XCLN: Poor Performance Starting Outlook over PPTP Connection

When you start a Microsoft Exchange Server client, such as Microsoft Outlook, over a Point to Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) connection, the program may start very slowly.

This behavior can occur when server host name to Internet Protocol (IP) address resolution is slow. Inefficient remote procedure call (RPC) binding order on the client computer can also affect connection speed.

To resolve this problem, add an entry for the Exchange Server to the Hosts file on the remote computer. You may also want to modify the RPC binding order on the remote computer.

To add the necessary entry to the Hosts file on the remote computer, follow these steps:

1. Start a text editor, for example Notepad.
2. Open the Hosts file from the Winnt\System32\Drivers\Etc folder.
   
   NOTE: If you are using the Lmhosts file instead of the Hosts file, it is also in the Winnt\System32\Drivers\Etc folder.
3. To add an entry to the Hosts file, at the end of the file, type the IP address and computer name of the destination server. For example:
   1.1.1.1 SERVER1
4. Save the Hosts file without an extension, and then quit the text editor.

For information about how to modify the RPC binding order on the remote computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: The Hosts file contains mappings of IP address to host name. It is used to resolve names on Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networks.

The Hosts file on the local computer is parsed before the name resolution request goes to a name server. When an entry in the Hosts file is incorrect, the host name is resolved to the incorrect IP address and the name resolution process stops. Make sure you type the correct mapping path in the host files.

There are no #PRE options to preload entries in the Hosts file as there are in the Lmhosts file.

For additional information about improving performance over PPTP connections, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: