Dial-up Networking (DUN) under Windows 95 requires the user to press "Connect" when the DUN dialogue box pops up. There are two ways of avoiding having to click on "Connect" every time to automate the connection and reconnection process.
One alternative is download the ISDN Accelerator upgrade package from the MS Software Library, the link to which is on the Reference links page. Even if you do not use ISDN, the upgrade package includes the upgrade to the Windows 95 DUN user interface ("UI"). To automate connection using the Win 95 DUN UI, open Dial-Up Networking, select Connection | Settings and unmark the choice for "Prompt for information before dialing." Unfortunately, to access the Win95 DUN UI, you need to set Mail | Options | Connection to "I connect manually" or "I use a LAN". That works well for purposes of connecting, but it will not automatically disconnect your connection (at least not without a little work). Although this doesn't always work flawlessly, there is a work around to the lack of an automatic disconnect. In IE, go to View | Options | Connection and put a check mark in the box for "Disconnect if idle for 'x' minutes." Now whenever you click on the Send/Receive button in IMN, it will call up the IE DUN, which in turn will use the IE disconnect setting. By setting the IE idle disconnect number at a low enough number (the lowest is 3 minutes), you can approximate an automatic disconnect.
Alternative two is to download and install DUNCE, which is very reliable freeware. The advantage of this approach is that DUNCE will automatically press the "OK" button in the internal IMN DUN UI. As to why the Win 95 and internal IMN DUN UIs are different, I have no idea. However, by selecting "I use a modem to access my e-mail" under Mail | Options | Connection, whenever you select Send and Receive, the internal IMN DUN will pop-up and DUNCE will automatically click on the OK button. Moreover, still on the Connection tab, you also can select "Disconnect after finished sending and receiving." This has worked flawlessly for me for more than 6 months.
Permit me an editorial comment -- even if you choose to use Alternative Two above for automating your Mail connections, I still would download and install the ISDN Accelerator upgrade. Among other things, it puts the modem icon in your tool tray, where it belongs.
Using the "I connect with a modem" option, you can leave mail running all the time and it can dial-up, check your mail and disconnect (all in less than a minute) every x minutes. It will also post when you click on the "Send/Receive" button and then disconnect. There are very few limits in how you may customize this. Again, the connection dialogue pop-up is different than the Win 95 DUN.
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With the ever increasing number of people trying to access the Web, the quality of line connections in many areas of the country is decreasing at an alarming rate. The Regional Bell Operating Companies simply are not equipped and have not planned for the overwhelming increases in service requirements resulting from increased Web access. What this means to you and me is that even though the modem icon in the menu bar or in your Tool Tray may make it look as though you are connected, often times your IP connection has been terminated for one or more of several different possible reasons -- timed out, bumped from the server as a result of too much traffic, too much line noise, etc.
You'll need a couple of tools to help you. One is the IP Configuration tool that you should find in your Windows directory -- the file actually is winipcfg.exe. I've put a shortcut to this file in my Start Menu. When you open this tool, it will identify the number of your IP Address (your Internet Protocol connection to the Web). If you click on "More Info," it also will tell you to which DNS server you are connected.
Armed with the number of your IP Address and DNS Server number, you need "ping" those addresses. A "ping" utility, which allows you to check the quality of your line connection, is included with Windows 95. As a result, from the Start Menu, select Run and type in "ping [IP Address]" (without the quotation marks and typing in the actual number of the IP Address, e.g., "ping 111.222.333.44"). You can also open up a DOS window and type in the same instructions at the command prompt. To test this, ping your local host, i.e., your computer, at the DOS prompt by typing "ping 127.0.0.1" (without the quotation marks) and then press "Enter."
A normal response time is between 1 and 10 milliseconds. As a result, if you get a reply but the response times are much higher than 10 ms, e.g., I've seen times of up to 400 ms, you'll know that your connection is valid, but that it is very slow at that time and perhaps you should consider connecting at a later time. However, if you get the reply "Request timed out," you'll know that you have to disconnect with your ISP and reconnect.
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To access CompuServe’s news feeds, you must connect by using CompuServe as your ISP. The NNTP compliant server address is "news.compuserve.com."
SMTP and POP3 mail server settings for CompuServe both are "mail.compuserve.com." Unfortunately, while you can send e-mail via CompuServe using IMN, you can only receive e-mail via CompuServe with WinCIM or the CompuServe addon for MSMail or Exchange/Messaging. The reason for this limited access is that CompuServe does not (at this time and subject to the qualifier set forth below) support POP3 for receiving e-mail. For example, the CompuServe addon for Messaging utilizes a Win 95 DUN connectoid, complete with full Winsock connection options, but it still is not POP3 compliant. Nonetheless, you can connect to your CompuServe MailBox when you are connected to the Internet via any other ISP, provided that you are using CompuServe Access software that supports Internet connections such as CompuServe 3.0.3, MacCim 2.4.4, etc.
Compuserve has gone semi-public with its POP mail beta. They now have an NDA posted at http://www.csi.com/mail. It appears that anyone who clicks on the agree button and has a CompuServe account can download the authentication software and set up a csi POP3/SMTP mailbox, although no announcement has been made to the general membership. IMN seems to work just fine with CompuServe's new service! If CompuServe members have any problems with the POP3 Beta there is a visit a "private" CompuServe Forum called GO MAILTEST for help and advice.
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If you want to identify the IP Address of your news server or your mail server, simply open an MS DOS window and type the following: "ping [news server name]" (without the quotation marks). For example, if you want to find the IP Address of the Microsoft public news server, you would type "ping msnews.microsoft.com" (without the quotation marks). The response that you get will identify the IP Address of that server. The same procedure will work with your mail server.
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Usually, the 501 Error message results from too complex of a computer name. To eliminate this possibility, open the Network applet in the Control Panel, go to the Identification tab, and check to see what you have listed for your "Computer Name." This is meant to identify your computer (just as if you were on a local network) and gets sent to the mail server when you dial in. Any nonstandard characters in the Computer Name can cause problems. It should be letters and numbers only, e.g., no @ sign, no extended international characters, no slashes, etc. It also should not include the name of your mail server, which can confuse things even more. Something simple like your name, e.g., EMiller, is best.
Assuming that the Computer Name appears a bit too complicated, try simplifying it and see if things work better. One other thing that you can check is to highlight the TCP/IP Protocol in the main Network applet dialogue box, select its Properties, and go to the DNS Settings. Normally, it's best to leave this blank ("disable DNS"), and put all the relevant information in the specific connectoid you use to dial up. Many ISPs recommend putting this information in the Network applet, which works fine if you're only using one dial-up connectoid. However, it opens up some potential for conflict that is better avoided. Letting the connectoid handle it is a little cleaner.
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The short answer is that at this time, you cannot use IMN with MSN. IMN requires an SMTP/POP3 mail server for mail and an NNTP news server for news. MSN does not currently offer either SMTP/POP3 mail or NNTP news server services. For more information, read Knowledge Base Article Q153843.
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Under Version 1 (Builds 1155, 1160 and 1161) of Mail and News, a new connection dialogue pop-up has appeared that is different from, although similar to, that used by DUN. If you prefer to resort to the Win 95 DUNC (and, therefore, access all of the capabilities of a program like DUNCE), click "I use a LAN connection" or "I connect manually" under News | Options | Server | Connection in News and Mail | Options | Connection in Mail.
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Thanks to the time, effort and research of Mike Santovec, it is possible, with many ISPs, to use a Telnet program to do maintenance on your mailbox on the POP3 mail server. This allows you to look at and possibly delete any message that may be causing problems (e.g. too large to download, improperly formatted message, etc.). The instructions below are based on the Win95 TELNET.EXE programs. Other Telnet programs may also work. However, it is necessary to use a non-standard Telnet port number, with respect to which some Telnet programs may have problems.
From the Win95 task bar, select Start | Run and enter the following: "telnet pop-server-name port#" (without the quotation marks). Please note that if you start Telnet from your browser, rather than the Win95 Start | Run command, the syntax is "telnet://pop-server-name:port#." Unfortunately, MSIE currently has a bug in this regard and you must leave out the // on the address line and use telnet:pop-server-name:port#.
Check your mail settings for the pop-server-name and port#. Most POP3
servers use port 110. For example, to connect to one of the following mail servers, type in the related following command:
| Netcom | |
| Sprynet |
From the Win95 Telnet menu bar, select Terminal | Preferences and check the Local Echo box so you can see what you type. Also, and this is optional, you may want to turn on Terminal, Start Logging to capture the message to a text file.
For the connection, and each command that you enter, the mail server will respond "-ERR 999 message text" for commands it doesn't like (the 999 is an error code that varies), or "+OK message text" if it likes the command. After each response, you can enter a new command. To access your server, you must use the top two commands. All other commands listed below are optional.
| This must be the first command after the connect. Supply your e-mail userid (not the full e-mail address). Example: USER john.smith | |
| This must be the next command after USER. Supply your e-mail password. | |
| STAT | The response to this is: +OK #msgs #bytes Where #msgs is the number of messages in the mail box and #bytes is the total bytes used by all messages. Sample response: "+OK 3 345910". |
| LIST | The response to this lists a line for each message with its number and size in bytes, ending with a period on a line by itself. Sample response:
+OK 3 messages 1 1205 2 305 3 344400 |
| This sends message number msg# to you (displays on the telnet screen). You probably don't want to do this in telnet (unless you have turned on telnet logging). Example: RETR 2 | |
| This is an optional POP3 command. Not all POP3 servers support it. It lists the header for msg# and the first #lines of the message text. For example, TOP 1 0 would list just the headers for message 1, where as TOP 1 5 would list the headers and first 5 lines of the message text. | |
| This marks message number msg# for deletion from the server. This is the way to get rid of a problem causing message. It is not actually deleted until the QUIT command is issued. Example: DELE 3 | |
| RSET | This resets (unmarks) any messages previously marked for deletion in this session so that the QUIT command will not delete them. |
| QUIT | This deletes any messages marked for deletion, and then logs you off of the mail server. This is the last command to use. This does not disconnect you from the ISP, just the mailbox. |
Other POP3 commands exist. For additional information on this topic, see RFC 1939 defines POP3 commands and error codes.
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Problems Connecting to Mail Servers. For assistance in helping you diagnose problems connecting to your SMTP or POP3 mail server with Internet Mail, including testing your TCP/IP settings, read Knowledge Base Article Q154578.
POP3 Commands. POP3 is the protocol that allows Internet Mail to receive mail messages. Knowledge Base Article Q155515 goes into great detail about what the POP3 commands are and what they do as well as what a POP3.log file will look like and how you can troubleshoot it. Required registry files are POP3Log.Reg, which turns on the logging feature, and POP3XLog.Reg, which turns off the logging feature. KB Article Q155515 describes a method of modifying your registry by hand. Although this is an acceptable way to start this logging, using the REG files referenced above is far less dangerous. The POP3log.reg file turns on the logging process. The POP3Xlog.reg file turns off the logging. Please do not execute them both consecutively. Read Knowledge Base Article 155515 first and then use the REG files as necessary.
SMTP Commands. SMTP is the protocol that allows Internet Mail to send mail messages. Knowledge Base Article Q155455 goes into great detail about what the SMTP commands are and what they do as well as what an SMTP.log file will look like and how you can troubleshoot it. Required registry files are SMTPLog.Reg, which turns on the logging feature, and SMTPXLog.Reg, which turns off the logging feature. KB Article Q155455 describes a method of modifying your registry by hand. Although this is an acceptable way to start this logging, using the REG files referenced above is far less dangerous. The SMTPlog.reg file turns on the logging process. The SMTPXlog.reg file turns off the logging. Please do not execute them both consecutively. Read Knowledge Base Article Q155455 first and then use the REG files as necessary.
Other Mail Receipt Problems. A good step-by-step process to troubleshoot mail receipt issues is: (i) verify your connection to your ISP by making sure that you can connect manually; (ii)send mail to yourself to double check the connection to your ISP and mail server; (iii) check server settings and configuration; and (iv) check the configuration of your Inbox Assistant to ensure that messages are not automatically being moved. For more information and details regarding each step in the process, read Knowledge Base Article Q154909.
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