Thunderbird, sending mail

[airborne_artist]

I use BT Internet, and so to send mail I have to log on to mail.btinternet.com and [email protected] and mypassword. Works fine for Outlook XP. Won't work for Thunderbird, despite many checks and attempts at copying exactly the info in Outlook into TBird.

Receiving mail into TBird works fine.

Any ideas, all?

[Keef]

I don't use BTInternet, but are you sure you have to "log on" to the mail server to send mail? If you are using a BT Internet connection, that should be enough.

Go to the Mail Settings panel in Thunderbird, scroll down to Outgoing Server (SMTP), and if it has "Use name and password" ticked, then untick it.

The smtp server should be the BT one (same as in your Outlook Express setup).

Try sending then.

[airborne_artist]

Keef - many thanks for your help. I'd already tried the untick option, and no joy. I use TBird for five different email accounts that are on three different ISPs, including BT. My Outlook XP (not Express) collects mail from my business ISP, but sends quite happily out on BT, and looks like this:

http://www.hrmconsultancy.net/images/personal/outlook1.jpg

http://www.hrmconsultancy.net//images/personal/outlook2.jpg

One thing I have noticed is that TBird does not have an outgoing server password box. The send failure seems to occur without a password being requested by the BT SMTP server.

While I like TBird, I'm not wedded to it. Is there another multi-account email package that I could use instead?

[Jhieminga]

Actually the screenshots you've shown here show the POP3 settings in Outlook and the SMTP settings in Thunderbird. In the top one the SMTP settings are correct I guess (mail.btinternet.com) but the logon information there is for the POP3 box, not the SMTP connection. This is no problem as the SMTP server normally doesn't require authentication.

On the bottom dialog I also suggest unticking the box at the top with 'outgoing server requires authentication'. As long as the STMP server (same as above) is entered correctly on the 'General' tab then you should be ok.

One other thing to check is whether your firewall allows Thunderbird access to the internet, perhaps the outgoing port is blocked by accident.

Edit: Disregard, I misidentified the bottom dialog. It is the 'more settings' dialog from Outlook I guess. You could try what I've suggested above in Outlook and see whether the server accepts mail without the logon info.

Another (free) e-mail client is Pegasus, available here: http://www.pmail.com. Although with a bit of tinkering I'm sure Thunderbird will do whatever you want.

[Saab Dastard]

TBird does not have an outgoing server password box. The send failure seems to occur without a password being requested by the BT SMTP server.

That seems like your problem.

Outlook Express has the ability to provide the SMTP server with your name & password as well as the POP3 / IMAP server - does Tbird really not have something similar?

Have you checked tbird support forum?

Is there another multi-account email package that I could use instead?

What do you mean / require by multi-account? OE allows you to add more than one email account per identity (with discrete inbound/ outbound server settings) and also allows you to have multiple identities, each with the ability to set up their own inbound/ outbound server settings - you can then switch between them when required (File\Switch Identity).

I'm not advocating OE (although it is fine for me!) - my father swears by (not at) Pegasus Mail, and others like Eudora... and of course there are other mail packages.

Why do you want to go to tbird if Outlook XP works for you?

SD

[Keef]

Yes, Thunderbird allows you to log on to your SMTP server with ID and password - I do that with my laptop, which connects back to my home ISP to send mail, regardless of where I am.

The difference is that Thunderbird doesn't have a box to enter the SMTP (or the POP) password. It asks you for the password the first time it needs it, and then asks if it should remember it. If you've stored a wrong password, it will tell you when the remote server rejects it, but you can always go into Tools - Options - Privacy - Passwords and remove any wrong ones.

If you haven't given it a password, and it hasn't asked you for one, then it's not getting as far as connecting to the SMTP server. That makes me think Firewall...

Your Outlook password screens look pretty conventional to me - the top one is the server addresses, the bottom one is the extra screen for SMTP authentication. The same process should work fine with Thunderbird.

I can't see it being blocked ports - Outlook and Thunderbird use the same ports for sending and receiving mail (unless you've got an unusual setup). Do you use ZoneAlarm or any other software firewall? If so, has it been told to allow Thunderbird access to the web?