pop3 connector download period

[Galiher]

We have two servers running, one is SBS 2003 and other is the upgraded SBS 2008. In 2003 I can put imbdownl.exe and imbdlvr.exe file without any problem to scheduled tasks. I know how to do that. But when am trying to do exactly the same thing on SBS 2008, there are no those two files. Is something wrong with my SBS 2008or is there any alternate way to have emails more often than every 5 minutes? Thanks in advance for all helps.

[Bollea]

I think you can do it with the help of SMTP, right? Did you tried that?

[Galiher]

I appreciate your help Bollea but have a bit confusion. Can you please be more specific about the same. Are you talking about the file called smtp(.exe) or do you mean the smtp-service?

[Chapal]

I think Bollea was trying to say that don't use a POP connector instead host your own mail (receive it via SMTP), and delivery will be nearly instantaneous. POP connectors are a kluge & are not recommended. If you need any more help regarding the same, reply back.

[toysareforboys]

In SBS 2008 I cannot find the two files anymore. Is there a way to have emails more often than every 5 minutes?

I know this post is old, but it kept coming up in search after search so I figured I should post the correct information here. The file that can control the pop3 downloading in SBS 2K8 is called Pop3Connector.exe and it's located in C:\Program Files\Windows Small Business Server\Bin. To get it to force the POP3 connector to download mail run Pop3Connector.exe -downloadNow

Now, to get it to run on a schedule is a little more difficult. Pop3Connector.exe is a dos program, so it opens a dos window when you run it. If you try and set it up in task scheduler it'll cause your cursor to lose focus on whatever you have it on (even if you make it run minimized), every time the script runs. Super annoying especially if you have it set to run every 60 seconds like I do :)

Solution: Use a VBScript to silently run the pop3connector.exe program!! You can try and download the vbs script from me here: (make sure you RIGHT CLICK the link, save link as, save target as, etc., save it in your Windows folder or if not pay attention to the path in the rest of the instructions...), but most places/browsers won't let you download VBS files, so here is the code to make your own:

Open notepad and paste the following lines into it:

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Return = WshShell.Run("""C:\Program Files\Windows Small Business Server\Bin\Pop3Connector.exe"" -downloadNow", 0, True)
set WshShell = Nothing

Click, File, Save As. MAKE SURE for file type you have it set to "all files *.*", and for the filename type C:\Windows\ForcePOP3.vbs and click save. Now go into Task Scheduler (it's under Administrative Tools). Create a new task (NOT BASIC) and set it up like this:
http://likestuff.globat.com/pop3_2k8fix/pop3task01.png
http://likestuff.globat.com/pop3_2k8fix/pop3task02.png
http://likestuff.globat.com/pop3_2k8fix/pop3task03.png

After rebooting task manager should look like this:http://likestuff.globat.com/pop3_2k8fix/pop3task04.png

In case the above images disappear, just make a new task set to run at startup, and repeat every 1 minutes, for an indefinite time. Make sure it's not set to stop the task after 3 days! Just uncheck the box. Under Action pick Start a program. In the program/script box type wscript.exe and in the arguments box type C:\Windows\ForcePOP3.vbs

Unfortunately you MUST reboot the server after setting up the task. I was not able to figure out a way to get the script to run without rebooting. You can right click the task and click "run" and it'll run everything so you can test it, but it won't repeat the task every 1 min! If you want to know if it worked, check your POP3 log file at C:\Program Files\Windows Small Business Server\Logs\pop3connector and check the date/time stamps to verify it ran correctly.

One absolutely great thing about this setup, is say if it has a ton of mail to download and it takes longer then a minute to download, Task Manager just skips running it again until it has completed the first task!!! From what I've read, this is WAY better then scheduling the GUI to run every 5 mins, because if it's still downloading it kills the connection and starts over :(

Anyway, once you've got this all setup and working, make sure you set the schedule in the GUI to only check every 24 hours. Only one instance of pop3connector can be run at a time, so even if they tried to check together, I'm sure there shouldn't be a problem and it'd just kick in a minute later.

Hope this helps the people that need near instant mail delivery when SMTP is not an option.