No more checking your e-mail by logging on to the internet and surfing to the webmail page. I can show you how to get your e-mail from your desktop. Note that e-mail from your ISP (Comcast, Verizon, etc.) can be viewed from their home page and instructions differ between the many ISP's so the instructions can not be displayed.
Things you'll need:
Mozilla's Thunderbird e-mail client, found here
About 5-10 minutes of your time to set up your e-mail account
If you have a Yahoo! e-mail address and no upgraded service, the Yahoo! Widgets program, found here
AOL Standard (@aol.com, @aim.com, or @netscape.net)
After installing Thunderbird, launch it. It should ask you to set up an e-mail account. Make sure e-mail account is selected and click next. Enter your name and e-mail address and click next. Select IMAP at the top of the page. In the incoming server box, type imap.aim.com (for @aim.com or @netscape.net e-mail addresses) or imap.aol.com (for @aol.com e-mail addresses). In the outgoing server box, type smtp.aim.com (for @aim.com or @netscape.net e-mail addresses) or smtp.aol.com (for @aol.com e-mail addresses). Click next.
From your e-mail address that you typed in earlier, the program will obtain your username, but make sure it is correct before clicking next on this page. Choose your account name; it can be anything. Click next again, and then check to make sure everything is correct before clicking finish.
Unfortunately, the AOL and AIM services require advanced settings, so we're not done yet. Attempting to access your account before this advanced section is complete usually gets you a message from the server stating that you need to use ESMTP, EHLO, and AUTH. On the bar right above the toolbar, click Tools and then Account Settings. To the left, under the account name of the account you created, click Server Settings. To the right, under Security Settings, click “Use secure authentication.” Then, back on the left, go to Outgoing Server (SMTP) and, on the right, click Edit.
A new window should come up; under Security and Authentication in this window, check off User Name and Password and then type in your user name. Make sure “No” is selected under Secure Connection. Finally, click Ok in both windows that were open, and attempt to synchronize your mail. It will ask you for your password at first, but then your mail will be there.
AOL's My eAddress
Follow instructions from the section above, using imap.aol.com, but your user name in all cases is your whole e-mail address. For example, if your e-mail address is Joe@myemails.com, the whole thing is your user name.
Google's G-Mail (@gmail.com)
After installing Thunderbird, launch it. It should ask you to set up an e-mail account. Make sure e-mail account is selected and click next. Enter your name and e-mail address and click next. Select POP at the top of the page, and input pop.gmail.com in the Incoming Server box. For the outgoing server, type smtp.gmail.com in the Outgoing Server box. Click next. From your e-mail address that you typed in earlier, the program will obtain your username, but make sure it is correct before clicking next on this page.
Choose your account name; it can be anything. Click next again, and then check to make sure everything is correct before clicking finish.
Attempt to synchronize your mail, and it will ask you for your password. Type it in and click ok. You will receive all of your mail from that e-mail account.
Yahoo! Upgraded Service (@yahoo.com)
This is only for those who pay to get an enhanced Yahoo! mailbox. See instructions below for regular (free) e-mail accounts.
After installing Thunderbird, launch it. It should ask you to set up an e-mail account. Make sure e-mail account is selected and click next. Enter your name and e-mail address and click next. Select POP at the top of the page, and input pop.mail.yahoo.com in the Incoming Server box. For the outgoing server, type smtp.mail.yahoo.com. Click next. From your e-mail address that you typed in earlier, the program will obtain your username, but make sure it is correct before clicking next on this page. Choose your account name; it can be anything. Click next again, and then check to make sure everything is correct before clicking finish.
There's more to be done. On the bar right above the toolbar, click Tools and then Account Settings. To the left, under the account name of the account you created, click Server Settings. To the right, under Security Settings, click “Use secure authentication” and select SSL under the Use Secure Connection setting. Also, change the port setting above the security settings box to 995. Then, back on the left, go to Outgoing Server (SMTP) and, on the right, click Edit.
A new window should come up; under Security and Authentication in this window, check off User Name and Password and then type in your username. Make sure “SSL” is selected under Secure Connection, and then change the port number in the Settings box to 465. Click ok in both windows. Attempt to synchronize your mail, and it will ask you for your password. Type it in and click ok. You will receive all of your mail from that e-mail account.
Yahoo! Standard Mail (@yahoo.com)
This process will not get your mail in Thunderbird, because Yahoo! standard mail cannot be accessed unless you login to the webmail server at yahoo.com. So, instead, I can save you the trip to the Yahoo! page to see if you have mail by using Yahoo! Widgets.
Install Yahoo! Widgets, and then right click the Widgets icon in the taskbar (it looks like two small gears on a small black background) and select Open Dock. On the right side of your screen, a small black tab should appear; hover your mouse over it to open it up, and then click the plus sign in the upper right hand corner (it should be about the height of your screen after pressing the plus button).
Find the Yahoo! Mail Checker by using the arrows at the bottom of the screen to scroll through the widgets, and then click on it to make it appear on your desktop. Enter your Yahoo! username and password, and it will show you how many new messages you have waiting. Clicking on the number of unread messages opens up your web browser and takes you directly to Yahoo! Mail.
MSN (@msn.com or @hotmail.com)
Sorry, but only the paid Microsoft Live Hotmail subscribers can get their mail from their desktop. Even worse, there is no Yahoo! Widget or Windows Sidebar Gadget to do this job for you. Finally, only Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, and Windows Mail can display these messages. But several Yahoo! Widgets are available that will tell you about new messages. Search the (located at Yahoo! Widgets) website to find one you like, because there are several.
