E-Mail Clients, Migrating from AOL
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Thread: E-Mail Clients, Migrating from AOL

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Talking E-Mail Clients, Migrating from AOL

    Ok, ive had an AOL-based E-Mail address for a long time now, even though I dont even use their ISP service anymore. I finally got my e-mail address at my ISP set up, I have a few questions.


    1. Know of any way to transfer my e-mails, address book, etc out of AOL? I dont care if its to my new e-mail address or if its to a computer file. Just as long as its readable and not scattered in 1000000 files.


    2. Is there any way I can check what services have my old address? I plan to change them all to a bouncing address but since I have been using this address for years there is bound to be a few sites that I will miss, which will likely want to e-mail my old address to confirm a change, especially if its forgotten my password.


    3. In order to avoid the annoyance of moving E-Mail addresses again should I change my ISP, I decided to use a bouncing/forwarding(whatever its called) address again. Can anyone recommend a good service? Somebody recommended I just sign up for a domain at www.register.com and just use that for a forwarding address.

    Do you have any other suggestions on what service to use and their features?


    4. What E-Mail client should I use? I know that Outlook is the default choice but ive heard that simply opening some e-mails in outlook (not even downloading the file) used to cause exploits to release viruses. I dont know if thats still the case but I dont want to take chances. I have heard of Thunderbird but I have never used it and have no idea what it is like. Any clients you can recommend? Preferably one that is freeware or not too expensive.

    Thanks.

    Update: Oh, and I just attempted to access my ISP's email for the first time and found it full of spam. Is there any way to help block it? I used ot use AOL's internal spyware filters but obviously those only work on an AOL account.
    Last edited by Cyber Akuma; August 12th, 2005 at 09:37 PM.
    "A train station is where a train stops. A bus station is where a bus stops. On my desk I have a workstation..." - William Faulkner

  2. #2
    HAN's Avatar
    HAN is offline Virtual PC Specialist!!!
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    I have a few thoughts on some pieces of what you're asking...

    I've never used AOL so I won't be much help there.

    As for future ISP changes vs. keeping the same email address, I recommend using webmail from Yahoo, Hotmail or google. The great thing about them is that they can be accessed from anywhere. I know that most ISPs offer some kind of webmail but if you use ISP based email, you're stuck with using some kind of forwarding arrangement (like you've mentioned.) I guess my feelings are why bother with the middle man? Anyway, something to think about...

    As for Outlook Express, MS keeps patching it so it's reasonably safe. Still, I gave up on it quite some time ago. For a freebie email client, I use Thunderbird. It looks clean/modern and for me, runs nicely too. One thing I should mention is that I really don't use my ISP email much at all. (I use Hotmail and Yahoo like I mentioned above.) So if you normally get a bunch of email daily, my experience with T-Bird may not be comparable enough to help you.

    As far as spam, several ways to go there. Use the filter that's probably offered by your ISP (most offer free spam filtering with adjustable parameters.) Use a PC based filter like Mail Washer. http://www.mailwasher.net/ Use the filters built into T-Bird (they can be quite extensive and are adjustable too.) Just depends on how much time you want to invest setting things up...

    Hope this helps a little!

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Updated website for Mailwasher Pro:

    http://www.firetrust.com/

    Linda

  4. #4
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    CyberAkuma--
    1) I could swear I knew of a free utility to transfer, but I cannot find it now. For a price
    http://www.connectedsw.com
    2) None that I know of. I foresaw this problem and made a list over the years. But if you have always used AOL, then why could you not assume the answer is that all the services expect you have an AOL email? Some sites have a Profile page that should tell you what they think your email address is.
    3) Make a list of what email address you use for each. See #2.
    4) Not sure what you mean "Outlook is the default choice ". If you have Office then you have the option to choose Outlook Express or Outlook. If you do not, you have only OE from Windows. However, there are lots of other email clients. And that is just for POP mail. You can also use the Webmail page from your ISP. And that can be accessed from any PC.
    However, OE is not as open to malware as you may think. Use the OE Tools|Options|Security tab to make OE pretty safe. Do not use the View|Layout|Preview pane.
    Jim
    WIN7 Ultimate SP1 64bit, IE 11, NTFS,
    cable, MS Security Essentials, Windows 7 firewall

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