Mountain Area Information Network

Windows Setup for MAIN

Headings:
Automatic Main Installer
Windows 7
Windows Vista
Windows 2000, XP
Windows 95/98/ME

Automatic Main Installer
The easiest way to get MAIN set up is to use the Installer. It configures MAIN dial up and Outlook Express or other common email programs. Click here to download the installer. For general downloading procedures and tips, click here.


Setup for MAIN with Windows 7

  1. Close all of your programs and go to your desktop (what you see after you have started and logged in to your computer).
  2. Click on Start, then Control Panel, then the Network and Internet. Click on Internet Options. Click in the home page address box and type in
    http://main.nc.us

  3. Click on the tab at the top labeled Connections. Look for the box under Dial Up and Virtual Private Network Settings. If you are switching from another Internet Service Provider (such as AOL) or have had other ISPs installed in the past, you may remove them here. Click on the first one, then click the "Remove" button, and confirm removal if requested. Repeat until you have removed all the ones you want to get rid of.
  4. Click "Add". When it asks you to choose which network type, choose Dial Up. (If you do not see Dial Up, check to make sure your you have a modem and it is properly configured.)
  5. Enter the phone number on your User Reference sheet. You should not need the area code. Below, enter your username, password and name the connection MAIN. Click Create. When it says This Connection Is Ready To Use, click Close.
  6. Click OK to close any open windows and get back to your desktop.
  7. To connect to MAIN, click on the Network icon, which is one of the icons to the left of the time in the lower right hand corner of your screen.
Configuring Microsoft Live Mail for Windows 7
  1. Open Microsoft Live Mail, either by clicking on the icon on the desktop or from the Start Menu (it is probably listed in the Programs or All Programs menu). You may need to click on Windows Live first.
  2. At the top of the window on the same bar as File, Edit, View, etc., click on Tools. Then choose Accounts from the list.
  3. This opens the Internet Accounts window. You may want to delete the help forums from Microsoft. If so, click once on Microsoft Communities to highlight it and then click Remove and confirm the removal.
  4. On the right side find and click on Add, then to the right, click Email account, then click Next. Enter your email address in the box where indicated. This must be exactly as it appears on your MAIN information, in lower case letters.
  5. The other box asks for a Display Name. Type in your name, a nickname, your business name, or whatever you would like to have shown in the From: box when your email message is received. (This is not a technical issue, nothing here will stop you from sending or receiving mail.) Click NEXT at the bottom of the window.
  6. The first box should read POP3, leave it like that. In the two boxes below, type in the name of your Incoming Mail (POP3 or IMAP) Server and also in the Outgoing (SMTP) Server box from your MAIN User Reference sheet. Leave Outgoing Server Requires Authentication UNchecked. When finished, click NEXT.
  7. Click Finish.
  8. If Windows Security comes up, verify your username and password and click OK. When the Internet Accounts window comes up, click Close.



Manual Setup for MAIN with Windows Vista

  1. Close all of your programs and go to your desktop (what you see after you have started and logged in to your computer).
  2. Click on Start, then Network, then the Network and Sharing Center on the tool bar near the top. Click on Set Up A Connection or Network. Click on Set Up A Dial Up Connection.
  3. Fill in the information from your MAIN User Reference sheet for phone number, username, password and put a check in Remember This Password.
  4. Name the connection MAIN. Choose whether you want other users of your computer to use the dial up connection.
  5. Click the Connect button. (Sometimes the connection information will not be saved if you do not connect!) After you are connected, click on Browse The Internet Now.
  6. To make MAIN your homepage, click on Tools and then click on Internet Options. (If you don't see the Tools menu, hit the ALT key on your keyboard one time.) In the box for Home Page Address, delete what is there, then type in:
    http://main.nc.us/
    (making sure the slashes go the way they are shown - it's on the same key as the ? symbol on your keyboard.) Then click OK at the bottom to save the changes.
Configuring Windows Mail on Vista
  1. Open Windows Mail, either by clicking on the icon on the desktop or from the Start Menu (it is probably listed in the Programs or All Programs menu).
  2. At the top of the window on the same bar as File, Edit, View, etc., click on Tools. Then choose Accounts from the list.
  3. This opens the Internet Accounts window. You may want to delete the Microsoft Communities. If so, click once on Microsoft Communities to highlight it and then click Remove and confirm the removal.
  4. On the right side find and click on Add, then to the right, click Mail. For Account Type choose Email Account and click Next. The first window asks for a Display Name. Type in your name, a nickname, your business name, or whatever you would like to have shown in the From: box when your email message is received. (This is not a technical issue, nothing here will stop you from sending or receiving mail.) Click Next at the bottom of the window.
  5. Enter your email address in the box where indicated. This must be exactly as it appears on your MAIN information, in lower case letters. Click Next.
  6. The first box should read POP3, leave it like that. In the two boxes below, type in the name of your Incoming Mail (POP3 or IMAP) Server and also in the Outgoing (SMTP) Server box from your MAIN User Reference sheet. Leave Outgoing Server Requires Authentication UNchecked. When finished, click Next.
  7. Type your username (not your whole email address) in the Email Username box, and your password in the box below. Make sure you type it exactly as supplied, using upper or lower case letters as needed. Make sure Remember Password IS checked (clicking turns it on or off.) Click Next. Decide whether you want to download mail now or not. Click Finish.
  8. If Windows Security comes up, verify your username and password and click OK. When the Internet Accounts window comes up, click Close.

Manual Setup for Windows 2000, XP

  1. For XP, click on Start, then -All Programs-Control Panel and double click on Internet Options. IF YOU DON'T SEE Internet Options in the Windows XP Control panel - Click on Tools-Folder Options, then under Tasks, click "Use Windows Classic Folders" then Okay; and then find and double click Internet Options.
  2. In Windows 2000, use Start-Settings-Control Panel-Internet Options instead.
  3. In the Home Page section in the Address box, type in:     http://main.nc.us/     for the address (making sure the slashes go the way they are shown - it's on the same key on your keyboard as the "?" symbol.)
  4. Click on the tab at the top labeled Connections. Look for the box under Dial Up and Virtual Private Network Settings. If you are switching from another Internet Service Provider (such as AOL) or have had other ISPs installed in the past, you may remove them here. Click on the first one, then click the "Remove" button, and confirm removal if requested. Repeat until you have removed all the ones you want to get rid of.
  5. Click "Add". (Exception: if MAIN is already there, skip to #6.) If prompted, select "US", then type in the 828 area code (use 828 even if that’s not your Area Code). Click Okay, or Next.
  6. Select the "Dial-up …" or "...phone line..." connection type and click Next, then type in the phone number, and turn off the "...Area Code..." check mark if present. Click Next, and then if prompted for "Connection Availability" select "For all users" and click Next. Type in MAIN for the name of the connection. Click Next, and/or Finish.
  7. If you see "MAIN Settings" at the top of the page, skip to number 8. Otherwise, click MAIN, then "Always Dial...", then "Set default". Now click the "Settings" button (to the right of MAIN).
  8. Turn off any check marks that are on (by clicking on them), then type in your MAIN username and password in the appropriate boxes at the bottom of the page. Leave the Domain box blank.
  9. Click Properties (to the right of the username box).
  10. Click the Networking tab, then make sure that Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is highlighted in the middle window; then click the Properties button below that window.
  11. Click on the circles next to: "Obtain an IP address automatically" and "Obtain DNS server address automatically" to put dots in them if they are not there already.
  12. Click Advanced. Leave both check marks on this page turned on.
  13. Click WINS at the top of that screen, and turn "Enable LMHosts" off if it is on by clicking on the check mark.
  14. (Windows XP only.) Click on the circle next to "Enable NetBIOS…"
  15. Click Okay at the bottom each window to save your settings until you get back to the Control Panel and close that by clicking the X in the upper right hand corner.

Congratulations! Your dial up connection and internet browser setup are now complete.

Please proceed to

Outlook Express setup to get ready to use email on MAIN.


Manual Setup for Windows 95/98/ME

  1. Click on Start, then - Settings - Control Panel - Internet or Internet Options.
  2. Type in:     http://main.nc.us/     for the address (making sure the slashes go the way they are shown - it's on the same key on your keyboard as the ? symbol.)
  3. Click the Connection(s) tab.
  4. If you are switching from another Internet Service Provider (such as AOL) or have had other ISPs installed in the past, you may remove them here. If there are connections other than MAIN showing that you don't need, click one, then click Remove, and confirm removal if requested. Repeat until done.
  5. Click the "Add" button.
  6. Type in MAIN for the name of the connection (replacing the name that shows up automatically), then click Next.
  7. Type the 828 Area code and phone number for MAIN in your county where indicated, click Next and then Finish.

    • If you now see the "MAIN Settings" window, skip to #9 below.
  8. Click MAIN in the box, then "Always Dial...", then "Set default", to make MAIN the default connection. Then click the "Settings" button (just to the right of MAIN, or below it).
  9. In this new window, turn off any check marks that are on (clicking turns them on or off.)
  10. Type in your MAIN username and password in the appropriate spaces near the bottom of the page, copying them EXACTLY (respecting capitalization) from the User Reference Data letter. Leave the Domain box blank, if it is there. Now click on the Properties button to the right of your username.
  11. Turn off the "...Area Code." check mark (just below United States.), if one is present.
  12. Click the tab at the top that says Networking (in Windows ME) or Server Types.
  13. Make sure that ONLY "Software compression" and "TCP/IP" are turned on - click any others that are on to turn them off.
  14. Click "TCP/IP Settings" (a button to the far right of the TCP/IP check mark.)
  15. Click to put a dot in "Server assigned IP addresses" and "Server assigned name server addesses"
  16. Make sure both of the check marks at the bottom are turned on. Click Okay at the bottom of each window until you get to the Control Panel. Close the Control Panel by clicking the X in the upper right hand corner of the window.

Congratulations! Your internet browser and dial up connection setup are now complete.

Please proceed to

Outlook Express setup to get ready to use email on MAIN.


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