Tracent recommends the Phoenix E-Mail client program, developed by Michael Haller. Phoenix Mail is a very simple program to setup and use, yet has many of the powerful features experienced mail users demand.

Phoenix Mail has an easy to use interface and supports multiple mail accounts, Drag'nDrop, Context Menus, Offline Reading, printing, schedules, replys, forwarding, MIME, POP3 and SMTP. You can manage your mail in different folders and have powerful filters for sorting them and for spam protection. You get a preview list before downloading mails and can include a Virus Scanner for an automatic virus protection. You can fetch and send mails from ALL your accounts with ONE simple mouseclick! An Address Book and a Setup program are included.

To obtain a copy of Phoenix Mail, click on the Phoenix Mail button at the top of this page. (If you are reading this from a printed copy, go to http://www.tracent.net/connections/Phoenix on the world wide web to see the online version of this page, or download directly from http://platinum.tracent.com/downloads/phoenix.exe.)

If you followed the suggestion on the download page and chose to "OPEN" the download file, you should see dialog box similar to that shown below. If you selected "SAVE AS" for the download file, you will need to use Windows Explorer to navigate to the location where you saved Phoenix.exe and double click on the program name. In either case, you should see the following:

Press the "Setup" button to begin the setup process. After a few seconds, you should see the following screen:

Press the "Next" button to proceed.

Read the license agreement, and if you agree, press the "Yes" button.

Press the "Next" button on the next screen if your computer meets the requirements shown.

From the following screen, you can choose where to install Phoenix Mail. The default is the C:\Program Files\Phoenix Mail folder. If you desire another location, you can override the default by pressing the "Browse" button. Once your destination directory is selected, press the "Next" button.

The following screen allows you to select the Start Menu folder to use for your Phoenix Mail programs. Press "Next" to accept the default folder name.

Press "Next" one more time to confirm the settings you have elected and begin the installation process.

A new folder will be opened on your desktop with the Phoenix Mail Program Folder you selected in the previous step. You may close this window if desired.

At the completion of the setup program, you will see the screen below. Place a check mark in the "Yes, Launch the program file" box and press "Finish".

You will next see the screen below. You will probably want to answer "Yes" to make Phoenix Mail your default mail program. The default mail program is used when you select a "mail to" link on a web page, or when another program allows you to initiate e-mail messages. If you do not want Phoenix Mail to be your default mail program, check the "Do not perform this check in the future." box to avoid this screen in the future.

Phoenix Mail offers tip-of-the-day cards which can automatically pop up every time you start Phoenix Mail. The first tip you will see informs you that you must create a mail account to use the program. Press the Close button to proceed with account creation.

Your account setup screen has several tabs. The first, "General" is where you define how others will see your name and e-mail address when you send them messages. Your "Account Name" is any name you want to assign the account. Each account represents a different address on the mail server. In most cases, you will only have one account, which you can call "My Mail Account".

Your "From" address is your actual e-mail address. This will be something similar to the example below, but will be specified by the system administrator.

Your "Real Name" is how you want your "human friendly" name to appear. This can be whatever you like. Your recipients will see this in the "From" box when they receive a message from you.

Your "Organization Name" can also be whatever you like. This is optional and is typically used for a company name if you are setting up a business e-mail account.

The "Reply To" address and real names should be the same as the "From" address and name.

Once you complete the "General" tab, click on the "Receive" tab to setup your server information for messages addressed to you. The server name is "mail.tracent.net" and the port number is always 110. The user name is the login ID assigned by the system administrator. This is usually the same as the first part of your e-mail address. Your password is that assigned by the administrator. Note that passwords are always lower case and will appear as asterisks when you type each letter.

After competing the "Receive" tab, press the "Send" tab. This is where you tell Phoenix Mail where to send your outbound messages. The server is always "mail.tracent.net" and the port is always 25 as shown below. You will not need the "Filter" tab for now, so press the "OK" button to continue.

After setting up your account, you are ready to send an receive e-mail! The Phoenix Mail main screen pictured below is where you manage new and received messages. Feel free to experiment with the menu and tool bar choices.

The main options to know about are the "New", "Send Mail" and "Fetch Mail" buttons. The New button is used to create new messages. Each message must have a valid recipient e-mail address. The subject is optional but good maners suggest each message should include a relevant subject description.

Once your new message is ready to send, press the "Send Mail" button to complete the process. Depending on your internet connection, you may need to "Go Online" before the message can be sent.

The "Fetch Mail" button will retrieve any messages you have waiting on the mail server. After connecting to the server, Phoenix Mail will present you with a list of new messages. Click OK to download the messages and save them in a Phoenix Mail folder.

While Phoenix Mail is running, you will notice a small icon in your task tray (the small area next to the clock, usually in the lower right corner of your desktop). At any time, you can right-click on this icon to see a Phoenix Mail master menu.

If you have questions or difficulties using Phoenix Mail, you can visit the author’s web page at http://www.discountdrive.com/sunrise/phoenix.htm or e-mail him directly at michael@discountdrive.com