Many firewalls students are purchasing or downloading and installing on their computers (Norton's, Zone Alarm, EZFirewall) are preventing them from composing e-mails and sending them with Aegis webmail.

The only current option you have if you want a firewall installed on your computer is to disable the firewall any time you want to send e-mail.

As another method of protection, you can have the Windows firewall turned on. On most Windows XP computers, the option is under Start -> Control Panel -> System -> Advanced tab. Check the option to enable the Windows firewall. This firewall can be left on while you compose e-mails, and provides some protection while your other firewall is disabled.

ResNet has also discovered that some pop-up blockers prevent the creation of new messages in Aegis webmail. The pop-up blocker that is installed with AOL's Instant Messenger software is an example of software that can cause problems. Disabling the pop-up blocker will solve the problem. (With AIM, you do not need to uninstall the software to disable the pop-up blocker.)

Saint Mary's College does not currently recommend any particular firewall software because of this problem. When we find firewall software that protects your computer and enables you to use campus services while you are both on and off campus, that information will be made available on the ResNet web site.

For pop-up blockers, ResNet recommends using the pop-up blockers built into most current web browsers, such as Firefox, Internet Explorer, Netscape, and Safari.