I am trying to help a friend to set up this computer so that she will be able to get email and do a little bit of browsing on the web. I used to have a computer like that and I thought it would not be a problem to get the thing working. BUT

She has 295.ca  dial-up - I used Internet set-up assistant and put the appropriate settings on the computer and Outlook Express - it dials up but will not retrieve incoming mail. The message comes on that it is getting mail and then an error message comes on saying the connection timed out or the web was too busy.  Also it will not go on the start page in Internet Explorer. Any suggestions?

Slow internet and spam maybe the cullprit. If there is a lot of mail (i.e. spam) then the e-mail program will start to download the mail and then time out (due to dial-up). Best bet if 295.ca has webmail go there clear down the messages and then download with outlook express.

Ed

I didn't read the no Internet part. Ya, double-check the internet settings.