do you use?
0= use same as POP3 logon.
1= Use different credentials.
2= POP before SMTP
SMTPUserName=dianep Username to use when you use different credentials to send mail.
ConnectionType=0 How do you connect to the internet?
0 = LAN.
1 = Use IE's dialer
2= Use Phone line
3 = Use modem if LAN unavailable.
RootFolder= Do you use a root folder? If so, enter the path here.
ConnectionOID=MyConnection Dial up networking connection to use.
IMAPPort=143 The port you use to collect email. Default is 143, don't change it unless told to.
IMAPUseSSL=0 Do you use SSL? 0= No.
ServerTimeOut=60 Server timeout.
SMTPPort=587 The SMTP port to use. Default is 25, change it only if your server uses a different port, as AOL does.
SMTPUseSSL=0 Do you use SSL to send mail? 0=No.

HTTP (Hotmail)

[Account3] Account number. It needs entered here and in Section 3
UniqueService=No Can you add the account type more than once? Use No for HTTP, POP#, or IMAP accounts.
HttpServer=http://services.msn.com/
svcs/hotmail/httpmail.asp		 This is the Hotmail URL.
UserName=poremsky@hotmail.com username, used to log on the mail server.
Organization= Organization field as seen in more settings dialog, can be added to POP3 or IMAP sections too.
Reply= Reply to address, if different that the email address.
Account=Poremsky-Hotmail The name used for the account in the Send/Receive settings and Accounts list.
EmailAddress=poremsky@hotmail.com Your email address
FullName=Diane Poremsky Your display name.
Connection Type=0 How do you connect to the internet?
0 = LAN.
1 = Use IE's dialer
2= Use Phone line
3 = Use modem if LAN unavailable.
ConnectOID= DUN name.

How to add personal message stores to a PRF: Adding Personal Stores

Also see Tips for using Outlook 2002 .prf files to configure profiles
Customizing Outlook Profiles by Using PRF Files
Whitepaper: Configuring Outlook Profiles by Using a PRF File.

Updated Sunday January 31 2010