Can't open email client

[D46]

I've got an email program called MailWasher Pro that filters incoming email before its downloaded to the server. My email client is IncrediMail. For the past week it had been getting slower and slower trying to open email and yesterday, I couldn't open it at all. I'd click on MW Pro and nothing would happen. I bypassed that program and went directly to IncrediMail...still wouldn't open. I checked out my firewall and no settings had been changed. I've emailed IncrediMail and have gotten no response from them and that was yesterday. Anyone have any ideas? I also ran several spyware programs I have and they found nothing. Even did a HiJackThis log and nothing out of the ordinary appeared.

I can use Outlook Express to email but I don't like it and that's why I went to IncrediMail and made it the default.

 

[tim-from-pa]

D46:

I can't answer your question because I do not know anything about that software. But what I do want to mention is that I found out in life that virus/firewall "protection" is kinda like taking pills for a malady. Sometimes the so-called cure is worse than the disease. I don't even have virus/firewall protection on our 4 computers we had online for years. (we do online scanning periodically)Basically, we have no real problems because we are all wise surfers, except my youngest tends to pick up stuff yet from his music downloads, but not serious.

I found that firewalls/virus protection if corrupted becomes as bad as a virus itself in that the most common complaints I hear are either "slow motion" computers, or inability to connect to the Internet.

First of all, Outlook is not too bad if

1) You keep your email private. Use webmail to give out to businesses so that you do not get spammed with this stuff. Yahoo.com has excellent filters. Only give your personal email to family and friends, especially the type of people who do not forward every chain email there is. If you already gave out your email, then create a new account.
2) Disable the "preview pane" in your Outlook. Look at the source code if an email is suspicious. If you see a lot of garbage and hyperlinks, then delete it. Trust me, such a person (or automated program) is not on the level if you see that stuff.

I practiced this for years and I only had ONE VIRUS and that's before I disabled the preview pane. BTW, I still use windows 98SE, my kids use XP Pro. In many regards, 98SE has some advantages over XP (and shows my age. :-D )

People get computer viruses for the same reason they gain weight. Although they deny it, there is some (subconscious) bad habit involved where they are asking for it. One has to realize what they are doing. You do not need an email client that does all that garbage only to mess you up.

 

[D46]

Tim-I always believed in "using enough gun" when hunting. I guess that carried over to the computer as well as I have about ten spyware programs, ZA Pro and a Linksys router for protection against "nasties". I don't even get popups like I once did, and all seems to have ran rather smoothly for a couple of years now. Usually, when someting like this happens it's due to another program update that screws up another program...like many were having problems with the last version of Spy Sweeper and went back to the older version. I didn't have that problem for some reason. Others had trouble with the latest update to Zone Alarm crashing programs, slow starts and freezes. After reading about that on their forum, I decided to stay with the version I had. I never download beta versions of anything.

As for the email problem-SOLVED! I could get no answer from IncrediMail, two computer forums I go to, or anywhere else. I decided to try and shut down each program I had running (like Spy Sweeper) until one would allow me to then get my email client up and running. None of this worked. I found I had an update to WinPatrol, got that and then checked to see what they listed as startup items. IncrediMail was there (as it should have been) and I highlighted it to get the "Plus Info" they provided. It took me to IncrediMail's website, I got the latest update from them, and bingo-I got my email program back!! Must have been a corrupt .dll file or something. At any rate, I guess I solved my own problem after several days of pulling out what little hair I have left. I love it when things come together!! :-D