Peggy set up Gmail in her email program and spends hours downloading mail
First I want to tell you how much I love Gmail. I got a Gmail account about 18 months ago because your recommended it. And I love its features and how easy it is to use. But, you didn't warn us that when you set it up in your email program you spend hours downloading email the first time you use it. What's up with that? Thanks, Peggy

Our answer
Excellent question, Peggy. Like most everything else computer if you don't spend time configuring things correctly you're likely to get some surprises. And if readers don't heed our warning and follow these instructions, they could be in for a shock the first time they download mail from a Gmail account using their email program.

You need to careful that you have your Gmail account on the Web configured correctly or, as you've already found out, Peggy, you could be inundated with a lot of emails - both old and new -the first time you fire up a Gmail account in an email program.

Fortunately it's very easy to configure Gmail correctly so that the only mail you download is email which was received AFTER you set up Gmail in your email program. If you don't set it up correctly from the get go, and you both get a lot of email and you've had your Gmail account for quite awhile, you could be downloading mail for a long time. Why? Because if you set it up using one of the options, you're going to download every email you've ever gotten in Gmail since you set the account up on the Web - including emails you're aunt Edna sent you on your 60th birthday in 2005.

So take your time when setting up Gmail in your email program. Taking few minutes extra when setting up your account in your email program can save you a lot of time later when you're ready to retrieve your Gmail messages via your email client.

How to set up Gmail to work in your email program - the right way!

Here's how to setup Gmail so you don't download all those old emails - and only download emails received from the time you setup your Gmail account in your email program.

1. Login to your Gmail account on the Web ( www.gmail.com )
2. At the top right of the page you'll see a link called "Settings" (click it)
3. You'll the following Settings Toolbar appear on the Web page:

4. Click "Forwarding and POP"
  a.) Make sure you have "Disable Forwarding" selected
  b.) Select "Enable POP only for mail that arrives from now on"
  c.) Make sure you click "Save changes" when you're done.

If you don't configure Gmail exactly the way we showed you, you will be downloading EVERY email you've ever received in your Gmail account since the first day you set it up. If you've had your Gmail account for a couple of years, that could be a lot of email. You must set it up to receive ONLY to receive emails that arrive from now on. And, don't forget to click "Save Changes" when you're done - or guess what? You'll be downloading all 15,000 emails you've received since 2005.

For those of you with Gmail accounts and you want to know more about setting up Gmail in your Outlook Express or Windows Mail program, complete instructions are available from this page. Instructions for other email programs are available from your Gmail account under "Settings".

Windows Mail users: Use the same instructions as Outlook Express. Even the auto-configuration tool for Outlook Express works in Windows Mail. Just because you don't see Windows Mail listed, doesn't mean you can't use Gmail in your Windows Mail program.

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