Mail problems

[dougproctor]

New convert to Mac from years of Windows. Love it apart from the Mail. Use either iMail or Thunderbird but have the same problem. Using Lion. BT Internet mail account. Set up account in both programs using email address and password and works with no problems. Shut down.
Start up next day and open either program and it asks for password. Put in password and it won't accept it. In the end, I delete the account and then go to Yahoo and change my password. Back to mail, set up with account and new password and it works again. Until the next day when we do the same again.
This is driving me mad! I have read the forums, Googled it and looked at so many threads but nothing seems to work.
Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[dougproctor]

And again......

Happened again today. Deleted account in both Mail and Thunderbird as would not accept password. So changed password in Yahoo, setup new password and it works in both programs.
This really is putting me off the Mac system a little.

 

[Mojo1]

So if I understand correctly both Mail and Thunderbird is forgetting your account password?

Forgotten passwords is a common problem with Mail. Fixing the problem sometimes requires deleting the account and starting over. I have also had to dig into my Keychain and manually delete the Mail passwords. But the problem can reappear at any time.

I never got anywhere with Thunderbird because I ran into a common bug where I couldn't input text...

I use GyazMail. It doesn't have an account setup "wizard" but I prefer it because Mail's automatic setup gets in the way more than it helps. Example: setting up a POP3 GMail account instead of IMAP. Mail's "wizard" assumes that all GMail accounts are IMAP so it isn't possible to configure a POP3 account via the wizard. The only way to obtain manual control is to configure the account in offline mode. Unfortunately, there is no information in Mail Help about how to do this.

Unlike Mail Gyazmail does not forget account passwords. I also prefer its GUI over Mail. GyazMail costs $18 but it is worth every penny as far as I am concerned: It Just Works. You can use it in demo mode and see if the nominal cost is worth paying for.

 

[Ccrew]

Sparrow for the mail win

 

[Mojo1]

Regarding Sparrow and GMail...

I only use GMail as a "public" account and I don't use it much for that...

Since GMail scans the contents of every message it isn't HIPPA-compliant (http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/) and I don't appreciate the privacy intrusion even when I am not using e-mail for business communications.

When I do use GMail GyazMail handles it just like any other e-mail account.

I don't log-in to any Google service while I am online because I do not want to have my online activities tracked for the benefit of advertisers.