Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
4. Click the Account Information pane.
5. In the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) pop-up menu, choose the server you want to use for sending
your messages.
Mail now enables the Send button and uses this server to send your messages.
If you see only None in the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) menu, you need to configure an SMTP server to use
with your account. From the Account Information pane, use the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) pop-up menu to
choose Edit SMTP Server List. Click the Add button (+) to create a new server entry and then type the server
details.
If you already had an SMTP server selected, the likely reason that you can't send e-mail is that the server isn't
configured correctly. From the Account Information pane, use the Outgoing Mail Server (SMTP) pop-up menu
to choose Edit SMTP Server List, and then choose your SMTP server. Check the following three things:
Using the Server Name text box, make sure the address of the SMTP server is the same as the address
provided to you by your ISP or mail host.
Note that almost all SMTP servers have an address in the form of
mail.
provider
.com or smtp.
provider
.com (where
provider
is the domain name of the ISP or host).
In the Advanced pane, make sure the port value is the same as the port number provided to you by
your ISP or mail host.
In most cases the port number should be 25, particularly if this is your ISP's SMTP
server. However, third-party mail hosts may need to use a port other than 25 because many ISPs block outgoing
messages over port 25 if the sending account isn't associated with the ISP. For example, suppose you have an
account with an ISP and another with iCloud. If you try to send a message from your iCloud account over port
25, chances are your ISP will block it (and return an error message). To fix this problem, you need to contact
the third-party host to see if it offers an alternative SMTP port (such as port 587, which is supported by iCloud).
If the alternative port is either 465 or 587, be sure to select the Use default ports (25, 465, 587) option. Other-
wise, select the Use custom port option, and then type the port number in the text box.
Why do most ISPs not allow third-party accounts to use port 25 nowadays? It's primarily a security issue, because
most spammers try to hide their tracks by “relaying” their messages through ISP mail servers. Allowing only ISP ac-
counts to use the ISP's mail server prevents this.
In the Advanced tab, check the Authentication value.
If your ISP or mail host requires authentication be-
fore it allows a message to be sent, you must choose the correct type of security from this list. Most providers
require Password security, so also double-check that the values in the User Name and Password fields are cor-
rect. (In most cases, you use the same login data that you use to check for incoming mail.)
Repairing Remote Disc Woes
MacBook Air doesn't come with a built-in optical (CD or DVD) drive. However, as explained in Chapter 2,
that's not necessarily a huge deal because you can use the Remote Disc application to connect to a CD or DVD
drive on another Mac. However, Remote Disc doesn't always work as advertised, so the next few sections take
you through a few troubleshooting steps.
