Overall Tech help: computing environmant

[iris lilies]

OK tech savvy people, mainly Alan ( but if Steve was still around I would appreciate his words of wisdom as well.)

I have a seven-year-old HP computer that has always been stupidly slow and I’m going to retire it. It takes minutes to boot up now. I hate this old computer. I use it to produce Word and Excel documents, transmit them to 8 organizations I work with, back them up.

I have three iPads I use for hours a day and I love them. My phone is Apple.

A couple of years ago I bought a Mac Pro but I could never get the email system to work in the right way. Because I live my life on email downloading files and transmitting files, that was a real big deal. My HP computer works with email. More about email confusion later.

I keep much of my life organized in folders on my email account, stored by my email provider. While I can always cut down on digital“stuff” I have a well developed system from which I will not deviate. Email is KEY to my life.

I brought my Mac operating system completely up-to-date. Yesterday I downloaded Microsoft Office. I wanted to stick with MS office so that I wouldn’t have to learn new word processing and spreadsheet production. I just want a familiar world in computing.

Yesterday upon downloading MS office, I was unhappy about several things already including I had to make at least two Microsoft accounts (and it tried to have me make an Outlook account as well, oh HELL no) and I don’t understand why, but that’s not the point in my questions. I learned that the cloud environment for this Mac produced document still is Microsoft’s One Drive. what the ****. See, I want to get away from Microsoft. I thought this move would let me move entirely away from Microsoft.ugh.
I have important files I have to move from the old HP computer to this computer and I don’t know how to do that and I’m gonna have to hire somebody to do it. Moving data from HP environment to the Apple world is problematic of course.

So now I’m at a crossroads. My question is: before I go further to transfer files from HP, should I just buy a new HP laptop and forget about this Mac? Sunk costs are NOT a consideration here. I don’t care how much a new computer costs, I just want my life to be simple. Am I stuck forever using two worlds, Apple world and Microsoft compatible machines?

[iris lilies]

About my tortured email problem:

many years ago we signed up for a SW Bell email account. Somewhere along the way, SW Bell internet became aligned with Yahoo email service. I was forced to have duo email accounts(p (do not understand why) and in spring 2018 SW Bell made a hard cutover to Yahoo, files remained accessible. But I still use SE Bellsystem.

See, now I forget exactly what happened and I cannot explain the tech environment of MaBell and Yahoo. I just remember years and years ago, I had a long phone call with a tech and he couldn’t solve the problem,that I see as a problem. Perhaps in the eyes of MaBell it isn’t a problem.

Anyway – as of today I have two email accounts and I never look at the Yahoo one because I don’t want to use Yahoo system, but its storage of files is pre-2018. Nothing new goes into that Yahoo account since the hard cutover.

I suppose this problem is simply some kind of switch I need to make at the system level of my Mac computer but I don’t know.

[happystuff]

My simple initial reply is that the files in your email folders should be able to be easily downloaded onto the new computer when you are able to access email on it. Should all else fail for Word and Excel files, you should be able to load them from one computer onto a USB drive and then download them onto the other computer. I don't do Apple anything, so would assume there may be some conversions/adjustments to the files into the new environment? That's a guess.

Good luck!!!! I'm sure Alan and others can give better info.

[iris lilies]

My simple initial reply is that the files in your email folders should be able to be easily downloaded onto the new computer when you are able to access email on it. Should all else fail for Word and Excel files, you should be able to load them from one computer onto a USB drive and then download them onto the other computer. I don't do Apple anything, so would assume there may be some conversions/adjustments to the files into the new environment? That's a guess.

Good luck!!!! I'm sure Alan and others can give better info.

To be clear:

I do not want email data to be downloaded anywhere. It is all stored on my email provider’s site. I want to access that stored data from my MacPro computer. I want access to ALL email activity, old (post 2018) and current, from this Mac.

[happystuff]

To be clear:

I do not want email data to be downloaded anywhere. It is all stored on my email provider’s site. I want to access that stored data from my MacPro computer. I want access to ALL email activity, old (post 2018) and current, from this Mac.

Got it. Someone with more Mac experience will hopefully chime in. Again, good luck!

[iris lilies]

So a question for this group might be:

who creates documents, word processing and spreadsheet docs, from their
Mac AND ALSO transmits to a variety of people who have various computing environments themselves? Oh, also—sometimes these people need to be able to edit my documents, so sending them read only PDF files does not work.

I already have trouble when I forward to other people a document that was

1) created on my HP computer
2) transmitted to my iPad
3) stored on my iPad
4) transmitted to others—they cannot read it

[Alan]

To be clear:

I do not want email data to be downloaded anywhere. It is all stored on my email provider’s site. I want to access that stored data from my MacPro computer. I want access to ALL email activity, old (post 2018) and current, from this Mac.
Whew, I was hoping to get to that "clear" part eventually.

If all the data you're looking for is on your email providers site it should just be a matter of pointing your Mac in the right direction, although in reality it's your email client that needs to be pointed. You mentioned installing Microsoft Office so I'm assuming you'll be using Outlook as your email client, although if you're using the Mac's Mail client instead it really shouldn't make any difference.

The important thing to remember is that during the setup part of connecting your email client, make sure you're specifying IMAP rather than POP or POP3. Your mail client may be applying settings automatically and if so you should go into the account settings and ensure the following is correct. I've taken the liberty of assuming it's your SWBell account you're trying to access and looked up the correct settings for that provider.

Email Settings for Swbell.net

Incoming Server - IMAP
Server: outbound.att.net
Port: 993 or 143
Security: SSL/TLS
Username: Your full email address
Password: Your password

Outgoing Server - SMTP
Server: outbound.att.net
Port: 465
Security: SSL/TLS
Username: Your full email address
Password: Your password






If your settings match the above, you should see everything on the MAC exactly as you would on the Windows machine.

[iris lilies]

OK Alan, thank you very much. I am going to try this on my Mac.


I guess if I can get this Mac to recognize my email environment in the way I want, I may plunge ahead to continue to use it. Not sure though. I will have other questions later. I’m still straddling the Apple/Microsoft worlds and I don’t like that two-world business.

[bae]

I use Macs, PCs, Linux/Unix machines, Android machines, and so on. So I keep everything in the cloud these days and use tools that are not operating system specific. I have data still that goes back to the early 1980s.

[Alan]

As bae pointed out the only real problem with switching to another operating system is the legacy files created under one environment that may not be usable in another. Luckily, you mentioned installing Microsoft Office on your Mac. At one time the Office products for Windows and Macs used different file extensions as well as fonts and other formatting standards. This changed somewhere around the introduction of Office 2010 when the respective Windows and Apple worlds agreed on a universal standard for the Office environment. That means you should have no problems with files created using versions of Office equal to or higher than Office 2010, although older files would probably require a conversion before becoming usable on your new machine.

Another option on the file compatibility problem would be to install an open source office package such as Open Office. They usually do just about anything, and do it well for free.

[iris lilies]

Please know I am reading this and mulling it all over.

I know the first thing I need to do is to purge digital MS Office legacy files. They all start about 2015, so nothing terribly old. I think. Or at least nothing that really must be kept.

I work to keep files clean and up to date, but I do keep a few too many documents around “just in case.”

As I pull out of neighborhood activities, I can purge files when each job is over.

[iris lilies]

My email problem has been solved. It was entirely a problem of user (me) education, correct settings, and poking around to find things on the slightly different displays of this Mac. This is a huge relief because now, knowing that I can run my life using email on this Mac means I have confidence in this device to plunge forward and address migration of legacy files.

[happystuff]

Congrats, IL! Glad you got everything worked out.

[iris lilies]

An hour after getting all email situated, the hard drive crashed. I tried one reboot which worked like a charm. But second time…nope.

When our snow melts here I will take it into Mac repairman and have them look at it. I’m not keen on fussing around anymore with this machine. I do think moving to the Mac environment is the right thing to do, especially now that I know how to set up email, but I’m not going to fuss around with an unreliable machine.

[happystuff]

Well, glad the email issue is situated, but so sorry about the crashing. This seems to be more of an ordeal that it should be! Continued best of luck getting it all in working order.

[iris lilies]

Well, glad the email issue is situated, but so sorry about the crashing. This seems to be more of an ordeal that it should be! Continued best of luck getting it all in working order.
yes it’s definitely more of an ordeal than I expected. When I bought it a few years ago I expected to open it up and do a little bit of installation here and there easily and have it function in similar fashion to IPads.. I have purchased two iPads since this Mac and they are nothing like setting this thing up.

I mean, I realize the IPAds are simpler machines but geez Louise.

[iris lilies]

Email not working now for outgoing mail. From any devices. I am not using Outlook but am using whatever email program provided on these machines. I dont like Outlook…used it at work. too sophisticated and complex for my needs.

This exact email problem is what happened 4 years ago when I started using this machine
when new. it just screwed up all email communications, and I do not know enough to fix it. It has something to do with the marriage of Yahoo and SW Bell. i think.

I+@n’t fine the places where I should enter these settings Alan provided.

Also, the machine crashes. Randomly, it will display file folder with ? That is apparently a serious problem.

I took it to Mac headquarters and they checked the hard drive and said it’s fine.

I think this machine is a piece of crap. But the email problem is likely not a problem with the machine.

I think I’m going to get a new computer, but I have to solve the email problem first. I do not think it’s related to this machine but I honestly don’t know.

[iris lilies]

After multiple problems last night in sending out email messages, I learned that the messages were being received by the recipients but the system was generating an error message for everything I sent out. This morning everything seems to be resolved with email.


I called Yahoo email tech desk who is shutting me over to AT&T helpdesk. Both service text were extremely helpful bless their hearts. Even though they didn’t solve the immediate problem, they gave me a couple things to look at.

[jp1]

Are you sure the service texts weren’t actually service Tex? 😃

[iris lilies]

Are you sure the service texts weren’t actually service Tex? 
Haha, but they weren’t Tex.

[jp1]

Haha, but they weren’t Tex.

I figured it was possible since one of my employer’s IT guys is in Houston. Although I’m not sure how he’d feel about me calling him Service Tex! He’s a nice guy but doesn’t really strike me as the sort of person one would call Tex.