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This article explains the purpose and component parts of the email queue. In addition, it explains how to troubleshoot error messages related to the queue, such as when you receive the message “Failed to queue” in the results window while sending a message with Email Marketing Pro.

Email Queue – Purpose and Components

The purpose of the email queue is to provide a place for temporary storage of outgoing email messages. These outgoing messages are “picked up” by a Windows Service (i.e., a program that runs in the background of Windows) and sent to the mail server using a process that runs in the background.  This Windows Service has the ability to maintain several connections to the mail server, thus sending multiple emails at once, a powerful feature that is not available in the free version that speeds up mail sending exponentially.

The queue depends on four components in order to function properly.  You can check if the queue is installed properly by going to Mail –> Queue Manager. If any of these components are not installed or configured correctly, the queue will fail. Those components are:

1. Administrative privileges – a manifest file called emp.exe.manifest, located in the program folder, ensures the program will be run with administrative privileges.
2. A Windows Service called ChilkatSMTPQ. Installed as a separate program, the SMTPQ is located in the program directory and is called ChilkatSmtpQ.exe
3. A registry key called HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Chilkat Software, Inc.\SMTPQ
4. Six subfolders located in the folder “C:\Users\<Your User Name>\Documents\EMP”. These folders are called Errors, log, queue, sent, undeliverable, and undelivered

Troubleshooting the Queue Components

To troubleshoot the email queue, check that all of the component parts are installed or configured properly. Follow the instructions after each component name to check that component.

1. Administrative Privileges – launch Email Marketing Pro and make sure a security warning appears, like the following:

If the warning does not appear, you can configure Email Marketing Pro to run with admin privileges by following these steps:

1. Go to the program folder located in C:\Program Files\James River Software\Email Marketing Pro Small Business.
2. Right-click the file called EMP.exe. and select properties. The properties window opens.
3. Click the Compatibility tab.
4. Check the box “Run this program as an administrator”
5. Click OK to save your changes.

2. Windows Service

To check the Windows Service, go to Mail –> Queue Manager, and you should see the message “Queue Service is running,” as shown below.  If you receive the message “Queue Service is not installed,” try clicking the “Install” button.

Another way to check the Windows Service is as follows:

1. Click Start. In the search box, type “services.msc” and hit Enter. The services window opens
2. You will see a list of Windows Services that run in the background on your computer. Look for the item ChilkatSMTP, as shown below:

If the service is not listed, then it was not installed correctly during the installation.  One possible reason is that your antivirus program blocked the installation, because it incorrectly detected that the mail queue is a virus that sends spam.

Please, first try disabling your antivirus program and run the Email Marketing Pro installation again.

Also, you can try to manually install the windows service in the following way:

1. Open a command prompt with admin privileges by clicking Start and then entering “cmd” in the search box. When cmd appears under the Programs menu, right-click and select run as administrator.
2. In the command window, enter the following command: sc create SMTPQ binPath= “c:\program files\james river softw
   are\email marketing professional small business 2010\chilkatsmtpq.exe”

3. Registry Key

Your system registry should contain a registry key called HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Chilkat Software, Inc.\SMTPQ, as shown below. Follow these steps to find the key:

1. Click the Windows Start button. In the search box (or run box on XP), enter “regedit” without quotes. Your registry editor will open
2. In the registry editor navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ and look for  the subkey Chilkat Software, Inc.\SMTPQ

If the key does not exist, follow these steps. (Warning: modifying the registry incorrectly may cause damage to your system. Make a registry backup before attempting these steps.)

1. Click the Windows Start button. In the search box (or run box on XP), enter “regedit” without quotes. Your registry editor will open.
2. In the registry editor navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
3. Right-click the SOFTWARE key and select New-Key. Enter a key named “Chilkat Software, Inc.” without quotes
4. Right-click the Chilkat Software, Inc. key and select New –> Key. Enter a new key named SMTPQ.

4. Subfolders

You should have five subfolders located under C:\Users\[Your UserName]\Documents\EMP. To check that the subfolders are present, please follow these instructions:

1. First, check the Queue Manager. In Email Marketing Pro, go to Mail –> Queue Manager and see if there are values under Email Queue Settings by
2. Open Windows Explorer by double-clicking “My Computer” on your Windows Start menu.
3. In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Users\[Your User Name]\Documents\EMP , where [Your User Name] is your windows user name
4. Look for the folders called “queue,” “sent,” “undeliverable,” and “undelivered.”

If these folders are not  present, please try the following:

1. In Email Marketing Pro, open Mail –> Queue Manager.
2. Under “Email Queue Settings,” enter the correct values.
3. For Queue Directory, enter “C:\Users\[Your User Name]\Documents\EMP\queue”
4. For Undelivered Directory, enter “C:\Users\[Your User Name]\Documents\EMP\undelivered”
5. For Sent Directory, enter “C:\Users\[Your User Name]\Documents\EMP\sent”
6. For log directory, enter “C:\Users\[Your User Name]\Documents\EMP\log”
7. Enter the max threads, meaning the maximum connections to your mail server. Around 20 is usually OK.
8. Check the box to indicate if you want to save each sent email.
9. Click Apply Settings.
10. Click the “Stop” button to stop the Windows Service; then click “Start” to restart the service.
11. In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Users\[Your User Name]\Documents\EMP , where [Your User Name] is your windows user name. Look for the folders called “queue,” “sent,” “undeliverable,” and “undelivered” to make sure they are present.
12. If any of the above did not work, then check components 1 and 2 above.

Additional Steps

If you are not able to fix the email queue by following the instructions given in this article, it would be most helpful to contact technical support at support @ atlanticsoftwarestore dot com and attach a screenshot of the above components.