Applies to all editions of Windows Vista.

Reducing connection time when retrieving e-mail

You can set up Windows Mail to connect to the Internet, download and send messages, and then disconnect, which minimizes how much time you spend connected. This is useful if you pay for Internet access by the minute, or if you use the same phone line for connecting to the Internet that you use for telephone calls. Here are some things you can do to reduce connection time.

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To automatically disconnect from the Internet after retrieving messages

You can set up Windows Mail to automatically disconnect after it has retrieved your e-mail. You can then read and compose messages offline (not connected to the Internet) without incurring phone charges or tying up your phone line.

Open Windows Mail by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, and then clicking Windows Mail.
Click the Tools menu, and then click Options.
Click the Connection tab, and then select the Hang up after sending and receiving check box.

Note

If you're working offline and you want to send and receive your messages, you can reconnect to the Internet by clicking the Send/Receive button. Windows Mail will send the messages you wrote while offline, download new messages, and then hang up.

To read e-mail messages without being connected to the Internet

You can tell Windows Mail that you want to work offline, so it won't automatically connect to the Internet. When working offline, you must click the Send/Receive button to send messages that you've written and to download new messages.

Open Windows Mail by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, and then clicking Windows Mail.
Click the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.
Under If my computer is not connected at this time, click Connect only when not working offline, and then click OK.
Click the File menu, and then click Work Offline.

To write e-mail messages offline and send them later

You can tell Windows Mail to only send e-mail messages when you manually send or receive e-mail, rather than sending them immediately. When you finish writing a message and click the Send button, the message will be placed in your Outbox folder. Any messages in the Outbox folder will be automatically sent when you click the Send/Receive button.

Open Windows Mail by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, and then clicking Windows Mail.
Click the Tools menu, and then click Options.
Click the Send tab, and then clear the Send messages immediately check box.

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