Easy question for tech geniuses;

[zanana]

I'm about to change my ISP. How do I go about saving my email addresses and the dozens of enewsletters I get every day? I know there has to be a simple answer, but the last time I changed ISP's, I lost everything. Please help!

[welshTerrier2]

1. email address should NOT be ISP dependent

if your email address contains the "domain" (e.g. [e-mail] - where aol.com is the domain) of your current ISP, you're making work for yourself ... you can easily obtain a free email address from yahoo, hotmail, gmail (i.e. google) or many other services ... then, when you switch ISP's, you don't have to change your email address ...

second, you didn't say what email software you use but your "address list" and any emails you've received should be stored on your computer (not on the ISP's server) if you want to retain them ... most ISP's and most email programs offer this option ... the goal is essentially to download all email, or at least the ones you want, to your computer ...

so, for example, if you're using a program like Microsoft Outlook for your email program, and your email address is something like: [e-mail] and you've stored all your email addresses and all your email on your computer (not on the ISP's server), switching ISP's should have almost no effect on you whatsoever ... the only minor change you would need to make would be to re-map your email program to point at the new ISP's mail server ... the new ISP can give you the exact server "path" you need and could even help you set up your email client ...

the bottom line is, with the right setup, changing ISP's shouldn't necessitate losing anything and should only take a couple of minutes of your time to reconfigure your email client.

[zanana]

2. Thank you so much!

I'll definitely take your advice on the email program, and I'll store my email addresses. I don't have anyone around here to ask about
these things--thanks for taking the time.
Your pup is adorable, by the way!

[Hokie]

3. You will have to do this

For any newsletters that you subscribe you will have to re-subscribe using your new email address. I think Yahoo charges to forward email to an ISP. Several professional organizations offer free email forwarding. For example, I belong to IEEE and have an address [e-mail]. IEEE virus scans and forwards mail to my real address I have had the same email address for about 8 years even though i have changed ISP's several times. When I change I just have to log into my IEEE account and change my real email address one time.

The only down side to this is that having the same address for a long time means you get a lot of spam. I use Mozilla mail and it does a good job of killing junk mail however. If you want to pay there are email forwarding services like Forevermail.com that do the same thing and let you choose your domain name.

[FloridaPat]

4. pobox.com - you can have the same email address forever.

This is one I highly recommned. There are also others out there. Well worth the price.