SOME OF OUR MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

**Dropped Connections

Q. I hate it when my modem suddenly drops the connection to my ISP. It happens as often as twice an hour. Is the villain my software, my hardware, or my ISP?

A. Random disconnects occur when your modem or serial port hardware can't handle the flow of incoming or outgoing data due to line conditions, degraded hardware, or both. Here are a couple of ways to slow the data flow and possibly correct the problem.

First, in Control Panel, open the Modems applet and click Properties. At the bottom of the General tab, you can alter the maximum speed setting for your modem. Select the next-highest speed and reconnect to your ISP. This will, of course, limit your modem to the speed selected, but it may keep you connected.

Second, try the same strategy by going to the Connection tab of your modem's Properties screen and clicking the "Port settings" button. Two bars control the data flow through your serial port. Slide the bars back one notch at a time, and try reconnecting after each adjustment.

**Excerpt from an article in PCWorld's August issue. Click here to read the entire article on their site.

Mail Program Time Out During Download

Q. Lately my email program times out while trying to download my email. I seem to get the first few messages over and over again, however, it seems to get stuck on a certain message. What causes this and what can I do about it?

A. It sounds like you may have a message that is either too large or that is corrupted. Messages with attachments that are near or over 1MB in size often cause time outs. This can also cause you to keep receiving the messages before it over and over again because the program never really completes the download. Thus, the messages aren't deleted from the server.

To fix this problem you could try logging into your email via a web based POP3 checker, such as POP3Now.

To check your mail and delete the offending message without losing any important messages:

• Go to POP3Now's Website
• Scroll down the page until you see the sentence that says:



• Access your home email account through Pop3Now for FREE right now and experience the most secure way to access your email through the Web!

• You will see three boxes into which you need to type the following information:



• User ID: [ type your username in this box]
• Password [ type your password in this box ]
• POP3 Server: mail.kricket.net


• Click the button labelled 'Click Here to LOGIN'
• Now you may read, reply to, or delete any of your email messages. Be sure to delete the offending message. The size should be listed for each.