connecting to Exchange works on mac, not on windows

Question

OK, so here's the scenario:

We have an environment with Exchange 2013 running on Windows Server 2012 (including the DC). Current users can access their emails through outlook and OWA.

However, whenever I try to configure a second Exchange account on a computer on the internal network, I get an error (it's quite random, one says there's a problem with the OST file, the other says it couldn't load the information store). When I try to configure an Exchange account on my mac (NOT on the internal network) it works perfectly with mail.app. When I try to do the same for my Windows PC (remote as well) it can't check the username...

All laptops on the internal network are connected through a switch to the server. No firewall or router is present between them AFAIK, so I think we can rule out a networking issue. Anyone have a clue what might be going on here?

When you say second Exchange account, do you mean for the same Windows user profile, or a different user on the same machine? — DanBig, Sep 18 '13 at 13:27
Same Windows profile indeed. The new account is for a new employee, the old account needs to be active as well... — QuintenVK, Sep 18 '13 at 13:31
That doesn't make sense. Are you saying John Doe has an email account setup in Outlook, and you are trying to add it a second time? I think you need to clarify the steps you are taking. — DanBig, Sep 18 '13 at 13:34
John Doe has an email account, and I'm adding one for Jane Doe (who replaces him, while customers might still send mails to John Doe because not all of them were notified - hence the fact that there should be 2 mailboxes in Outlook) — QuintenVK, Sep 18 '13 at 13:36
Are you logged into the system as John, and trying to add Jane in Outlook? — DanBig, Sep 18 '13 at 13:42
Yes I am. But then again, that doesn't matter much, since the organisation's devices (apart from servers) haven't been added into Active Directory yet. Yeah, long way to go... — QuintenVK, Sep 18 '13 at 13:44

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 18 '13 at 14:09

Not saying DanBig's answer isn't valid...but:

In this particular scenario, why not simply set forwarding on the mailbox of the employee that is leaving (in the EAC): http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd351134%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx and possibly set an OOF auto-reply as well stating that "I'm no longer with the company, direct all email to bobsmith@contoso.com now."
If you really want "new employee" to have access to "old employee" mailbox, again it's easier in the EAC to simply give "new employee" full access permissions http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124097%28v=exchg.150%29.aspx and then in Outlook it will automatically show the additional mailbox on the left window pane (after a restart of Outlook)

I agree with the EMC persmissions. I didn't include those because they seemed like it may be out of comfort zone. — DanBig, Sep 18 '13 at 14:10
Considering it is both a DC and an Ex2013 box in one, you may be right. :) — TheCleaner, Sep 18 '13 at 14:13

DanBig · Answer 2 · 2013-09-18T14:25:16.207

One option is to setup delegate access to accomplish this. Look at the following link, but i will post the pertinent info. Replace User A (Jane) and User B (John) appropriately. In the end, the user that actually works there, should be logged into windows, not the other way around.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291626/en-gb

Microsoft Office Outlook 2010

Start Outlook with a profile that is configured for the Exchange Server mailbox for account B. You may have to log on to the network as the user of account B for proper validation.
On the Files menu, click Info.
Click Account Settings, and then click Delegate Access.
On the Delegates tab, click Add.
Type or select the name for the user of account A, click Add, and then click OK.
In all lists, click to select Editor (can read, create, and modify items) in the Delegate Permissions dialog box.
Click OK two times.
If the Folder list is not visible, click Folder List on the View menu.
Right-click Mailbox - user name, and then click Properties for 'Mailbox - user name on the shortcut menu.
On the Permissions tab, click Add.
Type or select the name for the user of account A, click Add, and then click OK.
In the Name box, click the newly added entry for account A.
In the Permission Level box, click Owner, and then click OK.
Repeat steps 8 through 12 for all the other folders in the mailbox.
On the File menu, click Exit and Log Off.
Restart Windows, and then log on as the user of account A.
Start Outlook with a profile that is configured for the Exchange Server mailbox for account A.
On the Files menu, click Info.
Click Account Settings, and then click Account Settings.
On the E-mail tab, click the name of the account, and then click the Change icon.
Click the More Settings button.
Click the Advanced tab.
Click Add to add an account to the Open these additional mailboxes: list.
Type the name for the user of account B, and then click OK three times.
Click Next, click Finish, and then click Close.

The mailbox for account B appears in your Folder List. The user for account A can send messages and meeting requests on behalf of the user of account B by entering the name of the user for account B in the From Field. These messages contain the names of the users for both account A and account B.

Thanks for the info! Though I should mention, with one out of the two laptops I removed the "old" account and I still got errors... I'll see how this approach works. — QuintenVK, Sep 18 '13 at 13:52

connecting to Exchange works on mac, not on windows

2 Answers2