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San Mateo County CCD Email FAQ February 2005 Q2: I'm getting a lot of spam lately, is the district spam filter broken? Q3: I'd rather not have the district spam filter on my mailbox. Can you turn it off? Q6: Is it permitted to compose a message with all of the users in the To: line? Q7: What is the mailbox size limit? Q8: Is there a size limit for attachments on email I send or receive? Q9: My mailbox is full and I don't have time to clean it out. Can you make it bigger? Q10: I need to send/receive a message over 25MB. What can I do? Q11: Why can't you just change the size limit for an email message? Q14: I want to use Outlook at home just like I do at work. How do I set that up? Q15: I forgot my email password. Who do I contact? Q16: I do not like my email address. Can I change it to something else? Q18: I have a question that's not on this list. Who do I ask about it?
Q1: I got a message from "System Administrator" saying that a message I wrote never got to a recipient. I know I didn't write that message, has someone taken control of my mailbox? A: While it is possible for someone to gain access to your mailbox (which is one reason why you should change your password on a regular basis), it isn't likely in this situation. E-mail hasn't changed much since it's inception, and as such it does not have a very good safeguard to prevent others from sending email using your own return address. This is called spoofing and is used widely in both virus attacks and spam distribution. The malicious sender only has to change the text in the return address field in an email and it will appear to have come from that address. Recipients and email systems alike are none the wiser. If the message goes through, the recipient will think the mail came from a trusted source. If it cannot be delivered, the responsible email system will try to return the message to sender, in this case you, the spoofed address. There is really nothing to do, or worry about. ITS cannot help with this. Q2: I'm getting a lot of spam lately, is the district spam filter broken? A: The district spam filter is by design not entirely fool-proof. ITS has taken the position that we will let some of the less obvious spam through the system in order to decrease the risk of trapping legitimate emails in the filter. The spam that you're getting did not score high enough on our scale to be deemed completely unwanted and thus was allowed through. Updates to the Spam filter are installed daily. Q3: I'd rather not have the district spam filter on my mailbox. Can you turn it off? A: Yes we can. Please go to the Portal site and click on Remove Me From the Spam Filter. Q4: I want to send an email to everyone at my campus. I see the distribution list, but no one received the message. Why? A: It is the District’s policy that the college presidents decide which individuals are allowed access to those distribution lists. If you cannot send to the list, or your recipients are not getting the message, then the college president has not given you permission to access that list. Q5: I know I don't have access to the college distribution list, but I really need to send this message out. What can I do? A: Contact your division Dean or Supervisor to send out the message. After their review, they may decide to send the message on your behalf to the campus distribution list. Q6: Is it permitted to compose a message with all of the users in the To: line? A: Absolutely not. This is considered spamming and is against our ISP's terms of service agreement (TOS). Q7: What is the mailbox size limit? A: The mailbox size limit is set to store 200MB. You will get a warning if you ever begin to approach that limit. If your limit is exceeded for too long your mailbox will be disabled. This includes Inbox, Sent items and Deleted items. Q8: Is there a size limit for attachments and email can I send or receive? A: The maximum size for incoming and outgoing messages is set to 25MB per message. That is both the size of the message and any attachments to the message. Q9: My mailbox is full and I don't have time to clean it out. Can you make it bigger? A: The answer is generally no. Cleaning out your mailbox is something we all have to do. Be sure to empty your Deleted Items folder and clean all folders including Inbox and Sent Items. Q10: I need to send/receive a message over 25MB. What can I do? A: If you're on campus, you can simply share the file over the network. This is an easy and fast process. The HelpCenter can help you set this up yourself. If you're trying to send the message to an offsite location, then you have a few options. You could use a compression program, such as WinZip, to compress the file or split it up into multiple smaller portions. Q11: Why can't you just change the size limit for an email message? A: 25MB is rather large to begin with. Chances are the recipients email server won't be able to handle a message that large, either. Q12: My email is down today and I really need my email, what's wrong with the system? Oh and I can't get to the internet either (EG: www.google.com). A: Iif you can't get to the internet, chances are the email system is fine, but your network connection has been lost. The best thing to do is contact the HelpCenter. Make sure they understand that you cannot connect to any network resource, not just email, as that will determine to whom they assign the problem. Q13: I have to click on Send/Receive before I will get any new messages. It used to be automatic, what happened? A: This may be the result of a minor network interruption. Outlook 2003 has the ability to continue working even without a network connection. When the network goes down, Outlook will switch into an offline mode. Ordinarily, when the network service is restored, Outlook returns to online mode. In this instance, Outlook never came back to online mode. If you see a red message in the bottom of your Outlook window, then this is the case. Click on the message and clear the offline check mark. Q14: I want to use Outlook at home just like I do at work. How do I set that up? A: Configuring your Outlook for home use isn't particularly easy and we recommend using Outlook Web Access. However, if you want to, the instructions for setting up "RPC over HTTP" are available at http://www.smccd.net/accounts/helpcenter/rpcemail.doc . Q15: I forgot my email password. Who do I contact? A: For your protection, ITS does not have access to your passwords. The HelpCenter, CTL, or your division Dean can contact the appropriate IT person to reset your password. Do not submit a HelpCenter request to reset your password. Instead please call x6543 as you will need to be authenticated. Q16: I do not like my email address. Can I change it to something else? A: No, because the District email system follows a specific naming convention for each email address. We will, however, change addresses in the event of a legal name change. Q17: I downloaded some software off the internet to aid me in using my District email, and now I cannot access my District email account. Can someone help me use this new software? A: Unfortunately, the district cannot support any software that is not specifically provided by the district. IT Staff provide support for Outlook 2003, Outlook Express, and Entourage only. Q18: I have a question that is not on this list. Who do I ask about it? A: The HelpCenter. The HelpCenter is staffed during normal business hours. They can answer questions over the phone or if the problem is more involved, they can dispatch a technician to visit your workstation. You can always submit a trouble ticket online at http://helpcenter.smccd.net |
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