Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs) about the KFUPM Exchange Service:

General KFUPM Exchange Questions

Email-Related Questions

Mobile Device-Related Questions

Answers to Frequently-Asked Questions (FAQs) about the KFUPM Exchange Service

General KFUPM Exchange Questions:

What are the new features offered by KFUPM Exchange Service?

Beyond supporting the basic email protocols (POP, IMAP, SMTP), additional key features include but not limited to:

  • Integrated, feature-rich web, desktop and mobile interfaces for e-mail, calendar, contacts, and tasks (more user-friendly access to e-mail over the web)
  • Mobile device synchronization of email and address books (iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia, etc.)
  • Unified group scheduling & calendars
  • Central resource scheduling (classrooms, conference rooms, etc.)
  • Enhanced Security including support for digital signatures, encrypted email, SSL based secure access, and secure and convenient access from Internet using MS Outlook (via HTTPS)
  • Support for Unified Communications (to be introduced in future)
  • Improved High Availability and Mailbox Resiliency through backend clustering known as Database Availability Groups (DAG) for higher uptimes.
  • Network Load Balancing for higher performance though a pool of frond end servers
  • Improved site resiliency through Disaster Recovery configuration
  • Support for bigger mailbox quotas through provisioning of sufficient SAN storage capacity

What is my KFUPM Exchange account login and password?

Your Exchange account login name is your KFUPM computing ID, you can use your username without ‘kfupm\’. Your Exchange account password is your computing password. Don’t know this password? You can (re)set it.

Why internet password? Why not portal password?

            The Exchange server authenticates through the Active directory which is also used to authenticate Users for   Internet access, whereas the Portal authenticates through the Portal LDAP which is used for authenticating the Portal login and also the old iPlanet Messaging Server. In near future all the KFUPM systems will be authenticating through the Active directory and hence there will be only one username/password needed to access all KFUPM services.

What will happen to my old emails?

All the old emails which were received on your old email account will be on the old server; hence can be accessed through the KFUPM Portal. If a user needs to migrate these old emails to the new Exchange account, he should contact the ITC helpdesk and use one of the links provided. However, if a user was downloading his emails to any local client, then he will have his old emails on his email client (in his old profile).

How do I access my KFUPM Centralized Exchange account when I am off-campus?

  You have two options for viewing your KFUPM Exchange Service account when connecting from home or elsewhere:

·         You can visit Outlook Web Access (OWA) in a Web browser.

·         You can try to use Outlook Anywhere.

o    Note: Our experience is that Outlook Anywhere does not work everywhere; there are differences in success among Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and even variances in success (dependent upon location) with the same ISP. Also, ITC does not support Outlook Anywhere; so if you cannot get it to work using the following instructions, assume that the problem lies with your ISP, and try one of the other methods suggested above for off-Grounds access to your KFUPM Exchange Service account.

I want to change the appearance of my name in the From: line of emails sent from my Exchange account. How do I do this?

If your Display name appears wrong, please contact: 4098 or 7636.

ITC recognizes that the ability to change your name or address as it appears in the From: line of your outgoing messages to include your nickname or alias is important. Unfortunately, at the present time, this type of change is not possible. At KFUPM, a number of databases (some controlled by ITC, some controlled by others) need to interact to have names and email addresses display correctly. This complicated interaction makes allowing a person-selectable From: name/address choices more difficult than it might otherwise be. ITC has staff working on this issue as time, priorities and resources permit, and hopes to have a way for people to designate how they want their From: address to appear in the future.

What is my quota? How much space do I have for my KFUPM Centralized Exchange account?

Your mailbox quota is: 1 GB for Faculty, 500 MB for Staff and Students.

What if I exceed my quota limit?

You can view your mailbox whenever you want by clicking on the ‘File’ tab of your Outlook 2010 client.

The exchange server will notify to the user when the Mailbox reaches 80% of his quota limit. However if the user does not take the necessary action by deleting the unwanted emails and reducing the mailbox size, the user will not be able to receive emails and the senders will be notified that ‘your message could not be delivered to the user mailbox has reached the allowed quota limit’.

Moreover, in Outlook 2010 the senders will be notified as soon as they enter the recipient address if the recipient’s quota is full.

Very soon ITC will be implementing the Email Archiving System through which all the emails older than the defined number of days will be archived automatically but still will appear in the user inbox with a different icon. When the user selects to read such email the email will be retrieved seamlessly and open in the Inbox of the users.

Email-Related Questions:

How do I change my Language settings for OWA?

To change your Language settings please follow the steps

What email client shall I use?

ITC recommends using the latest Microsoft software if possible. If you do not have Outlook 2010 (for your Windows computer) or Outlook 2011 (for your Mac) already installed, you can upgrade by requesting to the ITC..

How do I configure my email client for my KFUPM Exchange account?

Why does my Outlook repeatedly prompt for my password and how to solve this issue?

If you face the issue of repeated password prompts please update windows and the service pack for your Outlook

How to migrate folder structure of my Inbox folder which appeared in my old IMAP access to the new Inbox?

           All the users who used to access their emails through IMAP and had a folder structure defined in their inbox folder, the folder structuring will not appear in their new inbox. However the folders can be migrated.

To migrate the folders please follow provide your username and PORTAL password on the link.

Can I use an email program other than Outlook for my KFUPM Exchange account? How do I configure an IMAP or POP connection to Exchange?

You can, but it is not recommended. If you are on the KFUPM Centralized Exchange Service, ITC recommends using the Outlook email program for maximum functionality.

If you want to use another email program (like Thunderbird or Eudora) with the KFUPM centralized Exchange server anyway, you’ll first need to configure a connection with these IMAP/POP settings, and then plan to use Outlook or the Outlook Web Access (OWA) to process and view your calendar, and the other email program only to view your email messages.

A word of warning: Should you choose to use another email program with your Exchange account, be very careful to avoid deleting any email messages with calendar meetings or events attached in that email program. Because email and calendar are so closely tied on the Exchange Server, you may accidentally delete items off your calendar if you delete the associated email message. So, be sure to process all your calendar messages with Outlook or the Outlook Web Access (OWA) to ensure your Exchange calendar functions correctly.

I want to set the Mail forwarding for my KFUPM Exchange account. How do I do    this?

Please be aware that forwarding is not recommended, because forwarding your KFUPM Exchange account messages will break your calendaring. The Exchange calendar and email are closely integrated, and email messages about calendaring must be received and processed on the centralized Exchange server to have the information automatically put onto a calendar. If the message is not processed in Outlook or the Outlook Web Access (OWA), then the information in the message is not available to the calendar, and is therefore never entered onto your calendar. That being said, instructions are provided to set a forward through OWA.

How do I Forward a copy of my KFUPM emails to an external account?

To configure Forwarding to external accounts please login Outlook Web Access (OWA) and follow the steps as shown in the link below :

Forwardsing KFUPM Mail to an External Email Address

How do I set an Auto Reply message?

We suggest using Outlook Web Access (OWA) to ensure your auto-reply messages are consistent, and only being sent when you want them to be. To do this:

1.       Go to  Outlook Web Access (OWA)

2.       Select Options.

3.       Click Set Automatic Replies in the left column.

4.       Complete the settings accordingly.

5.       Click on ‘Save’

Why legitimate messages are sometimes delivered to my “Junk E-Mail” folder? How do I manage my spam mail?

Microsoft sends out periodic updates to your Outlook software via Windows Update; sometimes these include updates to your Outlook Junk Mail Filter rules, where Microsoft makes subtle changes to the rules your email program uses to determine if an incoming email message is spam. Outlook follows these rules but will, from time to time, mistake a legitimate message for spam and mistakenly send it to the Junk E-mail Folder, or will miss a junk message and allow it to go to your Inbox.

You can reduce the risk of messages being incorrectly sorted into the Junk E-mail folder by changing the level of spam protection Outlook provides you. For information about your options, and instructions on selecting an appropriate setting for your needs, see Microsoft’s article, “Change the level of protection in the Junk Email filter.

If you would like to set a rule that Outlook always (or never) place messages from a particular sender in your Junk E-mail folder, then also see Microsoft’s article, “Add names to the Junk E-mail Filter lists,” where you can find out how to add a person to your “Safe Senders” list (so their mail is never marked as Junk), or “Blocked Senders” list (so their mail is always marked as Junk).

Mobile Device-Related Questions:

How do I configure my smartphone or mobile device to read my KFUPM Exchange account?

ITC offers specific Exchange configuration instructions for the following types mobile devices:

If you have any other type of smartphone or mobile device, including HTC, you still may be able to successfully configure a connection; see information about connecting other mobile devices to your KFUPM email account.

I lost my smartphone or mobile device. How do I remotely wipe my data using Outlook Web Access (OWA)?

The following instructions work for all mobile devices with Active Sync:

1.       Go to  Outlook Web Access (OWA)

2.       Select Options.

3.       Select Mobile Devices.

4.       Select the lost device you want to wipe (remove all data).

5.       Select Wipe All Data from Device... and follow the instructions provided.