Basics Webmail versus Internet Mail

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1 Basics Webmail versus Internet Mail First of all, what is Webmail? It is service that provides access to send, receive, and review e mail using only your Web browser from any computer in the world, no matter who is logged on to the computer. Internet Mail on the other hand, is typically run from your office or home, i.e., a home base. This is usually done through Outlook Express. However, since it is a Cox account, you can also access your from their Webmail site from any location. The address of their web site is listed below. Once there, their Webmail can be accessed. webmail.west.cox.net When you go to this site, you will get a screen similar to the one below. Just enter your Username and Password to access your . You must always know this information in order to log on. Messages sent from this service will not be stored on your PC, however. Messages received here are stored at the Cox server until you open your Outlook Express at which time the messages will be downloaded to your PC.

2 One major difference between the two types of is that messages are stored on your computer with Internet Mail such as Outlook Express. With Webmail services such as AOL, Yahoo and Hotmail, your messages are stored on their server. Some people feel that Internet Mail is more secure but in the end, always be careful with any form of and always avoid sending any personal data. There is a nice Tutorial on Yahoo Mail at the link below. The same techniques apply to other Webmail services including Hotmail. It s probably easier to log into Yahoo Mail and click the Help link in the upper right of the screen. Outlook Express is the most popular program for using Internet Mail and is included for free with Windows. Webmail services are usually free also but they all offer a premium service at a small charge. This usually eliminates advertising and may provide some additional features. The free service is often quite adequate for the average user. Tutorials on Outlook Express can be found at the link below, try them all As you can see from the information above, Webmail is certainly more convenient when you use more than 1 computer to send and receive . Also, you should always have a secondary account for subscribing to things in order to limit SPAM. Notice I didn t say avoid SPAM. Attachments Sending and receiving attachments differs between Webmail and Internet Mail so they will be covered. Also, only Yahoo Mail will be discussed since it is representative of all Web Mail services, however, there are some differences. Attachments with Outlook Express (Internet Mail) Sending attachments method1 using Outlook Express directly Preparation you need to decide whether to send full size multi mega pixel images or reduced size images. When do you use which format? Basically, it s best to send small files which can be quickly uploaded by you and downloaded by your recipient. The full size images should only be sent when the recipient has requested them and wants to use them for printing. You also need to know where the pictures reside on your hard drive. Let s see an example: 1. Open Outlook Express, start a new message, address 2. Click the Attach button as shown below Page 2 of 13

3 3. Click the Drop Down arrow as shown below and navigate to the folder where your pictures are attached Page 3 of 13

4 4. In the example below, I navigated to My Documents > My Pictures > Practice. You can click on the View button as shown below and change the view to a list, etc. You can use the Shift or Control keys to select multiple pictures to attach more than one at a time. 5. After you select the file or files, click the Attach button 6. Next, you will see the files attached as shown below. Notice that the file sizes are show as well and one file is quite small, 48.6 KB, and the other is quite large, 3.6 mega bytes. Some providers such as AOL might limit the file size and reject the . It is a trial and error process. Cox usually does nt limit the attachment size. Page 4 of 13

5 7. Click the send button. I d advise you to practice sending these to yourself until you have everything perfected. Note: You can also use the Insert menu to insert a picture directly into the body of the text but the picture shows up the same way as if you used the attach method. Also, if you use the insert method, the paper clip does not show up at the recipient s end and it is more difficult for them at save the attachments. I.E., don t use the insert method. Sending attachments method 2 using the Windows Taskpane 1. Let s assume that the pictures we want to attach are in the My Pictures folder. Let s open that folder by clicking Start > My Pictures 2. In my case I had a folder named practice which I opened. I selected a large picture as shown below. 3. Next, click E mail the file (you could have selected multiple files) and the window shown below will open. Be sure to click Show more options. Page 5 of 13

6 4. In this window you have a choice of sending the original or reducing the size of the file. In my case I attached 3.6 mega byte file and elected to choose a Medium file which is 800 by 600 pixels. 5. Click OK and Outlook Express will open. Notice that the file size was reduced to 54 kilo bytes, quite small. Page 6 of 13

7 6. You can change any of the default text with your own before sending. This is a convenient to reduce file sizes and send them to your self. Page 7 of 13

8 Receiving Attachments 1. Open Outlook Express. If you have an in your Inbox with an attachment, your screen will like similar to the figure below. 2. You can retrieve the attachments without opening the message by clicking the paper clip on the right as shown above. When you click the paper clip, a tiny window will pop up where you can click Save attachments. 3. Click the Save Attachments entry and you will get a window as shown below Page 8 of 13

9 4. Click the Browse button to navigate to where you want to save the picture(s) and click the Save button 5. If the message is open, there will be no paper clip but you can right click the picture and select Save As or you can click File > Save Attachments as shown below. Page 9 of 13

10 Attachments with Yahoo (Web Mail) Sending Attachments 1. Open your Yahoo account, compose a new message, address it, enter a subject and enter any message text 2. Click the Attach Files button as shown below 3. You will then get the window below where you can use the Browse buttons to attach up to 5 pictures. 4. After you navigate to the location where your pictures are stored, select a picture and click Open. You will use the window shown below to do this after clicking the Browse button. Notice that one picture is selected. Page 10 of 13

11 5. After you click Open, you will notice that the box alongside of File 1 has an entry. You can repeat this process to attach additional files. When you are finished, you must click the Attach Files button as shown below. Page 11 of 13

12 6. You will now see a small entry with a paper clip at the left follower by the name of the file, Small.jpg in this case. 7. You re now ready to send the message. Receiving Attachments 1. Open your Yahoo account. In the figure below, I have several messages with attachments. 2. Click the message where the red arrow is in the above figure to open the message 3. Click Scan and Save to Computer as shown below/ 4. The next window will open as shown below. Click Download Attachment, navigate to the location where you want to save your picture(s) and click the Save button. That s it. Page 12 of 13

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