Receiving Mail FAQs

Page updated 24 August 2009

Printing Messages

How can I print my messages?

You need to use the facilities of the external viewer. Select the message to be printed. Open the Mail View window and from the File menu select "External Viewer". By default this will open the message in Notepad, from where it can be printed.

Advanced users can consider editing the nPOPuk.ini file for further options. It is possible to define the program to be used as the external viewer. Some programs permit the use of command line parameters which can force the program to print a file rather than display it.

The following examples illustrate what can be achieved, using commonly available programs, by editing just three of the nPOPuk.ini settings. These examples are installation dependant and may need to be adjusted slightly on other systems. (See the nPOPuk.ini page for further information on these and other related settings which can further refine the options.)

ViewApp=
ViewAppCmdLine=
ViewFileSuffix="txt"
These are the default settings and will open the message in Notepad.

ViewApp="C:\WINDOWS\NOTEPAD.EXE"
ViewAppCmdLine="/P $npop_view.txt"
ViewFileSuffix="txt"
This version takes advantage of Notepad's "/P" parameter which directs output to the printer, enabling a true File menu "Print" option to be simulated.

ViewApp="C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE"
ViewAppCmdLine="C:\PROGRA~1\nPOPuk\$npop_view.htm"
ViewFileSuffix="htm"
This version sends the message to Internet Explorer and is best used on HTML messages as line feeds are not preserved in plain text messages.

ViewApp="C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\WINWORD.EXE"
ViewAppCmdLine=""C:\Program Files\nPOPuk\$npop_view.htm""
ViewFileSuffix="htm"
These settings open the message in WORD and works equally well with plain text and HTML messages.
NOTES: Note the double set of quotes! The command line parameter may not have spaces so, to preserve the folder name "Program Files", the entire parameter is itself enclosed in quotes.
Because WORD can display multiple files but not with the same file name, a second message cannot be opened while a previous one is still open.

Constantly Reloading Mail

I have hundreds of e-mails in my InBox. When I check my e-mail nPOPuk always starts loading them from the beginning again. How can I get nPOPuk to add just the new ones to the existing list?

The most likely scenario is that you are using another e-mail program or web service in conjunction with nPOPuk. If you use something other than nPOPuk to delete e-mail, then what remains on the server does not tie in with nPOPuk's record of what is there. To stay small and fast nPOPuk only keeps a record of the number of messages in the InBox and the ID of the final message. The only way it has to synchronise its records is to reload the entire set of messages.

The solution is to use nPOPuk to delete unwanted messages from your InBox.

Disappearing Mail

When I check for new e-mail, nPOPuk throws away the email that I have already downloaded to my InBox. How can I preserve these e-mails?

If mail is not being saved then you will only see new mail. You have altered the default setting for saving messages in the "Mail list" section on the RECV tab of the Global Options dialogue.

Providing you have not deleted the mail on the server, you can re-fetch the missing items. The left hand part of the status line tells you how many items you can see and how many are still on the server. To see all the messages, before you next connect, open the Account menu on the main window and select "Initialise...". On the dialogue that opens set "Mail from item number:" to the value "1".

In future you can retain a full list of all mail still on the server, by setting the "Mail list" section to one of the "save" options on the Global Option dialogue. Note that the Initialise setting on the Mailbox menu of the Main Window returns to its default, "New mail only" automatically after connection, or if the dialogue is reopened manually, so you will then retain all messages still on the server.

Using as a Mail Checker

What is the best way to I set up nPOPuk to use it for checking for the presence of mail on the server, when I intend to read the mail in another program?

To operate nPOPuk in Mail Checker mode a number of Global Options need to be set. These appear on the Recv, Check and Other tabs of the dialogue:

Lines to be downloaded: If you are using another program to actually handle your mail and all you need to know is the subject line and sender when checking for mail then this setting can be reduced to zero.
Nothing is saved: Again, if you use another program for handling mail then you have no need to save any mail data between sessions with nPOPuk.
Display Icon in System Tray: By itself this forces a grey envelope icon.
Hide to System tray when minimised: This is the key option, that removes the program button from the main part of the Taskbar.
Keep system tray icon when closed: Optional! With this option set, closing the main window merely minimises it. (The only way to close the program is via the right-click menu of the system tray icon.)
Display Message when new mail arrives: Optional! This places a prominent window announcing new mail on the screen. Otherwise you reply on a change in colour of the system tray icon.
Sound when new mail: Optional! Another way of alerting you to new mail
Auto check: Select this and enter an appropriate value in the associated box. Any figure between five and sixty would be reasonable, depending on the urgency with which you need to deal with any mail.
Check e-mail on start: Optional! If you are using the auto check facility, then checking on start up of nPOPuk may not be essential.

Also, if only mail from certain accounts needs to be checked, consider enabling the "Exempt from Check All" setting on the POP3 tab of the Account Settings dialogue for the appropriate accounts.

Finally, dial-up users will need to consider the appropriate options for their needs on the Dial-up tab of the Global Options dialogue.