Successful Sign-in to outlook.com e-mail account from/by UNKNOWN Device/Platform & Browser/app

I am using eM Client Pro on my HP ProBook 450 G1 Notebook PC running on Windows 8.1 Pro, and I am using a Local User Account (not a Microsoft Account).

When I open eM Client, the Synchronisation of my Outlook.com e-mail account folders begins almost immediately, and finishes approx. 1 minute later, depending on my Internet connection speed.

When I subsequently log-in to my “Microsoft Account Log-in Live” webpage, in order to check the “Recent Activity” for my “Outlook.com e-mail account”, the “Recent Activity” shows a “successful sign-in” at the expected time, by/from “Device/Platform = Windows”, & “Browser/App = Exchange ActiveSync”, followed immediately (actually same time is given) by “Device/Platform = UNKNOWN”, & “Browser/app = UNKNOWN”.

In both cases the “Account alias” that is given is my Outlook.com e-mail address, [email protected], and the IP address that is given, is for my ISP’s Server.

The “UNKNOWN successful sign-in” to my Outlook.com e-mail account, seems to occur only after the “first automatic synchronization” in any given eM Client session. For example, it does not does seem occur again in the same eM Client session, when I subsequently click “Send & Receive All Messages” for my Outlook.com e-mail Account.

Although I am not absolutely certain, I do not think that my Outlook.com e-mail account has been hacked into, and all the Norton Internet Security 2014 scans that I have done, have not detected any type of virus infection.

Would appreciate if anyone could provide an explanation for the cause of the “UNKOWN successful sign-ins”.

Thank you

Hi Alan, it is possible that the first initial sign in (requests) are defined as UNKNOWN as the synchronization itself then sends the information about the “browser” and “device” ID’s/information, but the first request may be still undefined, but it should be eM Client which requested the information from the server.

So this should be nothing to worry about.

Hope this helps,
Paul.

Hi Paul

Thank you for very much for your reply.

The “UNKNOWN” Successful sign-in occurs AFTER the initial  “KNOWN” successful sign-in by/from “Device/Platform = Windows”, & “Browser/App = Exchange ActiveSync”, which is the reverse sequence of what you are saying. Or am I misunderstanding your explanation ?

Regards

Alan

Hi again, sorry I’ve misread that the unknown connection is displayed after the known one.
But it’s basically still the same thing. eM Client can use multiple protocols to connect with your account, so it’s possible one of the initial connections can be listed as unknown.

Hope this helps,
Paul.

Hi Paul

Well that’s comforting.

Would be interesting though, to know if anyone else is experiencing the same behavior.

By the way, why cant I disable my Outlook.com e-mail account connection in eM Client in Tools > Accounts > General ?

What would I have to do in order disable it, so that eM Client does not connect to /synchronise with my Outlook.com e-mail account ?

Thanks again

Regards Alan

Hi again Alan,
I tried to check my account but I did not find the unknown item.

However the only reason why you wouldn’t be able to deactivate the account would be if it was setup as default, otherwise you should be able to uncheck the option “Enable Service”, “Enable account” to disable the account or the service.

Hope this helps,
Paul.

Hi Paul

Just to let you know, that prior to posting this thread, I had contacted MS Support on 13 August about my “UNKNOWN outlook.com sign-in problem”, and they said that they will investigate it.  I am still waiting for them to explain &/or resolve the problem. Thought I would let you know, in case they contact eM Client about it.

Regarding the disabling of the Outlook.com account, I only setup 2 accounts - the Outlook.com IMAP account, and a POP3 account.

I do not recall deliberately setting-up the Outlook. com account as the default.

I am able to disable the POP3 account.

Does this mean, that if I now set the POP3 account as the Default, by clicking on the “Set as default” button, that the POP3 account will replace the Outlook.com account as the Default Account ?

If yes, the apart from allowing me to disable the Outlook.com account, what difference does it make to the way eM Client works ?

Regards, Alan

One account always has to be default, the default account is highlighted with bold text in Tools > Accounts.
Yes by clicking on set as default will replace the default account, then you should be able to disable the service.

Changing default account does not change much, but when using options such as New > Mail in the toolbar the default account will be selected.

Hope this helps,
Paul.

Hi Paul

Thanks for your response.

I changed the default account, from the Outlook.com to the POP3 account, and then disabled the Outlook.com account, and this resulted in the deletion of all the Outlook.com account folders from eM Client.

I thought that it would just prevent the synchronization of the Outlook.com folders, and would not actually delete them from eM Client…

The Outlook.com account is still there in Tools > Accounts.

I assume that if I enable the Outlook.com account again, that the Folders will re-appear by synchronization ?

Regards, Alan

Hi again Alan, exactly, if you disable the account it will be removed from the GUI of eM Client except the Accounts window.
But if you go to Tools > Accounts, enable the account and then you select the “Mail, Calendar, Contacts” tab in the account settings and disable just the service, that will disable the synchronization of your items, but you should still be able to access all your previously downloaded data.

Hope this helps,
Paul.

Hi Paul

With my POP3 Account set as Default, I re-enabled my Outlook.com MAPI account in the General tab, which resulted in the re-appearance of my Outlook.com folders; but when I then tried to disable the synchronisation service in the “Mail, Calendar, Contacts” tab, it also disabled my Outlook.com account in the General tab, and the Folders disappeared again. Back to square one.

It appears that the enable/disable actions in the General tab & in the “Mail, Calendar, Contacts” tab are linked, so that changes in any one of them, automatically changes the other to the same setting.

Am I doing something wrong ?

Regards, Alan

Hi Alan, I’m sorry for confusing you actually, I just found out this is not possible. with IMAP account you can disable the IMAP service and the folders disappear as well. Just got a little confused here.

Sorry about this, 
Paul.

Hi Paul

No problem. Thanks again for your help.

Regards, Alan

No problem, let us know if you come across any other issues/questions, we’ll be happy to help.

Thank you,
Paul.

Hi Paul

Just though to add a few more questions.

  1. Mail, Calendar, Contacts Authentication :

In the Mail, Calendar, Contacts tab for my Outlook.com account, there are 2 authentication options :

  • Use identity Credentials

  • Use these credentials :

             User name :

             Password :

By default, “Use Identity Credentials”  has been selected as the authentication option.

  • What is the difference between these 2 options with regard to the “authentication process” ?

- could the default “Use identity credentials” option be the cause of my “UNKOWN” successful sign-in problem ?

  1. Disabling an IMAP Account, but retaining the Folders :

Can’t eM Client be modified to include the option of retaining the IMAP account folders when an IMAP account is disabled ?

Regards, Alan

Hi Alan, no the option should not be related to this option, identity credentials are used to sign with your account credentials, the option to use different credentials is for the ability to use the account with different credentials if it’s allowed, I believe this won’t be the case with your Outlook.com.

Unfortunately, I’ve discussed this feature with the developers, but this is not a considered feature for future releases, as all clients use this behavior, when disabling the IMAP service, the account would become unusable. If you want your account to not be synchronized with the server you can always switch to offline mode by going to File > Work Offline.

Hope this helps,
Paul.

Hi Paul

Thanks for the info.

  1. Mail Calendar Contacts Authentication

What do the “identity credentials” consist of for my Outlook.com e-mail account? Are they the same as my e-mail address and password ?

I tried changing the “Mail Calendar Contacts” authentication, from “Use identity credentials” to “Use these credentials” (my outlook.com account username & password), and it seemed to make no difference to the synchronization process of my outlook.com folders, and there was no change to the" UNKNOWN Outlook. com successful sign-in", which was still recorded in my MS Account “Recent Activity”.

  1. Disabling an IMAP Account, but retaining the Folders : 

I want to “prevent” the synchronization of my Outlook.com e-mail account, whilst continuing to use my POP3 account (i.e. send & receive)

Would switching to “offline mode” allow me to do this ?

Does working in “offline mode” prevent only the AUTOMATIC synchronization of all IMAP accounts, whilst still allowing the MANUAL synchronization of individual folders (e.g. Inbox & Sent)  ?

Alan

Hi again,
identity credentials are the same as the default authentication settings for the account (usually email address & password).
Unfortunately it is not possible to switch only one account to offline mode.

Thank you,
Paul.

Hi Paul

Not being able to disable a MAPI e-mail account, whilst retaining it’s previously downloaded messages & e-mail folders is a shortcoming.

Thanks for your patience in answering all my questions.

Regards

Alan

No problem, glad I could help, let us know if you come across any other questions or issues. We’ll be happy to help.

Thank you,
Paul.