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  CAC (Common Access Card) help for your personal computer

ARMY / DEFENSE KNOWLEDGE ONLINE (AKO / DKO) SPECIFICS    AKO / DKO Pamphlet

AKO Email settings for your mobile phone

AKO Facebook Page

I am the content provider and answer emails addressed to Some of these are questions that I answer consistently.

Question 1.  Why can't I log into AKO / DKO with my CAC?

Answer 1. Your CAC has to be registered with AKO / DKO.   **Reregistering your CAC can correct this as well.

Here's How:  Login to AKO / DKO with your logon and password.  Go to: Quick Links, CAC, My CAC Information.  If you see Clear Registered Information, click it.  Now register by selecting the Register button.  Follow on screen instructions.  

Here are the official instructions on AKO / DKO

Question 2.  Internet Explorer browser closes (crashes) when attempting to register your CAC on AKO / DKO or you receive "The server akocac.us.army.mil at cac-reg requires a username and password."

Answer 2.  Delete your temporary internet files.  Close browser, reopen, try again.

Answer 2.1.  To make this automatic.  Go to Tools, Internet Options, Advanced tab, scroll down to (and check the box next to) Empty Temporary Internet Files when browser is closed

  Try these only if the 2 above did not work

Answer 2.2.  Go to Tools, Internet Options, Security tab, click on Internet Security option.  Uncheck the box for Enable Protected Mode.

Answer 2.3.  Go to Tools, Internet Options, Content tab, Certificates button, Personal tab (your already there), Advanced button, check the box next to Client Authentication.

Question 3.  When I logon to AKO / DKO with my CAC, I see my old CAC certificates (or more certificates than just my own) to choose from,  How do I clear the old Certificates?

Answer 3.  Open Internet Explorer, Select Tools, Internet Options, Content (Tab), Certificates (Button).  Select all of the Certificates you don't want, and select the Remove button.  You may have to do them individually.

Answer3.1.  Open Internet Explorer, Select Tools, Internet Options, Content (Tab), Certificates (Button), Intermediate Certification Authorities (Tab).  Locate and select the expired VeriSign Digital ID Certificate.  Select Remove, Close, OK.

Question 4.  When attempting to logon to AKO / DKO, the browser closes (crashes), receive "500 - Internal Server Error" message, returns you to the home screen, or just doesn't seem to work.

Answer 4.  Make sure you nave NOT added AKO / DKO to your trusted sites

Here's How:  Go to Tools, Internet Options, Security tab, Click on trusted sites, Click Sites button, click on:  https://akocac.us.army.mil into white box then click remove, close this window, click OK. 

Visual steps for below items

Delete your temporary internet files in your browser.  NOTE: Make sure AKO is NOT the page that is currently open when you do this.  This means, navigate to any other website, THEN perform these steps.

Here's How (IE8):  Go to Tools, Internet Options, General tab, Select the Delete button under Browsing History, select the Delete Files button under Temporary Internet Files section

Here's How (IE7):  Go to Tools, Internet Options, General tab, Select the Delete button under Browsing History, select the Delete Files button under Temporary Internet Files section

Here's How (IE6):  Go to Tools, Internet Options, General tab, Select the Delete Files button under Temporary Internet Files section 

Answer 4.1:  Go to Tools, Internet Options, Advanced tab, scroll down to the bottom and make sure that ONLY SSL 3.0 & TLS 1.0 is checked, any other SSLs and TLS' need to be unchecked.

Answer 4.2:  Close your Yahoo / AVG tool bar, close browser, reopen browser.  Here's how to close your Yahoo toolbar:  Go to :  Tools, Toolbars, uncheck Yahoo toolbar.   Close browser, reopen browser.  Now try logging into AKO / DKO with your CAC again.

Answer 4.3:  Verify you are using Internet Explorer when attempting to register your CAC.  If you are using Firefox, please look at the Firefox page for the needed DoD configuration file.

Answer 4.4:  Go to:  Tools, Internet Options, Security tab, click on the Internet Security option (it's usually already there).  Uncheck the box for Enable Protected Mode (Only on IE 7 & 8). 

Answer 4.5:  Open Internet Explorer, Click Tools, Internet options, content (tab), certificate (button) and delete all the certificates listed. Remove, then Re-insert the CAC, your certificates should automatically reload.  If they don't, open up ActivClient, click Tools, Advanced, Make Certificates available to Windows.

Answer 4.6:  Open Internet Explorer, Click Tools, Internet Options, Advanced (tab), Select the Reset... button at the bottom. 

Question 5: How do I change my AKO password? 

First:  Your CAC has to be registered, if it is not, look at Question 1 above.   If you are a non-CAC holder follow below (minus the logon with CAC part).

Here's How:  Logon to AKO with your CAC.  Click on: My Account, Account Settings, Change Password.   The rest should be self explanatory.   AKO does have a self help video located here.  You will need to have Adobe Flash player installed, and be using Internet Explorer to view.  NOTE  I had to download them, open up IE, go to File, open, navigate to my download location and select the .swf file.  It then started to play in my web browser.

NOTE:  Please be aware..  Sometimes when you type in your new password, it will 'look' like you didn't do it right, because it will come back to the same page.   Please look at the top of this page.  There will be a one line of text that will be green for a successful change or red telling you a reason why it did not change.

Question 6:  Can I use Outlook to check my email?

Answer 6:  Yes you can.  Here is how to set up AKO / DKO in Outlook, or any other POP/ IMAP email client.  (I also check via my Windows Mobile Phone).   The instructions here are for Outlook 2007, but the settings themselves are the same in Officer 2003 & 2010.

Question 7: Can I decide how my "Friendly name" shows up on AKO / DKO?   A friendly name example is:  Danberry, Michael J CW3 USAR TRADOC.

Answer 7:  If you are dual account holder (i.e.. you are a civilian and a Reservist) you can select which friendly name is displayed within your AKO / DKO webmail. 

You may also visit help.us.army.mil for the official instructions.

Question 8:  "There is a problem with this website security certificate."  error.  Your options are listed as  "Click here to close this webpage" or "Continue to this website" where it states it is not recommended.

Answer 8:  Latest DoD Certificates are needed, I have instructions where you can download and install them here

Question 9:  I am receiving the message: "403 Access Forbidden - You do not have Permission to Access this resource."

Answer 9:  Verify that you do have the ActivClient & DoD certificates software installed, Visit the Notes page to double check what you installed already.

Answer 9.1:  Verify that you are using Internet Explorer when attempting to utilize your CAC.  If you are using Firefox, please look at the Firefox page for the needed DoD configuration file.

Answer 9.2:  If you receive this message when trying to download ActivClient, you need to know that the ActivClient download links on AKO are for Army personnel only.  If your account is listed as an Army volunteer, Guest, family member, retired, or other military branch, you  will not be able to download the file from AKO.  Other military branches look here to find where you can download ActivClient.

Answer 9.3:  Go to: https://www.us.army.mil from this link.  There could be a problem with the shortcut in your favorites.  Simply re add AKO to your favorites replacing your existing one.

Answer 9.4:  Your CAC may need to be registered.  Instructions in #1 above.

Answer 9.5:  Look at # 4 above for more ideas

Question 10:  Receiving:  "You are not logged in with your CAC" when you are actually logged on with your CAC when using Firefox.

Answer 10:  Use Internet Explorer when using your CAC with anything related to AKO / DKO (and most DoD sites).

Answer 10.1:  If you insist on using Firefox, look at the Firefox page for the needed DoD configuration file.

Question 11:  When attempting to extract ActivClient 6.1, the icon is not a folder with a zipper on it, or a different program opens up. 

Answer 11:  Somehow your file association was changed on your computer.  Go here for the answer

Question 12:  I have 2 CACs (1 military & 1 civilian), I'm only able to use one on AKO / DKO.  Is this correct?

Answer 12:  Yes, you can only have 1 CAC registered at a time with AKO / DKO.  How to register your CAC

Question 13:  I set up my AKO / DKO logon for CAC only. I don't want it this way anymore, how can I change it back?

Answer 13:  To remove the CAC-Only logon, you must be able to access your account with your CAC.  Follow these instructions:

Log into your AKO/DKO account with your CAC. Click on the ‘My Account’ tab. Click on ‘Account Settings’. Click on ‘Change Password’. Enter a new password following the directions on the screen into the fields “New Password” and “Confirm New Password”. Click on “Remove CAC Only Login”.

 You may also visit  help.us.army.mil for the official instructions.

Question 14:  How do I contact the AKO / DKO Help Desk?

Answer 14:  All contact information is located on the help desk page at help.us.army.mil    You may direct dial:  866-335-ARMY(2769)  Press Option 2 or use the Click to Call feature.  * Service members worldwide can receive a callback using the Click to Call feature by selecting the 'talk by phone' option.  If you only have DSN, dial 312-560-1110 ask the operator to dial 866-335-2769 for you.

Question 15:  While logging into AKO / DKO with your CAC, selecting your certificate and typing in your PIN the page stalls at "You will be logged into AKO / DKO shortly."

Answer 15:  When the new window pops up showing you are being logged into AKO / DKO, Add https://akocac.us.army.mil  to your trusted sites. 

Here's How: In Internet Explorer Go to Tools, Internet Options, Security tab, Click on trusted sites, Click Sites button to add it in, (https://akocac.us.army.mil should show up in the box, if it doesn't, type it in) click add, close this window, then click OK.

Question 16:  Receive "Insert card" when attempting to access AKO, DTS, OWA or any other CAC enabled website when your CAC is inserted in the CAC reader and you can access it through ActivClient.

Answer 16:  Open Internet Explorer, Click tools, Internet options, content (tab), certificate (button) and delete all the certificates listed. Remove, then Re-insert the CAC, your certificates should automatically reload.  If they don't, open up ActivClient, click Tools, Advanced, Make Certificates available to Windows.

Question 17:  How do I change my AKO username after a legal name change.

Answer 17:  Visit this AKO Help page regarding username change

Question 18:  How do I send Digitally Signed, or Encrypted emails from AKO?

Answer 18:  Visit this AKO Help page regarding how to set this up.

Question 19:  Where can I change the settings to receive notifications via my AKO Email?

Answer 19:  Visit this AKO Help page regarding how to adjust the settings.

Question 20:  I am having problems using my CAC on AKO with Internet Explorer (IE8)

Answer 20: This  is becoming a very common problem.  Some ideas to fix this are in the answers above in questions 2, 4, & 9

Question 21:  I am a contractor and my CAC expires on XXX but my AKO renewed before the change in naming convention began.  I was not allowed to complete the online paperwork to renew my CAC without an email address with CTR in it, but I don't have one and won't automatically get one until my AKO account renews again early next year.  Help!

Answer 21: Each contractor who has a CAC renewal before the AKO renewal will have to call the AKO Help desk  866-335-ARMY(2769) or use the Click to Call feature, provide their SSN and the answers to their security questions, the Help Desk will put in an order to change the AKO address.

Question 22:  When attempting to register your CAC, you receive the following message "You do not have permission for: undefined section "cac".  Defaulting to Account information Page.  Contact support if you think this is in error."

Answer 22:  Select OK, then when on the My Account page, click on CAC / Cert Registration then Register your CAC.

Questions 23:  Can I check my AKO email with my cell phone?

Answer 23:  Yes you can, visit the AKO mobile webpage.