ACCC Exchange Service FAQ's

This page provides answers to commonly requested information and problems. Please review this page if you experience any difficulties. If you do not find you answer here, please feel free to contact us at lan@uic.edu.

• Winmail.dat files received from you
• Outlook Web Access (OWA) browser configurations
• Outlook Web Access (OWA) from international sites
• Viewing Shared Calendar's in Outlook Web Access
• Factors affecting your Outlook/Exchange Performance

Winmail.dat files received from you:

• Symptom: You send an attachment to an individual through email and they receive a winmail.dat file instead of the file you sent.
• Cause: Outlook encapsulates emails with attachments into a special file called a winmail.dat file. This file is recognized by Microsoft Outlook and is converted back into the original email with attachment. However, some other email programs (like Eudora) do not recognize this winmail.dat file and leave it as a physical attachment in the recipient's email.
• Solution: Send email as "Plain Text". This can be selected using the following menu options: TOOLS >> OPTIONS >> MAIL FORMAT tab >> Compose in this message format: Plain Text
• Alternative Solution: The recipient can open the winmail.dat file and view the attachment if they have a winmail.dat viewer installed on their computer system.

Outlook Web Access (OWA) Browser configurations:

• Supported Browsers: Internet Explorer 5.5 and later, Firefox, Safari.
• SSL should be enabled
• Popups should be allowed for OWA
• Cookies must be enabled
• Internet Explorer 5.5 and later required for "Premium" OWA features. These features include Outlook type interface, drag-and-drop functionality, notifications & reminders

Outlook Web Access (OWA) from international sites

• There have been instances reported where individuals have not been able to access OWA from outside of the United States. This can be caused by numerous factors that are outside of our control. These include: firewalls, computer configurations, inadequate internet access.
• Caution should be exercised when accessing the Exchange environment from unfamiliar computers (i.e. internet cafes) in other countries.

Viewing Shared Calendars in Outlook Web Access (OWA)

• You can view the calendar of an Exchange user using the OWA interface.
• If you are an ACCC Exchange user:
  • Go to the following web address:
    https://exchange.uic.edu/exchange/
  • Log in to the OWA interface
  • Once logged in, enter: netid/calendar (where netid is the user's calendar you wish to view) at the end of the address above. The web address should look like:
    https://exchange.uic.edu/exchange/netid/calendar
  • Press Return. You will then be taken to the user's calendar.
  • NOTE: You can only VIEW items in the OWA calendar, regardless of the permissions you may have been granted.
• If you are not an ACCC Exchange user:
  • Go to the following web address:
    https://exchange.uic.edu/exchange/netid/calendar (where netid is the user's calendar you wish to view)
  • Log in to the OWA interface.
  • You will then be taken to the user's calendar.
  • Note: You can only VIEW items in the OWA calendar, regardless of the permissions you may have been granted.

Factors Affecting Your Outlook/Exchange Performance

• There are several things that can affect an individual's performance in Outlook when connecting to Exchange. These include:
  • Each Folder that you Access on a regular basis should contain no more than 5000 items.
  • Use Calendar in a New Window
  • Close the ToDo bar
  • Do not use Deleted Items as a place to store e-mails
    • If you need to organize deleted items, create subfolders outside of Deleted Items and make sure you only move messages – you may encounter errors if you try to move multiple calendar items and tasks
  • If you access Sent Items on a regular basis you will need to organize them so that Sent Items has less than 5000 items
  • Do not Install Window Desktop Search

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