The connection to Microsoft Exchange is unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action.

Recently purchased a new laptop. Successfully installed and activated office 365 on Windows 8 Pro. Obtained all the exchange server settings (OWA), changed the IP address in the local host file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts) , created and deleted multiple email profiles without success. After spending the whole day reading all the Q & As, this is my last resort.

I can log on to the Outlook Web App, but struggle to connect to the server via Outlook. It keeps on indicating that outlook must be online or connected.

Is there a way to configure Outlook from the Outlook Web App or check if outlook actually connects to the server?