Connecting to Web Mail

If you're like me, you have a standard POP e-mail account with your ISP, and an auxiliary e-mail account with a Web-based e-mail provider, such as Hotmail or Yahoo! Mail. The advantage of a Web mail account is that you can check that account from any computer, using any Web browser. It's also a great way to establish a second identity on the Internet, for those times you want to be someone other than yourself.

CAUTION

In almost all cases the URL of your service's e-mail server is not the URL you use to access the service. You'll need to obtain the server address from your Web mail service before you configure Outlook Express and be sure to enter the full address, including the http://.

Outlook Express lets you add your Web-based e-mail accounts to its basic configuration. This way you can use Outlook Express to send and receive e-mail to and from Hotmail and other Web mail services.

Here's how you set it up:

1.	From within Outlook Express, select Tools, Accounts to display the Internet Accounts dialog box.
2.	Select the Mail tab and click Add, Mail.
3.	When the Your Name screen of the Internet Connection Wizard appears, enter your Display Name and click Next.
4.	On the Internet E-Mail Address screen, select I Already Have an E-Mail Address That I'd Like to Use, enter that address, and click Next.
5.	On the E-Mail Server Names screen, pull down the My Incoming Mail Server list and select HTTP.
6.	If you're setting up Outlook Express for Hotmail, pull down the My HTTP Mail Server Provider list and select Hotmail. If you're setting up another service, select Other.
7.	Enter the URL of your service's e-mail server into the Incoming Mail Server box, then click Next.
8.	When the Internet Mail Logon screen appears, enter your account name and password into the appropriate blanks, select the Remember Password option, then click Next.
9.	When the Congratulations screen appears, click Finish.

When you return to Outlook Express, you'll find a new listing for your Web mail provider in the Folder List. You can now access this Web mail account just as you do your POP e-mail account