Handicapped - internetly

Life without Outlook Express means using Tmnet’s webmail and the constraints are numerous.

It is a case of taking things for granted and missing them only when we have lost them. Here’s a dummy’s account (advanced IT knowledgeables please skip but knowing them, the more they want to read and laugh at my expense):

First, there is an overall limit of 3.9MB for mail, including those already in the ‘folders’ and under ‘thrash’ if not deleted. To have an idea of 3.9MB of space, a picture requires some 50KBs and a mail with a few pictures require a few hundred KBs. Therefore to avoid warning from the mail administrator, one has to delete regularly.

When I ‘add addresses’, all those cc-addressees are included with the sender's! And, I have yet to find a way to delete unwanted addresses! I wish someone who had experienced this (unlikely as many would have sorted out with the vendor if IE and OE are not working properly) could confirm this, otherwise most people would assume it to be my lack of IT skill (which is admittedly low).

The other disadvantage of using Tmnet webmail is that one has to log on to just read an old mail unlike OE. Since I am not using broadband, time adds to the bill.

There is also no way to ‘select all’ within webmail, so I have to ‘drag down’ instead.

I cannot click address given in a website to write an email but had to type out instead. Each time I click the address, just like clicking ‘mail’, I get a message, ‘Outlook Express could not be started because MSOE.DLL could not be loaded’.

Without OE/IE, I am also unable to forward almost, if not all, articles in other websites. I am also unable to open most attachments because my windows player, winamp, etc. faced the same breakdown. It is frustrating after a long wait for an attachment to be downloaded only to find my computer unable to find the player to open it.

I am not sure what caused these problems and the most obvious would be my windows programs must have been detected to be unlicensed and disabled as a result. After umpteen times re-installation, I am not sure what I am using at the moment, though I bought the computer from a large reputable dealer.