Frequently Asked Questions

Questions regarding E-mail:

Troubleshooting and tips on using ProntoMail:

Questions regarding E-mail:

What is E-mail and how it work?
Electronic mail (E-mail) may be the most popular use of the Internet today. It allows people to send written messages, files, and pictures to other people, anywhere in the world. All you need is an E-mail account and access to the Internet, in order to receive messages. E-mail messages are transferred over the Internet to the recipient's E-mail address, as specified by the originator of the message.

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How do I know if the message I sent reached its destination?
Automatic receipt acknowledgment may be requested upon composing a message. This acknowledgment is an E-mail reply sent by the server on which the recipient's E-mail account resides. It confirms that the messages sent to the recipient have successfully reached his/her mailbox. It does not, however, confirm that the messages were necessarily read by the recipient. (Note: Some servers do not support this feature and therefore will not acknowledge message receipt)
If a message cannot be delivered (due to a wrong address, for example), the sender will receive an E-mail reply describing the cause of the problem.
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What is file Attachment and when should I use it?
When you wish to add a picture or a sound file to your message or share a document with a colleague at work or school, you may do so by attaching the desired file to your message. The recipient of the message will need a software application which recognizes the type of file sent, in order to open it. Most picture and sound file types are recognized by today's popular web browsers, thus no extra software is necessary in order to open files of such types.
Note: Attaching large files will result in long download time for the recipient and therefore is not recommended.
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What is the 'Signature' option?
A "signature" is a block of text which may be included at the end of your outgoing messages. You can have the signature include your name, E-mail address, company logo or any other text you desire. Try and keep your signature short, i.e. no more than a few lines, as this signature may be appended to your outgoing messages, adding overhead to the transfer time of the message. An example of a signature:
```
   -------------------------
   My First & Last Name
   mylogin@prontomail.com
   http://www.prontomail.com
```
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What does an E-mail Address look like?
An E-mail address is a single line in the following format: user@host.domain.

The part before the '@' sign is called the user name. When you sign up, you can choose your own user name, as long as no one else has previously chosen it. This is due to the fact that user names are unique.

After the '@' sign is the name of the system under which the user's E-mail account resides, in this case: host.domain.

There are several types of domains. Companies or commercial organizations use "com", while educational institutions use "edu" or "ac". Government addresses use "gov" and military addresses use "mil". Gateways and other administrative hosts for a network use "net", and private organizations use "org".

Countries also have their own domains. Some examples of Country domains are:

au

Australia

br

Brazil

ca

Canada

de

Germany

uk

United Kingdom

A sub-domain is the portion directly in front of the domain name, in this case: host. For example, "prontomail.com" has a sub-domain of "prontomail" with a "com" domain, since we are a commercial organization. Other sub-domain examples are:

netscape.com
netcom.com
aol.com
compuserve.com
mit.edu
stanford.edu
navy.mil
whitehouse.gov
ieee.org

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What is Web Based E-mail?
Web Based E-mail is the technology which provides the access of an E-mail account by a web browser. Using it is as easy as browsing to the web site, logging on and sending or receiving E-mail messages. Using the web browser as an E-mail client, makes the E-mail account accessible from any computer connected to the Internet.

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Troubleshooting and tips on using ProntoMail:

Why does my session expire?
Sessions expire after several minutes of idle time. This is done in order to reduce server load and to protect your privacy in case you forget to logout at the end of a session. In order to continue an expired session you need to login again.

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I hit a button and nothing happened for a long time. What's going on?
If you hit a button or a click on a link and nothing happens for an unusually long period, or logging in takes too long, your browser is "hanging". This means that it is waiting for information from a server. At certain times during the day, the network connection between your computer and ours becomes busy and sometimes you have to wait a little longer for a response. Sometimes "reloading" the current page may help, but, if possible, it may be a better idea to try your connection at a later time.

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If I delete mail, can I recover it?
When you delete your mail, it is transferred to your Wastebasket folder. If your Wastebasket has not already been emptied, simply open your Wastebasket folder to read it. Transfer the message to another folder if you don't want it deleted when your Wastebasket is emptied.
If your Wastebasket has already been emptied, there is no way to recover any messages which were in it at the time.
Note: Mail in the Wastebasket takes up storage space in your account. If you are near or over your storage quota limit, you may wish to empty your Wastebasket manually by pressing the Empty Wastebasket button.
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How long will my messages be kept on the server?
You can keep any particular message as long as you like. We will not delete messages except for those you put in your Wastebasket folder. Your messages in the Wastebasket are discarded two days after you have deleted them. However, if you go over your quota limit, you will need to manually remove some of your stored messages in order to free up space in your account. If you have some particularly large attachments, you may want to save them to your computer and remove them from your account.
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All or part of a frame disappears, why does this happen?
When you click on a link, it is targeted to a particular frame (in most cases the main frame), but occasionally your browser will not "hit the target", instead it will wipe out part of a frame. You may be able to restore the missing part of the frame by clicking on your browser's back button. Should this not restore the links, you will need to go back to the home page and login again. This phenomenon should not be a persistent one, but if it is, you will need to either reinstall your browser or upgrade it.
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What should I know about password and security?
Your messages, as well as any other information kept in your account, are password protected. Nobody but yourself will be able to access them, unless they have your account name and password. Your account name and password are your privately owned confidential information. We will not disclose your account name or password to anyone but yourself.
In order to make sure that your account data is kept confidential, please use the following guidelines:
1. Do not share your password with anyone.
2. Logout at the end of every session.
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Are computer viruses, sent via E-mail, a threat to me?
Computer viruses do exist and some can cause significant problems. If you are concerned about your computer's integrity or have important files on your computer, we recommend that you do not download files or programs from unknown sources.
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