Using Windows Mail

The following is an abbreviated guide to using Windows Mail which is included in Windows Vista. For best results, you may want to print this document for future reference.

Windows Mail is a POP3 client can be customized in many ways to suit the individual user. Included in this document are just a few tips and tricks to help you get started.

Topics Covered in this Document
Starting Windows Mail
Optimizing your account settings
Checking your mail automatically while browsing the Web
Customizing the layout of Windows Mail
Reading you mail
Managing your e-mail using folders
Deleted messages, where do they go?
Using the Address Book
Sending E-mail
Attaching Files to Messages
Customizing your messages
How to Setup Multiple E-mail Accounts with Windows Mail
Using Windows Mail to read newsgroups
Preventing children from accessing newsgroups with adult content
Accessing the newsgroups
Downloading a list of available newsgroups
Finding a topic that interest you
Subscribing to a newsgroups vs. viewing a newsgroup
Controlling the number of message headers downloaded
Retrieving and viewing posts
Replying to a newsgroup post
Posting to a newsgroup

Starting Windows Mail

Windows Mail is accessed by double-clicking the Windows Mail Icon on your desktop, or from within Internet Explorer, you may click the Mail button and choose Read Mail. If Windows Mail is shown in the Quick Launch Bar, you may also press the Windows Mail icon there. If Windows Mail is the Default Mail program on your computer, you may also see Windows Mail at the top of the Start Menu.

Optimizing your account settings

Follow these steps to customize your e-mail account settings:

Open Windows Mail
From the Tools menu choose Accounts
A list of Account will be shown on the first screen.
Highlight the account you wish to check and click Properties
Under Mail Account, you may enter any name you wish to identify your mail account with. For example: My Mail
Under User Information the information in the Name box is your display name. When recipients receive a message, this shows in the From box. This can be whatever you like. For example: John Doe
Organization may be left blank, or you may type a Company name
E-Mail Address will be your e-mail address. For example: yourusername@netease.net
Reply Address may be left blank unless you want replies forwarded to another address, such as sales@mydomain.com.
Click the Server tab. Verify that the following information is correct.
My incoming mail server is a POP3 server.
Incoming mail (POP3): mail.netease.net
Outgoing mail (SMTP): smtp.netease.net
E-mail username: yourusername (Do not include @netease.net)
Password: yourpassword
Remember password (Optional)
Click the Connection tab
Unless directed otherwise, options on this tab should be left unchecked.
Click Apply, then OK to close the Account Properties
Click Close to close the Account Options

Checking your mail automatically while browsing the Web

If you would like Windows Mail to check your mail periodically while you are browsing the Internet, follow these steps:

Connect to the Internet by double-clicking the Internet icon on your desktop
Once connected, click the Mail button on the toolbar of Internet Explorer. Choose Read Mail from the menu that pops up.
(If the Read Mail icon is not available in Internet Explorer, simply open Windows Mail using the options described above).
When Windows Mail Opens, from the Tools menu, choose Options
Under General Settings put a checkmark in the option, "Check for new messages every "X" minutes." Adjust the interval to your liking.
Click Apply and OK to close the Options box
Minimize Windows Mail by clicking the dash on the far right of the title bar
Windows Mail will check for new messages at the interval you specified and place an envelope in your System Tray (Next to your clock on the Task Bar) when new messages arrive

Customizing the layout of Windows Mail

Windows Mail allows you to customize the way your desktop appears within the program. To customize your settings, follow these steps:

From the View menu, choose Layout
Checking the Folder List will display a general list on the left pane of your screen
Checking the Folder Bar will display the active folder in a pane near the top of your screen
Select Customize Toolbar if you wish to chenge the way icons are displayed on the Toolbar
You can also choose whether you would like to display text on the tool bar buttons
Clicking Customize toolbar also gives you the option of adding or removing functions on your toolbar. For instance if you want a print button on your tool bar.
The Preview Pane options allows you to choose how you would like message previews displayed. Turning off Preview Pane allows you to view a list of messages without having to view the contents of each message.
Make any changes you like then click Apply, then OK to confirm your changes

Reading you mail

Reading e-mail in Windows Mail is easy. When new messages arrive, the message headers will be displayed in the Header pane. This pane will show Who the message is from, the Subject, and the Date written. If you have the Preview pane turned on, clicking on the message header will display the contents of the message in it. To work with a message full screen, double-click the message header. The new message will appear in its own window which may be maximized for easier viewing. Whether you are viewing the message in full screen or in the Preview pane, you have the following options by clicking the appropriate buttons on your tool bar.

Reply to the author of the message
Forward message to another e-mail address
Print the Message. (Only available in full screen unless you have customized the toolbar in the above steps)
Delete the message

Additionally, you may right click on the message header and find other options.

Managing your e-mail using folders

If you use e-mail to correspond with business associates or organizations, such as a mailing list, you can organize your mail in folders so that your Inbox is not so cluttered and messages pertaining to a particular subject are found easily. For our example, we are going to create a folder for a mailing list we have subscribed to.

Open Windows Mail
On the Folder list on the left screen, click the Local Folders icon at the top
From the File menu choose Folder, then New Folder
Type the name of your new folder. In our example we will type Mailing List
Repeat this procedure to create as many folders as needed
Once the new folders are created, you may now move messages from your Inbox to the appropriate folder by right-clicking the message header and choosing Move To. Select the folder you want to send the message to.
(You can also click on a message and drag it to the folder you wish to move it to).

Now, let's create a rule to automatically place messages from the mailing list into the Mailing List folder.

From the Tools menu choose Message Rules, then click Mail
Click the Add button
Select the Condition "Where the From line contains people".
Click the "contains people" link in the Rule Description box.
Type the exact e-mail address of the correspondent you are creating a rule for. Click OK.
Under "Select the Actions for your rule", check the option "Move it to the specified folder"
Click the "specified" link in the Rule Description box and choose the folder you wish messages from this address to be routed to.
Type a simple name for this rule in "Name of the rule" and click OK
When you choose Send and Receive on your toolbar, message from this address will automatically be placed in the correct folder.

Note: When new messages arrive, Windows Mail will display the number of unread messages in each folder next to the folder icon. Clicking once on the folder will display the message headers and any new messages.

Deleted messages, where do they go?

When you delete a message it is sent to your Deleted Items folder. This folder is mute like the Recycle Bin in Windows 95. The messages will go to the Deleted Items folder until such time that you choose to empty it.

To automatically remove deleted messages from the Deleted Items folder, follow these steps:

From the Tools menu, choose Options
Click the Advanced tab and then click the Maintenance button
Check the option "Empty messages from the Deleted Items folder on exit"
Click Close, then OK to confirm your changes

When you close Windows Mail, messages in the Deleted Items folder will be removed permanently.

Next - Using the Address Book