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Changing email address?


Pangolin

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I'm so fed up with receiving 200-odd SPAM emails every day, I'd like to change my email address and start again, only giving the address to close friends and family. I'm with freeserve, no, make that wannadoo, no, make that orange...! They won't reply to my request. Can I just cancel my account and start afresh with another provider who will give me an email address? What other things should I think about, such as having registered on this messageboard: how will a change of email affect my identity? Anyone who has successfully changed, what are the pros and cons?

You meet all kinds of animal on the riverbank.

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Don't bother cancelling anything - just stop checking that mail account (once you've notified the people who you'll be giving your new address to, of course). If you're happy with your ISP, then certainly don't think about changing them just to get a new address - just pick up your email from another account.

 

There are loads of places offering free email addresses these days - googlemail is probably your best bet, but there are plenty of alternatives, including yahoo, hotmail etc. Virtually all of these can be set up for POP, webmail and even IMAP, so most of the time all you'll have to do is to add another account to your mail client or a new bookmark in your web browser.

 

The only tricky thing is, as you say, trying to work out which sites you're registered with under your old address and mainly only then if you've got your account set up to receive email notification of PMs etc.

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I have found that using the email address supplied by your ISP to be a pain. If it gets compromised by the spammers you are stuffed because ISPs won't let you change it. Also, if you change ISP you lose that address. I now use Hotmail and very good it is too. For £15 a year to upgrade you get to use your own email client (such as Outlook Express) or you can just use the Webmail, and the beauty is you keep the same email address if you change ISP. Also, if your Hotmail address does get found by the spammers you just create a new account and send an email to all in your 'Contacts' and tell them your new address. As Yorkio says you need to also update all the sites like ebay, paypal etc. where you have registered your email address. Changing ISPs is not difficult but it means being off-line for 2-3 weeks.

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Ian, I have got exactly the same problem as Pangolin. I keep asking Orange what I can do via their email technical support, but their answers are generally incomprehensible, and bear little relation to the questions I ask.

 

I am interested that I could still use Outlook Express with Hotmail. Would it link in to existing 'sent', 'deleted' files etc or would I need to start again?

 

John

john clarke

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Hi John

 

Have a look here, it is a snapshot of my Outlook Express. As you can see, you keep all your old Inbox, Sent Items etc. and Hotmail creates new ones just for Hotmail. I am very pleased with it and I never bother these days with ISP email accounts and phoning their un-help desks.

 

oekk7.jpg

 

Hope this helps,

 

Ian

Edited by Ian FG
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Ian, thanks, that's very helpful. Excuse me if I ask more questions, but I use email a lot and I need to get this right.

 

1) Is the inbox capacity the same? Someone sent me a 1.6MB attachment today with the comment that it might be too big for my inbox, but it was OK. I once tried webmail, and the inbox was very limited. Am I right in saying this would be a POP account, and therefore similar capacity to what I have now?

 

2) One of the problems I am having is that, increasingly, my emails to other people are not getting through. I am wondering if this could be connected with all the spam I am getting? If so, as long as I keep the same ISP, might the same problems apply?

 

Ah, I think I've got it. As long as I keep accessing my old email address the junk will be going into my computer. But when I finally decide that everyone is emailing me at my new address it won't be a problem?

 

It still seems a bit naff, that all sorts of junk is going onto some computer to an address marked 'me' even if I don't bother to read it. I guess I don't like the thought that if I accidently clicked the old inbox button 5 million junk emails would descend on me! As I understand it, if I want to change ISP I can phone th enew ISP and they ought to contact Orange and get the 'MAC code' from them, and it ought to be no great problem - but sometimes is?

 

3) Orange have suggested I get a pay-as-you-go email address. I suppose this is the same sort of thing as the Hotmail one, but maybe a bit cheaper - though I'm fed up with orange.

 

4) T o get a Hotmail account I guess I just find their website?

 

Thanks ever so much, Ian.

 

John

john clarke

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1) It's not unlimited, my inbox is 10GB which is pretty enormous. I believe Yahoo email is unlimited, not sure if you can use Outlook Express but their Yahoo email beta is supposed to work just like an email client, I think, I believe Hotmail Live Email is similar. Perhaps others here can tell us more. Yes, with the Hotmail upgrade for £15 a year you get a full POP and SMTP account.

 

2) Your emails from Hotmail will get through, regardless of your ISP. Yes, stop accessing your old email address, it has been compromised, get over it :)

 

In Outlook Express go to 'Tools' then 'Accounts' then 'Mail' select your ISP email account then click on 'Remove' You will never be bothered with spam from your old email address ever again.

 

To change ISp you need to contact your current ISP and tell them you want to close your account and ask them for your Migration Authority Code (MAC) then you need to contact your new ISP and give them the MAC code, it usually takes 2-3 weeks although some on this forum have managed this much sooner, some guys at work have told me of it having taken much longer, I think the system is getting better as more are doing it and ISPs are getting more with the program. But why bother? stop using your ISP for email and your problems are solved.

 

3) I have no idea what Orange mean by a pay-as-you-go email address - hotmail, yahoomail, Gmail are totally free.

 

4) www.hotmail.co.uk

Edited by Ian FG
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I think you can use google mail with outlook express free of charge. Have you checked with orange if you can have extra free boxes ? With NTL I had 15 and now with virgin I have 5 that I have complete control over and can change whenever I want. Your first main identity (which you never give to anyone) must stay the same but the others you can control.

 

Not wanting to sound like a google mail junkie but its excellent and integrates nicely into your own google homepage. there is also an option for direct chat with people in your address book plus hundreds of addons including storage of documents and pictures. Deffo worth a look :)

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