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Email problems



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 2nd 20, 06:51 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
KenK
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 444
Default Email problems

I'm having a lot of annoying problems with my ancient Gmail app. (Don't
know version number. Can't find it to look for it on the HD. Probably easy
to find if I knew how. My 85 year-old mind doesn't work well any more.)
Think it would be possible to DL a newer version that will run under XP?

I tried Thunderbird. It's better, but annoyingly it fails to send my
message about a third of the time. I have to save the message entry screen
and reload T-Bird. It usually works then but still annoying.

Or perhaps a nice new enmail app that runs nicely under XP?

TIA



--
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  #2  
Old July 2nd 20, 07:16 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Paul[_32_]
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Posts: 11,873
Default Email problems

KenK wrote:
I'm having a lot of annoying problems with my ancient Gmail app. (Don't
know version number. Can't find it to look for it on the HD. Probably easy
to find if I knew how. My 85 year-old mind doesn't work well any more.)
Think it would be possible to DL a newer version that will run under XP?

I tried Thunderbird. It's better, but annoyingly it fails to send my
message about a third of the time. I have to save the message entry screen
and reload T-Bird. It usually works then but still annoying.

Or perhaps a nice new enmail app that runs nicely under XP?

TIA


While this ancient GMail app is running, you could look
for it in Task Manager (the control-alt-delete thing).
It could be Windows Live Mail or something.

Using Process Explorer (run it as administrator to be able to
access more info), it can tell you where the executable for
a particular process is located.

Version 16.32, maybe still runs on Windows XP...

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sys...ocess-explorer

You can find an older version, if that didn't work.

http://www.oldversion.com/windows/pr...explorer-11-33

*******

You can save a composed email message in Thunderbird, as a "Draft".
Restart Thunderbird. Visit the "Draft" item in the local folder.
You can then re-open your draft item, and click send if you wish.

Googles fascination with TLS means that the email tool you
use, has to be a more modern one, to keep up. TLS uses a certificate.
TLS uses an encryption method, like CHACHA20 or one of the elliptic
curve encryption methods. And GMail likes OAUTH2 for (web-based)
authentication.

And many of the clients here, including Thunderbird, Google requires
the "less secure" setting in your web setup of GMail, for the clients
to work. While it may seem there are a lot of clients here, not
all of them offer the latest standards for (encryption) protocols
and the like.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compar..._email_clients

Paul
  #3  
Old July 2nd 20, 09:01 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
VanguardLH[_2_]
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Posts: 10,881
Default Email problems

KenK wrote:

I'm having a lot of annoying problems with my ancient Gmail app.
(Don't know version number. Can't find it to look for it on the HD.
Probably easy to find if I knew how. My 85 year-old mind doesn't work
well any more.) Think it would be possible to DL a newer version that
will run under XP?


Google never wrote a Gmail app for Windows XP ... because Windows XP
does not support UWP (Universal Windows Platform) app[lication]s. You
have some Win32 program as a local e-mail client running on Windows XP,
but you did not identify it.

Most Win32 programs have a menu, and in that menu it has a Help entry,
and under Help is usually an About entry. That's where you look to
determine which version of a program (not app) that you are running.

Perhaps you mean you are using a web browser (unidentified, too) to
connect to gmail.com and you are using their webmail client (aka web
app). In that case, "lot of annoying problems" gives no details for
anyone else to troubleshoot.

If "Gmail app" means an Android app for Gmail running on your Android
smartphone or tablet, or an iOS app for Gmail running on your Apple
smartphone, that is off-topic here. This newsgroup is for discussing
Windows XP issues. The Android newsgroup is over at:

comp.mobile.android

There is no iOS newsgroup, and none of the *apple* newsgroups look to
discuss iOS devices, like iPhones. You'll have to try their forums over
at https://discussions.apple.com.

I tried Thunderbird. It's better, but annoyingly it fails to send my
message about a third of the time. I have to save the message entry
screen and reload T-Bird. It usually works then but still annoying.


Thunderbird has their own newsgroup on Mozilla's NNTP server. The
community there is more focused on that Win32 program.

Newsgroup: mozilla.support.thunderbird
Server: news.mozilla.org
Port: 119

Thunderbird version 52 was the last one to support Windows XP SP3. You
didn't mention which version you have. If you are not yet up to SP3 on
Windows XP, you might have to go through the 2-step install procedure to
get around a bug in their installer; see:

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb...ndows-xp-vista

"Fails to send" doesn't say what is happening. If Tbird is having
problems connecting to the SMTP server or submitting a message to it,
Tbird will show errors which you could then report to others. If the
SMTP server accepts the submission from Tbird without error (Tbird
generates no error and receives an OK status back from the SMTP server)
but the message is not sent out from your SMTP server or received by the
recipient's SMTP server, Tbird is working okay and the problem is
upstream at the servers or at the recipient's end.

You could CC (Carbon Copy) or BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) yourself on all
your outbound e-mails. Send the copy to a different e-mail account and
preferably at a different e-mail provider to check if your outbound
e-mails are getting delivered. If your other account gets your e-mails,
there is no problem with your local e-mail client or with your e-mail
service, and the problem is at the recipient's end.

Or perhaps a nice new enmail app that runs nicely under XP?


You didn't mention pricing criteria, like you want only free solutions
or are willing to pay.

_OE Classic_
Looks like Outlook Express (which has nothing to do with Microsoft's
Outlook client, and was originally named Internet Messaging and News
hence the "imn" substring in the .exe file's name).
Cost: free for crippled version, $25 for payware version.

You don't mention what are the "annoying problems" with something you
claim is a "Gmail app" running on Windows XP. If you are actually
using Outlook Express, you'll have to mention just what are the
problems to get help on them. Whatever problems you have in whatever
local e-mail client you are using are not fixed, they may still be
exhibited in whatever alternative local e-mail client you end up
using. There are newsgroups for Outlook Express where you can ask for
help on that Win32 program.

_Mailbird_
Another alternative is Mailbird (https://www.getmailbird.com/). I've
never used it. They claim to be Windows XP compatible. Their GUI is
designed to look like what gets used for smartphone apps.
Cost: $40 to purchase, $1.63/month for subscription.
No free version, just a trial or demo version.

_Claws Mail_
I've seen users, reviews, and even Wikipedia claim there is a Windows
version. Yet https://www.claws-mail.org/releases.php only lists tar
files and that hints to [U|Li]nux. Eventually I found their Windows
version (but with no help with their nagivation links) at
https://www.claws-mail.org/win32/. Since it requires GTK+, I don't know
if their installer bundles it, or it you have to seek it separately.
Cost: Free.

_em Client_
I've used this for a while. It's okay, but still buggy. There are
options to configure its GUI, but they don't effect a change or don't
stick between em Client sessions. See the note below about the max
account bug in the free version. There are peer forums, but none of em
Client's employees visit there. You get no support for the free
version, and there's really only 1 visitor to their forums that helps.
Although it has a free version, you still have to register to get a
product key to activate the program, so you need a valid e-mail address
to get the product key (I suggest using an alias or a disposable
account). You get a fully functional 30-day trial afterwhich you must
select between the free or paid version. It used to run on Windows XP.
Don't know about today, or if you have to get an old version for XP.
Cost: Free with max of 2 accounts (*)
(*) The client will let you define more than 2 accounts, but then some
will cease to function eventually. They should enforce the limit of 2.

_Opera Mail_
Not when it was a component of the Opera web browser, but as a
standalone e-mail client. Last release was in 2016. No longer
supported (no longer listed at opera.com, so you'll have to grab it
elsewhere), but lots of abandonware remains usable.
Cost: free

_the Bat!_
Be aware that this client has been so heavily abused by spammers that
many anti-spam filters (at servers or clients) will filter out or flag
as spam any messages sent with it. Supports Windows XP.
Cost: free (shareware, you're expected to pay if you continue using),
home edition @ $50, pro edition @ $60.

Some others that are free only support POP3 accounts; i.e., no support
for IMAP, Exchange, Gmail API, or any protocol other than POP3. You
didn't mention what type of account(s) you have. For example, Foxmail
(free) only supports POP3. Their web site has no mention of OS support.
No point in researching and mentioning e-mail clients that may not
support whatever e-mail protocols you are currently using.

Also, many mail servers have upped their encryption protocol required to
connect to them. They stopped allowing passing login credentials in the
clear and moved to SSL, but SSL got deprecated (it was vulnerable), so
many servers moved up to TLS. TLS 1.0 is no different than SSL 3.0, but
the handshake is different, so TLS 1.0 isn't compatible with SSL 3.0.
Because SSL was vulnerable, so was TLS 1.0. So servers moved up to TLS
1.1 and 1.2. Many now require TLS 1.2 for you to connect to them.
Windows XP only supports up to TLS 1.0; see:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/arc...ols-on-windows

So, no matter what e-mail client you use, you may not be able to connect
to a mail server because your old OS doesn't have the minimally required
encryption support by the server.
  #4  
Old July 2nd 20, 10:24 PM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
Mayayana
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,438
Default Email problems

"KenK" wrote

|
| I tried Thunderbird. It's better, but annoyingly it fails to send my
| message about a third of the time.

You can get the latest supported here. Pick your language:

http://archive.mozilla.org/pub/thund.../52.9.1/win32/

It should work fine. But gmail can be a pain. They're
very pushy about 2-factor authentication, for instance.
If it's not sending, check error messages.

| Or perhaps a nice new enmail app that runs nicely under XP?
|
Outlook Express. They'll have to pry it from
my cold, dead XP computer.


  #5  
Old July 3rd 20, 12:08 AM posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.general
J. P. Gilliver (John)[_7_]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 603
Default Email problems

On Thu, 2 Jul 2020 at 15:01:24, VanguardLH wrote:
KenK wrote:

I'm having a lot of annoying problems with my ancient Gmail app.


We're _assuming_ you mean, you're using gmail, and are using some
software to access it (other than a web browser which would mean you're
using their webmail interface). If your email provider is someone
_other_ than gmail (your email address _doesn't_ have @gmail in it), you
need to tell us that.

Assuming you _are_ talking about gmail, I won't add much to what VLH has
said.
[]
Most Win32 programs have a menu, and in that menu it has a Help entry,
and under Help is usually an About entry. That's where you look to
determine which version of a program (not app) that you are running.

Perhaps you mean you are using a web browser (unidentified, too) to
connect to gmail.com and you are using their webmail client (aka web
app). In that case, "lot of annoying problems" gives no details for
anyone else to troubleshoot.

[]
I tried Thunderbird. It's better, but annoyingly it fails to send my
message about a third of the time. I have to save the message entry
screen and reload T-Bird. It usually works then but still annoying.


Only fairly recent versions of TB can do the sort of authentication
encryption that gmail like you to use, and I don't know if that includes
the ones that run on XP (up to 52 point something).

You _can_ use older TBs - or other clients that also don't do the right
sort of authentication encryption - with gmail; you just have to go into
their web interface, and tick a box that says something like "allow less
secure clients". There are rumours that they tend to untick that box (i.
e. require the encryption) on you after a while; I don't use gmail so
don't know how true that is.
[]
Also, many mail servers have upped their encryption protocol required to

[]
So, no matter what e-mail client you use, you may not be able to connect
to a mail server because your old OS doesn't have the minimally required
encryption support by the server.


Another way to continue using an old client you're fond of but that
doesn't do what the server now wants, is to use an intermediate piece of
software that provides it: the people in the Turnpike 'group mostly use
one called stunnel, but I think there are others. You then point your
client at this other software rather than the mail servers, and point
this other software at the mail servers.

Yet another way is to use one of the antivirus prog.s - I _think_ it's
Avast, but I'm not sure about that - and for once let it do email
scanning. (Normally, if you have a good AV software anyway, email
scanning is _mostly_ a waste of time.) That particular AV does the
necessary encryption as a side-effect.

I think, though, in text either I or VLH have snipped, you said the
problem only occurs about a third of the time; I can't imagine the
encryption or authentication problems we know of doing that: they'd
either stop it working all the time, or not. So your problem may be
something else.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

The motto of the Royal Society is: 'Take nobody's word for it'. Scepticism has
value. - Brian Cox, RT 2015/3/14-20
 




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