Hotmail Popper FAQ
- Hotmail Popper Options
- What operating systems are supported?
- How do I hide the icon?
- How do I filter mail based on folder?
- How do I setup multiple Hotmail accounts?
- Do I still need to login every 30 days?
- What e-mail clients are supported?
- Can I use a spam/virus filter proxy?
- The 'Test account settings' button in Outlook
- Why are (or aren't) my messages getting deleted?
- Can I run Hotmail Popper as a service?
Hotmail Popper Options
To change the Hotmail Popper configuration, right-click on its icon in the Taskbar Notification Area and choose Options from the menu that appears:
The following options that can be
configured:
- Address: This is
the address that Hotmail
Popper binds to, and by
default it is set to "127.0.0.1".
For normal personal usage, you
shouldn't need to change this.
If you wish to make Hotmail
Popper accessible to others
on your internal network, you
can change this to a valid
internal network IP for your
machine, for example "192.168.1.42".
- POP Port: This
is the port that Hotmail
Popper binds to for POP
(incoming mail), and by default
it is set to "110".
You shouldn't normally need to
change this value. One reason
you might need to is if you
already have a different POP
server running on your computer.
Note however, that some POP mail
clients do not allow you to
specify the port of the POP
server they are to check mail
from.
- SMTP Port: This
is the port that Hotmail
Popper binds to for SMTP
(outgoing mail), and by default
it is set to "25".
You shouldn't normally need to
change this value. One reason
you might need to is if you
already have a different SMTP
server running on your computer.
Note however, that some SMTP
mail clients do not allow you to
specify the port of the SMTP
server they are to send mail
through.
- Timeout: This is
the amount of time, in seconds,
that Hotmail Popper will wait
before giving up after not
hearing from a connection for a
while. The default value should
be adequate, but increasing this
value may help in certain
situations.
- Delay: This is
the amount of time, in
milliseconds, that Hotmail
Popper will pause before and
after exchanging a command with
the local e-mail client. Some
delay is typically required if a
firewall is in use, and it can't
keep up with the speed at which
Hotmail Popper is communicating
with the local e-mail client. If
you have a firewall installed
and are experiencing
intermittent problems,
increasing this value may help.
- Retrieve messages from
folders other than Inbox:
Selecting this option means that
Hotmail Popper will retrieve
messages not just from your
Hotmail Inbox, but also from
other Hotmail folders you may
have created. Note that if you
have many messages stored in
some of these folders, they will
all be downloaded the first time
this option is selected - which
may not be what is desired.
- Include bulk mail folder:
Selecting this, in conjunction
with the previous option, means
that messages from Hotmail's
Bulk Mail folder are download in
addition to other messages. This
is often useful since Hotmail's
Bulk Mail feature is notorious
for incorrectly flagging many
valid messages as bulk mail.
- Proxy Server
Configuration: If you
have an HTTP proxy server, its
settings can be specified here
in order for Hotmail Popper to
go through this proxy.
- Start automatically with
Windows: Select this
option if you wish to have Hotmail
Popper start when Windows
starts. If you uncheck this
option, you will need to start Hotmail
Popper manually before you
can check your Hotmail account
with your POP mail client.
- Extra logging:
Select this option if you wish
to have Hotmail Popper log all
command exchanges between itself
and your e-mail client as they
take place. This is useful for
diagnosing problems.
- Opera compatibility mode: A bug in recent versions of the Opera e-mail client prevents it from working correctly with Hotmail Popper. Select this option if you are having problems using Hotmail Popper with Opera.
In addition to these options, Hotmail Popper has one command line option. If you specify the argument /hideicon on the command line, Hotmail Popper will be run hidden (with no icon in the taskbar notification area).
Hotmail Popper adds the X-Hotpop-Folder MIME header to each e-mail message it retrieves, to specify what folder in the Hotmail account it originated from. For example, messages coming from the inbox have the header X-Hotpop-Folder: inbox, and messages from the bulk mail folder have the header X-Hotpop-Folder: bulk.
What operating systems are supported?
Hotmail Popper has been tested
and works on Windows 95, Windows 98,
Windows Millennium, Windows NT4,
Windows 2000, and Windows XP. Note
that Windows 95 users must download
the Windows
Socket Update first. There are also many users
successfully using Hotmail Popper
under Linux through WINE.
How do I hide the icon?
Use the /hideicon command-line switch. The following steps are for Windows XP, but similar steps will work under other versions of Windows:
- First find the Hotmail Popper shortcut in your start menu. If you have Hotmail Popper to setup when Windows starts, then this will be: Start / All Programs / Startup / Hotmail Popper
- Right-click on this icon and choose Properties
- In the Properties dialog choose the Shortcut tab
- Look for the Target
field. By default this will have
text like "C:\Program
Files\Hotmail Popper\hotpop.exe".
Change this to:
"C:\Program Files\Hotmail Popper\hotpop.exe" /hideicon - Click OK
- You'll need to exit Hotmail Popper and launch it again to hide the icons
How do I filter mail based on folder?
Hotmail Popper adds the X-Hotpop-Folder
MIME header to each e-mail message
it retrieves, to specify what folder
in the Hotmail account it originated
from. For example, messages coming
from the inbox have the header X-Hotpop-Folder:
inbox, and messages from the
bulk mail folder have the header X-Hotpop-Folder:
bulk. You can use this
information in your e-mail client to
automatically filter messages into
the desired folders.
How do I setup multiple Hotmail accounts?
Simply repeat the account setup
instructions for each Hotmail
account. Only one instance of
Hotmail Popper needs to be running
on your system, and there's no need
to change any of its options.
Do I still need to login every 30 days?
At the moment, it appears to be
sufficient to check your e-mail
through Hotmail Popper with your
normal e-mail client. You do not
need to login through
www.hotmail.com to ensure your
account does not get deactivated. We
have no affiliation with Microsoft
however, so they may decide to
change this policy without notice.
What e-mail clients are supported?
All POP-compliant e-mail clients
should work fine with Hotmail
Popper. If you are using an e-mail
client not listed as one of our
setup examples, try to follow one of
the examples as close as possible.
Can I use a spam/virus proxy?
If you use a spam filter or
another program that acts as a
'proxy' POP server, you'll need to
add Hotmail Popper as one of the
links in the proxy chain. For
example, you might have to change
the Hotmail Popper options to
specify that it listens on a port
other than 110 (for example 19362).
You would then have to configure the
spam filter to check for mail at
this port. The e-mail client would
check for mail through the spam
filter proxy server, which would in
turn check through Hotmail Popper,
which would in turn talk to Hotmail.
Similar setups can be used for
Antivirus software that act like POP
proxies.
The 'Test account settings' button in Outlook
Do not use the Test Account
Settings button in Outlook as it
will fail. This test is not needed
when setting up Hotmail Popper.
Why are (or aren't) my messages getting deleted?
Most e-mail clients have an
account option called Delete Mail
From Server. If you wish for
messages to be deleted from the
Hotmail server when they are
downloaded into your e-mail client,
select this account option;
otherwise deselect it. Alternatively
some e-mail clients call this option
Leave Mail On Server. In this case,
if you wish for messages to be
deleted from the Hotmail server when
they are downloaded into your e-mail
client, deselect this account
option; otherwise select it.