I'm going to give you a different suggestion. Don't be stuck with your email address dependent on your internet providers. There is no reason you even have to use those accounts. In the future, you may want to switch providers for any number of reasons and then you are stuck with your ISP-dependent accounts and emails disappearing. That's why ISPs like to have you use their accounts...it makes you reluctant to switch.

Years ago, I set up my main email accounts on Hotmail and Gmail, and now no longer worry about this. I am free to switch to another ISP -- and I have -- when prices went up too much, or I could get better service for less, or when my provider's connection became unreliable. And I never have to tell all my contacts to change to my new email address, or have to change info in my online accounts.

Plus, you can access them from anywhere on any secured system.

DA

Kudzu hit the nail right on the head. This was the mistake I made many years ago by setting my email with my internet provider. Each year they 'upgrade' to bigger, better, higher, faster closely followed by an increase in price. Yet basically i see no improvement in what the ISP provides, all improvements come from elsewhere and are available to all of us.

I have used on board email since 1996 with no problems except one time a few months ago when Cox crashed. They managed to save my messages so I lost nothing. I have tried Yahoo and Gmail for disposable accounts and had problems with both. I don't think the trouble was caused by me, but even if it was I don't have a problem with my server's email or with WLM which I use for my servers mail. I have 3 email accounts with my server and all come through WLM and are visible. Online I would have to log in to one, log out then log in for the second, the same for the third. I think it was the same with one of the online email software, but not sure.

Emma-
I have been using Hotmail, Yahoo mail, and Gmail as my main accounts for years without major glitches. And I can have all three accounts open simultaneously; I just can't have, say, two Hotmail accounts open at the same time (at least on the same computer). Not sure what was happening with your Yahoo/Gmail experiences, but that's not typical.

Good suggestion as I am already thinking about looking for another provider than att.

So how do I set up an email account with gmail. What changes do I have to make with thunderbird or my computer system so I can access them at the same time switching between the two. I will keep earthlink as one email because I have been with them for so long without problems.

Thanks
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Paul, after I quit trying the online emails for browsing and subscriptions and created a new email account with my server using a phony ID. I can easily delete it if i start getting a lot of spam. I try to keep my life simple, at my age it's to hard to keep things straight.

Easy to set up a gmail account. Just go to gmail.com and follow the directions to set up your account. Once you set it up (multiple accounts if you wish) there are instructions on how to use your desktop account such as Windows Live Mail to receive and send your mail. I hardly ever go to the online account except to check the spam folder once in a while to make sure no "real" mail got stuck there. I have an XP computer where I can access my gmail accounts via Outlook Express, and I also have a Windows 7 computer and can do the same via Windows Live Mail. So one does not have to have an ISP's mail service to do this.

Let me try this again... my question is this...

My current email on one computer is with earthlink.net. I use thunderbird. I also have a second email account with earthlink.net. When I bring up thunderbird I check my email etc on my primary email. When I am finished with that how do I switch and check my email on the secondary email address.

I would think that this is simply a matter of switching between accounts somehow but I have never done this. I have no problem checking the email on the secondary email via webmail but I want to be able to do that via thunderbird.

Thanks

I don't use Thunderbird, but I believe Thunderbird gives you an option to sync your accounts. That is what Windows Live Mail does, so that I have access to all my gmail accounts.

If someone here is familiar with the workings of Thunderbird, perhaps he/she can answer your questions. There should be some sort of instructions with your Thunderbird account for doing this.

Well, I finally got it setup....or at least it is now functional. I didn't get everything I wanted but the next step to get that was simply too darn complicated.

I have one email with my earthlink account and one with my website account, Tierra. I can send and receive emails from both accounts but there is some mixing with the rest of it. With time I think I can get used to using the two and keeping them straight.

Thanks

Paul, thanks for the update. If there is anyone thing about using PC that has been a continuing problem for me, it's be setting up the email. I am very lucky that my server's techs are local and are very nice and knowledgeable. I finally found the instructions on the net and printed them. Now I have it down pat.