Adding your first mailbox. Select New Mailbox from the menu. You'll be presented with a dialog asking for your user id and server name and the password for the mailbox. Enter these the same as you would for your Email program, and press OK. For example if your email address is michael@bigbusiness.com your user name will be michael and the server name will be bigbusiness.com. Your never need to type in the @ symbol.

Should I use POP2 or POP3 ?

There are 2 types of POP mail servers - MailW@tch can communicate with either. Most mail servers use the POP3 protocol, which is what MailW@tch defaults to, so try this one first. If MailW@tch gives a Request Timed Out message then try changing to use POP2. If that fails talk to your system administrator or ISPs Help desk.

Checking for Mail

MailW@tch checks for mail in your mailbox automatically. However you can force it to check immediately just by double clicking on entry on the main window. Alternatively right click on that entry and select the Check This Mailbox Now menu option.

I want to change how often MailW@tch checks my mailbox.

By default MailW@tch checks for mail in each of your mailboxes every 15 minutes. You can change this on the advanced dialog. It is advisable not to set it to less than 5 minutes, otherwise it could degrade the the mail server hardware and the network in general. Each mailbox can be checked at a different interval.

I want to check all my mailboxes at once

Select the Check All Mailboxes Now menu option.

I don't want to see the main window cluttering up my desktop Double click on the MailW@tch icon on the taskbar to alternately hide and show your mailboxes. You can also use the Hide menu option.

What do the numbers mean next to each user name ?

The first number is the number of messages in that mailbox. The number in brackets is the number of messages that have arrived since MailW@tch last checked the mailbox.

How will MailW@tch tell me there's mail waiting in one of my mailboxes ?

There are serveral ways. A message box will appear telling you how many messages have arrived since the mailbox was last checked, and also which mailbox they are in. The title of the MailW@tch window will also show how many new messages have arrived. Also the icon will change from a closed envelope to an open envelope on the taskbar, and MailW@tch can beep. All of these are configurable using the Preferences... menu option.

Using sounds to signal new mail has arrived MailW@tch can be set up to play a tune when new mail arrives. A different tune can be set up for each mailbox. You can even record your own tune or message (using the Windows Sound Recorder) and MailW@tch will use it to let you have new mail.

To set up a tune Select the Advanced button on the Mailbox Settings Dialog, and then the Browse button to select a New Mail Sound File A good place to find tunes is in the \WINNT\MEDIA directory for Windows NT and in \WINDOWS\MEDIA for Windows 95. Tunes are .WAV files. The tune you select will be played when new mail arrives. Remember to check the Sound check box on the Preferences dialog to enable all the tunes.

If you are away from your computer or you don't acknowledge that new mail has arrived MailW@tch can play a reminder tune at intervals until you acknowledge it. To enable this feature go to the Preferences dialog, check Play Reminder Tune and select a tune to play. You can also decide how often to play the tune - 2 minutes (120 seconds) is a good interval. Again, you can record you own tune. Nothing seems to work. Help.

• Look at the Advanced Options
• Check the FAQ

Advanced Options

To get to the advanced option click the Advanced button on the Setup Mailbox dialog. On this dialog you can change the port the MailW@tch connects to. By convention mail servers listen for connections (such as Email programs or MailW@tch) on either port 109 or 110. POP2 servers listen on port 109 and POP3 servers listen on port 110. It is unusual (though not impossible) to find other ports in use. The golden rule is to see what settings your email program uses and copy them. You could also try asking your System Administrator or the Support Desk of your ISP (Internet Service Provider).