Ristra Mail Monitor 1.8.0

Help File

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Introduction

Overview

Ristra Mail Monitor is a utility to automatically perform periodically and on demand e-mail checking. Currently, it only supports mail checking of web-based mail services. However, multiple accounts of different services are supported. The mail services that it supports (as of this release) include: angelfire.com, eudoramail.com, excite.com, hotmail.com, mailcity.com, mailexcite.com, rocketmail.com, usa.net (NetAddress and AmExMail), yahoo.com and zdnetmail.com.

In addition, it will allow user to log in to the account more conveniently by launching default web browser and open up the log in page of the specified mail service.

Please note that the number of mail services that Mail Monitor supports is subject to change without notice. Please visit Mail Monitor home page at http://welcome.to/ristra or http://ristra.hypermart.net for the latest information.

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System Requirements

Mail Monitor requires system with Windows 95/98 or Windows NT 4.0 or newer version and IE 5 to run on. An Internet connection is also required during the operation of Mail Monitor.

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Evaluation and Registration

You are hereby licensed to use this software for evaluation purposes without charge for a period of 14 days. If you use this software after the 14-day evaluation period a registration fee of $19.95 is required.

Unregistered use of this software after the 14-day evaluation period is in violation of U.S. and international copyright laws.

Credit card registration and quantity discounts are available, as described in the registration form (select Programs, Ristra Mail Monitor, Registration Info from the Start menu) or online registration web page at http://welcome.to/ristra (select the registration topic). When payment is received you will be sent a registration code via e-mail. Once you have received the code from us, you have to Enter the Registration Code into the program in order to finalize the registration process.

Only the registered user will get the priority support from us. Minor upgrades and bug fixes are free to the registered user. In addition, registered users will be the first to be notified about upgrades and new software releases.

Distribution of the Evaluation Version

Provided that you verify that you are distributing the evaluation version (select About Mail Monitor from the menu to check). There is no charge for you to make as many copies of the evaluation version of this software and distribute the software in its original (unmodified) form to anyone.

You are specifically prohibited from charging, or requesting payments, for any such copies, however made; and from distributing the software with other products without prior written permission.

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License Agreement/Disclaimer of Warranty

License Agreement

You should carefully read the following terms and conditions before using this software. Your use of this software indicates your acceptance of this license agreement and warranty.

One registered copy of Mail Monitor may either be used by a single person who uses the software personally on one or more computers, or installed on a single workstation used non-simultaneously by multiple people, but not both.

You may access the registered version of Mail Monitor through a network, provided that you have obtained individual licenses for the software covering all workstations that will access the software through the network. For example, if 12 different workstations will access Mail Monitor on the network, each workstation must have its own license, regardless of whether they use Mail Monitor at different times or concurrently.

Disclaimer of Warranty

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED TO THE USER "AS IS." THERE ARE NOWARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, WITH RESPECT TO THE SOFTWARE AND/OR ASSOCIATED MATERIALS PROVIDED TO THE USER, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND AGAINST INFRINGEMENT.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY - THE AUTHOR SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIMS OR DAMAGES WHATSOEVER, INCLUDING PROPERTY DAMAGE, PERSONAL INJURY, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INFRINGEMENT, LOSS OF PROFITS, OR INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS, OR FOR ANY SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, HOWEVER CAUSED, WHETHER ARISING OUT OF BREACH OF WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.

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How to…

Get Started

Start up the program by clicking at Ristra Mail Monitor icon from the Start menu.

After the program loading is finished, you will see the Mail Monitor icon  in standby mode on the task bar.

Before you can have Mail Monitor checking the mail, you must set up the account first. Please follow the steps in the section: Set up Mail Accounts.

Once you have set up the accounts, you may want to Set Preferences. Then you can Check Mail either on preset interval or on demand. During mail checking mode, the icon will look like .

When new mail arrive, you will see the flashing  icon. Then after you have View Status, the icon will be back to the standby mode.

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Set up Mail Accounts

You can set up mail accounts by follow the steps below:

1. Select Open Settings... from the Mail Monitor Menu, then you will see the Settings dialog box on the screen.

2. On the first tab Mail Accounts, Press Add button to add new account information, you must provide login name, domain, and password for Mail Monitor to access your inbox. When finished, press Confirm.

3. To change password for the account that you have set up, first select the account from the list, then press Edit Button and enter the new password. When finished, press Confirm.

4. To delete account from the list, first select an account and then press Remove button.

5. You can have Mail Monitor bring up the default browser and go to the login page for you by selecting the account from the list and then press Login button. You can also do this from the Mail Checking Status Box.

If you have Netaddress(usa.net) account, please see Special note for Netaddress(usa.net) users section for more info.

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Set Preferences

You can set preferences by follow the steps below:

1. Select Open Settings... from the Mail Monitor Menu, then you will see the Settings dialog box on the screen.

2. Click at the Preferences tab on the top, you will be provided with many options.

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Set Connection

If you connect to the Internet through proxy server or your connection is behind the firewall, you should check this option. Please enter the proxy name or address and port number.  The user ID and password are optional depending on your proxy configuration.  Please consult your network administrator for further details.

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Check Mail

Once you have run Mail Monitor and Set up Mail Accounts, it will check for new mail at the interval as set in the Set Preferences section.

Besides periodically checking for new mail, Mail Monitor is also allow you to check for new mail whenever you want. By clicking at Check Mail Now from the Mail Monitor Menu or Mail Checking Status Box.

Note: You will not be allowed to check mail when the mail checking is already in progress.

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View Status

When mail checking is done, the mail checking status box will be popped up automatically unless you disable this option in the Set Preferences section.

Otherwise, you can view the mail checking status anytime either by choosing View Status from the Mail Monitor Menu or double clicking at the Mail Monitor icon.

The status box will show the number of new or unread mail (e.g. 2 new) from the latest mail checking result. It will also show the previous number of new or unread mail (e.g. 1 prev) if you have got more new incoming mail since the last mail checking.

On the mail checking status box, you can also have Mail Monitor bring up the default browser and go to the login page for you by selecting the account from the list and then press Login button. You can also do this from the Mail Accounts setup screen.

When error occurs, please see Error Messages and Technical Support/Reporting Bug/Suggestions section for more information.

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Log in to the Account

Either on Mail Accounts setup screen or Mail Checking Status Box, you can have Mail Monitor bring up the default browser and go to the login page for you by selecting the account from the list and then press Login button.

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Enter the Registration Code

We will send you the registration code via e-mail once you have registered this product with us. (Please see Evaluation and Registration section for more detail on how to register this product.)

After you have received the registration code from us, you can enter the registration code into this program by follow the steps below:

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Uninstall Mail Monitor

You can uninstall Mail Monitor by doing either one of the following:

or

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Tips and Tricks

Enable/Disable Automatic Mail Checking

You can enable/disable automatic mail checking by selecting the Disable Mail Check option from the Mail Monitor menu or you can check/uncheck the Check for new mail every... option in the Preferences section.

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Enable/Disable Launch on Startup

You can simply choose whether you want to launch Mail Monitor automatically on Windows startup. Please see Set Preferences section for more detail.

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Lock up Mail Monitor

You can prevent others from using this program by selecting the Password is required to start this program option and enter the password in the Preferences setup screen.

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Log in Automatically

You can have Mail Monitor entering your login name and password automatically after bring up the default browser and go to the login page. Please see Set Preferences section for more detail.

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Notify only when you have more new mail

When you have unread mail leaving on the inbox because you do not have time to read them or whatever reason, you may get annoyed if you choose the option to have Mail Monitor pop-up mail checking status box automatically since Mail Monitor treats unread mail as new mail.

However you may set up the Main Monitor so that it only notify you when you have got more new incoming mail or you can disable the automatic mail checking status box pop-up. Please see Set Preferences section for more detail on how to set the options.

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Quick Status Viewing

You can view the mail checking status quickly instead of choosing View Status from the Mail Monitor Menu. Just double clicking at the Mail Monitor icon, the mail checking status box will be immediately displayed on the screen.

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Stop the icon from flashing

When Mail Monitor found new incoming mail in your inbox, the Mail Monitor icon will become flashing. Just View Status and then click on the OK button in the Mail Checking Status Box, the icon will stop flashing and return to standby mode.

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Troubleshooting

Error Messages

The connection was reset by web server. This error is typical for particular mail service and it can occur even if you access the mailbox through web browser. However, this only happens occasionally. Whenever you have found this error, you can instruct Mail Monitor to Check Mail again or just wait for the next round of automatic mail check is taking place.

Mail Monitor cannot establish connection to the web server. The cause can be one of the following:

When this error happened, you should check your Internet connection and instruct Mail Monitor to Check Mail again. If the error still occur, just wait for the next round of automatic mail check is taking place.

The login name and/or password that you entered during the mail accounts setup are incorrect. Please go back to the Mail Accounts setup screen and edit the account information. If you have Netaddress(usa.net) account, please see Special note for Netaddress(usa.net) users section for more info.

Mail Monitor cannot establish connection to the web server due to the domain name server (DNS) was down or cannot be found.

There was an error while connecting to the web server. If you have found this error, please wait for a while before instruct Mail Monitor to Check Mail again or just wait for the next round of automatic mail check is taking place. If the error still occur for an extended period of time (like several days), please visit Mail Monitor home page at http://welcome.to/ristra to inquire about the status of an update.

The data received from the mail server is incomplete or the mail service probably has changed either the URL (web page address) or the format of its web page. Please instruct Mail Monitor to Check Mail again several times or just wait for the next round of automatic mail check is taking place. If the error still occur for an extended period of time (like several days), please visit Mail Monitor home page at http://welcome.to/ristra to get an updated release of this program or to inquire about the status of an update.

The web server was temporarily out of service. When this error happened, just wait for the next round of automatic mail check is taking place or until the web server is up and running again.

The connection to the web server cannot be established within the time limit. This probably because of the traffic on the internet was very heavy. Whenever you have found this error, you can instruct Mail Monitor to Check Mail again or just wait for the next round of automatic mail check is taking place.

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Special note for Netaddress(usa.net) users

If you are a Netaddress(usa.net) users, normally you should select the usa.net as the domain when you set up your account. If you have got the Invalid Login/Password error message please make sure that you have entered the correct login name and password. If you still got the Invalid Login/Password error message then you should try setting up the account using the usa.net(classic) domain.

There is another way to determine which domain you should use when you set up the Netaddress account. By logging in to your Netaddress account manually with your browser. Once you are in there, please take a look at the location or the URL address box of the browser. You will see something like http://www.netaddress.com/tpl/Door/716XYHFQH/Welcome or http://mail.netaddress.com/tpl/Door/716XYHFQH/Welcome. However, if you see classic.netaddress.com instead of www.netaddress.com or mail.netaddress.com in the URL address then you should select usa.net(classic) as the domain when you set up the account. Otherwise, please select the usa.net as the domain.

For AmExMail users, please select usa.net(AmExMail) as the domain.

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Technical Support/Reporting Bug/Suggestions

For those who need technical support, to report bug or give us suggestions, Please visit Mail Monitor home page at http://welcome.to/ristra or http://ristra.hypermart.net

Please note that only the registered user will get the priority support from us. See Evaluation and Registration section for more detail on how to register.

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Glossary

ˇ  Web-based mail services is the e-mail service that user can access his/her mail box via web browser.

ˇ  Mail Monitor Menu: You can bring up the Mail Monitor Menu by right mouse clicking at the Mail Monitor icon.

ˇ  Domain is part of your e-mail address, it starts right after the @ character till the end of the address. For example, if your e-mail address is joe@hotmail.com, the domain will be hotmail.com

ˇ  Mail Checking Status Box is the box which shows the mail checking status and will be displayed when you click View Status from the menu or Mail Monitor will pop it up automatically when new mail arrive.

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For more information please contact us at:
http://welcome.to/ristra or
http://ristra.hypermart.net
mailto:ristra@poboxes.com

CopyrightŠ1998-1999 Ristra Company Limited. All rights reserved.
Trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

Thank you for using Ristra Mail Monitor.

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