I installed the wamp stack on windows vista 32 bit, and then the wordpress module. Wordpress works great, but when it tries to use the php mail() function, I get errors saying that it can’t send.

I checked around, and followed multiple how-tos on getting this to work on a windows server, but with no luck.

I even tried installing linux on the laptop, but apparently the hardware and software don’t play well together.

Currently, I’m getting just a blank popup box with the DB backup plugin for wordpress. The plugin is supposed to send me an email of the backup.

However, new comments are not sent to me. Visitors can subscribe to email updates of new comments, but receive no emails.

Do I need to setup an smtp server? Is this part of the wamp stack?

The issue is still outstanding but can be sidestepped with the amazing xpertmailer program that allows the user to specify an external smtp server.

I think the issue at hand has something to do with windows not having a built-in smtp (ala sendmail with linux). I’ve read and read about people trying to get this work, and in short: it’s a big pain.

My advice is to use this xpertmailer (which comes as a wordpress plugin as well) and point it to gmail, using gmail’s smtp as a server. It works beautifully.