Connecting Windows Mobile 6.1 emulator to MS Exchange Server 2007

The article describes how to connect the mobile device emulator running Windows Mobile 6.1 to Exchange 2007. The emulator can prove to be a perfect diagnostic tool for issues in mobile devices running Windows Mobile that connect to Exchange.

Although the author of this article uses emulator with Windows Mobile 6.1, other version of the system e.g. 5.0, 6.5 can be used as well.

Windows Mobile emulator setup

Download the Windows Mobile 6.1 emulator setup and run it. The installation is simple and does not require any special attention from the user. When the installation completes, run the program from the Start Menu

Start/Programs/Windows Mobile 6 SDK/Standalone Emulator Images/US English/

Fig. 1 Windows Mobile 6.1 emulator screen

The first thing to configure is the network adapter that is used to connect the network adapter of the device to the server. To do it choose Configure from the File menu and go to the Network tab. Select Enable NE2000 PCMCIA Network adapter and bind to: and from the drop down menu choose the correct network adapter that will be used by the device (Fig.2).

Fig. 2 Network adapter configuration dialog box

 In the next step you configure the network in the device itself. In the emulator choose Start\Settings\Connections (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 Network settings in Windows Mobile 6.1

In the Connections tab choose Connections and go to the Advanced tab (Fig.4). In this tab you configure the networks that will be emulated by the tool.

Fig. 4  Network settings and setup dialog box

Since no ISP will be used you need to change the network used to connect to the Internet. Click Select Networks and in the first drop down menu choose My Work Network (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5 Choose the network connected to the Internet

Close all dialog boxes by clicking OK and check the connectivity to the Internet. Simply open the Internet Explorer browser and visit a website.

Now the device is ready to connect to Exchange 2007.

Connecting to Exchange mailbox

Start configuring Windows Mobile by choosing Start/Programs/Active Sync. Now select Menu -> Add Server Source.

Enter the address of the mailbox you want to connect to and unselect Attempt to detect Exchange Server Settings automatically (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6 Configuring the connection to Exchange Server 2007

Click Next. Type the  address of your Exchange  Server 2007 (Fig.7).

Fig. 7 Editing the address of Exchange

Click Next. Enter the data related to the Exchange mailbox that the device will sync with (Fig.8). 

Fig. 8 Configuring the Exchange account

Click Next and in the resulting dialog box select the items you want to synchronize. Click Finish. The synchronization of the device with Exchange Server 2007 will commence.

This configuration will let you send messages from the mobile device emulator using the Exchange account in the same way this is done in a genuine mobile device equipped with Windows Mobile 6.1.