Emailer starts just fine, but then locks up. I have to restart
the computer to get things going again - and Emailer locks up
again when I launch it.
I've seen this one enough times to put it at the top of the
list. The culprit is almost always one or more files in the Temp
Incoming folder within the Claris Emailer Files folder. Move
all those files somewhere else temporarily and Emailer should run
just fine. Then quit Emailer, put one file back in the Temp
Incoming folder, and launch Emailer again. When the problem
returns, you've found the problem file - Trash it.
Note that you may have more than one damaged file in the Temp
Incoming folder, so don't just assume that trashing one will solve
your problem. The Temp Incoming folder should be empty except when
Emailer is downloading and extracting incoming messages.
I've also seen this problem once when the Emailer
preferences file (in the Claris folder within the System Folder)
was corrupt. Delete it, reset your preferences when you launch
Emailer, and you'll be back on your way.
I'm getting italic listings for "deleted" files.
That's a sure sign that it's time to rebuild you database.
(Emailer keeps all messages in a single database, using a separate
index file to track what's in it.) To rebuild the mail database and
index, launch Emailer and immediately hold down the Option key
until it asks if you want to rebuild the databases.
Choose the typical rebuild. If that doesn't work, then try the
advanced rebuild. If that doesn't work, you'll need a recent backup
- because the files are toast. Although you can get into the
damaged mail database using BBEdit Lite to search for things, the
file is a real mess to search through in a text editor. (I've only
had this happen once, but it took down 40 MB worth of archived
email.)
Tip: Speeding up Emailer
One way to really speed up Emailer is to eliminate the need for
your computer to check with a domain name server (DNS) when
connecting. If your mail server has a fixed IP address, you can put
that address in the SMTP server area of Account Setup. But if you
get mail from one of several servers, as you might from America
Online, this won't work.
Another way to accomplish this is to create a hosts file, place
it in your System Folder, and link to it from TCP/IP. To do this,
you must be in Advanced user mode, then click on the Select Hosts
File... button, and choose your hosts file. A hosts file will look
like this and can be created in SimpleText:
mydomain.com A 123.45.67.89 <-- use tabs between fields
www.mydomain.com A 123.45.67.89
mail.mydomain.com A 123.45.67.89
Simply save the file as "hosts" within your System Folder, then
link. This will not only speed up Emailer, but also your browser or
any other application using TCP/IP and accessing mydomain.com. Note
that this only works for static addresses.
Further Reading
