Frequently Asked Questions

This section is dedicated to answering the most often asked questions, and most often experienced issues. If you have additional questions that are not covered here ask the Technical Support crew email: support@epud.net or phone: 1-800-731-4871

 

Q: Why is my email not downloading and/or repeatedly asking for my password?

A: Most commonly this is caused by an email that is simply too large to be downloaded and is "sticking up" the rest of your email. To fix this log into the web mail and find the largest message(s) (the sizes will be listed on the right, if not click options and index order to "add" size). Generally anything over 2MB is going to give you trouble. Once you find the message(s) you can view it or save it by clicking on the "Download" link to the right. After you are done viewing/saving the email put a check next to it and click "Delete" (near top right) don't forget to "purge" the trash before you log out. If this doesn't work or you get a pop-up window telling you that "You've got mail" then your email box is temporarily locked. If you simply log out and try 15-20 minutes later it should work fine. Also be sure that your normal email program (Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, Apple Mail etc.) is not open while you are doing any of this.      top^


Q: I know I have email to get, but when I try to get it my email program instantly tells me that I don't have any new mail

A: This is almost always caused by over zealous security software such as a firewall or an anti-virus program. To test this theory try disabling your anti-virus and/or firewall and then check your mail. If it works then you've found the problem and you'll want to contact the manufacturer of the security software you are using to find out how to prevent that from happening. Also make sure that you have the correct mail server entered in your account settings (see next question for the path to "account settings") you want both the incoming (POP) and outgoing (SMTP) to be mail.epud.net If it still doesn't work you'll want to give us a call.      top^


Q: When I try to get new email, it almost always times-out and says the mail server is not responding or says that it could not find the mail server

A: Once again this is almost always caused by security software. Keep in mind that most anti-virus programs and firewalls (Norton, Mcafee, AVG etc.) are optimized for a high-speed connection. Sometimes what will happen is the anti-virus program will change the mail server name to something like 127.0.0.1 (which means "local host" or your own computer). To fix this you'll need to get into your account settings the path would be as follows.      top^

Outlook 2000/Outlook Express: Tools, Accounts, Mail tab, Properties, Servers tab
Outlook 2002/2003: Tools, Email accounts, View or change existing accounts, next, change
Thunderbird (Windows): Tools, Account settings, Server settings
Thunderbird (Mac): Edit, Preferences or Mail and newsgroups account settings, Server settings
Apple Mail: Mail, Preferences, Accounts

Make sure that Incoming mail server (POP) is listed as mail.epud.net and click ok. If that doesn't help try disabling your security software (just long enough to perform this test). If that still doesn't help give us a call.


Q: I'm having troubles with certain web sites, or parts of web sites don't load up properly

A: There are two main possibilities for this issue. Either you're web browser (the program that shows you web sites) is out of date or the web browser you are using is malfunctioning. Either way you'll want to try updating or use a different browser. Below is a list of widely used web browsers, each link is clickable. Only the links in red are ones that we offer tech support for.      top^

Internet Explorer
Firefox
Netscape
SeaMonkey (formerly Mozilla)
Opera
Avant


Q: Everything seems to have generally slowed down recently

A: This is a tough one because there are so many possibilities. If your connection speed suddenly dropped for no apparent reason, but your computer itself seems to be the same even when not connected to the internet, it's usually a phone line issue. Things like terrible weather or construction within the city you live in can have a huge unforseen impact on your home phone line. You'll want to contact your phone company and possibly have them do an "Outside line check" most companies will do this for free. If your computer in general seems to have slowed down online or offline, you may be the victim of a virus and/or spyware infection. Make sure that your anti-virus and anti-spyware programs are up to date and run a full scan. Below is a list of free anti-virus and anti-spyware programs that a lot of our customers use. Please note these are merely recommendations and we can not offer any technical support or advice regarding these programs.      top^

AVG
Avast
Ad-Aware
Spybot


Q: I get disconnected as soon as I open my email program

A: This is exclusive to customers who use Outlook/Outlook Express. For no good reason that I can think of Outlook Express has an option to hang-up after it checks your email. Since Outlook Express is set to check your mail as soon as you start it by default that means it disconnects as soon as you open it. To fix this click on tools, options, connection tab, and uncheck the box that says "Hang up after sending and receiving" then click apply and ok.      top^


Q: When I get emails with attachments I can't open them

A: This is almost another exclusive to Outlook Express. To fix this click on tools, options, security tab, and uncheck the box that says "Do not allow attachments to be opened or saved that may potentially be a virus" then click apply and ok. If you are not using Outlook Express but you still can't open attachments, either your email program is malfunctioning or you do not have the program required to open the attachment. For example if someone sent me a Microsoft Word document or a .doc but I don't have Microsoft Word then I won't be able to open it.      top^


Q: What can I do about all this spam?

A: We have free spam filtering for our customers first click Here enter your username (without @epud.net after it) and password. Then put a check next to each filter and click update at the bottom. For more information on how to fight spam try the following links:      top^

General info
More general info
Spamihilator A good free 3rd party spam filtering program (Please note that this is merely a recommendation, and we can not offer technical support for this program)

Mailwasher Another free 3rd party spam filtering program, it has a few more options than Spamihilator, but requires a bit more effort/training (Please note that this is merely a recommendation, and we can not offer technical support for this program)


Q: I activated the spam filtering but I still get emails that have *****SPAM***** in the subject line

A: The addition of *****SPAM***** in the subject line is designed to make it easier to have your email program filter it out. Instructions for the 2 most commonly used email programs are below:

Outlook Express: Tools, message rules, mail, new (if it says "New mail rule" at the top you don't need to click new).
1. put a check next to "Where the subject line contains specific words"
2. put a check next to "Delete it"
3. click on "Contains specific words
4. type *****SPAM***** in the new box and click add and then ok
5. click ok 2 more times

Thunderbird: Click tools, message filters, new
1. make sure that Subject and Contains are in the two drop-down menus
2. type *****SPAM***** in the blank box next to Contains
3. under "Perform these actions" choose "delete message"
4. click ok

If you are using a different mail program you can email us to see if we are able to assist you.      top^


Q: How do I upload things to my personal web space?

A: First decide how you want to access your web space. You can just type ftp.epud.net into your favorite web browser, and once you type in your username (your email address without @epud.net after it) and password you can simply "Drag and drop" your files to where you want them. Or you can use an actual FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program such as Filezilla in which case just enter epud.net as the server and your username and password. The address to get to your web page(s) will be www.epud.net/~username (replace "username" with whatever your username is). Perhaps you're a novice but are willing to learn, Webmonkey has a pretty good free tutorial click Here Or if writing a web page the old fashioned way isn't for you, maybe give a web-authoring program a try such as NVU (pronounced N-view)

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