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Tips for Minimizing Connection Time

E-mail (Eudora) | Web Browsing


E-mail (Eudora)

By making a few simple changes in how you read and write e-mail, you can dramatically shorten the length of your long distance calls to the Cornell modem pool. Eudora will allow you to read and write e-mail without being online. You will only need to dial up to download new messages and send your messages out. The instructions below will help you set up Eudora to work off-line.

Step One: Create a Eudora Icon to Use Off-line

  • Windows 95/98/NT
    1. Click on Start | Find | Files or Folders, enter the file name: eudora.exe, and then click on the Find Now button (Note: make sure the "Look in:" field is set to scan your hard drive)
    2. The file should now be listed in the lower half of the window; right click on it and choose "Create Shortcut".
    3. A message will pop up telling you that Windows cannot create a shortcut there and asking if you would like it to be placed on the desktop.  Click on "Yes."
    4. You will now see a Eudora icon on your desktop.

  • Macintosh
    1. Highlight the Eudora file (in the Bear Access / Eudora folder on your hard drive).
    2. Select Make Alias from the File menu.
    3. Drag the new Eudora Alias file to the Desktop.

Step Two: Set Eudora to Queue Outgoing Messages

Eudora can be set to queue your outgoing messages to be sent all at the same time, rather than individually. This will allow you to write all of your messages while off-line, and then dial up to send them all at once. After following the steps below, you can click on your new Eudora icon at any time (even when you aren't connected) and compose messages to be sent at a later time.

  1. Open your Eudora settings (in Windows, go to the Tools menu and choose Options; on Macintosh, go to the Special menu and choose Settings).
  2. In the left column, click on the icon labeled Checking Mail.
  3. Find the line marked Check for mail every ___ minutes. On a Macintosh, make sure the box to the left is not checked. On Windows, enter a 0 in the white box, or check the box next to Don't check without a network connection.
  4. Check the box labeled Send on check.
  5. Click on the icon labeled Sending Mail.
  6. Uncheck the box labeled Immediate Send.
  7. You will notice that the "Send" button in your messages is now a "Queue" button.

Step Three: Connect to Download New Mail/Send Outgoing Mail

When you want to download new messages or send messages, connect to the Cornell modem pool.

  1. Use EZ-Remote or Express Lane to connect to the Cornell campus network.
  2. Start Eudora by double clicking the Eudora icon you created.
  3. Check for new mail or send the messages you have queued. (Both are options under the File menu).
  4. Hang up the EZ-Remote or Express Lane connection.
  5. Read your messages in Eudora, and type any replies that you want to send.
  6. Dial up again and send your replies, or wait until a later time.

Note: If you dial in to check for mail, then quit Eudora, read and respond to mail off-line, then dial in again, you are likely to see a Kerberos error message. To avoid this, clear your Kerberos ticket. Click on the SideCar key icon and select Log Out.

Related e-mail information and guides can be found on the web at http://www.cit.cornell.edu/computer/email/eudora/.

Web Browsing

Online time can be minimized by:

Turning off images

This saves the time it takes to download images or other media content.

  • Netscape:
    1. Choose Preferences... from the Edit menu.
    2. A Preferences window will open.
      3. In the Category column at left, click on Advanced.
    3. Uncheck the top item, Automatically load images.
    4. Click on the OK button.

  • Internet Explorer for Macintosh:
    1. Choose Preferences... from the Edit menu.
    2. An Internet Explorer Preferences window will open. In the Web Browser category in the left column, click on Web Content.
    3. In the Page Content area, uncheck the boxes for any of these options that you don't need to see: Show pictures, Play sounds, Show video, Animated GIFs.
    4. Click on the OK button.

  • Internet Explorer for Windows:
    1. From the Tools menu on Internet Explorer 5 or the View menu on Internet Explorer 4, choose Internet Options...
    2. An Internet Options window will open. Click on the Advanced tab.
    3. Scroll down to Multimedia.
    4. Uncheck the boxes of any content you don't need
      5. to see.
    5. Click on the OK button.

Caching pages

Caching pages allows your browser to store more of the Web pages locally, saving you from repeated downloads. To increase the size of your Disk Cache:

  • Netscape:
    1. Choose Preferences... from the Edit menu.
    2. A Preferences window will open. In the Category column at left, click on the plus sign next to Advanced, then click on Cache.
    3. Increase the size of your Disk Cache option.
    4. Click on the OK button.

  • Internet Explorer for Macintosh:<
    1. Choose Preferences... from the Edit menu.
    2. An Internet Explorer Preferences window will open.
      3. In the Web Broswer section of the column at left, click on Advanced.
    3. Increase the number of megabytes (MB) in the Size box in the Cache area.
    4. Click on the OK button.

  • Internet Explorer for Windows:
    1. From the Tools menu on Internet Explorer 5 or the View menu on Internet Explorer 4, choose Internet Options...
    2. An Internet Options window will open. Click on the General tab.
    3. In the Temporary Internet files area, click the Settings... button.
    4. In the Settings window, slide the marker for Amount of disk space to use to the right.
    5. Click the OK button in the Settings window, then the OK button in the Internet Options window.

Turning off Java

This saves time by not downloading large Java "applet" files, which are mini-programs that can run in your Web browser.

  • Netscape:
    1. Choose Preferences... from the Edit menu.
    2. A Preferences window will open. In the Category column at left, click on Advanced.
    3. Uncheck the second item, Enable Java.
    4. Click on the OK button.

Offline Browsing

Internet Explorer for both Macintosh (4.5) and Windows (5) supports a feature called offline browsing, which allows you to easily download a Web page and its link to your computer for viewing offline at a later date. For more information:

  • Internet Explorer 5 or later on Windows:
    1. From the Help menu, choose Contents and Index, then choose Browsing the Web Offline.

  • Internet Explorer 4.5 or later on Macintosh:
    1. From the Help menu, choose Internet Explorer Help..., then Favorite Pages, then Subscriptions.


Instructions last updated: July 26, 2000