2. I'm connected but I can’t send or receive email
• Check to verify the 'incoming' (POP) and 'outgoing' (SMTP) server settings, username and password has not been changed by someone else or an antivirus software and that everything is typed correctly.
• Server settings must be exactly as specified by MCS or you could be reading lots of error messages.
• Capital letters in the wrong place or a missing 'dot' could be part of the problem.
• If you have added an additional email address with MCS, you must also create the new email 'identity' in your email client for your email client to handle that email also.
• Turn off all antivirus software and firewalls while testing the email. Check and remove extra accounts or inactive accounts of your old ISP that could be causing the problem or error messages.
• Check your 'outbox' for any email with an incorrect email address or an email going to a recipient with a full mail box. Email clients seem to 'send' before trying to 'receive' email.
• Make sure if the email client is set to 'leave a copy of messages on the server', it is also set to 'delete from the server when deleted from deleted items'.
• Disable or turn off all antivirus software and firewalls and try again.
• Disconnect from the Internet, close all programs, reboot the computer, reconnect and try again.
• If you get the same result, contact MCS to verify your account is active and have them review your connection and check your mail box for very large emails or a full mail box that could be causing a problem.
• If the account is active and all the settings in your email client are correct, it may have become corrupt. The easiest way to resolve this is to delete the email account and recreate it within your email client.

3. I can receive email but I can’t send
• If your antivirus software gets updated automatically, try turning it off and preventing it from starting when Windows starts. Then you can reboot the computer, get online, test the email both ways. If it works, you can turn the antivirus back on. If the email does NOT work, continue to the next step.
• Check and / or correct the 'outgoing' (SMTP) server settings.
• Check the 'outbox' for any email with an incorrect email address or an email going to a recipient with a full mail box. Email clients seem to 'send' before trying to 'receive' email.
• Check for antivirus software that is set to 'scan outgoing email' and if you cannot find the setting, disable the software while you test the email and look for other problems.
• If the antivirus has a firewall, you may have to turn it off. Some antivirus firewalls will not stay turned off or get disabled unless you UNINSTALL them.

4. I can send but I can’t receive email
• If your antivirus software gets updated automatically, try turning it off and preventing it from starting when Windows starts. Then you can reboot the computer, get online, test the email both ways. If it works, you can turn the antivirus back on. If the email does NOT work, continue to the next step.
• Check and / or correct the 'incoming' (POP) server setting.
• If you have multiple accounts setup to receive email from more than one ISP, check all the POP settings for all the accounts. One bad setting may cause the email client to stop processing altogether, until you fix that problem.
• Check the scanning configuration of any antivirus software and turn off any firewall that is part of an antivirus software (personal firewall / Internet security). Some antivirus firewalls will not stay turned off or get disabled unless you UNINSTALL them.
• Login to your online mail box (webmail) and look for any extra large email that could be causing the error and blocking all the other emails or if the mail box is almost full.

5. I can’t find the attachment received with my email
• If the email is larger than 10 KB and does not have a 'paper clip' symbol next to it, DO NOT OPEN IT. Contact the sender by phone or a separate email asking them if they sent you that email, giving them the date, time and size of the email. If they cannot remember sending the email to you, DELETE IT, it could be carrying a virus or worm.
• Check the security and option settings to see if your email client is set to open or handle attachments.
• Check your antivirus software to see how it handles attachments. Some can 'chew up' a good attachment and then label it as unreadable.
• Ask the sender if they had a problem attaching the file. The file could have gotten damaged before it was sent to you.
• Look in the options section of your client for a way of increasing its 'read' capacity (number of lines or headers).
• Ask the sender to test the attachment, by sending the same email to themselves first and then try opening the attachment themselves, before sending it to you. You may get a good attachment after all.

6.I can’t get all of my emails, the server times out and I get an error message
• There could be a large email your antivirus software is taking too long to scan that causes a time-out situation.
• Your email client may be set to 'not open attachments'.
• Logon to your mail box on the Internet and look at the first or last unread email. That could be one of the emails causing part of the problem.

7. I sent an email to a group of people and I got an error saying that one or more of the addresses is invalid or rejected by the mail server
• Review the spelling of the addresses. Someone may have given you a misspelt address or you may have one saved in your address book.
• Use copy and paste to send the message to each address individually, the bad one will come back as 'undeliverable mail'.
• Delete the email with multiple addresses from the 'outbox' to stop the same error message occurring.
• One of the recipients may have a full or corrupted mail box, an inactive, suspended, or closed account.
• The recipient's email server may be off-line for maintenance, repairs or some other unknown reason.
• When you find the problem address, remove it from your address book until things get straightened out.

8. My friends say they cannot send me any email
• Send yourself an email to see if it works for you.
• Logon to your online mail box to find out how full it is. If it is almost full, start printing or deleting old email.
• If you cannot logon to your online mail box, contact MCS to see if your account is active and everything is OK.
• Make sure they typed your email address correctly. Ask the sender to spell it to you.
• Make sure you have not blocked them or their ISP accidentally when blocking 'SPAM' from someone else at their ISP.
• Ask your friends to find out from their ISP if there is problem with their SMTP server.
• If anyone else can send email to you and you can receive it, tell your friends the problem could be on their end.

9. I keep getting the same email repeatedly
• Your email client may be set to 'leave a copy of messages on the server', but not set to 'delete from server when deleted from deleted items'. In this case, you have already deleted these old email from the email client, then you perform 'send and receive' and the same old email show up again. To correct this, you have to enable both boxes or neither of them in the 'advanced' account properties.
• One of your more recent emails could have a problem and since email clients usually download the older email first, some of the older ones can get downloaded again before getting to the newer one that stops the download and causes an error. This is when you get to see the same old email again. Find the problem email in your web mail box, read it on the Internet and delete it.

10. I am getting two or three of each email
• Whoever sent the email may have double-clicked the send button.
• You may have two or three accounts setup in your email client with the same information.
• Your client may have more than one email account with different email addresses but all the email goes into one mail box in the client. This happens if the email client is not capable of dividing the email into separate mail boxes. Everyone gets to read everyone else's email. (No privacy)

11. Shortly after I receive email I cannot browse the Internet (dialup only)
• Your email client may be set to 'disconnect after sending and receiving', uncheck the box under Tools, Options, Connection. If you cannot find it, search the Help section of the email program.
• Your Internet connection may be so unstable that the server at your ISP disconnected your modem. Ask your phone provider for assistance in removing any static or line noise that may exist.
• Other equipment like fax machines, credit card machines, caller ID boxes or cordless phones that are hooked up on the same phone line could be causing part of the problem. Disconnect any other equipment from your phone line.
• Check that you don't have call waiting enabled on your phone line. If it is enabled and a call comes through whilst you are connected to the internet, your connection will drop out.
• Upgrade your modem drivers or reinstall your modem.

12. I try to delete old email and it is still there
• Your email client could be set to 'leave a copy of messages on the server' but not set to delete them, so when you do 'Send and Receive' after you have already deleted the old email from the client, you can get another copy of the same old email.
• Your mail box on the Internet could be full, locked or jammed and is not deleting the email, login to your webmail and try deleting from there.
• Your email client may be damaged and is not deleting from the server as it is set to do. Reload or update it.

13. I am having to type my password every time I retrieve my email
• You did not select the option to 'save or remember password' when creating the account or identity.
• Your email client may be damaged and is not remembering the password, or has become corrupt. Try deleting your email account and recreating it.
• Scan for viruses, update or reload it.
• Check for spelling errors or incomplete spelling in the account properties.

14. A secure server (SSL) is giving me an error message
• Look in the account properties of the email client for any secure server boxes that should NOT be checked.