FarmI wrote: > "katy" <[email protected]> wrote in message > >> But see, Don, you don't get it. Now he has a whole spate of postings from >> this group, irate in nature, which he can pass on to his ISP and say "See? >> I told you so." > > If the OP saw even one response then his problem is obviously solved (but > there are few things more hair tearing than the failure of an ISP to > deliver). this kind of post is a paradox and always done by a naive user "test failed, use news:alt.test" is a traditional response obviously if he has problems the OP may not be able to see the answer and I almost never reply off list experienced users never use ISP mail or news servers because it locks you in to one service provider I have progressed from 14k direct dial up to a main frame or a BBS, and over the years up to a 20 mbs connection which I found no faster than the freebie circa 4 mbs dsl I use from talktalk Net congestion in mid USA to the image servers I use all the time showed the fastest connection was a waste of money for usenet the Free University of Berlin nntp server is my choice http://www.individual.net/ "Access world-wide Usenet for only 10 EUR per year" for mail the freebies mail.google.com and aol.com (the old "bring your own connection" is today an advertising funded freebie) meet my needs back to the OP test he uses MS outlook express which has been known to hide messages in an unpredictable way if the settings are not quite right Hugh W