2 Common E-Mail Problems and What To Do About Them When it works well, e-mail can be great. It's hard to beate-mail for everything from staying in touch with family torequesting information from businesses or other organizations.Want to send the same message to several people? Communicatewith someone across the continent? Transmit photos, manuscriptsor other information? For speed and efficiency, this virtuallyinstantaneous medium is one of the most convenient features ofmodern life.
But e-mail is not without problems. If you key in the name of anintended recipient but your message keeps bouncing back, youmight not be singing e-mail's praises. Ditto for attachmentsthat won't open or other such nuisances. With just a littlepatience, though, you can readily overcome most e-mail problems.What follows are 4 common e-mail problems along with solutionsfor overcoming them.
Problem - Returned Messages
This may be the most frustrating of all e-mail problems. Aftertaking the time to create a message, you click on the "send"button and consider your task accomplished. But the next thingyou know, the message pops up in your in-box with a heading thatit did not reach its intended recipient.
Solutions
First, take the simple step of checking to see that the addressof your recipient has been entered correctly. This may seemobvious, but sometimes the only thing wrong is a misplacedletter, the use of "com" instead of "net", or some similarerror. If you know the correct address, this is astraightforward matter of double checking each character. Ifnot, you might need to experiment by sending multiple messages,or by entering alternative addresses with slight variations.Under this approach, you simply keep track of which messages arebounced back and compare them with the overall list of addressesyou used. If you sent four variations but only three werereturned, you have solved the problem by the process ofelimination.
Sometimes the source of your problem lies with the recipient. Ifmessages to other addresses go through but fail here, try tocontact the intended recipient by other means and report thesituation. The cause may range from a temporary problem with therecipient's server to a switch to another e-mail provider, to afull in box. In this case, simply waiting may be the bestrecourse. Or a phone call or other communication may be requiredon your part to obtain the correct e-mail address. If all yourmessages are being returned, you may have a connection problem.See below for more details.
Problem 2 - You Have Lost Your Connection
Sometimes a failure to send or receive
e-mail can be traced to alost connection with your Internet service provider.
Solutions
If you see a "failure to connect" or "no response" message orhave otherwise determined that you have failed to connect,double check to make certain there are no physical problems.
First, check your cables and connections. If you use a dial-upmodem, listen to make sure it produces the normal high-pitcheddialing sound. If not, the problem could be a loose connection.Locate the phone cord that runs from the back of your computerto the phone jack, and then make sure that each end is pluggedin snugly.
If you will don't hear the expected dialing sound, check to makesure your phone cord is undamaged. If it seems worn, replace itwith a new one. Other steps include making certain the line isplugged into the right port, and checking the phone jack byplugging the cord into a different jack. If you hear the dialingsound after any of these steps, you have made a successfulconnection.
Connection problems may be more common with dial-up modems thanwith broadband connections, but the latter are also dependent onphysical connections. A loose wire or poorly connected cable caneasily be problematic. Sometimes a glitch occurs that can bebest addressed by repeating portions of the initial set-upprocess. A simple fix touted by Verizon technical service repsfor some DSL (digital subscriber line) customers is todisconnect the three lines from the back of the modem and thenreconnect them in a specified order. When this action is taken,the online connection is immediately regained.
If you are online but keep getting bumped off, the lostconnection can be the result of an unintended software command.In Outlook Express, for example, you will find the command "Hangup when finished." If the box in front of this phrase ischecked, the connection will automatically be severed each timeyou send or download e-mail. Sometimes a misdirected click ofyour mouse will cause you to place a check in the box eventhough you do not realize it. Simply click on the check mark tomake it disappear, and the hang-ups will cease.
These 2 common e-mail problems are quite easy to determine andwhen rectified will make your emailing experience moreenjoyable.
About the author:
Marv Ko has many years of experience in business, marketing,security, writing, and varied hobbies. He is is the senioreditor of
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