Internet shortcut not set up so can't send mail using Firefox

Hello,

I'm using Firefox and have web-based mail programs. Occasionally I receive emails that want me to click on a link to send an email. I then get the message that I don't have an internet shortcut set up.

Do I need to have Thunderbird installed to send mail through Firefox?

I use a web-based mail program because I can set it to only receive mail from people in my address book. Is that possible with Thunderbird? I don't want to use it otherwise as it becomes crammed full of SPAM (I've tried using it in the past.

Would be most grateful for your help.

Pleased to have found you all on this Forum.

Bye,
Penny.

 

Penny,
I read your message three times, and, I still don't get it. I will try to tell you why. You say that you have some webmail programs, but at times you may have to an a link. What type of link?
You are shooting yourself in the foot if you use a webmail which does not allow you to send. Webmails are accessible only from the website, with rare exceptions, so no mail client would help, unless you have a very weird webmail.

 

Hello.

Sorry to muddle you. I'll try to make myself clear. I use Firefox as a browser,
browsing to "Spamjab" to get my mail. Sometimes there are links in messages (such as "to activate your subscription, click the link below and send the resulting mail message). This is what doesn't work. I am just unable to send mail using the links and get the message that an internet shortcut has not been set up. Perhaps it's not a Firefox thing at all.

I wondered whether it was because I don't have a Mozilla mail program as my default.

I would like to use Thunderbird, but when I last opened it there were 385 messages, most of the spam, sitting there waiting to hit me! How would I stop spam in Thunderbird? Is there an Anti-Spam program that works with it?

Using SAFe-mail (a web-based mail program), I can set it to only receive mail from addresses in my address book. Can this be done with Thunderbird?

Perhaps I should use Mozilla for mail and browse with Firefox.

I apologize for not making myself more clear, and for asking so many questions!

Thanks very much for your reply.

Bye,
Penny.

 

Penny

I read the Spamjab FAQ and you can't use it with web based email like yahoo, hotmail, AOL and the like. You have to have an email address set up on your computer using OE or Eudora or Thunderbird in order to send email from your ISP.

Thunderbird has a very good junk filter (I get maybe 2 junk mails per day). When I first set up my ISP email account, I immediately got 2245 spams!. I called the ISP and had them delete all of them and set up the junk filter and everything has been peachey since.

I think Spamjab is simply a go between to keep your email free of what they call spam. Once it has checked and cleaned your email, it sends the remainder to your regular email account. If you have a link in one of the emails, your default browser should open to the link when you click on it.

Have I got this right?

I'm shutting down for the day, so I'll check back tomorrow.

 

Hello Bill,

Thank you. Yes, you are completely right.

I will take a look at Thunderbird's junk filters and either try using it again, or download and install Mozilla and use Mozilla mail.

Bye,
Penny.

 

Hi,
Bill did a good job of clarifying a situation which was unclear to me.
Thunderbird will do the job. You will not need Mozilla, which has both browser, and mail. Thunderbird plus Firefox are like Internet Explorer plus Outlook Express.
As for the Junk Controls, they should be pretty obvious. If you have an address book, you will be better off (if the address book does not have Spam Addresses), because you can check that e-mails in your address book are not Junk. There again, it will be your decision, because people have been known to use some address to send Spam, typically when a virus infects someone else's computer.
The Junk controls are self-teaching, so you should not have to do anything but watching. And, in almost each installation, a number of good e-mails , especially newsletters, have ended in the the Junk Mail. I am still working on that because Mozilla1.7.5 and Thunderbird1.0 have decided that iTunes is sending me Junk mail. I always check the Junk folder, and when my ISP first instituted Spam controls, at the server end, I had well over 3,000 Spam e-mails in my main account, which I had to stop using. I found two or three good ones, and had the rest removed like Bill said. This was over six months ago. I have been using that account since then, and, I may get a few strays. You will be ok if you are careful.
Ask more questions if you need to. By the way, I have seven accounts set up in Thunderbird, and only two need help.

 

Hello Westside.

Thanks very much.

I spent yesterday evening clearing all the junk mail from my Thunderbird inbox - clicking junk and then deleting each message. Now I'm running "Junk Control" when I first open the program. I didn't have as many junk messages as you but they dated back to October, 2004. I'm making sure I check the junk folder in case something legitimate goes there.

Very pleased to find people willing to give of their experience to help others.

Bye,
Penny.

 

By the way, I set that Junk be cleared after one day. Default is 14 days. At one time, I ws told that it may take a full month for Junk controls to work, and so that time in the folder would have to be as long as possible. I found that that it makes no difference, and I like to find messages marked Junk in the Trash, with no effort of my own. I had given up on that account of mine in November 2003, and when I went to check it out in April 2004 it maxed out the Inbox. The last spam item was dated February 2004. It is so nice to find only four pieces of junk in the Junk folder. Things go in cycles. For a while, **** stuff with mispelled items, and it works to confuse the controls. Now nothing but stock and money, in general. But, once in a list, you will always be in one. I am using the problematic account only because it is my default account, and, I am stuck with it. But, I have no obligation to use it. Unless your ISP is stingy, I would open a different account, with not so obvious username.
But, you should not have much to do with the controls, unless you want. I have also set up some Filters to send certain e-mail, mark it Junk. That's the best way to go, since Filters act first.

 

Hello Westside.

Thanks very much for you post and the information about using filters.

I've now set the junk to clear after 1 day and it seems to be working well.

I do have other email aliases with Telewest - I suppose making one of those my default mail, rather than the one receiving all the junk, would be the way to go.

Will get there eventually!

Bye,
Penny.

 

It makes no difference which mail is default, but under the circumstances, you may want to use another username as default. I have Cox mail accounts, and only the primary one, or "Cox" gets junk mail. Cox2 and Cox3 do not get get any junk. I use the two accounts for different purposes. My Cox3 username has an username which was computer generated, and it is unlikely to get spam unless someone breaks into my computer, or raids the trusted website which I use it for.

 

Hello,

Thanks for the info.

Does the new address have to be a Telewest Blueyonder one (my service provider)? I have spare mailboxes there. Or do I set one up in Thunderbird, entering my POP server?

Bye,
Penny.

 

Hello again.

Think I've sorted the new email address, thank you.

Nice to have a clear new in-box.

Getting on well with Thunderbird.

Bye,
Penny.

 

Glad to hear that things are under control. As for naming the folders, you have to enter the pop names, but you can have them listed anyway that you want.
I have to enter pop.central.cox.net, but I call the folder just Cox.

 

Hello,

Thanks for all your help.

Bye,
Penny.

p.s. I've set up the Thunderbird mail box in my "Spamjab" account and now it's filtered there and I'm not getting SPAM. If "Spamjab" is unsure whether a message is legitimate, it generates an email asking what to do. I find it very useful.