Vista Windows Mail setup problem with Gmail IMAP or POP

Question

I received my new Dell 1420 with Vista Home Premium.  I want to use a mail client to access my Gmail messages.  Although I have Office 2007 (with Outlook) on order, in the meantime, I want to configure Windows Mail to send and receive mail from my Gmail account.   As a background, I have set up Gmail access for Outlook numerous time on my older Dell laptop (XP with Outlook 2003) and have been using it without any problems.   I tried to do this same setup for Gmail (I tried IMAP and POP) on Vista's Windows Mail and am getting the following error (after it tries to download mail):   The connection to the server has failed. Subject 'test', Account: 'imap.gmail.com', Server: 'smtp.gmail.com', Protocol: SMTP, Port: 465, Secure (SSL): Yes, Socket Error: 10060, Error Number: 0x800CCC0E   I've made sure that my Gmail account settings are correctly set to either allow for IMAP or POP (depending on which setup I was trying).  I then followed Gmail's instructions to use Outgoing port 465 and Incoming port 993 for IMAP . When that didn't work, I tried setting it up for POP (same 465 Outgoing port but 995 for incoming port.  Still no luck.   Called Dell on Call.  They had me uninstall Pc-Cillin Internet Security 14 (suspecting that was the cause).  They even connected to my computer (using Dell Connect).  No luck. After 3 hrs and 15 minutes (I kid you not), they said they don't have any other solution except to re-image my laptop to restore it to Factory installation state. I refused since the laptop WAS in factory installation state (meaning I have not installed or uninstalled any hardware, software or drivers). Setting up Windows Mail was the first thing I was doing.   Does anyone have a solution to this problem?  I can't be the only person trying to configure Vista Windows Mail with a Gmail account.  I will have to redo this once I receive Office 2007 for Outlook 2007 setup but am afraid that if I can't get Windows Mail to work, I won't be able to get Outlook 2007 to work either.   Thanks in advance for all responses.

Mary G · Answer

You cannot use Windows Mail (formerly Outlook express, no relation to Outlook)for Gmail or any other web mail, but I found it very easy to set up Outlook for Gmail. All you have to do is follow the directions on the Gmail web site. Go to Settings, Forwarding and POP mail, Configuration instructions.

bubbadubba · Answer

Thanks Mary G for the quick response.  Since I likely won't get Outlook 2007 for another 2-4 weeks, are you sure about not being able to use Windows Mail for Gmail?   Under Gmail's IMAP access, it lists Windows Mail as a configurable client. http://mail.google.com/support/bin/topic.py?topic=12760   You are correct that Gmail's POP page does not list Windows Mail as one of the many clients it supports.   Finally, have you set up Gmail with Outlook on Vista?  I've been successful in setting up Outlook on my XP/Office 2003 but want to know if there is any quirk with Vista or the security software that would prevent this from working.

stanleyen · Answer

What about trying Thunderbird while you wait for your copy of Outlook? It's a very good (and free) mail client.

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