We have a dial-up Internet account. I'm getting heartily sick of people sending me large email attachments that I don't want. We use Outlook Express. Our ISP is AustarMetro.

How can I set things so that we only download files below a certain size?

Can I also set things such as sending people a bounce message if they exceed my size limit.

Can I also set my system to delete emails that are too large,, or just download the email without the attachment?

Kathy Rockwell, Chatswood, NSW

With a bit of preparation and forethought, you most certainly can deal with the problem you have using Outlook Express. The ‘Message rules’ feature of Outlook Express can be used for more than simply trapping Spam, as indicated in “How can I block ‘Swen’ emails?”

I’m afraid that Outlook Express doesn’t have the functionality to download the message and leave the attachment behind, but it can certainly be used for the other alternatives you’ve mentioned. What you’ll need to do is set up a ‘Message Rule’ to perform the task you want. You’ll find the function in the menu system. Tools, Message Rules, Mail -> New.

You basically have two options. You can accept the message and attachment, and automatically send a letter to the sender indicating your objection. Or you can simply refuse the message and either leave it on the mail server or delete it from there. I’m sorry, but there seems to be no way to do both. To set up your ‘Message Rule’ start up Outlook Express and bring up the dialogue box by clicking on the menu items described above:

• In the top panel, “Conditions for your rule” scroll down and select “Where the message is more than size”. You'll see the rule condition appear in the third panel, with the word ‘size’ underlined. Click on the link and enter the maximum size you wish to select for messages which are allowed through unqueried, in kilobytes. Click ‘OK’ to complete the step.
• If you wish to simply stop such messages coming in, then in the second panel select “Do not Download it from the server”
• If you wish to contact the sender and request that they stop sending you large attachments, you’ll need to have a prepared message to use. See below. In the second panel click on “Reply with message”. You’ll see the rule condition appear in the third panel with the word ‘message’ underlined. Click on the link and select the message to include.
• Make up a name for the message rule if you like, and type it into the bottom panel. Click ‘OK’ to create the rule.

Quite simple, isn’t it? There are more alternatives available, of course, if you use Outlook rather than Outlook Express for your email program. Perhaps different software altogether might handle the job specifically as you’d like it handled. But perhaps there’s a better way again to confront the situation?

Just who ARE the people sending you large attachments? If they're unwanted messages from people you don't wish to communicate with, why not simply select the message, click on ‘Message, Block Sender’, and then not have to worry about receiving mail from them again? If they're friends and family, why not simply talk to them and indicate that you don't want such messages sent? If those large attachments are those often annoying ‘internet jokes’, then indicate you really do not want them sent to you. If the large attachments are snapshots then having them sent by email is not a very good delivery medium anyway. After all, it doesn’t take much to put photos on a CD and pop it in a PostPak! And you can have them saved in high resolution as well, which is all the better.

Finally, if you live in an area which is suitable for an ADSL broadband service, you should look into the cost of a broadband service. You might find that you can get fast broadband internet for little or no extra cost than the total cost of your dial-up service. And large emails would no longer be a problem!

Cheers,

Terry O'Shanassy