Web Mail (mail2web)

[Dodi Schultz]

I'm a CompuServe Classic customer, and I still use TAPCIS for e-mail, but a couple of years ago, I set up a special password so I could access mail2web.com and pick up e-mail from the Web, as well, from any computer. I THINK those instructions came from Judy, IIRC.

A friend of mine, also CompuServe Classic, would like to do so, as well. She has been attempting to do the first step, Virtual Key installation (at least that WAS the first step), using the procedure I followed, but seems unable to do so.


She says she has been attempting to do this with a computer running Win XP and now has the impression that it will work only with Win 3.x, 95, or 98. Is this so? Is the VK source still www.compuserve.com/rpa/? Is there some other procedure she can/should follow?

Hoping Judy, or someone, can help! TIA.

--Dodi

[Judy G. Russell]

Is the VK source still www.compuserve.com/rpa/? Try this link (http://www.compuserve.com/rpa/vk_inst.htm) instead (to http://www.compuserve.com/rpa/vk_inst.htm). If that doesn't work (I think it works on XP), does she have any old CServe software she can use? You can do the same thing via the Mail commands there.

[Peter Creasey]

Judy, Is the Virtual Key still needed to set up a mail2web account?

[davidh]

Virtual Key only works with Internet Explorer browser and Old Netscape browser (probably Netscape 4.8 or earlier). So it would not work with Mozilla, Firefox, SeaMonkey, Opera, new Netscape, etc. I think I used to use VK with Internet Explorer 5.5. Perhaps it will work with Internet Explorer 6.0, I don't know.

If your friend tries to install and run old Compuserve Classic software under XP, be aware that there is a SPECIAL version of Compuserve 4.02 (the last Classic version) required to run under Windows XP. Probably a link to explain this on the main page of the Classic support forum (new web view of forums or Prospero-ized web view of forums). Earlier versions of Compuserve classic software for Windows (e.g. WINCIM and CS 3.x) may or may not work under Windows XP, therefore best to ask about this in Compuserve Classic support forum if one goes for an earlier version for whatever reason. DOSCIM would probably work, but it is no longer available for download and requires a MS-DOS compatible hardware modem (i.e. NOT a Winmodem).

If your friend ALREADY has a web mail account with an ISP or some other kind of online service such as Yahoo, Google, Hotmail/MSN, etc. it might be worthwhile to check out whether that service ALSO supports download of mail from third party POP mail servers, analogously with MAIL2WEB. That way, your friend would only have to go to a SINGLE place when reading web mail.

DH

[davidh]

Judy, Is the Virtual Key still needed to set up a mail2web account?
Good question. If I ever knew the answer, I forgot it.

The login screen linked to here would suggest that VK is not needed and that one could use this or another login screen (which apparently is secured by SSL encryption) to do the required authentication to be able to set up CS POP3 password, however that is done via whatever web page (whose URL I forget):

http://login.compuserve.com/login/loginSNS.asp?OrigUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fforums%2Ecompuse rve%2Ecom%2Fvlforums%2Fdefault%2Easp%3FSRV%3DCatho licOnline&RefUrl=&AuthUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fforums%2Ecompuserve%2Ecom%2Fl ogin&snsmode=skipcheck

DH

[davidh]

Dodi, FYI, Windows XP comes loaded with Internet Explorer 6.0. However, if your friend has Windows XP set up to download MS security updates (and/or other MS updates?) AUTOMATICALLY (which is probably the lesser of two evils when compared with manually, in spite of the fact that MS updates sometime break things), then it's possible that your friend's PC may already have been upgraded to the Internet Explorer 7.0 browser (which may or may not allow correct installation of VK).

DH

[davidh]

If your friend ALREADY has a web mail account with an ISP or some other kind of online service such as Yahoo, Google, Hotmail/MSN, etc. it might be worthwhile to check out whether that service ALSO supports download of mail from third party POP mail servers, analogously with MAIL2WEB. That way, your friend would only have to go to a SINGLE place when reading web mail.

Additional plug for Google mail:

I think Google web mail still supports an HTML-ONLY web interface to read and write emails. That is, you can read your web mail on Google with scripting (e.g. javascript) turned off completely, for safety. That refers to scripting on the Google mail web pages, not necessarily to scripting in the email messages themselves. I'd have to check the GMAIL site to confirm or deny on that latter point. But if you did have scripting turned off in the browser itself and image viewing turned off in your GMAIL, then the level of security attained thereby (Google web mail) would be almost as high as that attained under the principle of "security through obsolescence" achieved by using TAPCIS alone.

Of course, if one is reading web mail in a public place on a public machine, then it may not be possible to change the browser configuration, e.g. to disable scripting.

DH

P.S.
IIRC, even MS itself, perhaps in a tacit admission of the level of insecurity of Internet Explorer, recommends raising the security level in each of the four zones (Internet, Intranet, Trusted, Restricted) by one level, if possible, ABOVE the default levels as found in MS IE 6.0 and earlier. I don't know what they did in MS IE 7.0. Unfortunately, raising the level will probably "break" some things for some people.

CORRECTION:

"The following table highlights the changes to default URL security zones between Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003.
URL security zone Default security template in Windows 2000 Default security template in Windows Server 2003
Restricted sites High High
Internet Medium High
Intranet Medium-low Medium-low
Trusted sites Low Medium"

http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/security/szone/overview/esc_changes.asp

I think this recommendation was oriented first to sys admins, but it probably should/would apply generally to users of MS IE.

DH

[Gary Maltzen]

Judy, Is the Virtual Key still needed to set up a mail2web account?The ONLY reason you need VK is in order to set up a POP3 password using IE.
Once you have the POP3 password configured you can toss VK. You do NOT use VK with mail2web.com.

[Gary Maltzen]

The login screen linked to here would suggest that VK is not neededYou used to need VK when using IE to access the POP3 password configuration at http://www.compuserve.com/communications/advanced.asp
(And now I can't even be certain that is a valid location)

Like you, I no longer have an account with which to test this.

[davidh]

Here is a link to the download page for the complete (more or less) info on using CS pop mail:

http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=ws-cssoftware&nav=messages&tid=40266&tsn=1

If your browser can't handle that page,
here is an (cut and paste) extract of the relevant info from the POPMAIL.PDF file:

QUOTE

Plaintext passwords (aka POP3 Mail Only Passwords)
Plaintext authentication requires your mail software to send your personal address and password as unencrypted text
across the Internet. To provide an added level of security, CompuServe requires that you create a special, mail-only
password if you choose to use plaintext authentication. Although CompuServe does not require it [actually Classic online access password MUST be different than POP mail password], you should pick
something other than your regular CompuServe password. When picking a password, follow CompuServe’s general
password rules: 8-24 characters that include at least one alpha and one numeric character and no spaces or special
characters.
The plaintext password is also referred to as a “mail-only” and “clear text” password. You create a plaintext, mail-
only password at GO NPX-92 or at http://www.compuserve.com/communications by clicking on the Advanced
Settings link. You may change this password at any time from the same page.
Configuring software
The first steps
Newmail
You must already be on the “new” mail system, so the first step is to GO NEWMAIL to make sure your mailbox is
on the system that supports POP mail.
Personal Address
If you have not already created a optional personal address for your CompuServe account, GO REGISTER. This is
where you assign a friendly email address (e.g., jsmith) to your account (e.g., 12345,123). A personal address is not
a requirement. Your UserID will work. If your UserID is 12345,123, you’d use “12345.123” as your account name
and 12345.123@compuserve.com as your email address.

UNQUOTE

With my browser (Firefox) I visited the following URL

http://www.compuserve.com/communications

as stated in the above extract from POPMAIL.PDF. Upon attempting to go to that URL I was presented with the following screen;

http://login.compuserve.com/login/loginSNS.asp?OrigUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecompuserve %2Ecom%2Fcommunications&RefUrl=&AuthUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecompuserve%2Ecom%2Flogi n&snsmode=skipcheck

The appearance of the following words on that screen QUOTE # You may use a Screen Name from any of the following services: CompuServe 2000
# CompuServe User ID [i.e. Classic]
# Instant Messenger
# America Online (AOL) UNQUOTE
seem to indicate that it might not even be necessary to use VK at all. That is, it may be sufficient merely to use a web browser that supports an adequate level of (SSL) encryption (an alternate more widely used encryption OTHER than VK).

Therefore it might be worthwhile to at least try going to http://www.compuserve.com/communications WITHOUT first installing VK.

The GO NEWMAIL and GO REGISTER commands mentioned above may or may not be accessible thru the interactive mode of TAPCIS.

If it does turn out that Compuserve softwares such as WINCIM or CS 4.02 are not necessary to perform the possibly required/optional tasks GO NEWMAIL and GO REGISTER, then it may be possible to accomplish them by using the built-in windows TELNET program and telnet-ing to gateway.compuserve.com and logging in using the ANCIENT ASCII interface and issing the GO command via telnet program. Be sure to type "OFF" or "BYE" to close the sesson when done. The standard/default (Internet, not Compuserve) TELNET port of 23 should now work. In the old days telnet port 4144 [?] was required, but now 23 , the default, should work.

Good luck to your friend.

DH

[davidh]

If it does turn out that Compuserve softwares such as WINCIM or CS 4.02 are not necessary to perform the possibly required/optional tasks GO NEWMAIL and GO REGISTER, then it may be possible to accomplish them by using the built-in windows TELNET program and telnet-ing to gateway.compuserve.com and logging in using the ANCIENT ASCII interface and issing the GO command via telnet program. Be sure to type "OFF" or "BYE" to close the sesson when done. The standard/default (Internet, not Compuserve) TELNET port of 23 should now work. In the old days telnet port 4144 [?] was required, but now 23 , the default, should work.


Two additional caveats:

1. If one uses TELNET to access one's Classic Compuserve account via the "primordial" ASCII interface, I'd recommend only doing so when logged in to CS using CS "per se" as ISP, and NOT any third party ISP. Since AFAIK , Classic Compuserve does not have any broadband nodes, this would require using either an actual Compuserve dialer program (e.g. such as the one that was distributed with WINCIM for WIndows 3.x) or Windows Dial Up Networking with the appropriate Compuserve login script. The reason for this recommendation is that one's Classic password is transmitted "in the clear" in plain text with no encryption. In actual practice, there may not be a significant risk using a 3rd party ISP, but it doesn't hurt to be aware of security issues.

2. Windows 3.x did not come with a built-in telnet program, I think. I don't remember whether the built-in TERMINAL program in Win 3.x ever had any telnet capability. So if one is trying to access the ASCII user interface of Classic on Win 3.x PC, it might be advisable to use the (MS-DOS) TAPCIS program interactive user interface (if that is what it's actually called in TAPCIS? ) to Classic.

BTW the command "TOP" is the one that takes one to the start of the ASCII menu system on Classic. Also, if one gets stuck somewhere in the ASCII system, I think control-C will break you out in most cases.

DH ( former 110 baud teletype "key pounder" and paper tape "feeder" [lower occupational hazards than 'Sigfried and Roy' Las Vegas big cat act] )

[Judy G. Russell]

Judy, Is the Virtual Key still needed to set up a mail2web account?As Gary said, it's only needed if you need to change your New Mail settings and don't have CServe software. And, like Gary, I don't have an account to test this with any more. Haven't had one for a looooong time.

[Dodi Schultz]

Thank you, all, for your many comments. I'd have liked to print the entire thread in order to study them a bit more carefully, but I find that one can't print out a thread.

My impression has always been that, as one of you said (I think), that the point is to get to the place where you can create the special password. Once you've done that, you can get to your CompuServe mail from any computer, anywhere at all, using any Web browser, just by going to mail2web.com and entering your CIS address and that password.

My friend is planning a trip on which she would like to be able to do that. To that end, she's trying to get to that place where she can create the password.

I'm jotting down notes on what you all said and I'll see if I can boil it all down to some helpful tips for her.

Thanks again.

--DS

[Lindsey]

Thank you, all, for your many comments. I'd have liked to print the entire thread in order to study them a bit more carefully, but I find that one can't print out a thread.
Yes, you can. Or at least I think you can, but you would need to be accessing the forum from the web. Do you see a "Thread Tools" link on the bar at the top of the thread? If you click on that, you should see a "Show printable version" choice on the menu that results. Then you can use File | Print to print that view of the thread.

I think your summary sounds like it has picked up the relevant points, but if your friend needs additional help, tell her to come to the Classic Support Forum (http://community.compuserve.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=ws-cssoftware) on CompuServe.

Note that, as others have pointed out here, there is a special version of the CompuServe software that is needed for Windows XP, and there are links for downloading that version from the Classic Support forum.

--Lindsey

[ndebord]

DH ( former 110 baud teletype "key pounder" and paper tape "feeder" [lower occupational hazards than 'Sigfried and Roy' Las Vegas big cat act] )

David,

Aha! A former "tape ape."

<g>

[Dodi Schultz]

Thank you so much, Lindsey!

--Dodi