I sent several days getting my PHP, Mercury Mail, and Outlook Express to work in localhost mode.. I did not mess with any of the PHP.ini settings, they are just the way I downloaded and installed XAMPP. Rather, I set things up in Mercury Mail and Outlook Express. Everythings seems to work fine and have never had any working issues. Hope this helps.
My current installation: Microsoft XP Home addition with all latest updates, XAMPP 1.7.3, Outlook Express 6
Outlook Express Setup
1. outlookexpress > tools > accounts > properties >
2. General tab > account name – Localhost, Name: Test User 1, Organization: blank, E-Mail address: testuser1@localhost (some tutorials I found included .com after localhost, as in
testuser1@localhost.com, but I could not get this to work), Include this account when receiving mail or synchronizing – checked
3. Servers tab > My incoming mail server is a – I used POP3, Incoming mail (POP3): 127.0.0.1, Outgoing mail (SMTP): 127.0.0.1, Account name: testuser1, Password: what ever you choose (since this is a local email test site I used testuser1
4. Connection tab > Always connect to this account using: unchecked
5. Apply > OK > Close
6. minus out Outlook Express
Configure Mercury Mail
1. start the XAMPP Control Panel Application make sure Apache, MySql, and Mercury are running, if not start the applications
2. select Mercury Admin > configuration > Manage local users > Add, Username: testuser1, Personal name: Test User 1, Mail password: testuser1 (Note: the three entries must match what was entered in Outlook Express), OK
3. configuration > MercuryS SMTP Server >General tab, Announce myself as: 127.0.0.1, TCP/IP timeout: 30, ESMTP maximum size: 0, Listen on TCP/IP port: 25, IP Interface to use: 127.0.0.1, Display session progress and debugging, OK
4. configuration > MercuryP POP3 Server, Listen on TCP port: 110, IP Interface to use: 127.0.0.1, Enable ‘Daylight Savings-proof’ message IDs – checked, Refuse access when no password is defined – checked, OK
5. configuration > MercuryE SMTP Client, Identify myself as: 127.0.0.1, Name servers: 127.0.0.1, Save
6. configuration > MercuryD POP3 Client, Under the POP3 Account Information, if Host 127.0.0.1 is not listed, and Username testuser1 is not listed then select ADD, POP3Host: 127.0.0.1, Username: testuser1, Password: testuser1 (Note: these three entries must be the same as used above), OK, under the POP3 Account Information, under the Host there should now be an entry 127.0.0.1:110 and under the Username there should be an entry testuser1, SAVE
7. minus out the Mercury admin screen – Note: if you X out the admin screen Mercury Mail will stop running, and you have to restart it, again
Testing Outlook and Mercury Mail
1. call up Outlook Express > create new mail > To: testuser1@localhost, Subject: test message, Content: test message sent at put the time of day this was sent (Note: I always put the time of day on the test messages in case there is a system problem or the messages are delayed for some reason, then I can somewhat track which messages are working and which are not), SEND (Note: If the system is working up to this point the test message will show up in the incoming mail box folder, if not, first select Send/Receive in Outlook Express. If it still doesn't work then recheck all of the setting above and try again. Due to system differences some of the settings may vary from system to system.
One final note, I am only using Outlook Express as a localhost email client. Good Luck and hope this helped.