Setting up Internet e-mail is a lot simpler now than it was just a couple of years ago, thanks to smarter e-mail software and smarter Internet service providers (ISPs). But if you've never ventured beyond the land of America Online-which uses its own style of e-mail- heading out into the deep waters of Internet e-mail can be a tad puzzling.

E-mail ties you to family and friends, to co-workers, and to clients and customers of your home-based business. For some of us, life without e-mail would be as hard to imagine as life without telephones.

The following six steps, which include instructions for three popular e-mail programs, will take you from e-mail neophyte to spam-crushing pro, Take the whole tour or, if you already have a working Internet e-mail account, visit the last three steps to boost your e-mailing proficiency.

what you need

1. Internet connection with e-mail account

2. Internet e-mail software such as Eudora Pro 4.0, Outlook Express (comes with Internet Explorer 4.0), or Netscape Messenger (comes with Netscape Communicator 4.0)

get your e-mail info

National ISPs set up e-mail during your initial installation and configuration--in some cases without even letting you pick your user name or password. But when you sign up with a small service or just want to fool around with e-mail on your own, there's a shopping list of info you need to know. Collect the following information, either by talking to your ISP or by rooting around the options and settings of the e-mailer already installed on your system.

Your e-mail address, the yournamehere@something.com string of characters that other people use to send you mail.

Your e-mail log-in name, the use ID used to log in to your mail account. It's often, though not always, the part of the e-mail address to the left of the @ sign. In some e-mail programs, it's called the POP account name or mail user account name.

Your e-mail password, which you must enter to gain access to your account. In some cases, your e-mail is the same as the password that you use to connect to your ISP.

Your incoming mail server name, also called the POP server address. It's usually in the form pop.something.com.

Your outgoing mail server name, sometimes called the SMTP server address. Like the incoming mail server name, most often it's expressed as SMTP.something.com. If your ISP didn't give you an outgoing mail server name, use the same name as the incoming mail server.

enter your settings

Find the place in your Internet e-mail program where you enter the settings information you collected in step one.

Eudora: Select "Tools/options" and then click on the "Getting started" icon from the list at the left of the screen. Enter your address in the "Return address" field and your log-in name in the "Login name" field. Next, click on the "Checking mail" icon, and then click the "Save password" box near the bottom of this screen. You must manually enter the password the first time you use Eudora to check for mail, but after that the program automatically provides it. Got to step three, but don't click "OK" yet.

Outlook Express: Select "Tools/accounts," click on the "Mail" tab, and then click on the "Add" button. Choose "Mail" from the pop-up list. Complete the Internet Connection wizard by entering information from step one in the blanks as they appear. When you're through, go directly to step four. (Note: If you enter your password in the wizard, Outlook Express memorizes it and then uses it automatically each time you check for new messages. If you want to enter your password each time you check for mail--perhaps because you share the computer with others--simply omit the password when filling out the wizard.)

Netscape Messenger: Choose "Edit/preferences," double-click on "Mail & Groups," and click on "Identity." Enter your address in the "E-mail address" field. Next, click on "Mail server" in the category list at the left and type in your log-in name in the "Mail server user name" field. Now click on the "More options" button and check the "Remember my mail password" box. The first time you get mail, Messenger asks for your password, but after that it automatically provides it for you. Click on "OK" and go to step three.

enter mail server names

The last step of the setup process is to specify the mail server names so that your e-mail program knows where to send outgoing mail, and where you incoming mail is held at your ISP.

Eudora: Click on the "Getting started" icon again and enter your incoming mail server in the "Mail server" (incoming) field. Click on the "Sending mail" icon and enter your outgoing mail server name in the SMTP server field. Click on "OK."

Outlook Express: You entered the incoming and outgoing server names as you completed the wizard in step two. Head directly to step four.

Netscape Messenger: With the "Mail Server" window still on the screen, enter your outgoing and incoming mail server name in the appropriate fields near the top. Click on "OK."

set up multiple accounts

If you have more than one Internet mail account and address--most likely one at work and another for personal use--you may be able to set up your e-mail software so that it checks for mail from them all at one time.

Eudora: Choose "Tools/personalities" to make the personalities window active at the left side of Eudora's window. Right-click on the "Dominant" label under Persona, and select "New." The New Account wizard appears. Enter the information for this account as the wizard requests it. By default, Eudora will now check this new account for mail.

Outlook Express: Repeat the procedure in step two, this time using your second e-mail account's information. By default, Outlook Express checks this new account for mail when you use the program's "Send and receive" command.

Netscape Messenger: This e-mail client can't collect mail from more than one account at a time.

use your address book

Assembling your list of frequently used e-mail addresses takes time, but there are shortcuts to speed up the process.

Eudora: Select any message in your inbox, and then choose "Special/make address book entry." Change the name in the ensuing "What do you wish to call it?" filed if you want, and then click on "OK." The sender of that message is then added to your address book.

Outlook Express: Double-click on any message in your inbox, click on the name in the "From:" field to select it, and than right-click. Choose "Add to address book" from the pop-up menu. Change the name in the resulting dialog box if you want, and then click on "OK." (Note: If you've just switched to Outlook Express from another e-mail program, you may be able to import the latter's address book into Outlook Express. Select "File/import/address book," and then choose from the list of e-mail programs and click on "OK.")

Netscape Messenger: Right-click on any message in the inbox and select "Add to address book/sender" from the pop-up menus. Change the name if necessary and click on "OK."

Spam is the dirtiest four-letter word on the Internet. This junk e-mail cascades into most of our mailboxes with pitches for get-rich-quick schemes, pornographic web sites, and products that even late-night cable TV wouldn't touch. Divesting yourself of spam is a continuous, ongoing battle. But by setting up specific rules, you can get your e-mailer to automatically toss or delete at least some of the unwanted e-mail you're getting.

Eudora: Right-click on any spam mail and choose "Make filter" from the menu that appears. Under the action section in the "Make filter" dialog box, check the "Delete message" (Transfer to Trash) box. Clock on the "Create filter" box.

Outlook Express: Double-click on a piece of spam mail, right-click on the "From:" address, and choose "Copy" from the pop-up menu. Select "Tools/inbox assistant," click on the "Add" button, right-click in the empty "From:" field, and choose "Paste." Check the "Delete off server" box at the bottom of the window and click on "OK" twice. Additional mail from this sender is then automatically erased before it reaches your inbox.

Netscape Messenger: Choose "Edit/mail filters" and click on the "New" button. Give the filter a name, make sure the filter reads "If the sender of the message contains," and enter the e-mail address of the spam sender. Choose "Trash" in the field beside "Then move to folder." Click on "OK" twice.