- Where are my emails stored?
Your mails are stored in the NTUmail mailbox servers located in CITS. The Outlook client or OWA (Webmail) connects to the server everytime you logon to read your mails. As the mails are stored in the server, you would be able to access your mails from anywhere in the world. (back to top)
- What is a mailbox?
A mailbox is a recipient object in the active directory and is the delivery location for mail messages for a designated owner. A user mailbox contains information such as e-mail messages, documents, and spreadsheets and is located on the user's home Exchange Server. Although a mailbox typically is used by only one person, it can be used by several people. A user can be simultaneously logged on to the same mailbox from different computers. Mail messages are delivered to the user's Inbox. Users can create folders in their mailbox and then use the Rules Wizard (formally known as Inbox Assistant) to automatically move mail and other information to these folders [see Help Sheet - Outlook 2000 Auto Forwarding]. (back to top)
- What are the supported messaging client software?
The supported methods of access are:
- Outlook 200x clients (Corporate or Workgroup)
- Outlook Web Access (Webmail) using any web browser
IMAP and POP mail readers, like Outlook Express, Eudora or Netscape Messager, are not supported by CITS. (back to top)
If you cannot find the Messaging Centre, try personalizing the portal and add the Messaging Centre. (back to top)
- Can I keep my mailbox after graduating or leaving NTU?
NTU has provided a host of email services to you from the time you were a student all the way until after your graduation when you become an alumnus of NTU. The NTU Mailbox is issued to you as a student and you now have the option to keep the mailbox after you have graduated (opt-in basis). You can now keep your mailbox forever - nothing will change (only your Domain Name will move from STUDENT to ASSOC). You will continue to have access to selected Public Folders and to the iGEMS portal. [see Email for Life and Retain NTUemail]
Staff are also allowed to retain their mailbox after their service in NTU. [see Retain NTUmail] (back to top)
- What is PMail forwarding?
PMail forwarding service allows you to choose your own email address ending with "@pmail.ntu.edu.sg". PMail is only a forwarding service and is not a mailbox that holds emails. You may then keep this address even after you have graduated. This means that you can maintain your contacts life long. This way your friends can continue to stay in contact with you via the same PMail address.
If you wish to change your actual email address after graduation, you can amend it using the Email Forwarding Service under the Alumni Endowment Office-Alumni Service http://www.ntu.edu.sg/ALUMNI/Alumni+Services/.
Note: When you reply or send out an email, you are still using the existing mailbox address. Your recipients will therefore "see" that mailbox's address. (For ISP users, your own ISP address will be shown.) (back to top)
- What are Public Folders?
Public Folders are common areas where notices and discussions are posted for all to read. Public Folders are accessible only to mailbox users with a NTU network account. Various Public Folders have restricted access and only a small group of users are allowed to view them. (back to top)
- Can I use the Distribution Lists in the Global Address Book?
Only NTU staff are allowed to make use of the Distribution Lists in the Global Address Book. (back to top)
- What is a (Outlook) Messaging Profile?
To maintain configuration information for users, Outlook 200x client uses a messaging profile. A profile is a group of settings that provide information about a user's configuration. It contains the delivery location for incoming messages, the location of the user's address book and personal folder files, and the set of associated information services.
For those who want to try configuring their own Mail Profile, the following information will be needed:
Microsoft Exchange Server: Mail21
Mailbox: <this is your username>
[see Help Sheet - Outlook 2000 Email Basics]. (back to top)
- How do I work offline?
If you are using Outlook 200x client you may choose to work offline. Working offline means that you are editing, sending , deleting and moving emails in NTUmail without being connected online to the server. All work done in your mailbox is saved in a local copy of your mailbox in your hard disk. When you are done you may connect to the NTUmail server and synchronize your copy of mailbox with the copy in NTUmail server at your leisure. NTUmail server will synchronize both mailbox so that they are consistent with each other. The advantage is that you can still do your work even when you are not able to or choose not to connect to the network or NTUmail server. Offline folder are password protected. (back to top)
- How do I create my Personal Folders (Outlook Data File)?
If you are using Outlook 200x you may choose to create Personal Folders (aka Outlook Data File) so that you can download and save backup copies of your emails from the NTUmail server to a local hard disk or diskettes. You may choose to make backup of your own mailbox this way to safeguard your important items. This is also a good way of reclaiming your mailbox quota since you are moving your emails from the server to your Personal Folders in your hard disk or diskettes. Personal Folders can be password protected. You should start a habit of creating personal folders to backup and clear up your mailbox. Personal Folders are accessible only on your PC and cannot be shared by multiple users.
Before you can use Personal Folders, make sure that you can read your mails using Outlook 200x [see Help Sheet - Outlook 2000 Email Basics].
To begin, select the Mail icon from the Control Panel. The Default Exchange Profile Properties page will be shown. Click on the Show Profiles to get to the Mail and Fax page. You will be able to see the list of profiles that are currently set up on that computer. Select the profile you have created for yourself - My Profile. Click on the Properties button and the My Profile Properties page will come up. At the Services tab click Add. (In Outlook 2002/3, click on the New Outlook Data File button.) The Add Service to Profile page will appear. Select Personal Folders and click OK. The Create/Open Personal Folder page will appear. If using existing a Personal Folder, browse your computer and select the .pst file. However, if you are creating a new Personal Folder, type in a new file name in the directory and drive that you want. Note that you can create as many personal folders as you want. The Create Microsoft Personal Folder page will come up. Here you can name your Personal Folder, select encryption level and set password to protect your Personal Folders. Click OK when you are finished and you will return to the My Profile Properties page. Note here that the personal folder service has been added to this profile. Click OK to return to your Mail and Fax page. Click Close to exit. (back to top)
Simply select the Public Folders you are interested in and move the group to your Favourites folder. This allows you to go directly to the folders that you would read regularly. Think of it as your shortcut to your interested folders. Another advantage of Favourites folder is that all folders under it will have indictors for the number of unread items.
For those using web browsers you can simply add you favourite folders by book marking them like any web page.
It is strongly encouraged that you add the folder Notice Board (Students) and Notice Board (Official Matters Only) to your Favourites folder and make sure to check them regularly for important announcements. (Staff may add the Notice Board (Staff)) Mass mailing is not allowed in NTUmail and all information will be disseminated through the public folders. Make sure you are not left out. (back to top)
- How do I find names in the Global Address Book?
Please see Help Sheet - Outlook 2000 Finding and Checking Names. (back to top)
- Explain to me my mailbox size quota and deleting unwanted emails?
All users are allocated a default mailbox size (please see Important Notices). All mails you received arrive in your Inbox. When you delete mails from your Inbox or Sent Items, they are placed in the Deleted Items folder, which acts as a temporary storage like the Recycle Bin in Windows 98. When you send any mail out, a copy of it is saved in the Sent Items. All items in the Inbox, Deleted Items and Sent Items add to your mailbox size usage. Once you have exceed your quota you will not be able to send any new mails. You will need to go to the Deleted Items to empty it and recover your mailbox quota.
For those using Outlook 200x, simply right click on your Deleted Items folder and choose Empty Deleted Items folder.
For those using web browsers, just click on the Empty Deleted Items Folder icon on the top bar.
After you have emptied your Deleted Items folder, you can still recover the mail within 3 days of empting. This is not counted in your mailbox quota. (back to top)
If you have accessed your mailbox via iGEMS you may have to close all iGEMS windows and re-logon to iGEMS before you will be able to re-access your mailbox. This would depend if you logon in campus and whether you have logon to the domain on the PC.
Please remember to close ALL windows after your OWA session. (back to top)
- How can I access my mailbox items directly via URL?
You can access your mailbox items directly via a URL. However, the URL may not be displayed in the address field. You can try accessing directly to a message in your inbox by https://webmail.ntu.edu.sg/exchange/<userid>/inbox/subject.eml
To go directly to your calendar try https://webmail.ntu.edu.sg/exchange/<userid>/calendar.
You can try creating shortcuts (right click) to mailbox items too. (back to top)
- How can I view my Sent Items folder in Outlook Web Access (Webmail)?
There are no Shortcuts to your Sent Items, Outbox and Deleted Items folders. However, you can view all your folders in your mailbox by clicking on the "Show/Hide Folders" button on the top left. This will show all folders including the Sent Items, Outbox and Deleted Items. (back to top)
- Why can't I see new messages arriving at my mailbox in Outlook Web Access (Webmail)?
In Outlook 200x the client polls the servers constantly to check if you have any new mails. OWA does not poll the server continually, therefore you will not be able to see new incoming mails immediately. To check for new mails you may click on the "Check for New Messages" button to manually poll the server. In OWA, your browser will poll the server every 5 minutes and will notify you if you have a new mail message. You can disable this option by going to the Options page in OWA. (back to top)
- How can I automatically add a Signature to my mail in Outlook Web Access (Webmail)?
You can now add an auto signature in Webmail. Click on the Options icon on the bottom-left of the window. In the Options windows (on the right) click on Edit Signature under Messaging Options. Enter your Signature in the Signature window and save it. Ensure that Automatically include my signature on outgoing messages is selected. (back to top)
- How can I save the email address of my friends and contacts outside NTU?
You can save your friends' email addresses (and lots of other information) in the Contacts folder. Once the name and address has been saved, it can be used in OWA by simply typing your friend's name in the "To" field. OWA will automatically resolve the address. [see Help Sheet - Outlook Web Access 2000 Contacts] (back to top)
- Why is my Inbox blank in Outlook Web Access (Webmail)?
When accessing your email using OWA (https://webmail.ntu.edu.sg/exchange), sometimes you may find that your Inbox appears blank. This is because the OWA website uses the new WebDAV protocol which is not supported by some proxy servers. More information is available at http://webdav.org/other/proxy.html You will encounter this problem if you are:
- using IE 5.0 and above
- happen to be assigned a proxy server which does not support the WebDAV protocol
Workaround
If you are accessing via an ISP and have this problem, try selecting the Basic client on the logon page instead.
Check (PCs on the NTU Network only)
Under the proxy server settings in IE 5.0 (and above), configure it to use http://www.ntu.edu.sg/proxy.pac [see Browser Settings in NTU] (back to top)
- How do I recover deleted emails using Outlook Web Access (Webmail)?
You are able to recover your deleted items three days after you have emptied your Deleted Items folder. To recover your deleted items, first go to your Deleted Items folder by clicking on the "Folders" button on the top left. This will show all folders including the Sent Items, Outbox and Deleted Items. Click to select your Deleted Items folders. To recover the deleted items click on the Recover Deleted Items icon on the top bar. . Select the items you wish to recover and click the Recover button. (back to top)
- How do I search my mailbox items using Outlook Web Access (Webmail)?
To search for items in your mailbox, just click the Search button located on the top menu bar. This will bring up the Search window. Just enter the words you wish to search and click Find Now. (back to top)
- What is secure SSL?
SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer protocol. This provides a secure and virtually impervious way of establishing an encrypted communication link between the web server (Webmail) and your PC browser. A SSL encrypted session will prevent hackers from intercepting your mail data traveling in the Internet. As the data is encrypted, the response may appear slower. This is because the PC has to perform additional work to decrypt the data. Our OWA (Webmail) servers are installed with hardware SSL accelerator cards for best performance experience to our users.
It is recommended that you use SSL (denoted by https) when you are accessing your mailbox outside NTU. (back to top)
- What is the Webmail timeout period?
There are two access security levels in Webmail (OWA) - Public or Shared computer and Private computer. By default, the selection is the Public or Shared computer option and Webmail will timeout if the screen is idle for more than 15 minutes. If you have selected the Private computer option during logon, the timeout is 24 hours. After the timeout you will have to re-logon to Webmail to access your mailbox. This is a security feature to prevent unauthorised use if you have forgotten to logoff. You should select the Private computer option only if the PC belongs to you. (back to top)
- Do I need to enable cookies in order to use Webmail?
You will need to enable session-based cookies in order to use Webmail. If you browser does not have this option enabled, you will not be allowed access to Webmail (OWA) and will be redirected to an page explaining that session cookies are not enabled on your PC. These cookies are not stored on your PC and are used to enforce secure logoff and session idle timeout. It does not store your personal data. (back to top)
- How do I Recall a Message?
Sometimes you may like to recall an email you have just sent, with Outlook 200x you can do just that. This feature allows you to recall, replace and delete messages that you have sent. However, it will work only if the recipient uses Outlook, is currently login and has not read the message.
1. Open the message you want to recall or replace from your Sent Items folder.
2. On the Actions menu, click Recall This Message.
3. a. Click to select, Delete unread copies of this message, to recall the message.
b. To replace the message, click to select Delete unread copies and replace with
a new message, click OK, and then type your new message and send it.
4. To receive notification about the success of the recall or replacement, click to select Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient check box.
5. Click OK.
6. A notification message will be sent to you informing you of the status. (back to top)
- Why can't I use Outlook Express or POP3/SMTP emails clients to send out messages?
The SMTP standard was originally developed to carry brief, relatively unimportant messages on a closed network. It is a potential source of spoofing i.e. "From" field can be faked and as such we do not support the use of Outlook Express and other email programs which use POP or IMAP as these will require the use of SMTP relay servers. The SMTP protocol was not designed to be an anti-spoof protocol.
In real life, very often recipients will trust that the source of the email is genuine and will not second guess if the sender of the email is truly who he/she claims to be (that is, the "From"). For casual emails this will not cause any impact, however, for emails asking for your confidential details or computer account passwords, etc, this could have far reaching consequences.
Using Outlook client, Webmail (Outlook Web Access) will ensure the "From" address is not spoofed. (back to top)
- I received this message "Undeliverable: Your message did not reach some or all of the intended recipients" when I sent an email to more than 50 addresses. Why is that so?
To prevent SPAM and abuse of our email system, there is a send limit of 50 recipients per message or e-mail for students, alumni and ex-staff . (back to top)