When you connect to our POP3 server (mailin.provide.net) to pick up your E-Mail, our server will automatically generate a lock file to keep other connections from modifying your mailbox while it's in use. If you unexpectedly disconnect from the mail server, your lock file may be left behind until the server realizes that you're no longer connected.

If you're running ICQ or any other software that monitors your mailbox for new messages, it may periodically activate a POP lock while it checks your mailbox. You will see a POP lock error if another program is checking your mail while you're trying to download it.

If you don't look at the details of the error, Outlook Express makes a POP Lock error message look like a password error. Eudora and some other mail clients will actually notify you that there is a POP lock active.

The mail server should automatically remove POP locks within five minutes. In some cases, it won't. If your POP lock persists for longer than 30 minutes, you may need to E-Mail or call us at (888) 480-4200.

If you get a large message or a message with a large attachment, it will take longer than usual to download your E-Mail. If it's taking a long time to download your mail, the first step is to be patient! Customers commonly receive attachments in excess of 3MB in size. Depending on how fast you're connected, a file this size could take more than twenty minutes to download.

Sometimes a malformed or excessively large message will confuse your E-Mail client and cause your download to lock up or time out. If, after several attempts at downloading your mail, you're still unable to get your messages, you may need to have us clean up your mailbox. Send E-Mail or call our staff.

For outgoing messages, there is no limit for your total message size. For incoming messages, the limit is 50MB.

Provide.Net has installed several anti-spam packages on our mail servers to prevent our customers from receiving undesirable bulk E-Mail. However, some spammers are still able to get messages through to our network.

If you're getting spam, it might be because you subscribed yourself to a list on the internet that was sold to bulk E-Mail companies. It's best to never give your E-Mail address to webpages unless you're absolutely positive that they won't put you on a mailing list.

You can now do it all by yourself! If you are getting spammed and would like to block something, please visit this webpage for instructions on how to set up a block.