IT Queries: Computer problems answered

I am operating Vista, with a Bigpond account.  I continue to have problems with my e-mail account.  Bigpond instruct me to have no firewall, so it is turned off.  I am not comfortable with this solution, however they say the firewall interfers with the e-mail.

Can you give me some advice on this please?

It sounds like the firewall or anti-virus program is blocking access to the mail server. You’ll need to make sure your email program is trusted by the firewall and the email server is trusted, in Bigpond’s case this is mail.bigpond.com.

In the Windows firewall,  you should add your email program to the trusted applications list by Start, Control Panel and Network Connections. Select your Internet connection, the name will vary with your computer.

In the General tab of the Internet connection properties, click the Properties button and the Advanced tab. Click Settings under the Firewall heading and click Exceptions.

In the Exceptions list, select your email program by ticking the box beside or clicking the Add Program if it isn’t listed.

There are some settings in Norton Antivirus where you can make similar exceptions. In recent versions, this has been under the heading of Internet Worm Protection.  The location of these settings varies between programs.

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