Computer question...Windows XP

[Webster Green]

Anyone know if there is a way to set my default e-mail on my computer to be one of the e-mail accounts I have set up on the various websites I run?

[DainBramaged]

1. With the ammount of spyware and worms out there

Why would you want to? Use the front pages of the services to check the mail.I stopped using IE for email a year ago even though I pay for AT&T email service. I have 10mb storage and save attachments when important.

[Webster Green]

2. For the occasions when I click on an e-mail link on a website.....

....and it brings up the compose window for the default e-mail account. Its set for my hotmail account now, but I rarely use hotmail, and usually use one of my website accounts when I e-mail. I just wondered if it is possible to configure one of those accounts to be the default account.

[cosmicaug]

5. Information, information!

If you want to just change the e-mail shown in your messages, you can just change that (and leave everything else alone) and there generally will be no problem. For instance, I use mFire.com as my ISP and use it's POP servers (to receive mail) and it's SMTP servers (to send mail) but I have my 'From:' header set to my forwarding mail.com address (this service forwards to my ISP's account at mFire). The 'From:' field basically means nothing regarding where the mail originates (it's just whatever the mailer program sets it to --which is why it's generally meaningless when it comes to spam messages and worm produced messages). In the rare instances where you truly need a specific address there which is different from the one where you want replies sent to, you should set the 'Reply to:' header to this address (I think it's preferable not to touch this if you don't have to --leaving it blank-- as it has the potential of confusing mailing lists --assuming one ever subscribes to any mailing lists, as I have).

But, really, as I'm not exactly sure what you want, we need information!

[cosmicaug]

3. We want information!

#6: Where am I?
#2: In the Village
#6: What do you want?
#2: Information
#6: Whose side are you on?
#2: That would be telling . . .
#2: We want Information
#6: You won't get it
#2: By hook or by crook . . .
#2: We will
#6: Who are you?
#2: The new Number Two
#6: Who is Number One?
#2: You are Number Six
#6: I am not a number . . .
#6: I'm a free man!
#2: [Mocking laughter]

Seriously, if you want someone to help you'll need to give more information. What mail client are you using, Outlook Express? Are these mail accounts POP or IMAP?

If you just want to add a POP (or IMAP) account that you have lying around to Outlook Express and set it as the default it should be fairly easy to do. Go to the 'Tools' menu, select 'accounts' and go from there. Outlook Express (Outlook should be about the same, IIRC) lets you have several accounts which you can get polled when doing a send and receive. Setting any of them as the default is as easy as clicking on the apropriate checkbox. The main information you need to know is what your incoming and outgoing servers' names are and what username and password they will be using.

[BattyDem]

4. You set your default email ...

in your email program, not Windows itself.

If I understand you correctly, you have a web site and you want to use that web site's email account as your default email account, right?

No matter what email program you use, you can set a default account, which will open when you click a web link. (I don't know what program you're using, so I can't give you specific advice on how to do it. Check your email program's help file on setting a default account. If you can't find anything in the help file, look for something like "tools" or "account settings" or "preferences" - you'll be able to set a default in one of those areas.)

For example, I use Netscape as my email program. I have 5 accounts configured, but my "Number 1" account is the default. I can change it at any time simply by changing the account settings. When I click on a web site link, an email window pops up using my "Number 1" account. (Sorry if I sound too "basic" - I don't know how advanced you are with computers, so it's better to explain things in too much detail than not enough. :-) )

If you use web based email accounts, how you set your default account depends on what web-based email you're using. If you have Yahoo mail, follow the instructions given here. (I have a Yahoo account, so I checked their help file for you.) If you want your default account to be a another web-based email account, like Hotmail or Netscape WebMail, you'll have to visit their sites and check the help file - if you can't find it, search the help file for "default account" and it should direct you to the instructions.

cosmicaug was right ... we need more information to give you specific instructions, so if my post doesn't help you, let us know what program you use for email and we'll get you up and running. B-)