If you already own a domain name with another domain name registrar, you can redirect it (also known as forwarding or redelegating your domain) to your Microsoft Office Live Small Business account. Visitors who type the Web address for your old domain name will be automatically sent to your Office Live Small Business Web site.

You can choose to redirect your Web site and your e-mail addresses to Office Live Small Business, or you can redirect just your Web site and keep your e-mail addresses with your current domain name registrar.

  Notes  

• If you have a custom domain through Windows Live (for example, one using the format www.fourthcoffee.com), you can redirect the Web site to Office Live Small Business, but not the e-mail addresses. Those e-mail addresses will continue to be hosted through your Windows Live account.
• If you redirected a domain name to Office Live Small Business, but you then decide that you want to manage that domain using a different service provider, you can remove that domain from your Office Live Small Business account. When you redirect your domain to another service provider, that domain no longer points to your Office Live Small Business Web site. For more information, see Remove a custom domain name registered with Office Live Small Business.

Watch the demo (2:09)

• Redirect your Web site and e-mail addresses to Office Live Small Business

• Redirect your Web site, but keep your e-mail addresses with your current registrar

• Redirect your e-mail addresses if you previously redirected your Web site only

• Check your account status

• Find the registrar for a domain name

Redirect your Web site and e-mail addresses to Office Live Small Business

If your current domain name registrar appears in the following lists, click that link for assistance. If your domain registrar is not listed, use the instructions following the list. If you don't know who your domain name registrar is, see Find the registrar for a domain name.

In the United States:

• Redirect your domain name from 1&1 Internet
• Redirect your domain name from GoDaddy.com
• Redirect your domain name from Network Solutions
• Redirect your domain name from Register.com
• Redirect your domain name from Melbourne IT
• Redirect your domain name from Yahoo! Small Business

In the United Kingdom:

• Redirect your domain name from BT
• Redirect your domain name from 123-Reg.co.uk
• Redirect your domain name from Easyspace
• Redirect your domain name from Fasthosts.co.uk

Redirecting your domain name and e-mail addresses to Office Live Small Business is a two-step process. First, you redirect your domain name in Office Live Small Business, and then you change the name server settings with your current domain name registrar to complete the redirection process.

  Notes  

• If you are a Windows Small Business Server 2008 customer, read the article Manually redirect your domain name to Office Live Small Business in Windows Small Business Server 2008.
• If you redirect your Web site and your e-mail addresses, you cannot later choose to move your e-mail addresses back to your old domain name registrar.

Redirect your Web site and e-mail addresses in Office Live Small Business

1. Sign in to Office Live Small Business.
2. On the Office Live Small Business Home page, at the top, click More, and then click Domain Manager.
3. On the Domain Manager page, click Redirect a domain.
4. In the Enter your domain name window, type the domain name (without the extension; for example, type fourthcoffee, not fourthcoffee.com) that you want to redirect to your Office Live Small Business account. In the drop-down list next to the entry box, select the extension for the domain name.
5. Select Redirect Web site and e-mail addresses, and then click Next.
6. In the Review your domain information window, make sure that this is the correct domain name, and then click Next.
7. To complete your domain name redirection, you must change your name server settings with your current domain name registrar. Follow the instructions shown in the Complete your domain redirection window. The same instructions appear in the next section, Change the name server settings with your domain name registrar.
8. After you finish changing your name server settings at your current registrar, click Next. In the following window, click Finish, or you can choose to Redirect another domain.

 Note    To see your redirected domain name on the Domain Manager page, you may need to refresh your browser.

Change the name server settings with your domain name registrar

The Office Live Small Business primary and secondary name servers are NS1.officelive.com and NS2.officelive.com.

1. Sign in to your current domain name registrar's Web site. If you don't know who your domain name registrar is, see Find the registrar for a domain name.
2. Locate the section on your domain registrar's Web site where you can change your name server settings. This section may be labeled in one of the following ways.
   • Edit DNS
   • Name Server Settings
   • DNS Server Settings
3. Enter the Office Live Small Business primary and secondary name servers, NS1.officelive.com and NS2.officelive.com, and then save the information.

    Note   If you cannot change your name server settings using these instructions, contact your domain name registrar's customer service for further assistance.

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Redirect your Web site, but keep your e-mail addresses with your current registrar

You can leave your e-mail addresses with your current registrar and redirect just your Web site to your Office Live Small Business account in a process known as partial redirection. Partially redirecting your domain name to your new Office Live Small Business Web site is a two-step process. First, you redirect your domain name in Office Live Small Business, and then you change the A-Record IP Address with your current registrar.

Redirect your Web site in Office Live Small Business

1. Sign in to Office Live Small Business.
2. On the Office Live Small Business Home page, at the top, click More, and then click Domain Manager.
3. On the Domain Manager page, click Redirect a domain.
4. In the Enter your domain name window, type the domain name (without the extension; for example, type fourthcoffee, not fourthcoffee.com) that you want to redirect to your Office Live Small Business account. In the drop-down list next to the entry box, select the extension for the domain name.
5. Select Redirect your Web site only, and then click Next.
6. In the Review your domain information window, make sure that this is the correct domain name, and then click Next.
7. To complete your domain name redirection, you must change your A-Record IP Address at your current registrar. Follow the instructions shown in the Complete your domain redirection window. The same instructions appear in the next section, Change the A-Record IP Address with your current registrar.
8. After you finish changing your name server settings at your current registrar, click Next. In the following window, click Finish, or else choose to Redirect another domain. To see your redirected domain name on the Domain Manager page, you may need to refresh your browser.

Change the A-Record IP Address with your current registrar

1. Sign in to your current domain name registrar's Web site. If you don't know who your domain name registrar is, see Find the registrar for a domain name.
2. Locate the section on your domain name registrar's Web site where you can edit your DNS Settings or Name Server Settings.
3. Within the DNS Settings section, locate the place where you can change your A-Record IP Address. This section may be labeled in one of the following ways.
   • A or CNAME Record
   • IP Address (A Records)
   • A (Host)
4. Type your A-record IP Address. See Find your A-record IP Address.

    Note   If you cannot change your name server settings using these instructions, contact your domain name registrar's customer service for further assistance.

Find your A-record IP Address

1. In Office Live Small Business, return to the Domain Manager page. If you are currently in the Redirect Your Domain window, click Next until the last window appears, and then click Finish.
2. On the Domain Manager page, locate the name of the domain that you are redirecting. If you don't see the domain name, refresh your browser window.
3. Next to the domain name, click Pending.
4. The Check your status window opens. Select the radio button for either I have not changed the settings at my old registrar yet or I changed the settings at my old registrar more than 72 hours ago, and then click Next.
5. Your A-record IP address appears above the instructions box. Write this address down. The A-record is the numeric equivalent of your domain name.
6. Click Finish.

 Note    Before you can make changes to your Web site after partial redirection, you must change the primary domain to your free Office Live Small Business domain that ends in .officelive.com. For more information, see Make changes to your Web site after partial redirection.

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Redirect your e-mail addresses if you previously redirected your Web site only

If you partially redirected your domain name so that your Web site now points to your new Office Live Small Business account, and you later want to also move your e-mail accounts to Office Live Small Business, you can completely redirect your partially redirected Web site.

1. Sign in to Office Live Small Business.
2. On the Office Live Small Business Home page, at the top, click More, and then click Domain Manager.
3. On the Domain Manager page, next to the domain name that you want to completely redirect, click Properties.
4. On the Domain Properties page, under Domain Details, click Edit properties.
5. Select Web Site and E-mail, and then click Save.
6. Sign in to your current domain name registrar's Web site. Follow the instructions in the section Change the name server settings with your domain name registrar earlier in this article to change the name server settings for the domain to point to Office Live Small Business name servers.

 Note   To receive e-mail messages from your redirected e-mail accounts, you must create those e-mail accounts in Office Live Small Business. For example, if you redirect the e-mail address someone@fourthcoffee.com, you won't see your incoming messages until you create the account someone@fourthcoffee.com in Office Live Small Business. To learn about creating e-mail accounts, see Create or delete e-mail accounts.

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Check your account status

Please allow 24 to 72 hours for your domain name redirection to finish processing.

1. Sign in to your Office Live Small Business account.
2. On the Office Live Small Business Home page, at the top, click More, and then click Domain Manager.
• If Active appears in the Status column next to your domain name, the redirection is complete, and your domain name now points to your Office Live Small Business Web site.
• If Pending appears in the Status column next to your domain name, the redirection is not yet complete. Not enough time may have yet passed, or you may not have finished redirecting your domain with your current registrar. To learn more about the status of your redirection, click Pending, and then follow the instructions.

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Find the registrar for a domain name

If you want to redirect your existing domain name to Office Live Small Business, but you aren't certain who your current registrar is, do the following to find the registrar.

1. Open your browser, and go to the InterNIC Web site.
2. In the Whois box, type your domain name. For example, type fourthcoffee.com.
3. Verify that the Domain button is selected, and then click Submit. The name of the registrar appears on the page.

For Whois information about country-code top-level domains (for example, those ending in .de or .fr), go to UWhois.com.

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