"New" Yahoo Mail System

[dirtybuck]

Has anyone else on here had trouble accessing or deleting their messages? It's given me problems on more than one occasion. I'd like to hear from other members if they are so I'll know it's NOT just me.

(I'm also using Firefox 4.something, and haven't tried accessing Yahoo mail through any other browser at this time)

 

[rp2813]

Various issues here.  Can't save a draft -- ever.  It saves when it wants to, but the "save as draft" button doesn't work for me.

 

It's slow.

 

Sometimes it doesn't respond to a request and the screen has to be refreshed.

 

I hate how if I've typed more than the screen holds, I have to hit "enter" to add a bunch of lines and then scroll back up to where I was so I can again see what I'm typing.

 

I've Googled for complaints about the new system and all I get hits for is Yahoo! help, which is useless.

 

[countryguy]

I've had all the same problems mentioned above. The most frequent one is trying to delete a message and nothing happens until I refresh the screen and do the delete again.

Gary

 

[DADoES]

 
I have two Yahoo "throwaway" accounts that I rarely check, used for a couple online registrations. Happened to check them today. One prompted to "upgrade" to the New Yahoo, which I declined. The other didn't ask, is still the old interface.

I would never use Yahoo, HotMail, or any "free" e-mail service as my primary mail, do not trust them.

 

[wringer]

More times

than not I can't log into Yahoo Mail. It is a pain in the behind. One day it works and the next it doesn't. I rarely use it because of this problem.

 

[tlee618]

My advice would be to switch back to the old Yahoo mail, you can do that easily.   

 

[rp2813]

I thought they weren't letting anybody switch back to the old version.  I was using "Classic" and would love to have it back.

 

I'll check the fine print, as I'm sure the option is well hidden, but would appreciate a post on how to get the old version back in case I can't figure out how to do it.

 

I will say that the attachment process is way easier and faster on the new version, but I'd rather have things work right for simple text e-mails instead.

 

I have Outlook Express for my "real" email account.  Yahoo! mail accounts are not my primaries.

 

[launderess]

Don't Get Too Comfortable With Outlook Express

Microsoft has droped OE including IIRC support. Windows 7 and beyond do not include Outlook Express, only Outlook.

Microsoft has added features to it's "Windows Live"/Hotmail and one can down load that in place of OE.

After using Outlook Express for so many years with my old computer thought would really miss it and hate Outlook. To my surprise haven't really looked back and didn't even bother with half the old messages I burned onto CD's to bring over onto the new system.

From what one read on the Internet Outlook Express was a stand alone email program that didn't even work with Outlook. It also had so many security problems that MS simply decided for these and other reasons to drop the program and support.

 

[rp2813]

I had Outlook at work and prefer it over OE.  I would switch to Outlook.  

 

Our Vista laptop came with Windows Mail.  I don't use that one much, but it seems to be adequate for Dave's uses.

 

I went in and poked around for an option to select an older version of Yahoo! Mail and couldn't find anything.  Terry, if you can share the details we'd all appreciate it.

 

[mattl]

Most of my mail gets dumped into Windows Live mail, I like having all the accounts I want available easily .  Plus I like having my mail "physically" on my computer rather than in the cloud.  Easily set up. but with a few minor bugs.

 

[DADoES]

 
Outlook is not included with Windows 7, or with any version of Windows. It's part of the Microsoft Office suite, with various bundled version of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc. Outlook has been available separately in the past, don't know if that's still the case.

Windows Live Mail is the direct replacement for Outlook Express and is much the same. I assume it's not included with Win7 but rather as an optional download because of so many people not using any mail client in favor of web-based services.

I personally prefer Thunderbird.

 

[polkanut]

I'm with Ralph & everyone else, the new version of Yahoo mail just plain sucks!  Give me back the Classic version any day.

[this post was last edited: 8/16/2011-12:47]

 

[dirtybuck]

Yep!

I've had to do the refresh thing to either bring up or delete messages over and over and over and over (I think there was a total of 6 times for one or two messages I was trying to delete).

 

[chuffle]

Might this help?

Don't know if this helps, but...

http://www.techtip.org/how-to-switch-back-to-yahoo-classic-mail/

 

[rp2813]

OK, so am I actually making my browser think I want to go back to IE6 or am I just lying to Yahoo! about the version? 

 

I'm afraid I'll get into trouble if I pursue the fix suggested above.  What does everybody else think?

 

[ptcruiser51]

Wet Cement

Is what it's like running through if you're a fast typist like I am. The screen is always one second behind me. Takes forever to download mail. Sometimes twice as long as that to "send". I don't have a problem saving or retrieving though.

Hotmail is much better IMHO.

 

[earthling177]

Ralph asked: "OK, so am I actually making my browser think I want to go back to IE6 or am I just lying to Yahoo! about the version? I'm afraid I'll get into trouble if I pursue the fix suggested above. What does everybody else think?"

Ralph, if you follow the directions above, you will be asking your browser to lie to Yahoo! about which browser you are using. Moreover, the switch is temporary, as soon as you close the window or quit the browser (depending on which browser you are using, I'm told) it reverts to the ordinary browser you had. Moreover, the browser makes no attempt to behave like say, IE 6, it just tells the website that it is IE 6, so if you find an old cranky website that does need old and possibly buggy IE 6 behaviors, it won't really work in rendering the pages the way they used to be. But in this case it's useful to get Yahoo! to let you go back to the classic mail.

Reading these messages I'm glad I haven't jumped to the new Yahoo! mail -- after the last few times they "improved" their groups and mail, I've been just waiting until the very last possible moment to switch, not very happy with the changes, the older, simpler and cleaner versions they used to have used to be easier and faster. Oh, well.

 

[rp2813]

Thanks Paulo.  Since I have three accounts with Yahoo! Mail will I have to do it three times?  I guess there's one way to find out, huh?

 

I have resisted any new mail systems Yahoo! has threatened me with in the past, but the way they presented this one, it was as if I had no choice.  I can understand that they may not want to maintain older versions forever, but it seems to me as though they have coerced users into switching to the new system.  I switched because I was made to believe I wouldn't be able to retrieve mail anymore, as if the deadline was that day and I had to act.  I had been waiting as long as possible to make the dreaded switch.

 

I find it extremely arrogant that Yahoo! isn't offering any sort of feedback option (that site won't load) or alternatives and continues to offer "help" options that are entirely useless.  If there were a way for users to express their disappointment and threaten to discontinue their accounts, as was the major response to the Netflix rate change recently, maybe Yahoo! would make it easier for users to retreat back to a previous version.  I can't find anything on line where people are complaining about this new system, yet I think it's safe to assume we have lots of company.

 

[rp2813]

Warning!

I downloaded the "User Agent Switcher" and selected IE6.  The scenario played out as shown in the link, I got the "Classic" version back, however nothing would load.  Not my inbox, sent items, nothing.  It said it was loading, then would stop.

 

Don't panic if that happens to you.

 

I closed all browser windows and re-opened Yahoo! Mail and had my "Classic" version back, working fine.  Thanks for the tip!

 

If you have more than one account, you'll need to do this for each one.  Also, the link's instructions don't advise that you need to open your browser's "Tools" menu after pulling up the Yahoo! Mail log-in page in order to access the "User Agent Switcher."  Assumed knowledge runs rampant through the tech support culture, much to the frustration of those of us who are not steeped in the functionality of operating systems.

[this post was last edited: 8/16/2011-20:06]

 

[launderess]

Had terrible problems when running my old computer and accessing Yahoo's old site, but once the new system was up and running using IE 8 things were fine.

Mind you have no plans to sign up for Yahoo's newest version until it is forced upon me, and even then may take my "free" accounts elsewhere if the thing is as buggy as everyone states.

Damn MS keeps asking to install IE9 as an "upgrade" and will have no part of that either.

 

[dirtybuck]

Isn't IE 9 supposed to be compatible with ONLY Vista or Windows 7? If that's the case, then I'm SOL (still an XP user here).

 

[DADoES]

 
My XP systems are running IE8. IE9 isn't offered in the update list on them.

I do have IE9 in the Win7 system. WinNT and 2K can't go past IE6.

IE10 supposedly will run only on Win7 and Win8, not on Vista.

Firefox v6 and Thunderbird v6 are now available.

 

[launderess]

Well Only A Few Days Left

Of the old Yahoo mail. Am getting messages everytime one logs on that effective 9 September or there about the switch will take place, period. Sort of like what Hotmail did with their email accounts a few years back.

 

[rp2813]

You Can Keep Using Classic

Reply #16 got me my Classic back.  Reply #18 provides highlights of how I did it.

 

While I like having Classic again, there are some things I miss about the new version, but not enough to want it back until they've got the bugs worked out of it.

 

[supersuds]

Launderess, I just click on "No thanks, continue with Yahoo Classic Mail" which you can find buried in the fine print of the "Only a few days left" page. So far, it works.

 

[launderess]

Thanks, I've Seen and Done That

But the knife is still going to fall on 9 September 2011! *LOL*

What all these various work arounds (and there are a few on the Internet) seem to do is change or block the data sent to Yahoo's servers from one's own computer telling which browser is installed. There is another trick as well of changing the screen resolution to below what is required for the new Yahoo mail. Once Yahoo's servers pick up on this another error message will ask if one wishes to revert to the classic version.

Being as all this may, some other techie pundits out there are warning that Yahoo will not keep the classic version around much longer after the switch over. In short it will simply cease to exist and consumers will have to upgrade or take their business elsewhere. This does seem to be the current trend as one does not think it is possible to get the "old" version of Hotmail back any longer.

Can understand why so many love older versions of software and programs, but more and more support for such legacy things are being dropped by the wayside. I blame the whole thing on Microsoft who started it all, but now everyone seems to do it.

One of the reasons we purchased a new computer was that so many websites and such simply were no longer working properly without IE7 or above.

Regarding complaints over the new Yahoo mail: yes they are out there and in good numbers. However since Yahoo offers the service for free don't expect much from them other than customers basically being told to "take it or leave it",in a polite manner of course.

Problem for so many is that not only do they have multiple Yahoo mail accounts but have had them for ages. This could mean hundreds of emails saved up over the years that would have to be "sent" or otherwise moved to another service.

 

[lordkenmore]

"Problem for so many is that not only do they have multiple Yahoo mail accounts but have had them for ages. This could mean hundreds of emails saved up over the years that would have to be 'sent' or otherwise moved to another service."

No kidding. Another problem: updating the address info with people one knows. In some ways, that can be easy--it's a matter of letting regular contacts know the new address. (Although I've found with bitter experience that even with multiple reminders, there are some that persist in using the old address.) Irregular contacts can be a bigger problem. People who aren't in one's address book because it's not worth entering their info. People like this can slip through the cracks. Or who raise the question of "well,I MIGHT need to be in contact, but again maybe not, should I let them know?"

Then, some people have an additional problem that their address is something given out freely as a method of contact, and it may not be easy updating the info. Writers sometimes give an e-mail address in their books for contact, and if that address changes, there is no way of updating printed books.

My method of changing e-mail accounts has been to notify the people I'm in regular contact with. I keep the old address alive at least for a while. I don't check it as regularly as my current e-mail. But I do check it, and thus will eventually get a message sent by someone who didn't get my message.

 

[supersuds]

But the knife is still going to fall on 9 September 2011

Mine has started saying September 19. Maybe they're doing it in batches?

There's also something about them scanning your mails to target ads to you, like gmail. That's one of the reasons I'm not excited about gmail....

 

[launderess]

Ad Tracking

Get used to it as it's not going anywhere and if anything going to become worse, much worse.

At first it was only the hated "Doubleclick" but now Facebook has it's hooks into almost every website, just look at your browser's "back" button to see all the plug-ins and what not from FP.

Bottom line it is all about marketing and sales of personal information gathered from websites. Free email accounts and websites such as Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail and so forth argue that since they aren't making consumers pay to use their services, the bills must be paid another way.

Facebook and the rest are only valued in the billions because of the vast amount of personal data in their files. With no government standard as to what can be done with such information nor how it's collected FB and the lot are sitting on gold mines. So few persons actually read privacy statements, which is what most website owners are counting on.