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CHECKING FOR AND RECEIVING MAIL

The POP server is the machine where your mail is received and stored until it is transferred to the Eudora program on your PC. Your POP server account is specified in the POP A ccount setting in the Configuration... dialog (see the "Configuration... Dialog" section).

Note: To best understand the functioning of the POP server with respect to Eudora, please see Appendix C.

There are two methods to check your designa ted POP server to see if you have new mail. One method is automatic and the other is manual. Both methods deliver any mail addressed to you from the POP server to your machine. Before any checks are made, however, the POP server requests your account password.

Automatic Checking

Eudora automatically checks for mail if you tell it how often to do so. From the Special menu, select Configuration.... The Configuration... dialog has a field entitl ed Check For Mail Every ? Minute(s). Type in a value and Eudora automatically checks for mail at the desired interval whenever it is running (even if you are using other applications on your PC). For example, if you type in 60, Eudora checks for mail every 60 minutes. In fact, 60 minutes is a good minimum interval, as checking mail more frequently puts an unnecessary load on your POP server.

Note: If automatic checking is set, the Check Mail command under the File menu displa ys the next time that an automatic check is scheduled to occur.

When Eudora does a mail check, you can be notified of new mail in one or all of three different ways: an Alert dialog, a special Sound, and the opening of the 'In' mail box. These options are turned on or off in the Switches... dialog (see the "Switches... Dialog" section). In addition, if Eudora is minimized when new mail arrives, the minimized icon also changes when new mail arrives.

Note: For the sound aler t to work, you need a sound driver which enables PC speaker (see Appendix A for a source for this driver).

When you receive notice that new mail has arrived, select Eudora from task list or press [ALT]+[TAB] to switch to Eudora. Mail arrives in the 'In' mailbox. The messages are listed in the order they are received, with the most recent message listed last.

If the 'In' mailbox is not already open, select In from the Mailbox menu. Unread messages are designated by a bullet (o) in the far left column of the message summary. Double-click anywhere on a message summary to open the message. Incoming messages are saved indefinitely in the In mailbox until they are deleted or transferred to another mai lbox.

Manual Checking

You may check for mail manually at any time by selecting Check Mail from the File menu. If you haven't successfully entered your password since opening the Eudora program, you are prompted for it.

If the Show Progress option in the Switches... dialog is turned on, the Progress window is displayed momentarily at the top of the screen as the POP server is checked.

If there is a problem reaching the POP s erver, an error message alert is displayed. To rectify the problem, review the POP server settings in the Configuration... dialog for correctness. If there is no obvious error, contact your network or company's Eudora support coordinator.

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Note: If you ever have a problem of this type, the numbers in the ()'s are very important. Record these numbers for reference when reporting the problem.

If there is new mail, it is transferred automatically from the PO P server to Eudora on your PC. If the Show Progress option in the Switches... dialog is turned on, a progress window is displayed at the top of your screen allowing you to monitor the mail transfer.

If the New Mail Notification: Alert option in the Switches... dialog is turned on, the new mail dialog is displayed, stating that new messages have been delivered.

Depending on your settings, the In mailbox window may display. Mail alway s arrives in the In mailbox. Unread messages in the In mailbox are designated by a bullet (o) in the far left column of the message summary. Double-click anywhere on a message summary to open the message. Incoming messages are saved indefinitely in the In mailbox until they are deleted or transferred to another mailbox.

Leave Mail on Server Option

During a mail check, Eudora normally transfers your incoming messages from your account on the POP server to your PC, and dele tes them from the POP server. This may prove awkward for people who sometimes want to read mail from a secondary PC. It results in non-consolidated storage of messages - if you read mail through a secondary PC, you wouldn't be able to act on that mail f rom your primary PC.

The Leave Mail on Server option in the Switches... dialog solves this dilemma. If this option is turned on, Eudora transfers all of your new messages from the POP server to the PC you are presently using (presumably a second ary PC), while keeping copies of those messages in your account on the POP server. On the next mail check from the secondary PC, Eudora ignores the copies of previously read messages and looks for new ones.

When using your primary PC, you should turn th e Leave Mail on Server option off, so that all messages (new ones as well as copies of old ones you read through other systems) are transferred to and consolidated on the one primary system. The Leave Mail on Server option should be used wi th care, since it can result in a buildup of messages on the POP server machine.

Note: Eudora looks for a Status: R header to determine if a message has been read. Your POP server must cooperate for this to work; most do.

Skip Big Messages Option

If the Skip Big Messages option in the Switches... dialog is turned on, Eudora does not download large messages (40K or larger). Instead, it downloads only the first few lines of such messages and adds a not e at the bottom stating that the whole message has not been transferred. This can be useful on slow connections.

Note: Eudora requires some help from your POP server to make Skip Big Messages work properly. Specifically, Eudora expects your server to add a Status: header once Eudora has downloaded the first few lines of the message. Eudora uses that line as a signal that it already has the first few lines and doesn't need to download them again.

Note: The large message threshold c an be changed in the [Miscellaneous] section of the EUDORA.INI file, using the BigMessageThreshold entry.

Stopping a Mail Check

If you want to stop a mail check in the middle because it is taking longer than expec ted, press [ESC] key.

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