squirrelmail

[#1]

I've never done any forum before for anything but is there anyone out there who is as completely fed up with squirelmail as I am?
I do appreciate the recent great reduction in spam since postini came in but it is almost not worth it when it takes for ever to scroll through the spam box (over 7000!) looking for false positives.  And when those false positives are mail delivery messages returning possibly important failed emails it is very frustrating.
Anyway, the problem would not matter so much if squirrelmail worked.  Much of the time the connection gets dropped.  I have tried deleting spam emails but that is an instant cause of a crash.  I don't like to think what will happen as the spam load increases.  As it is, I try to make time once a week to fight my way through the spam box but it drives mad and I am concerned that I might be missing some important emails.
As I said, I have never done a forum before so I don't know what happens next but I'll post this and then wait and see...

[#2]

You shouldnt have that many spams in your spambox, it must be along time since you had a clearout, unfortunately one of the staff will have to help you because there is a limit to the spam box size.
it can be done with IMAP, easy to use but difficult to get started with. 

[#3]

I have an instant hearing problem as soon as anyone says IMAP....

[#4]

OK...
IMAP
Did you hear that time?
Seriously, IMAP is a much better way to check the spam folder than webmail. What mail client do you use? Let us know and I'm sure someone will be able to give you instructions on setting it up.

[#5]

^{what did you say??? - couldn't quite hear you....}

I don't know anything about IMAP at all - and that is in spite of (or because of?) having read what PlusNet have to say about it!      What I will not do is leave all our emails in the ether (I use hotmail for personal use and I don't want to do anything like that for business use).

[#6]

If you want to get your e-mails out of the mess they are in, i.e. 7000 plus in your spam folder, the only way to do it without purging the system completely and loosing potential good e- mails is to use
IMAP  its not that hard and it works

[#7]

There is no reason why you should not use two email clients in parallel on the same mailbox. Let me explain how using Thunderbird and Outlook or OE:
Set up Thunderbird using IMAP and subscribe to the spam folder. Use this first to check the mail that is waiting for collection and the spam folder. If you find erroneously tagged spam you can move it to the inbox. You can then delete the rest of the spam. There may also be some emails in the Inbox, that having read you can just delete (you don't need to download them to Outlook/OE).
Now on the Thunderbird File menu select Compact Folders. This will synchronise the changes you have made with your POP3 mailbox.
Now download your mail as usual in Outlook/OE.

[#8]

Hi Jelv - I am sure you are really being very helpful but I am back to the usual situation which is that I have simply no idea what you are talking about!  I have never heard of Thunderbird.  I have never come to terms with Outlook.  We use OE.
I am probably a lost cause. 
I just needed to have a rant about the situation which we have been forced into through no choice of our own.  For years I had no idea that Sqirrelmail existed.  I had no need to know about it, I just used OE.  And now I am finding we are missing potentially important emails - grr

[#9]

From the same people Mozilla people who created the Firefox browser:
http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/products/thunderbird/

[#10]

tell us when you have got it installed and we will then advise how to set up IMAP

[#11]

OK I have finished my coffee
first under tools go to account settings - add new account, use the same user names as per your OE accounts  except that under "server name" enter  IMAP.Plusdsl.net, the outgoing server is the same as the OE one
See first diagram, note I am on free-online.
the next is username+subfile  see 2
when to go to the view setting, and it hopefully reads whats on the server, it will pick up all the bits that are on the server
see 5
you have to click the spam folder to look inside it, it doesnt do this automatically, all files stay on the server.
The next big task is to get rid of the junk.  drag and drop the good to the inbox,  highlight and delete the spam, it will go the deleted box and stay there for about 20 days, if you are satisfied, one click on the delted box can empty it.
opening a file on Thunderbird does not download it,  adds and images are not displayed by default, the headings are switchable.
At the end you can then use OE to download the good.
Best of Luck

[#12]

Server name is imap.plus.net (not imap.plusdsl.net)!

[#13]

Why not just add the new account into OE directly?  I use usernameSPAM as the Account name then follow a similar path that which pierre_pierre has outlined.
Keeps it all in one mail client
Maurice

[#14]

I will have to bow down to both of you, A as I said I am a free-online person, B not tried that, and I am surprised Jelv didn't

[#15]

hi guys - you are all so helpful and I am such a wimp... 
I might be feeling braver over the weekend 
I'll let you know if I have any success
thanks anyway