I'm changing internet providers which forces me to change my email
address. I need to have my email forwarded in a reliable way until
I've had time to let everyone know my new email address. What are some
of the best services to use to accomplish this?

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 10 Aug 2005 23:14 PDT

needtoknow...

There are services that will allow what you're describing,
but I've never had to use such a service, and I thought I'd
comment on another possibility which explains the reason for
this.

Another way to handle email altogether is to obtain a free
web-based account that allows for forwarding to your ISP.
Some will charge a fee for this, but I've been using one
that doesn't, called hotpop.com":
http://www.hotpop.com/index.jsp

So I just give people my address from hotpop.com and then
have all my mail forwarded to my new ISPs' email address.
No matter how many times I switch ISPs, my email address
never changes. I just change where the mail is forwarded
to. You'd be surprised how much your friends will
appreciate this.

Gmail also allows forwarding, and currently offers 2482KB
of online storage space. You can do the same thing and
have a prestigious gmail address.

Let me know what you think...

sublime1-ga

If you are closing down your email account with your existing internet
provider then you will not be able to forward mail in any case.

Why do you not simply retain your current email account alongside your
new one until you have advised all your correspondents?

If you are using a POP3 account and a program such as Outlook or
Outlook Express you can set it to receive email from both addresses
during the interim period.

However, if you are using a web-based email program you may then have
to check them separately (unless your existing service allows
forwarding).

Sublime1's solution is probably the neatest though. It means that
you'll never have to change your email address again even if you
change ISP's.

Unless of course, the company goes out of business! Which is why it's
important to choose one of the larger more reputable services.

There are two ways to forward email: one is to have the server that
receives the email to pass it on to someone else. This is by far the
most common, most reliable, and best understood. Unfortunately, it
must be done by the people who whose service you're leaving.

The other method consists of your new mail system actively checking
the old system at regular for new mail and pulling those to the new
account. This is extremely rare and not offered by any of the major
email providers. Futhermore, and this is important, it requires your
old email box to remain operational. And if you're cancelling your old
service, that old email box will no longer exist.

It's difficult to win in this situation. You're at the mercy of your
old service provider to allow you to forward your old mail to your new
address... which they generally don't allow.

Your best bet is to just cut your losses and try to avoid this in the
future. Don't use your ISP-provided account as your primary email
address. GMail is a wonderful option, and highly recommended, Hotmail
isn't the best, Yahoo mail is pretty good.