E-Mail and Xfinity Connect Help

[charvey]

To help address many of the common questions on HOW-TO setup or use Comcast email or Smartzone, the following posts are a collection of answers contributed by customers.

We hope this will help you find answers to typical questions we often see on this board.

Q1: How do I setup Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail?

Q2: How do I set preferences in Smartzone and what do they mean?

Q3: How do I setup secondary account access in Smartzone?

Q4: How do I forward emails?

Q5: How can I tell if I'm in Smartzone or Smartzone LITE?

Q6: How do I handle attachments when replying or forwarding email?

Q7: How do I create folders in Smartzone?

Q8: How do I use the SEARCH function in Smartzone?

Q9: How do I use FILTERS in Smartzone?

Q10: What does this Outlook Express error mean?

Q11: What is the difference between Smartzone (webmail) and an email client?

Q12: How can I forward emails with inline images successfully?

Q13: How do I view the source of a message (useful for retrieving header information)

Message Edited by charvey on 09-01-2009 05:10 PM

[charvey]

These are the instructions for getting Outlook, Outlook Express, and Windows Mail to work properly on your PC.

First, are you using any incarnation of Norton Internet Security? If so, the Symantec/Norton folks have an article about problems like this, so their suggestions should be attempted first. They have a troubleshooting routine you can run from that webpage. If that fails, they suggest removing and reinstalling Norton. Personally, I'd skip the "reinstalling" part.

If you're using McAfee or Norton, disable the wormstopper or Internet worm protection in its email settings. It's been known to cause problems.

If you're using Windows Mail, both McAfee and Norton can cause major problems.  Remove them, and choose another security solution.

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Windows Mail, Outlook Express & Outlook 2000:

1. choose Tools
2. choose Accounts
3. go to the Mail tab
4. click on your Comcast account to highlight it
5. choose Properties
6. go to the General tab
7. under Mail Account, enter whatever you'd like to call this account, like John Doe on Comcast
8. under User Information, enter Name (whatever you want to appear on your messages)
9. enter E-mail address (your full Comcast email address)
10. check "Include this account when receiving mail or synchronizing"
11. go to the Servers tab
12. "My incoming mail server is a" POP3 "server"
13. Incoming mail is mail.comcast.net
14. Outgoing mail is smtp.comcast.net
15. enter your Account name or Email user name (your Comcast user ID, the part before "@comcast.net" in your email address)
16. enter your Password
17. check "Remember password"
18. make sure “Logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)” is NOT checked
19. check “My server requires authentication”
20. choose Settings
21. choose “Use same settings as my incoming mail server”
22. click OK
23. go to the Advanced tab
24. check both boxes for “This server requires a secure connection (SSL)”
25. change port number to 995 for incoming, 587 or 465 for outgoing
26. bump up the Server Timeouts slider to the high end

Turn off whatever email scanning your anti-virus package is doing. Comcast already scans incoming email for viruses, and your outgoing email isn’t going to be infected unless your machine is already infected, so there’s no point checking it all the time.

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Outlook 2002 & Outlook 2003:

1. choose Tools
2. choose E-mail Accounts
3. choose "View or change existing e-mail account"
4. choose Next
5. click on your Comcast account to highlight it
6. choose Change
7. enter Your Name (whatever you want to appear on your messages)
8. enter E-mail Address (your full Comcast email address)
9. Incoming mail server is mail.comcast.net
10. Outgoing mail server is smtp.comcast.net
11. enter User Name (your Comcast user ID, the part before "@comcast.net" in your email address)
12. enter Password
13. check "Remember password"
14. make sure “Logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)” is NOT checked
15. choose More Settings
16. go to the Outgoing Server tab
17. check “My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication”
18. choose “Use same settings as my incoming mail server”
19. go to the Advanced tab
20. check both boxes for “This server requires an SSL-secured connection”
21. change port number to 995 for incoming, 587 or 465 for outgoing
22. bump up the Server Timeouts slider to the high end
23. Click OK, Next, Finish

Turn off whatever email scanning your anti-virus package is doing. Comcast already scans incoming email for viruses, and your outgoing email isn’t going to be infected unless your machine is already infected, so there’s no point checking it all the time.

Don't bother with the "Test" function in Outlook - it often fails for no particular reason.

Exit from Outlook, then make sure it isn't still running in the background. Hit CTRL-ALT-DEL, go to the Processes tab, and kill any occurrences of OUTLOOK.EXE before launching Outlook again.

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Outlook 2007:

1. choose Tools
2. choose Account Settings
3. choose the Email tab
4. click on your Comcast account to highlight it
5. choose Change
6. enter Your Name (whatever you want to appear on your messages)
7. enter E-mail Address (your full Comcast email address)
8. choose POP3 as the Account Type
9. Incoming mail server is mail.comcast.net
10. Outgoing mail server is smtp.comcast.net
11. enter User Name (your Comcast user ID, the part before "@comcast.net" in your email address)
12. enter Password
13. check "Remember password"
14. make sure “Logon using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)” is NOT checked
15. choose More Settings
16. go to the Outgoing Server tab
17. check “My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication”
18. choose “Use same settings as my incoming mail server”
19. go to the Advanced tab
20. choose SSL encryption for both incoming and outgoing servers
21. change port number to 995 for incoming, 587 or 465 for outgoing
22. bump up the Server Timeouts slider to the high end
23. Click OK, Next, Finish

Turn off whatever email scanning your anti-virus package is doing. Comcast already scans incoming email for viruses, and your outgoing email isn’t going to be infected unless your machine is already infected, so there’s no point checking it all the time.

Message Edited by charvey on 11-28-2009 04:11 PM

[charvey]

To help people out with setting Preferences without having to go through the Tutorial or Help screens, I've included a quick tour through the Preferences tab in SmartZone

General

This is where you select the version of SmartZone your want to run.  

SmartZone Communications Center is a full-featured way to check email, voice mail, and your Universal Address Book and calendar from one, central place.  The SmartZone Communications Center-Lite version is an alternative that is available for users who currently have an older browser or operating system on their computer and they are unable to upgrade their browser. 

You can perform may of the same tasks in the Lite version as in the full version; however, the following features are not currently supported:

• Right-clicking on items to produce menus
• Drag and drop functionality
• Mouseover help functions

You can also change your search settings to include the Spam and/or Trash Folders in your searches.

Email

At the top of this section are hyperlinks to settings that are managed on Comcast.net - Restrict Incoming Email, Spam Filtering/Confirmation, Auto Reply and Auto Forward

Various Display preferences are set here:

# of e-mails per page - 10, 25, 50 or 100

Display format: HTML (when possible) or Text

Images: Can specify to download images automatically in HTML e-mails

You can also select to display snippets of messages in your e-mail list.

Schedule Email Deletion preferences are also set here:

Inbox (Unread): 30/45/60/90/120 days or never
Inbox (Read): 30/45/60/90/120 days or never
Sent Email: 30/45/60/90/120 days or never
Spam: 1/3/7/30 days
Trash: 1/3/7/30 days

Composing

Here you can choose whether to save a copy of sent messages to the Sent folder or not.

You can also choose to always compose in a new window as well as automatically save drafts of messages while you are composing.

(for people who have lost e-mails while composing, this is one of most valuable features of SmartZone)

Format Email preferences are set here as well. 

You can choose to compose as Text or HTML. 

If you choose HTML, you can choose Arial, Times New Roman
Courier or Verdana fonts in 8, 10, 12, 14, 18, 24 or 36 pt font sizes.   You have over 70 choices for font colors as well.

You can choose what you do with the original message when you reply or forward messages.

You can also choose the prefix for included messages (> or |).

---

Signature

Here you can create up to 3 signatures to choose from when composing an e-mail.   The signatures can either be formatted as text or HTML.    I haven't played with the HTML editor here, but it seems to be a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) type similar to the forum here.

---

Address Book

Here are links to your Plaxo membership and account (I don't use this).

You also have other Contact options - how many contacts to display per page (10, 25, 50 or 100) and whether the default view is list or card.

Here is also where you can import or export your address book to/from another program.

---

Email manager

Here is where you can add external pop accounts to have a limited access to those accounts (you can download messages and optionally delete them from the server after downloading, but replies will come from the Comcast.net logon that you signed into SZ with).

For the primary account, you can change the Display name in the Email Manager (the default is "Primary Account" ).

You can also choose the name that appears in the "From" field of email messages (for example, mine reads JR).

Here is also where you choose to attach one of your defined signatures or not to attach a signature.

You can click on the "Add External Account" button to add an external account.

When you click on that button, you can define the parameters of the External Account:

Account name - what you want to call this account - for example, My GMail
E-mail address - what the e-mail address of the account (to be downloaded into SmartZone) is
Account Type - POP3 or IMAP
Email Server - The POP server name (for Comcast.net, it would be mail.comcast.net or pop.comcast.net)
Username of the Account - This is the username for your external e-mail (for example, fred for fred@comcast.net)
Password:  The associated password - you can click on the show password box to display the password as you are typing.

There is a Test Settings button allows you to test the settings set above - just to make sure you are making a connection to that
e-mail server.

Advanced settings include:

• Use an encrypted connection (SSL) when accessing this server
• Changing the POP port (110 is the default)
• Delete messages on the server after downloading them.

---

Email Filters

Here you can add, edit or delete e-mail filters to take actions on incoming messages.  I haven't really played around with this yet.

Hope this helps,

JR

[charvey]

Adding secondary accounts via EMail Manager in SmartZone

From the EMail Manager in Preferences, you can click on the "Add Account" button to add an external account.

When you click on that button, you can define the parameters of the External Account:

Account name - what you want to call this account - for example, My GMail
E-mail address - what the e-mail address of the account (to be downloaded into SmartZone) is
Account Type - POP3 or IMAP
Email Server - The POP server name (for Comcast.net, it would be mail.comcast.net or pop.comcast.net)
Username of the Account - This is the username for your external e-mail (for example, fred for fred@comcast.net)
Password:  The associated password - you can click on the show password box to display the password as you are typing.

There is a Test Settings button allows you to test the settings set above - just to make sure you are making a connection to that e-mail server.

Advanced settings include:

• Use an encrypted connection (SSL) when accessing this server
• Changing the POP port (110 is the default)
• Download messages on the server after downloading them.

So, let's say you have a secondary account called subtwo@comcast.net with a password of xyz123

To add the example, you would enter

Account name - Sub2 (or whatever you want to call it)
E-mail address - subtwo@comcast.net
Account Type - POP3
Email Server - mail.comcast.net  (Please make sure that this does read mail.comcast.net.  When you put in the e-mail address above, the default entry here becomes comcast.net - which will cause the addition of this external POP account to fail.)
Username of the Account - subtwo
Password:  xyz123

Click on the Test Settings button and the test should be successful.   (If not, then something above was not entered correctly.   Usually this is the email server name (see my comments above) or the password (which is case-sensitive).  There is a "Show password" box that you can click on to display the password as you are typing it.

The only thing that you may want to change on the bottom is "Delete messages on the server after downloading them."

A few notes:

• If you want to write e-mails as that secondary account, you will need to log into the secondary account.   If you write a reply to an e-mail in the external POP folder, it will appear to come from the primary.
• Unless you delete the messages on the server after downloading them (and I don't recommend that due to the fact contained in the first bullet), the popped messages will remain in the secondary account's inbox.   With SmartZone there is not as big a need for mailbox cleanup, but you should be aware of this fact.
• Also, please be aware that an e-mail client will only download messages from the inbox(es) of the account(s) it is set up to access.   It will not download messages from any user folders - or the external POP folders.   Remember that the external POP folders contain copies of the e-mails from the Inboxes of those external POP accounts.   Downloading those accounts into an e-mail client will do nothing to the copies contained in the external POP account folders.

JR

Message Edited by charvey on 05-18-2009 11:51 AM

[charvey]

For those people that like the 'point and click' method of selecting email addresses, you can still do that in Smartzone. Plus, you can create group mailing lists if you always mail to a specific group of people, i.e. 'favorites'.

To add via the addressbook (rather than typing each name) you simply:

1) compose a new message - click on the pencil icon

2) click on the TO button - another window will popup (so disable pop-up blockers for this site)

3) select a name by one click on the person of interest. This makes the entry go yellow. If you want more than one person on that page, simply hold the ctrl (control) key down and select a second, third, more, name. 

4) Once you names are selected hit the TO button which is in the middle of the two panes. This moves your selected entries into the message address book holding area. (Note you can also select names to be put into the CC field here if you want).

5) If there are more names later in the address book, then hit the NEXT button and start selecting names again. You'll note your selections remain as you move from screen to screen.

6) At any time you can also search the 'search' field at the top of this address-book window to search for someone's name, perhaps 'brian' or 'bri' will return 'brian' in the results. Again, you select the one(s) you want and hit TO or CC in the middle to transfer them to the holding area.

7) Once you are finished selecting names you then hit OK at the bottom and all the names you had selected will appear in your original email you were composing.

This behavior is true of new emails, forwards, reply and reply-all.

You can also (as noted above) just start typing names in the TO or CC field and Smartzone will automatically search in your address-book and provide you the entries that match what you have typed so far.

---

For SmartZone Lite, click the "To:", "CC", or "BCC" as appropriate and then click the "Add Selected" button at the top of the screen.   Click "Done" when all names have been selected.    Please be aware that SZ Lite has a bug where the order that the names are shown is the inverse order that they were added to the address book (so the book appears jumbled).

In the SmartZone Tutorial sticky post #44 has some information from one of the Comcast mods (charvey) as to why a user may be running SZ Lite on his machine.

If you can resolve the oustanding issue(s) - usually screen resolution or browser settings - then you should be able to run the regular SmartZone on your computer should you so choose.

JR

[charvey]

How can I tell if I am in SmartZone or SmartZone Lite?

Upon initial logon, you will see a bar like the below in SZ Lite - however, different actions taken during your session may remove this indicator.

One quick way is to look at your SmartZone Home Page.   This is the page that appears when you first get into SmartZone and you can return to at any time by clicking on the Home tab.

Link to SmartZone screenshot:  http://www.geocities.com/jd_rushton/sz13.gif

(if you click on the above it will open it up in a separate window, so you can look at the screenshot and the below text and follow along)

The command bar in SmartZone contains the following - Home, Email, Voice, Address Book and Preferences.   Also notice the greeting in the upper left-hand corner - hi <username>.

Link to SmartZone Lite screenshot: http://www.geocities.com/jd_rushton/sz12.gif

(if you click on the above it will open it up in a separate window, so you can look at the screenshot and the below text and follow along)

The command bar in SZ Lite contains the following - Home, Email, Address Book, Preferences and Compose.   Also notice the greeting in the upper left-hand corner - hi <username>@comcast.net.   There is also a "New Folder" button here that isn't in the same screen in regular SZ.   There's also an "edit" link on the folder line.   Finally, there is a symbol next to the word Refresh in the refresh button.

Note:  Chris (aka mod charvey) found out that there is another difference in between the two.   The SZ Lite URL for your Inbox will have a /h near the end of the URL whereas the regular SZ URL for your Inbox will not.

How did I end up in SZ Lite when I want to be in regular SmartZone?

The following is copied from a post from mod charvey (thanks for listing these, Chris:

There are four reasons why you might not be using the AJAX Smartzone [regular SmartZone] even though you specify in preferences that you want to.

1) your browser isn't recognized. Google Chrome is an example of this.

2) your screen resolution is set to 800*600 or less.  (Note:  If you have changed your DPI setting beyond the normal setting (96 DPI), you may end up in SmartZone Lite even at the higher screen resolutions.)

3) you have some add-on that stop AJAX from running within your browser. 'noscript' is an example of this.

4) you choose it in your preferences.

JR

Addendum:  Comcast Support has indicated that they are looking as some better distinguishing features between SmartZone and SmartZone Lite.   They are also looking into the issue why so many people are being placed into SmartZone Lite and trying to reduce those that end up in SZ Lite for issues 1-3 above.

[charvey]

A guide to handling attachments when replying to or forwarding e-mails in SmartZone: 

Short Guideline:  Unless the box is checked on an attachment when forwarding or replying, that attachment is not included).

Replies

If you reply to a message with an attachment in SmartZone, the original attachment is only included in the reply if I check the box next to the attachment.    To reply without including the original attachments, leave the box unchecked.

If I don't check that box and then click on the Add Attachments button, and supply a new file name there, then that attachment replaces the original.  

If I check that box, and click on the Add Attachments button, and supply a new file name there, then that attachment is added to the e-mail (along with the original attachment).

Forwards

If you forward a message with an attachment in SmartZone, that box (next to the attachment) is checked by default.  

To forward a message without the attachment, uncheck the box before hitting Send. 

If you want to forward an additional file, then leave that box checked and click on the Add Attachments button, and supply a new file name there, then that attachment is added to the e-mail (along with the original attachment).

If I don't want to forward the original attachment, but a different attachment, then uncheck that box on the original attachment and then click on the Add Attachments button.  Supply the desired file name there and that attachment replaces the original.  

JR

[charvey]

Creating Folders in Smartzone

You can create ADDITIONAL Folders in Smartzone Regular to store e-mails you would like to keep.

To do:  Click on E-Mail from Smartzone Homepage, then click on the +NEW FOLDER icon

A window will open.  Give the Folder a name.  Next choose WHERE to place the new folder.

It is important to note that it should be placed BELOW the other Folders. 

Please note: If a folder displays under the Inbox, Sent, Draft, Spam, or Trash folders, it will be affected by your deletion policy settings

Your current E-Mail Deletion Schedule is found here> Preferences-E-Mail.  Scroll down to see how it is currently set up for:  Inbox(unread)  inbox (read) Sent mail, Spam, and Trash  Make any changes you wish to make and then click on save to save those changes.

[charvey]

Doing some poking around out at the Zimbra forums and found this page on their Wiki site

http://wiki.zimbra.com/index.php?title=Search_Tips

Some of the keywords you can use in your search:

content: Specifies text that the message must contain.

from: Specifies a sender name or email address that is in
the From header.

to: Same as from: except that it specifies one of the people to whom the email was addressed in the To: header.

cc: Same as from: except that it specifies a recipient in the Cc: header of the message.

subject: Specifies text that must appear in the subject header of the message.

in: Specifies a folder. For example, in:sent would show all items in your 'Sent' folder.

under: Specifies searching a folder and it's sub-folders.

has: Specifies an attribute that the message must have.
The types of object you can specify are "attachment", "phone", or
"url".

filename: Specifies an attachment file name.

type: Specifies a search within attachments of a
specified type. The types of attachment you can specify are "text",
"word", "excel", and "pdf".

attachment: Specifies any item with a certain type of attachment. For example, attachment:word would find all messages with Word attachments.

is: Searches for messages with a certain status - for example, is: unread
will find all unread messages. Allowable values are "unread", "read",
"flagged", "unflagged", "sent", "draft", "received", "replied",
"unreplied", "forwarded", unforwarded", "anywhere", "remote" (in a
shared folder), "local", "sent", "invite", "solo" (no other messages in
conversation), "tome", "fromme", "ccme", "tofromme". "fromccme",
"tofromccme" (to, from cc me, including my aliases)

date: Use this keyword to specify a date, using the
format that is default for your browser's locale (for US English the
format is mm/dd/yyyy). For example, date:2/1/2007 would find messages dated February 1, 2007. The greater than ( > ) or less than ( < ) symbols can be used instead of after or before. >= and <= are also allowed.

after: Specifies mail sent after a certain date.

before: Same as after: except specifies mail sent before the specified date.

size: Specifies messages whose total size, including
attachments, is a specified number of bytes, kilobytes, or megabytes
For example, size:12 kb would find messages
that are exactly 12K in size. The greater than (  > ) or less than
( < ) symbols can be used instead of bigger or smaller.

larger: Similar to size: except specifies greater than the specified size.

smaller: Similar to size: except specifies smaller than the specified size.

tag: Finds messages which have been tagged with a specified tag. For example, tag:amber will find message that have a tag called "amber" applied.

JR

[charvey]

E-Mail Filtering

Found this out on the Zimbra Wiki:

http://wiki.zimbra.com/index.php?title=Zimbra_Web_Client_Mail_Filters

Some excerpts - I've removed references to options not available in SZ.

How Do Filters Work?
Mail filters are a set of user defined conditions that are checked against incoming email. When an incoming email meets any of the user defined conditions, the filter performs user defined actions on the email.

Filter Conditions
Filter conditions are made of two parts:  Comparison Field & Comparison Operator

A filter condition is constructed by choosing a comparison field and then choosing a comparison operator and completing any operator fields. These two parts instruct the filter what part of an email to check, and for what content to check.

You can create multiple filter conditions. Using multiple filter conditions help refine filters and allow you to look for very specific types of email. Less filter conditions will create broader filters that can catch a variety of different emails.

Comparison Field
The following is a list and description of all the supported comparison fields.

From - Use this option to specify a From name in an email message.
To - Same as From, but looks for the specified names in the To header.
CC - Same as From, but looks for the specified names in the Cc header.
Subject - Use this to specify a Subject header in an email message.
Header Named - When this option is selected, an additional text input field appears before the comparison operator (the contains field). This field allows you to specify any email header. You can specify the standard fields of To, From, Date, Reply-To, or other custom fields that may be included in the message header.  You could use this option to filter out email messages that have malformed headers, meaning they do not contain certain information that is normally considered standard for an email message. Sometimes spam, which is automatically generated, omits information such as the Sender or Reply-To fields. Use the second text field (the field immediately to the right of the compariosn operator) to specify for which header to test.
Size - Use this option to select email messages that are larger or smaller than a specified size, including any file attachments. You can use this to discard email messages that are too large.
Date - Use this option to specify email messages sent before or after a specified date.
Body - Use this option to specify words that are contained or not contained in the Body of the email.
Attachments - Use this option to filter for email messages with or without attachments.
Address In - Use this option to check if an address appearing in a field of an incoming messages (such as From, To, Cc, and Bcc) is or is not in one of your address books.
Comparison Operator

The comparison operator tells the Mail Filter what to look for in the comparison field. Comparison operators can include exact matches, email size, and even the existance of an attachment.

The following is a list and description of all comparison operators supported.  (The available comparison operators vary depending on the comparison field you selected.)

Matches exactly/Does not match exactly - Specifies an exact match.  For example, specifying Subject matches exactly Banana would only match Banana and not Bananas or A truck full of banana leaves.
Contains/Does not contain - Specifies that the subject line must contain the specified substring. For example, specifying Subject contains Banana would match I’m going bananas.
Matches wildcard condition/Does not match wildcard condition - Specifies that the subject must match the specified string, which includes wildcards.  For example, specifying bana* would match banana and banana tree, but not free bananas. For more information about wildcards, see Using Wildcards in Filters.
Exists/Does not exist - Specifies that the specified comparison field must exist or must not exist in the message. This comparison operator is used with the Named Header and Attachment comparison fields.
Under/Not under, Over/Not over - Used for comparison against the Size field. When specifying the size to check against, you also specify the unit of measurement: B (bytes), KB (kilobytes), and MB.(megabytes).
Before/Not before, After/Not after - Used for comparison against the Date field.
In/Not in - Used to check if an address appearing in a field of an incoming messages (such as From, To, Cc, and Bcc) is or is not in one of your address books.

Filter Actions

The filter action tells the Mail Filter what to do with any email that the matches the filter conditions. You can create multiple filter actions, which are applied in the order listed. Filter actions can include deleting, sorting, and even tagging incoming mail.

The following is a list and description of all single and multiple filter actions supported.

Single Action
Keep in Inbox  - Saves email to your Inbox. If none of the filter rules match an email, this action takes place by default.
File into Folder - Moves the email to a specified folder.
Discard  - Deletes the email message without delivering it. The message is not in any of your folders, not even Trash.
Forward To  - Forwards the email to the address you specify.
Mark - Select as Read

Multiple Actions

Discard - If combined with other actions, discard is ignored and the other actions take place.
File into Folder  - Multiple File into Folder actions result in multiple copies of the message being stored in different folders. If a specified folder does not exist, the message is saved to the Inbox.
Mark  - These actions apply to the message returned from the nearest preceding action.

Keep in Inbox  - Multiple Keep in Inbox actions can be specified, but only one copy of the message is saved to the Inbox.

Using Wildcards in Filters

Wildcards can be used in comparisons that use the Matches wildcard condition/Does not match wildcard contidion comparison operator. The two wildcard characters are * and ?.

Asterisk (*)

The asterisk * is a placeholder for zero or more characters of any type.

Example search string:

banana*float

Using the above search string would return the following matches:

    * bananafloat
    * bananas
    * banana-leaf casserole float

However, it would not return:

    * super-banana-float

Example search string:

w*bandanna

Using the above search string would return the following matches:

    * white bandanna
    * whose bandanna

However, it would not return:

    * whose bandanna is this?

Question mark (?)

The question mark is a placeholder for "exactly one character".

Example search string:

banana?boat

Using the above search string would return the following matches:

    * bananasboat
    * banana-boat
    * banana!boat
    * banana boat

Slash (\)

There may be times that you will want to specify an exact match on a string that contains characters that normally are considered wildcards. For example, you might want to specify a match on a subject line where the main heading is surrounded on both sides by three asterisks, such as:

***MORE MONEY!!!***

or,

***FREE GIFT***

To specify a wildcard as itself rather than a substitution for other characters, use the backslash \ immediately before the character. For example the comparison string \*\*\**\*\*\* specifies a subject with three asterisks before and after any string in the middle (including spaces).

---

My thoughts/comments on e-mail filtering:

It's probably a good idea for anyone creating an e-mail filter to not use discard until they are very sure that the filter is working as intended.

The best thing would be to create a "Filtered E-Mail" folder and move any e-mails into that folder that you are considering discarding.    Then you can examine the contents of that e-mail folder and make corrections or additions to your filter.

If you have multiple conditions on an e-mail filter and you want the incoming e-mail to match all filter criteria, then make sure that you have clicked the drop-down in the upper-left hand corner to indicate that all of the criteria should be met.    It looks like the default is any.

JR
 

[charvey]

The following is a list of common Outlook Express errors and the suggested fixes to correct them. If you are experiencing any problems accessing your Comcast.net email through Outlook Express, please try these suggestions first. If these suggestions do not correct the problems or you do not see your error in this list, please start a new topic in the E-mail forum and include the following information so we can assist you:

1. 
   What operating system are you using?
2. 
   State the name of the email program you are using (e.g. Outlook Express, Outlook, Thunderbird, etc.)
3. 
   A brief description of the problem you are experiencing (e.g. I can receive email but cannot send, I cannot open Outlook Express, etc.)
4. 
   Include an exact copy of any error messages you are getting (this includes the error code(s) and all of the server information shown in the error message)

For convenience, this list is organized by the typical error code given by Outlook Express. An example of each error message which you may see is shown in bold below each error code.



I would like to offer my thanks and give credit to: Baric, Swiper the Fox, madylarian, and the many other regular forum posters for providing many of the suggested fixes below and helping to resolve the new issues that arise here in the forums.

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0x800C013E

An unknown error has occurred. Account: 'mail.comcast.net', Server: 'mail.comcast.net', Protocol: POP3, Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No, Error Number: 0x800C013E

This error indicates a damaged Pop3uidl.dbx file, which keeps track of your emails that are left on the server. To resolve this error, hide the error message and:

1. 
   Open the Tools->Options menu, click on the Maintenance tab and press the Store Folder button.
2. 
   Copy all of the information in this field (usually starts with C:\ and ends with \Outlook Express) - either write the information on paper or highlight all of the information and use Ctrl + ’C’ to copy it to your computer's memory.
3. 
   Quit Outlook Express and click on the Start->Run menu and paste the information copied above into the field (use Ctrl + ‘V’ to paste in the field if copied from above or type the information manually if you wrote the location in step 1 above) and press Ok.
4. Move your mouse cursor over the top of the Pop3uidl.dbx file, click your right-mouse button once and then click the Rename option.
5. 
   Rename this file to Pop3uidl.old, and then click OK.
6. Re-start Outlook Express.

If this does not resolve the issue, follow the same steps above and replace the Pop3uidl.dbx file name in steps 4 and 5 above with Folders.dbx and Folders.old, respectively.

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0x800CCC0D

The host 'server_name' could not be found. Please verify that you have entered the server name correctly. Account 'mail.comcast.net', Server: 'server_name', Protocol: POP3, Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No, Socket Error: 11001, Error Number: 0x800CCC0D

OR

The host'server_name' could not be found. Please verify that you have entered the server name correctly. Account: 'mail.comcast.net', Server: 'server_name', Protocol: SMTP, Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Socket Error: 11001, Error Number: 0x800CCC0D

One of the email server names in your account settings is incorrect. The incoming mail server should be mail.comcast.net and outgoing shoud be smtp.comcast.net. Click here for the FAQ that will walk you through verifying your account settings for Outlook Express.

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0x800CCC0E

The connection to the server failed. Account: 'mail.comcast.net', Server: 'mail.comcast.net', Protocol: POP3, Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No, Socket Error: 10060, Error Number: 0x800CCC0E

OR

The connection to the server has failed. Account: 'mail.comcast.net', Server: 'smtp.comcast.net', Protocol: SMTP, Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Socket Error: 10060, Error Number: 0x800CCC0E

This error indicates that Outlook Express is being blocked from accessing the Comcast email server. This can be caused by either:

1. 
   You have a firewall application that is blocking Outlook Express or the ports that is uses. Make sure your firewall is set to allow msimn.exe full Internet access through outgoing ports 25 and 465, and incoming ports 110 and 995. If you need assistance with configuring your firewall program, please post a new topic in the E-mail forum and indicate what firewall program you are using and also mention the Outlook Express error message you see.
2. 
   Enable SSL for the incoming (POP3) or outgoing (SMTP) mail server (this is indicated in the error message you get). To enable SSL for incoming (POP3) server, open Tools->Accounts, double-click on the Comcast email account, click on the Advanced tab, place a check in the This server requires a secure connection(SSL) under the Incoming Mail section. To enable SSL for outgoing (SMTP) server, open Tools->Accounts, double-click the Comcast email account, click on the Servers tab, place a check in My server requires authentication, move to the Advanced tab, place a check in This server requires a secure connection(SSL) under the Outgoing Mail section, change the 25 in the field above this to 465.

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0x800CCC0F

Your server has unexpectedly terminated the connection. Possible causes for this include server problems, network problems, or a long period of inactivity. Account. mail.comcast.net, Server: 'server_name', Protocol: POP3, Server Response: '+OK', Port: 110, Secure(SSL): No, Error Number: 0x800CCC0F

Your antivirus program is conflicting with your email program which is preventing your email from being downloaded. Try the following steps in order to resolve this issue:

1. Enable outbound authentication for your outgoing email server and enable SSL authentication. If you are using Outlook Express, open the options for your email account and under the Servers tab, put a check in the My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication. Then move to the Advanced tab and place a check in both of the This server requires an encrypted connection options at the top. The outgoing server port should automatically change from 110 to 995 which is the correct setting. But you will need to manually change the outgoing port number from 25 to 465. Once these changes have been made, close the OE options menus and try accessing your email again. If you are using an email program other than Outlook Express, the same options mentioned above should be available in the email settings but if you need assistance, please post a new topic and indicate what email program you use and that you need assistance with enabling authentication and SSL.
2. If step one above does not resolve the issue, you will need to disable email scanning for your antivirus program (emails are still scanned by the Comcast system and your antivirus will still be scanning files on your computer so this will not make you vulnerable to computer viruses). Exact instructions for disabling email scanning in your antivirus will differ depending on your antivirus maker. Typically, you will need to open your antivirus options page and look through these options for Email Scanning and disable the incoming and outgoing scanning options. If you are using Norton Internet Security 2006, follow the instructions in Anon1553127's first post in this thread. If you need further assistance with this step, please post a new topic in this email forum and state what brand of antivirus program you have and that you are seeking assistance with disabling the email scanning options.
3. If the 0x800ccc0f error continues after following steps 1 and 2 above, try logging into www.comcast.net and check your email this way. While viewing your email, try deleting any un-needed emails (e.g. particularly spam emails). Once your inbox is clean of un-needed emails, try using your email program again.

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0x800CCC68

An unknown error has occurred. Account: 'mail.comcast.net', Server: 'smtp.comcast.net', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '450 too frequent connects from your_IP_address, please try again later.', Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 450, Error Number: 0x800CCC68

You are making too many connections to the Comcast SMTP server within a short period of time and the email system has temporarily blocked your access from sending emails through Outlook Express and other email programs. This block is used to block typical spamming methods and normally will not be triggered by typical emailing habits. You can still send emails through the Comcast.net webmail interface or wait a few minutes before trying to send emails through Outlook Express again. If you frequently see this error, try the following suggestions to prevent the error:

• Wait a few extra moments between composing and sending out multiple emails.

OR

• Turn off the Send messages immediately option under Tools->Options->Send tab. Then compose and send emails like normal and they will wait in your Outbox folder until you press the Send/Receive button. This allows you to send multiple emails using only one connection to the SMTP server instead of sending one email per connection that you make to the SMTP server.

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0x800CCC78

The message could not be sent because the server rejected the sender's e-mail address. The sender's e-mail address was 'email_address@someISP.net'. Subject 'subject_line', Account: 'mail.comcast.net', Server: 'smtp.comcast.net', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '530 Authentication required', Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 530, Error Number: 0x800CCC78

You are either connected to the internet through a different ISP or your Comcast IP address is not currently being recognized by the Comcast SMTP server. The system should correct this issue automatically or you can enable outgoing email authentication (follow the directions in this FAQ if you need assistance with enabling this feature). This setting can remain enabled if you are on the Comcast network and you will experience no adverse effects with your email.

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0x800CCC79

The message could not be sent because one of the recipients was rejected by the server. The rejected e-mail address was 'email_address@something.net'. Subject 'test', Acount: 'mail.comcast.net', Server: 'smtp.comcast.net', Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: '550 destination not valid within DNS', Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 550, Error Number: 0x800CCC79

Try sending the email again and double-check the spelling of the recipient's email address. Especially, make sure the domain part (the "@something.com" part) is correctly spelled and that the .com, .net, .org, etc. ending is correct (e.g. typing @comcast.com instead of @comcast.net will give you this error).

[charvey]

One consistent theme in this forum is that a lot of users don't really understand the difference between Comcast webmail (CW) and an email client (EC), like Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Thunderbird, etc. They're under the impression that these are just programs that do exactly the same thing, but with a slightly different interface. This impression is false. For those of you who do understand the difference, this will bore you, so go read another thread!


For the rest of you, I think a simple analogy might help explain the difference. Let's compare email to regular, paper-and-envelopes snail mail (SM). When someone sends you an email, the message goes to the Comcast mail server. This is like SM going to your local friendly post office.


When you use CW, that's like driving from your house to the post office, standing at the counter, asking the clerk for your mail, then going through it right there. You can throw some of it away, forward some of it, return some of it, or just have the clerk hold onto it for you. But you're not taking any of it home with you.


There is one advantage to doing this: if your significant other also wants to see the mail, she can drive from her office to the post office, and look at the mail, too. Likewise, if you're not at home, you can still drive to the post office to check your mail. By analogy, using CW, you can check your mail from any PC that gives you Internet access, even in an Internet cafe in Patagonia (been there, done that!).


There are real disadvantages, however. The post office won't let you set up an elaborate filing system to categorize your mail. You can't keep unlimited amounts of mail at the post office. Some postal clerk may get confused, and throw out all of your stored mail. You can't pull out your calligraphy set when preparing a message to someone else, or when replying to a message - you have to use the pen that's chained to the counter.


Using an email client, on the other hand, is like having a letter carrier deliver the mail to your house. An EC brings all of your mail from the mail server to your PC, and picks up whatever outgoing messages you've prepared.


The downside, of course, is that once the mail has been delivered to your house, if your SO drives over to the post office and asks for the mail, they're going to tell her that there isn't any. And, if you're away from home, the letter carrier isn't going to come to wherever you happen to be. By analogy, unless you have a laptop with you, you can't use your EC to receive or send email if you're away from your PC. The solution to this problem is simple, however: when you're away, don't leave your EC running at home. That way, it won't download your messages to your PC, and you can use CW from wherever you are. When you get home again, fire up your EC, and bring everything down to your PC.


The advantages of letting the letter carrier bring the mail to your house are many: you can keep as much of your old mail as you can find space for in your house. You can create an elaborate filing system if you like. You can create a system for filtering all the incoming mail, throwing out some of it without opening it, filing some of it, replying to some of it, and so on. You can use all sorts of fancy pens to write messages. You can make copies of your mail for safekeeping. And if you move to a different country (in other words, switch ISPs), you can take all of your mail with you (if you terminate your Comcast account, any mail still sitting on the mail server the day after your account expires gets dumped).


There are other important differences between CW and EC for which there is no real SM analogy. For example, virtually every EC has an option whereby you can leave a copy of each message on the mail server. This is like having the letter carrier deliver your mail, but leave copies at the post office, something that's not possible in the real world. Another example: as some of you have discovered, when you click on a "mailto" link on a webpage, or when you try to mail a document from within Word or Excel, the program involved wants to use your default EC. Since CW isn't an EC, it can't be your default. In snail mail terms, this would be like sitting at home, writing a letter, putting it in your mail slot, and then waiting forever for the letter carrier, who never comes.


In sum, if you're confused about the differences between CW and an EC, just remember that using CW is like driving to the post office, and that using an EC is like having a letter carrier bring the mail to your house. There are some situations in which CW is a handy tool. But if you've got the choice, any EC is a better tool for managing your email. Having a letter carrier is almost always better than relying on General Delivery.

[charvey]

The following are two alternatives for including inline images are preserved when forwarding the email.

1. Set the value preferences --> Composing --> Forward --> Include original message as attachment.
2. Switch to Smartzone LITE version. In LITE, inline images sent as attachment on forward emails.

We would recommend to use Option 1 as this would retain the use of the regular Smartzone version.

[charvey]

This is particularly useful if you are being asked or are interested in seeing the "headers" of the message to work out how it was routed to your mailbox.

The procedure differs depending on whether you are in the full (AJAX) Smartzone or Smartzone LITE (HTML based).

Regular Smartzone:

Right click on the message while in the inbox and select "View Source" (NOT "View Page Source" which is different and won't get you the information you want) on the right-click menu that appears (2nd from the bottom).

Smartzone LITE:

Open up the message. On the toolbar (the one that has the Reply, Reply All, Forward and Print buttons), there are two icons on the right-hand side. The leftmost of this pair is the Open in New Window button (looks like Tiled Windows). The rightmost icon looks like the back of an envelope and is the View Source button.