FAQ: Fix Email Problems with Home Cookin

How to fix problems when sending email?

If you are having difficulties sending email from Home Cookin, you should check the configuration of your email program. Like many applications, Home Cookin simply routes your emails through Windows MAPI interface to the application that is assigned as the "default" email application. This lets you choose the email program you want to use, as well as giving access to your contact address lists.

To help you configure your system properly, here are some basic instructions for several popular email programs (other versions are similar):

Web Based Email (Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Windows Live, etc.)

Web based email systems are popular because they allow you to send and receive email from any location. In fact, Microsoft switched to web based email in Windows 7 instead of including the built-in Outlook Express client of past versions. Unfortunately, these systems do not reside on your computer, so they are incompatible with Home Cookin and other applications that use the MAPI interface. There are two solutions if you normally use web based email.

1. Install a MAPI compliant email application on your computer. The free "Thunderbird" application by Mozilla is popular and works well with the Home Cookin recipe organizer.
   
   
2. Export recipes to Windows clipboard instead of email, then "paste" the recipe text into your email messages while online.

Outlook Express 5 and 6

1. Click "Tools" in the menu bar.
2. Select "Options".
3. Click the General Tab.
4. Click the button marked "Make Default" (near the bottom of the dialog). If this button is grayed out, Outlook Express is already configured as the default.

Outlook Express 4

1. Click "Tools" in the menu bar.
2. Select "Options".
3. Click the General tab.
4. Check the box labeled "Make Outlook Express my default mail program".
5. Check the box labeled "Make Outlook Express my default Simple MAPI client".
6. Click OK.

Outlook

1. Click "Tools" in the menu bar.
2. Select "Options".
3. Click the "Other" tab.
4. Check the box labeled "Make Outlook the default program for Email, Contacts, and Calendar".
5. Click OK.

Thunderbird 3

1. Click "Tools" in the menu bar.
2. Select "Options".
3. Click the "Advanced" group.
4. Click the "General" tab.
5. Check the box labeled "Always check to see if Thunderbird is the default mail client on startup".
6. Click the button labeled "Check Now".
7. Click OK.

AOL 9

1. Sign on to AOL.
2. Click the "Settings" icon in the toolbar.
3. Click the A-Z tab.
4. Click the "AOL as Default" link.
5. Click OK.

AOL 7 and 8

1. Sign on to AOL.
2. Click the "Keyword" button.
3. Type the word "Preferences" in the text box of the Keyword dialog.
4. Click the Go button.
5. Click on the Association link.
6. Select "America Online".
7. Click OK.

AOL 6 and earlier

These versions of AOL are not MAPI compliant and will not work with Home Cookin recipe software.

Note:

Your email client may not always bring the new email message window to the front. If nothing appears to happen when you click a send email button, check your email program to see if a new message was started.

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