Q. I often cannot read my email in the Mail application. The message is missing or it says "Message has not been downloaded from the server" It's fine if I restart Mail. What's going on?
A. The most likely case is that your Mail applications mail box (mbox) is too big. With the early versions of Mail the limit was around 1 GB and with the current version 2 it's around 2 GB. Apple suggests that you choose Rebuild from the Mailbox menu. But wait! This sometimes will result in NO messages. The messages are not gone – the application may be confused.
First you can try to reindex the messages. Go to your home folder's Library folder. There you'll see a folder called Mail. That's where the Mail.app stores your own mail. In the Mail folder you see a file starting with "Mac-", "Exchange-", "IMAP-" or "POP-" and inside them you'll see Inbox.mbox, Sent.mbox which are the actual files that contain your mail (they have the same name as what you see in the Mail.app.).
To fix your problem move the folders (or the mbox) file to your Desktop. When you re-open Mail it will re-index your messages if you're on an Exchange, IMAP or .Mac mail system. If you're using a POP account, Mail will make a new empty Inbox file (if that's the one you've moved.). Then you can choose Import from the File menu. Select import as Mail for Mac OS X and point to the problematic mailbox. In this case you'll find your old messages in a folder called Import in mail.
Q. I can't print because my printer is stopped. I checked the printer and looked at it in Print Utility and I can see it. What can I do to get it going again?
A. This is a pretty common problem because the built-in print managing software prompts you to "Stop" the queue if there's a problem. Most users click the Stop button with out realizing that they need to start the queue once the problem is solved.
When you set up a printer on the Mac, you're actually creating a print queue. This is a special folder that stores the file the Mac sends to the printer. When the Mac has a problem printing because of a communication error or paper jam, it stops the print queue.
To start the printer queue back up again you can go to the Printer Setup Utility or Print & Fax (Applications/Utilities/Print Setup Utility or from System Preferences -> Print & Fax). From Print & Fax, highlight the printer click Print Queue. From Printer Setup Utility double click the printer's name. (You might have to choose Show Printer List from the View menu). In the printer's window simply click Start Jobs.
By the way, while the printer queue is open, click and hold the icon in the Dock and choose Keep in Dock so you can find the printer easily next time. You can also choose Create Desktop Printer if you prefer, from the Printer List in Printer Setup Utility.
Timothy Mitra assists companies in mastering information technology in pre-press, print and web design.
Do you have a question you would like answered by the IT guy? Please contact him at:
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