To use Microsoft Outlook from home or other off-campus sites outside the HSC firewall to connect to the HSC Exchange system you will need to use the Checkpoint SecuRemote VPN client. For instructions on downloading and installing SecuRemote click here: http://hsc.usf.edu/is/download/hippa_downloads.html
Step 1
This step is to assure that your HSCNet account has been mail enabled and that new mail is coming to the Exchange system. On or after the day your account is scheduled to be converted to Exchange go to http://mail.hsc.usf.edu/ and open the Exchange Outlook Web Access page. It should ask you to log in using your HSCNet ID and password. For the most consistent results it is best to add "hscnet\" to the beginning of your user ID when coming in via the web, so you would type "hscnet\userID" replacing "userID" with your own user name. Send yourself a test e-mail message at your normal address (username@hsc.usf.edu). It should appear in the Outlook Web Access inbox within a minute or two.
Step 2
If you have been using Outlook, or any other program than NeoMail to access your HSC mail from the old system start that program and have it check for new mail. This assures that any mail that was waiting for you before incoming mail was redirected to the Exchange system is retrieved.
Step 3
When working away from the USF campus not all internet service providers, such as RoadRunner or Verizon DSL, have the ability to find our Exchange servers by name. Therefore it is necessary to supplement their information with a few local entries in a special file named "hosts" that is stored under your Windows directory. There are two ways to accomplish this for Windows 2000 and XP systems:
- Click the Exchange Hosts Updater file link, either here and from the How-To Guides page. If it offers you the option of Running or Saving the file you can simply click Run. If the Run option is not offered, download the file to your desktop then double-click to execute it. It will automatically make the entries for you. Once you have executed the update you may delete the hostsfix.bat file from your desktop if you had to download it.
- To make the changes manually first open Notepad (Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad) then click File and Open. Type in:
"%systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts"
(without the quotation marks) and click enter. You should see a page starting "This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows." Near the bottom you should see an entry that says: "127.0.0.1 localhost" There may be other entries, but it is unlikely. Go a new blank line at the very bottom of the file and cut and paste these lines.
131.247.67.172 hscmail
131.247.67.172 hscmail.hsc.usf.edu
131.247.67.170 cophexchange
131.247.67.170 cophexchange.hsc.usf.edu
131.247.67.184 comexchange
131.247.67.184 comexchange.hsc.usf.edu
131.247.67.169 conexchange
131.247.67.169 conexchange.hsc.usf.edu
Then save and close the hosts file.
For Windows 98 you will need to manually edit a different file that can be opened by typing "%systemroot%\hosts.sam" in Notepad's File-Open text box.
Step 4
To configure Outlook to connect to Exchange first close the Outlook program then click "Start" then "Settings" and select "Control Panel." On the Control Panel screen find the "Mail" icon. If you cannot see the Mail icon, click on "Switch to Classic View" to display all icons.
If you have had Outlook configured to retrieve mail from the old HSC mail system, or any other mail system, you will see a screen like Figure 1, click the "E-mail Accounts..."
If you have not used Outlook before a screen like Figure 2 will be displayed. Click "Add..."
In either case, a screen like Figure 3 in Step 3 should be displayed next.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Step 5
Figure 3
Select "Add a new e-mail account" and click Next. A screen like figure 4 will be displayed.
Step 6
A screen like Figure 4 will be displayed. Select "Microsoft Exchange Server" and click "Next." A screen like Figure 5 will be displayed. 
Figure 4
Step 7
Figure 5
In the "Microsoft Exchange Server" field enter "hscmail.hsc.usf.edu" without the quotation marks.
In the "User Name" field enter your HSCNet user ID.
Click "Check Name." At this point, if you have not already authenticated with SecuRemote it should pop up and ask for your user ID and password. Once authenticated with the firewall SecuRemote will disappear. Next you should be prompted to login to HSCNet (Exchange). In the User Name field type "hscnet\userid" (without the quotation marks and replacing "userid" with your HSCNet ID) and in the Password field enter your HSCNet password.
Figure 6
Your ID on the E-mail Accounts window should change to your name and be underlined, this confirms that the system recognizes your user ID. At the same time, the Microsoft Exchange Server name may change since mail boxes are spread across several servers. If your user ID does not change and underline check that both the ID and the server name are entered correctly.
Figure 7
Click "Next" and you will receive a message like Figure 8
Figure 8
Click "Yes" to continue. A screen similar to figure 9 will be displayed.
Step 8
Figure 9
If you had Outlook configured to connect to the old mail system you will see both that account and the new Exchange account listed. Highlight the "Microsoft Exchange Server" and click "Set as Default" then highlight the old account and click "Remove." Removing this setting won't have any effect on your saved mail. It simply keeps the computer from checking that system for new mail.
Click "Finish".
Step 9 - Optional
If you will want to access you mail account and saved mail not only from the Outlook setup just completed, but also via the Web using Outlook Web Access or from another Outlook client setup on campus you should change the default delivery location to leave the mail on the server.
Start Microsoft Outlook and click "Tools" then "Options" from the Tools menu. The Options window shown in Figure 10 will be displayed. Select the "Mail Setup" tab, and click on "E-mail Accounts."
Figure 10
A screen like Figure 3 above will open. This time select "View or change existing e-mail accounts" and click "Next" to open a screen like Figure 11.
Figure 11
Click on the box displaying "Personal Folders" and select instead the "Mailbox" entry with your name. Then click "Finish" to complete the task. You should receive this message:
Figure 12
Click OK, then close Outlook. When you re-open Outlook you will see that in the folder view you now have a series of folders under the heading "Mailbox - Lastname, Firstname" and another series of folders under "Personal Folders." Each of these will have an "Inbox" directory. All mail that had been received up to this point and not moved to some other folder will be in the "Personal Folders" inbox. New mail from this point on will be stored in the "Mailbox" inbox folder.
It is important to understand that the "Personal Folders" are stored on your PC. The "Mailbox" is stored on the server. Any messages or additional folders you create under that will remain on the server and will be accessible from any off-campus location via Outlook Web Access.