POPPOP3IMAPSMTPT

Fool Community Help Desk Help with this STUPID computer!
1

Hey Gurus,

Having used pc’s since they were first available, and having done some programming long ago, I am sometimes considered half-way knowledgeable, but I often discover something that proves to all, I am not, not at all.

Take Email for example. It’s about as simple as can be, right? Well, if you only have one or two addresses on one or two email servers, yes, it’s pretty simple, and likely always works without a hitch.

However … If you mail from, or to, various email servers, or if someone asks you the details of how your email is configured (unless you’re a tech guru like the regulars on this board) …

Then maybe It’s not that simple. There are different protocols, some that you may be able to choose, some you may not, and some that are not even listed (or called the same thing) for a particular domain. But they’re not always the same for different email applications or email clients. (Pop Quiz for Non-Techies: “Do you know the difference?”)

Goals
• Several email addresses in the same (custom) domain (which is my real name), each to be chosen in order of descending priority of safety requirements. e.g., RaptorD@[xyz] = Financial, RaptorE@[xyz] = non-financial accounts, RaptorG@[xyz] = personal communications, RaptorX@[xyz] = ”I know you’re going to sell my address”, etc.
• To maintain other addresses used in the past from different sources (hotmail, gmail, custom, etc.) so I don’t have to revise them all (> 200.)
• Be able to read email sent to any account above, and be able to mail from any of them, all in one application.

Environment Windows 10 on a newer, fast pc, plenty of memory, etc.

Please

  1. Can someone please point me to a “How-To” on email that will help me with setting up these email goals (hopefully not a 300-page book)?
  2. Please recommend a program that can handle several domains and not require a physics phD to set up.

Or

  1. Am I asking for too much?

Thanks for considering and any advice! I appreciate it.

Please email to … oh hell, I don’t know, just holler, ok? I’ll find it.

2

Well, you got the MS Office suite? Outlook can do what you want. Regretfully, like yourself I’m so behind in the IT world, I’d be stumbling to tell you how. I’m still just using a web based browser/email… GL.

Maybe someone else will have some input for you, or another SW package for you to try.

Thunderbird (subsidiary of Mozilla Foundation) is another I’ve heard some suggest.

3

Not a guru, but I somehow stumbled through setting up Thunderbird w/4 different e-mails.

I have used it for years, on various new computers without any problems. Very similar to Outlook, maybe more like Outlook Express. But its a standalone client, has a Calendar for scheduling, Contacts, Encryption, RSS News feed & other stuff. I just use the e-mail (now down to (3)) & the Calendar.

The e-mail I gave up was my own domain so it handles multiple domains. Three others still active are SMTP gmail accts. I think if you want it on cross platforms ("puter, phone, etc) you want the imap option as opposed to POP3. Yep, all the e-mail accounts are in the same client program with their own hierarchy: Inbox|Drafts|Sent, etc. You can set up Local folders in it as well. And migrate too, from other clients, don’t know about from web apps.

Their support page that has very easy to follow setup instructions… hey, I did it! Try starting here: (obviously d/l the program, also on this page). Come back if/when you stumble on some specific issue. Their may be other clients out there but I haven’t looked in a long time.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/products/thunderbird

Good luck.

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4

Thunderbird can certainly handle the email agent part of this. E.g., my own is set up to handle a general purpose address, an address I used to use for customer support, and an address for wine related interactions. However, I run my own Linux mail server, so I don’t know what you do about the server end of things.

5

How each individual e-mail address is handled by your domain depends on the software package you use. What you use for security software would then also be critical. Hack-hack…

E-mail is, by definition, not safe/secure. So sending info via e-mail is not safe–which is why encryption and safe/secure servers/VPNs exist.

I have been using desktop computers before the IBM PC was invented. There is nothing new.

Don’t know what you are trying to accomplish, but, if you want security–good luck. The best way to keep safe is to NOT make info readily available via the Internet. If they can’t get at it, you win. However, that means having a way to move data from X to Y (or Z or A or wherever) and NOT make anything beyond the first machine (X–which received the e-mail) accessible–unless you are physically there to do it.

You could have data stored on multiple drives–that are only connected to your computer when you need to use them. Otherwise, if powered OFF or disconnected from all networks when not used, data is safe.

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6

Hi Jerryab,

I want so many things … :slight_smile:

• Overall, I’m trying to keep my identity from being hacked.
• I’m trying to use certain email addresses for only the most secure (esp. financial) applications and others for sites which I think will generate spam.
• I’m trying to continue use of my older email addresses so I don’t have to go in and change them all.
• I use LastPass so I can maintain numerous passwords without remembering them all, but even that’s a hassle as the p/w’s need to be changed periodically.
• LastPass does not match multiple addresses with different sites, so …
• On top of many passwords comes the task of remembering/ logging/ changing/ hiding which email accounts are registered with each application.
• I currently am using Thunderbird and an OEM application from a domain registrar (IONOS.)

It would be nice to have something to manage all the above. Thus the question, “Am I asking for too much?” I suspect I am, so maybe I should invent it. :slight_smile:

Any ideas come to mind?

7

• Overall, I’m trying to keep my identity from being hacked.


So, what makes you think you've already been, or someone has tried to hack your ID? Honestly, I think you're going a bit overboard... or is there something more to your situation that would be damaging to share? (*just asking*)

Mrs PL and I have NEVER had our ID stolen. NEVER! It's all in your due diligence. You know... don't click on... share nothing unless you know the person/company has a need... keep your machine clean!

There is so much more... but for me, it just seems natural. Example: we have a separate CC (Visa) that is tied to a separate debit acct (contains <$200), this is the only way we pay for things online... totally separate from our personal or main accts. Easy to dispute and not connected to our big $$$. We can do online transfers, after purchase, to cover... been doing this for more that a decade.

I'll just add one thing... please remember the KISS principle. Sometimes "simple" is good. Too complicated can cause its own set of problems.

[ww.KeepItSimpleStupid.pl](http://ww.KeepItSimpleStupid.pl)
8

Mrs PL and I have NEVER had our ID stolen. NEVER! It’s all in your due diligence. You know… don’t click on… share nothing unless you know the person/company has a need… keep your machine clean!

I hadn’t had my ID stolen either… until it was. I thought I had done all the right things, and I STILL think I had done them all. The first hint was a letter from Fingerhut saying they were sorry to decline me credit. I contacted them and made it clear that I had not applied for credit with them and was unlikely to ever do any business with them. Then there was an item on my credit report declining me for a new card. That turned out to be someone trying to buy a TV online from Best Buy. Then came the day I noticed my bank account listed a credit card along with checking, savings and a CD. I was on the phone to be bank immediately and that was cancelled. Then there was an item in the mail, from the US Postal Service, asking me to confirm a change of address. Of course I stopped that too. And you know what showed up in my mailbox soon after? That charge card from my bank.

Nothing since then, and it has been over six months. (Yes, I locked my credit report.)

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9

I hadn’t had my ID stolen either… until it was.

No surprise.

The security risk is NOT at your end. YOUR risk is at the banks, businesses you shop, insurance, and health care companies–because they are the ones who the hackers go after to get large amounts of personal data that can be sold on the dark web. Going after your ONE account is a waste of their time. Getting your data as one of MILLIONS the hackers obtain in a big breach is small potatoes–but getting enough of them at one shot is a lot of money in a RESELLER market (which is what hackers are).

I have not been hacked or had identity theft yet (40+ yrs). But I have had a few debit/credit card numbers used over the years. No, I did nothing wrong. Those card numbers are created using a formula–and that formula is known to the scammers who try to then duplicate the numbers (including CVV) and buy stuff online. Usually, the bank catches them and denies the attempted charges. The bank then cancels the card and replaces it with a new card (with a new number). Every 5-10 years I get a call from a bank questioning a weird purchase–usually a scammer duped MY card number and it got flagged and cancelled. Remember: The card number does NOT provide any of your bank account info, so none of that gets changed.

Phishing or other scams don’t work with me because I have my main e-mail system set to show me the headers for each e-mail I receive. Lots of “official” e-mails sent from gmail and other weird one-off fake account and domain names. Which is why my [DELETE] key gets a LOT of use.

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10

Jerry
you are a smart guy to protect yourself. The questions you are asking are good questions and ones that people look at and realize this is a good idea for an app and next thing you know google is buying that app for a billion dollars. My 2 cents worth…doc

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Thunderbird will do what you want, I’m pretty sure. (There is no logical reason for a limit on the number of email addresses it can handle*, and I’ve never heard of anyone hitting such a limit in T’bird, but I can’t guarantee there isn’t one.)

Setting up one address is pretty straightforward. Then to set up the second, you do the same thing again. And for the third, again.

IMAP and POP3 are both for incoming mail. You’ll use either one, not both, on any given account - but you can use both on different accounts. POP3 necessarily downloads all incoming mail to your machine and removes it from the server. IMAP gives you lots of choices.

SMTP you’ll use for outgoing mail on all addresses.

Then we get to what Thunderbird can do. Folders within each IMAP account, plus local folders. Have rules for automatically moving mail to folders (yes, you can move mail TO an IMAP server). Or deleting mail. Rules can be based on message headers, message content, message age… but you don’t HAVE TO do any of that.

1 Like