problem composing emails

[denisaf]

Sometimes when I am composing an email the text I am typing in does not come up on the screen immediately. I might have to wait about a minute before it appears. It only happens occasionally but it is most disconcerting. I have Windows 98 and am using Firefox and Yahoo Mail.

[denisaf]

I reported this problem last November when it was very bad. For some reason it went away but now it is back. I cannot think of anything that I have done that may have affected the situation. I notice that there is a message down at the left hand  bottom of the screen to the effect that data is being transferred from some online source. Is that causing the hold up and can I stop it?

[dude1234]

I think this is in part due to you using web email rather than software on your own computer. Hence, when you are using Yahoo it is randomly transferring data on/off the web. This uses up your limited resources. I would suggest an alternative is to use Outlook Express or Thunderbird for you email software. That way you don't need to have any web traffic until you are ready to send your mail. The other thing that occurs to me is to pre-type your email in your text editor and just copy/paste it into yahoo.

[denisaf]

Thank you dude1234 for those comments. The problem varies appreciably for some reason.  I have had little trouble today, although it is happening with this note. The problem seems to get worse during the day. I previously used Word to produce my emails and then copy to Yahoo compose. Many of these emails became distorted when posted to group sites. I often use Outlook Express but I use Firefox most of the time and go to Yahoo Mail for the email in and out.

[soybean]

I often use Outlook Express but I use Firefox most of the time and go to Yahoo Mail for the email in and out.

If you have a free Yahoo Mail, you're not using Outlook Express for it because it doesn't work with OE.  So, you use OE for another email account, right?

[denisaf]

That is correct. I use a different email address for OE. However, I have used Yahoo Mail and my yahoo email address for many years but the problem has only emerged in recent times. Is it that Yahoo Mail now puts sufficient load on my computer that it is slow to respond to my input? At times, I have to wait  about ten seconds before what I typed appears on the screen. This response varies in no apparent fashion apart from the fact that it appears to get worse during the day. I am not having any problem at the moment.

[patio]

Get ThunderBird...did i mention it's FREE ? ?

[denisaf]

I have accumulated many folders containing past emails in Yahoo Mail. I would be loathe to change to Thunderbird for that reason as it would mean swapping back to Yahoo Mail to find past emails. Is there some way I can switch off the the Yahoo Mail processing that is slowing down my computer so drastically? Or is it something else that has caused this problem to emerge?

[soybean]

I have accumulated many folders containing past emails in Yahoo Mail. I would be loathe to change to Thunderbird for that reason as it would mean swapping back to Yahoo Mail to find past emails.

I believe you can't use Thunderbird for Yahoo Mail any more than you can use Outlook Express for it.  Yahoo Mail is not a POP mail account; it's a webmail type of email account. 

Is there some way I can switch off the the Yahoo Mail processing that is slowing down my computer so drastically? Or is it something else that has caused this problem to emerge?

Well, do you need to keep Yahoo Mail open all the time?  If not, then just close it.

By the way, tell us more about your computer (processor, RAM, etc.).   Since you're using Windows 98, what version of Firefox are you using?

[denisaf]

I am using Firefox 2.0.0.20 which, if I remember correctly, is the last version that can be used with Windows 98SE. The computer has 192 MB RAM and a 74.5 GB disk. I cannot remember how to find out what the processor is!

[dude1234]

I've got a suggestion how you can interrupt the web activity while you draft up your message in Yahoo. Actually 2 suggestions. (i) In your Firefox main menu - go to file - then click on "work offline". When you are ready to send mail just change back to "work online". (ii) Install Zone Alarm software (freebee) and when you are ready to compose your mail, just hit the "lock" button and that will lock-out all web activity.

Whatcha think?

[denisaf]

Thank you dude1234. That seems to be a very useful suggestion. I will try the first one and then report back. I will give a day or so to be certain.

[soybean]

Try Google's gmail.  I believe you'll find it faster than Yahoo! Mail.  gmail can also be POP3-enabled so that you can use Outlook Express for it.

[denisaf]

I was looking at a way of over coming the problem without having to change my routine too much as I am old. I know that there are many possible improvements if I were to go to the trouble of learning about them and implementing them. Going to gmail could well lead to an improvement in future operations but are hardly worth the transition from my present routine. Thank you for helping but going offline seems to be solving my problem.

[denisaf]

clicking on Work Offline in Files of Firefox when I want to enter text appears to work, then clicking on it again when I want to get back online. I have no response problems since I have employed it over the past days. Thank you again, dude1234