This section will teach you how to set up an e-mail account, using an existing e-mail address, for use with Windows Live Mail 2011. In the previous section I showed you how to download and install Windows Live Mail 2011, and explained a little about the Mail Servers - The, ISP/Broadband Company, computers (servers) that are responsible for the e-mail you send and receive. Now I will briefly explain the e-mail.

An e-mail is a data file that must contain at least one E-Mail Address (i.e. contactjohn@yoingco.com), a Subject (i.e. Photos Attached) and a Message (in the form of a small note or a letter). An e-mail can also contain one or more Files (i.e. Photographs and Documents) which are known as Attachments, but don't worry too much about this as e-mail Attachments, Sending, Receiving, Forwarding and so on will be explained in later sections.

Before launching windows live mail 2011 make sure you have the Main Internet (Broadband) Connection open, as described in The Internet section. Windows live mail 2011 expects the main internet connection to be open (live) so that it can use an Extended Internet Connection (also explained in The Internet section) to communicate directly with your ISP's computer. Therefore, there is no need to have Internet Explorer open - Internet Explorer, which uses its own extended internet connection to download/upload files and web pages, has nothing to do with windows live mail 2011 whatsoever. Failing to have the main internet connection open before launching windows live mail 2011 might result in errors and/or the Dial-Up requester appearing.

To launch windows live mail 2011 either click on its START Menu menu-item (shortcut icon) or double click on its Desktop icon (if one has been created). If you are using the START Menu menu-item you first need to click on the START Menu button and then on the WINDOWS LIVE MAIL icon in order to launch Windows Live Mail 2011.

Fig 1.0  Double click on the WINDOWS LIVE MAIL desktop icon to launch Windows Live Mail 2011




Fig 1.1  Click on the WINDOWS LIVE MAIL menu-item to launch Windows Live Mail 2011 - START button >> WINDOWS LIVE MAIL icon

As soon as you launch windows live mail 2011 the first window you will see is its copyright message window (Fig 1.2). A few seconds later the main window will appear (Fig 1.3).

Fig 1.2  The copyright message window




Fig 1.3  The main Windows Live Mail window

If you have more than one e-mail client installed on your computer, such as Windows Live Mail 2011 and Microsoft Outlook, and windows live mail 2011 is not the default (normal) e-mail client to use the following message requester will appear when you start windows live mail 2011.

Fig 1.4  Click on YES to make Windows Live Mail the default (always used) e-mail client

Before you can send and/or receive e-mail you must first have an E-Mail Address and Password, which you normally get when you sign up with your ISP (Internet Service Provider). For example. When I signed up with TalkTalk they asked me to create an e-mail address - yoingco@talktalk.net - and asked me to provide a password for it. I also have the e-mail address contactjohn@yoingco.com, with a password, that I created for this yoingco.com website. I could also get a free e-mail address and password from the Internet, from Hotmail or Yahoo for example.

Saying that; Companies that give you a free e-mail address and password, such as Yahoo and GMail, usually want you to manage your e-mail using their website only. To manage your e-mail using windows live mail 2011 usually means you have to have a paid-for e-mail address and password, such as an ISP's e-mail address and password or a website owner's e-mail address and password.

At this stage you might be wondering "Why use Windows Live Mail 2011? If I have an e-mail address and password I can check my e-mail from my ISP's website". And this is true, but the whole point of windows live mail 2011 is that it does not rely on your web browser (i.e. internet explorer or firefox) and therefore does not inherit, and suffer from, the kind of problems associated with your web browser (such as slow speed, pictures not showing correctly and so on).

Windows Live Mail 2011 for example is faster at sending/receiving e-mail, it allows you to manage more than one e-mail address and password, it's not bound to 250Mb of storage space (because it uses your hard drive space instead), it allows you to import/export e-mails and e-mail addresses and is generally better (feature-wise) than an ISP's website based e-mail client.

In order to use windows live mail 2011 you must first set up an E-Mail Account for each e-mail address and password you want managing. So assuming you have an e-mail address and password already begin creating an e-mail account for it by clicking on the ACCOUNTS Tab and then on the EMAIL button to bring up the Add Your Email Accounts window (Fig 2.2 below).

Fig 2.0  Click on the ACCOUNTS Tab to continue




Fig 2.1  Click on the EMAIL button to continue




Fig 2.2  Enter your email details and then click on the NEXT button to continue

The Add Your Email Accounts window is the first window of the E-Mail Account Wizard - Windows Live Mail 2011 has three account wizards. The E-Mail Account wizard, the Newsgroup Account wizard and the Contacts Directory Account wizard. What windows live mail 2011 has done with the E-MAIL button is take out the need to click on the FILE menu, hover over the OPTIONS menu-item and select the EMAIL ACCOUNTS sub-menu menu-item in order for you to then create an e-mail account. So the EMAIL button is a shortcut to the E-Mail Account wizard.

The first piece of information the email account wizard requires is your E-Mail Address, which needs to be typed into the EMAIL ADDRESS edit box. As said above, this is normally the e-mail address given to you by your ISP or a website owner e-mail address. So if you are with TalkTalk your e-mail address might be john.smith@talktalk.net. In which case that is what you would type into the edit box. In this example though I am not using my ISP e-mail address, I am using my Domain Name (website owner) e-mail address instead: contactjohn@yoingco.com.

After entering your e-mail address the next requirement is your Password. This will be the password you gave your ISP when setting up your P.A.Y.G, Anytime or Broadband internet account. It needs to be typed into the PASSWORD edit box. In this example I have used the password belonging to my website e-mail address - contactjohn@yoingco.com.

If you want to type in your password each time you send/receive e-mail untick the option REMEMBER THIS PASSWORD and leave the PASSWORD edit box empty. This is good for security reasons (i.e. you don't want any trace of your password left on the computer, such as in a password file). By putting a tick next to the REMEMBER THIS PASSWORD option you are telling windows live mail 2011 to download your password information, stored on your computer, each time you want your ISP (or Website Hosting Server) to verify your e-mail account details. If you have to type your password each time it means the password is sent straight down the telephone line, pure, and not sent down the telephone line as a password file for example.

The next edit box is the DISPLAY NAME edit box. It requires a name that people will see when they receive an e-mail from you. This could be a Business Name, Personal Name, Nickname or whatever. I could use Yoingco, FREE Computer Lessons or John Cairns for example whereas if you were called David Jones you could use DJ Business LTD, Website Name or David Jones for example. Obviously you want to use something that is recognisable and not something that comes across as a Junk Mail name for example.

The MANUALLY CONFIGURE SERVER SETTINGS option is unticked (clear) by default, but in this example I have ticked (set) it to show you how to configure POP (Receive E-mail) and SMTP (Send E-Mail) server settings manually. Why? Because if you leave this option unticked windows live mail 2011 will use default POP and SMTP server settings for your e-mail account.

So if you set up a TalkTalk e-mail account for example (i.e. yoingco@talktalk.net) windows live mail 2011 will use standard POP and SMTP server settings, which is okay if those server settings are up-to-date but what if TalkTalk change their POP and/or SMTP server settings? Windows Live Mail 2011 will be using the wrong settings. At least here, in this example, you will know how to edit those server settings if need be. So tick the MANUALLY CONFIGURE SERVER SETTINGS option and then click on the NEXT button to continue.

Clicking on the NEXT button (Fig 2.2 above) will take you to the server settings, e-mail account, window (Fig 2.3 below) where you can manually set up the POP and SMTP server settings associated with your ISP (or Website Hosting) e-mail address; as just mentioned.

POP and SMTP server settings should of been sent to you, via e-mail and/or post, by your ISP or Website Hosting company together with other e-mail account details. The common server settings should be available from their website, or at least on the internet somewhere. If not, contact your ISP or Website Hosting company directly for those common server settings.

Although server settings are normally common they can vary from one ISP or Website Hosting company to another. For example. One ISP might use mail (i.e. mail.btinternet.com) for both their POP and SMTP servers, whereas another ISP might use pop3.ispname.co.uk and smtp.ispname.co.uk. So if you are unsure, perhaps because you have misplaced the original details, contact your ISP or Website Hosting company and ask them "What are the POP and SMTP server details I have to enter into Windows Live Mail 2011 when setting up my E-Mail Account?".

Fig 2.3  Click on the NEXT button to continue

Without being technical - IMAP and POP ports are used for Incoming/Receiving e-mail and a SMTP port is used for Outgoing/Sending e-mail. These ports are monitored by security softwares for example in order to protect your incoming and outgoing e-mail.

The main differences between IMAP and POP are; IMAP leaves your e-mails on your isp's (internet service provider's/broadband company's) server and initially only allows you to view e-mail headings such as "Hi John, Its Only Me!". When you click on a heading its e-mail message is then downloaded for your viewing. So IMAP only downloads the e-mail messages you want to read and therefore saves bandwidth by not downloading all of your e-mail headings and their messages at once. IMAP also keeps a copy of your e-mails on the server by default. POP is the total opposite. It usually downloads all of your e-mails (headings and messages) at once and then clears the server of your e-mails, by default.

The SERVER TYPE drop-down menu allows you to select the type of server (e-mail server), dictated by your ISP or Website Hosting company, that is used for your e-mail account. This will either be IMAP or POP3 - In this section and throughout this category I am exampling the POP (POP3) server based e-mail account because it is more common, and better for the home/residential user, than IMAP. Plus. Many ISP and Website Hosting companies use POP servers.

The server address is the address (domain name) of your isp's or website hosting company's Receiving E-Mail server (incoming mail server). Their computer (server) that takes care of the e-mail you receive. It usually takes the format of pop, mail or pop3 followed by the domain name of your isp or website (i.e. mail.yoingco.com, pop3.ispname.co.uk and so on). In this example I have used this website's incoming/pop server address of mail.yoingco.com.

The LOGIN USER NAME edit box requires the User Name (also known as Account Name) or E-Mail Address used to verify your e-mail account. This could be your broadband user name (i.e. Yoingco) or an e-mail address associated with your broadband account for example (i.e. yoingco@talktalk.net). This will depend on your particular ISP Account (i.e. broadband account). In this example I have used this website's e-mail address (contactjohn@yoingco.com) but I could of used my broadband e-mail address instead (yoingco@talktalk.net).

The second server address (on the right) is the adress (domain name) of your isp's or website hosting company's Sending E-Mail server (outgoing mail server). Their computer (server) that takes care of the e-mail you send out. It usually takes the format of smtp or mail followed by the domain name of your isp or website (i.e. mail.yoingco.com, smtp.ispname.co.uk and so on). In this example I have used this website's outgoing/smtp server address of mail.yoingco.com.

The other settings on the above window are to do with Security and Authentication which may or may not be required. They are to do with checking the authentication of the user who is sending e-mail and the port settings that prevent junk mail and so on. Basically. Your isp or website hosting company will either require one or more of them or none of them.

TalkTalk do not require them for example. However. In the case of a website e-mail address (i.e. contactjohn@yoingco.com) being used to send e-mail through their servers, they may require the REQUIRES AUTHENTICATION setting to be set (ticked) - This is something you may need to check with your isp as each website and its e-mail settings can be unique. In my case TalkTalk allow me to send and receive e-mail through their servers, for contactjohn@yoingco.com for example, with only the REQUIRES AUTHENTICATION authentication setting ticked. The other two settings called REQUIRES A SECURE CONNECTION (SSL) are not needed for authentication in my case.

Fig 2.4  The e-mail account has been created - Click on the FINISH button to continue

The above examples should be enough to get your e-mail account, and more precisely its e-mail address, working. However. As stated above, you may need to change other settings such as authentication settings before your email account/address is fully working. So in the next example I will show you how to view/alter the account settings for a particular e-mail account.

With windows live mail 2011 still open, on the ACCOUNTS Tab, now showing your newly created e-mail account; Click on the PROPERTIES button (below) to begin viewing/modifying that e-mail account's properties (server settings).

Windows Live Mail 2011 automatically lists all newly created e-mail accounts inside its Folder Pane (on the left-side of the main window) alongside other default window panes (known as Views). In this example the Folder Pane only contains one e-mail account of course, which is the Yoingco account I just created.

If you have closed windows live mail 2011 simply open it by again (as explained at the top of this section) and then click on the ACCOUNTS Tab. From there, highlight the e-mail account if necessary and then click on the PROPERTIES button.

Fig 3.0  Click on the PROPERTIES button to view an e-mail account's server settings and so on




Fig 3.1  Click on the SERVERS Tab (window) to continue

At this point it is worth noting that the e-mail account has been named after the domain name (i.e. Yoingco) and the user name from the e-mail address (i.e. contactjohn), purely for identifying this e-mail account. The reason I point this out is because when you have multiple e-mail accounts with the same domain name (i.e. contactjohn@yoingco.com and info@yoingco.com) it is better to rename each e-mail account, if need be, to something more suitable. I could change the e-mail account name of Yoingco (contactjohn), currently inside the MAIL ACCOUNT edit box, to John Yoingco for example or FREE Computer Lessons for example. It just makes things easier when checking your e-mail.

Regardless if you change the e-mail account name or not click on the SERVERS Tab to continue.

Fig 3.2  Tick the MY SERVER REQUIRES AUTHENTICATION option, and click on SETTINGS, if need be.

The SERVERS Tab has the server settings on it that should of been set up in the first part of this section. However, there are settings that still might not work until you come to this stage. For example. The EMAIL USERNAME edit box might initially be filled with just a user name (i.e. contactjohn), but these days you may need to extend it to include the domain name too (i.e. yoingco.com). So instead of user name only (i.e. contactjohn), it might need to be user name plus domain name (i.e. contactjohn@yoingco.com) in order to work correctly.

Another setting that you might need to alter is the MY SERVER REQUIRES AUTHENTICATION. This might be switched off (unticked) by default, especially if your ISP/Broadband company does not require authentication, but in this example I need it ticked. When it is ticked the SETTINGS button will become active in order for you to set up and apply authentication settings. Clicking on the SETTINGS button will open the Outgoing Mail Server window.

Fig 3.3  Click on the LOG ON USING button, if need be, to change authentication account name and password

With the Outgoing Mail Server settings you normally have the USE SAME SETTINGS AS MY INCOMING MAIL SERVER setting selected, if both the incoming and outgoing mail servers are the same. In my case they are - both of them use mail.yoingco.com. However, if they were to use different servers (i.e. incoming: mail.yoingco.com and outgoing: talktalk.net) I would need to select the LOG ON USING setting instead and then enter the authentication e-mail address and password associated with the outgoing server, which is normally the e-mail address and password given to you by your isp/broadband company (i.e. yoingco@talktalk.net) but in some cases can be a website e-mail address (i.e. contactjohn@yoingco.com). These are details you would need to, individually, clarify with your isp/broadband company.

After the SERVER Tab settings come the SECURITY Tab settings, which can be ignored as they are generally unimportant. So move onto the ADVANCED Tab instead.

Fig 3.4  The settings inside this SECURITY Tab can be left alone as they are generally unimportant




Fig 3.5  Make sure your Mail Server Ports match those supplied by your ISP/Broadband Company

The main settings inside the ADVANCED Tab are to do with the Ports (Sockets/Channels) that each mail server uses (the Incoming/POP3 and Outgoing/SMTP ports). These are usually set to 25 (Outgoing/SMTP) and 110 (Incoming/POP3), but can easily use another port number depending on your isp's/broadband company's requirements.

The only other settings you need to worry about are the DELIVERY settings - LEAVE A COPY OF MESSAGES ON SERVER, when ticked, means you want windows live mail 2011 to receive e-mail from your isp's incoming/pop3 server (e-mail computer) as normal, but you also want it to leave a copy of those same e-mails on your isp's incoming/pop3 server. This is a good option if you have more than one computer whereby you want them both to receive the same e-mail. If this option is unticked you would not be able to do that because only one computer would receive the e-mail before that e-mail was then cleared (deleted) from your isp's incoming/pop3 server.

The REMOVE FROM SERVER WHEN DELETED FROM 'DELETED ITEMS', when ticked, means you want to keep a copy of your e-mails on your isp's incoming/pop3 server (as just explained) but also want to have each e-mail you delete from the windows live mail 2011 'Deleted Items' folder deleted from your isp's incoming/pop3 server too.

Fig 3.6  Tick LEAVE A COPY OF MESSAGES ON SERVER to leave a copy of your e-mails on your ISP's mail server (computer)

The REMOVE FROM SERVER AFTER [?] DAYS setting, when ticked, means you want to keep a copy of your e-mails on your isp's incoming/pop3 server (as just explained) but also want any windows live mail 2011 received e-mail to be deleted from your isp's incoming/pop3 server after X amount of days. Any new e-mail that has not been received through windows live mail 2011 yet, but is still on your isp's incoming/pop3 server (as NEW e-mail), should not be deleted.....until it has been received by windows live mail 2011 first.

To add another e-mail account just repeat the steps above, from Figures 2.0 and 2.1 onwards. In the next section I will show you how to create an e-mail message.

Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.  As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.