Help with windows and outlook (mostly outlook?)

New job. Small company. Because of that, I’m working on an old computer that used to belong to someone else, and I won’t be getting a new computer for 2-3 weeks. Maybe less. But probably 2-3 weeks.

Computer is Windows 10, home edition.

I am using the old persons login, since they were the computer admin. I’ve been able to log in to “Mail”, which is apparently the default Microsoft app that is used for email. This is going to drive me crazy. I want outlook back.

So I go to login to outlook (Outlook 2016). I keep getting a message to have me put in an email address and password. Here is where it gets funny: the thing says

“Connecting to patrick@companyname.com” – Patrick was the old user. This is text that I cannot change

[Blank spot to enter email]

[password]

It auto-populates with my email. I enter in my password, and it keeps kicking me out. I never actually get past this screen. I’m 90% sure it is because it is trying to connect me to patrick@companyname.com and not mtn@comapny name.com.

Any advice for this? I’ve changed my username and associated email address under windows settings. I can’t figure out how to uninstall outlook. I miss Windows XP.

Should be able to access Outlook settings and configuration from the Control Panel (or PC settings).  If it’s not there, then there might be an option under the Office program group in the Start menu.

BTW, I’m guessing there’s no new PC Admin since you received someone else’s PC that wasn’t wiped or even running a business version of Windows?  Let’s just say I’m really nervous for you at this point and I wish you the best of luck.

Stefan said:

BTW, I’m guessing there’s no new PC Admin since you received someone else’s PC that wasn’t wiped or even running a business version of Windows?  Let’s just say I’m really nervous for you at this point and I wish you the best of luck.

More money than sense from a technical point of view over here. Business wise, the company is going gangbusters, our biggest problem is that we don't have the capacity to produce as much as we can sell. On the IT side, yeah, there are a lot of issues. I'm nervous too. 

EDIT: Oh, and the stuff that I'm doing now was previously done by the investor for this company. The guy that was handling it was promoted within that company, so that has been brought in house since they'd eventually need it to be handled in house anyways, and were ready to bring someone else on board for other stuff. They were just trying to save some money, and didn't realize that the computer was as old and bad as it is. Everyone else is on newer laptops running business. I'll get there evenutally.

The email address is auto-populating from Active Directory settings, since you're using the old user's login. I can't find a way to override this either...if you can get out of that dialogue and into the Outlook interface somehow, you should be able to manually set up an account.

Here are a couple of workaround ideas: Find out if the company has Outlook's web-based client enabled and use that, or see if you can connect with Thunderbird - this may require addons.

As soon as I saw the thread title I said "Outlook, of course berkeleyin' Outlook..."

GameboyRMH said:

The email address is auto-populating from Active Directory settings, since you're using the old user's login. I can't find a way to override this either...if you can get out of that dialogue and into the Outlook interface somehow, you should be able to manually set up an account.

Here are a couple of workaround ideas: Find out if the company has Outlook's web-based client enabled and use that, or see if you can connect with Thunderbird - this may require addons.

As soon as I saw the thread title I said "Outlook, of course berkeleyin' Outlook..."

Outlook works well once you get into it. It has also made me want to throw my computer at a wall numerous times (before this company, at well supported companies that had Bill Gates on premises before). And Windows 10 is horrible.

On ours if i go to email and add account I have to add mine through a setting called Exchange, not the one called Outlook even though we have outlook accounts.  I'm not good with computers so I don't know if that helps any. 

Exchange is the email server for Outlook and is one of the most awful pieces of server-side software you're likely to find at an everyday company.

If you don't hate Outlook yet, try writing HTML content for email.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

Our computer stuff seems to be managed by squrriels with ADD.  There are six programs I use regularly for different tasks and four of them will only run on one particular browser, but not the same browser so I need to have explorer, firefox, chrome, and opera on any device I work from. 

Control panel > mail > delete the old profile > create a new one. 

Or possibly the better solution, use his account, create your own account on the computer with admin rights and start over.

GameboyRMH said:

The email address is auto-populating from Active Directory settings...

Windows 10 Home can't join a domain, so I don't think that's the issue. 

AWSX1686 said:

GameboyRMH said:

The email address is auto-populating from Active Directory settings...

Windows 10 Home can't join a domain, so I don't think that's the issue. 

Ah, good point. The behavior sounds exactly the same though. Maybe these steps would remove the old account?

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Remove-a-profile-d5f0f365-c10d-4a97-aa74-3b38e40e7cdd

GameboyRMH said:

AWSX1686 said:

GameboyRMH said:

The email address is auto-populating from Active Directory settings...

Windows 10 Home can't join a domain, so I don't think that's the issue. 

Ah, good point. The behavior sounds exactly the same though. Maybe these steps would remove the old account?

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Remove-a-profile-d5f0f365-c10d-4a97-aa74-3b38e40e7cdd

Yup. That's what I suggested a couple posts up. 

Insert a freshly made Linux Mint DVD in the drive reboot and follow the yellow brick road...

Thunderbird will slurp up your mail from any account, even Gmail and Yahoo! Bye bye ADs!

bentwrench said:

Insert a freshly made Linux Mint DVD in the drive reboot and follow the yellow brick road...

Thunderbird will slurp up your mail from any account, even Gmail and Yahoo! Bye bye ADs!

I just did one for my buddy whose computer froze up and it wasn't going to be easy to re-load Windows. I used elementary OS because it's clean, simple, and from the little I've experienced, it just works. 

Though, for the OP, it's a company computer (even if it only has Home edition) so Linux is probably not viable. 

I would go into settings and factory reset the computer.     Windows 10 stores all the setup files inside.   

Hit the windows key,  type "reset"

AWSX1686 said:

bentwrench said:

Insert a freshly made Linux Mint DVD in the drive reboot and follow the yellow brick road...

Thunderbird will slurp up your mail from any account, even Gmail and Yahoo! Bye bye ADs!

I just did one for my buddy whose computer froze up and it wasn't going to be easy to re-load Windows. I used elementary OS because it's clean, simple, and from the little I've experienced, it just works. 

Though, for the OP, it's a company computer (even if it only has Home edition) so Linux is probably not viable. 

Mint 18.2 has all the office stuff and is pretty much ready to use and runs fine on a dual core processor.

If you do a windows reset won't you have to reinstall all the apps?

That sure sounds like a profile conflict.  If this -> Control panel > mail > delete the old profile > create a new one.  doesn't work another option would be to just create another user account and then log on using that one.  That'll essentially give you a clean slate but all of the existing software (assuming is was installed for all users) will still be avalible.

Yeah, for now the solution has been to use Thunderbird. Problem solved--until I get the laptop, should be sometime next week that it comes in.