Mail Preferences Locked

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I have searched for a related thread but couldn't find...so excuse if this has been covered.



I am trying to solve a problem (over the phone) with my mother's Mail program. She has an older G4 Tower Running 10.3.9



All of the sudden she has not been able to send outgoing emails because it can't find the outgoing server. I asked her to go into Mail>preferences>accounts and edit the list of outgoing servers to remove duplicates and to re-enter the proper information. She does this but nothing seems to take. The information for the old mail servers keeps coming back. It is as though the preferences have been locked and she cannot make any changes.



She claims to have not made any changes to her system prior to this happening. Also, she has been using the same ISP for years, so that has not changed either. I have personally gone online to RoadRunner's page and confirmed that she is typing in the correct mail server address.



The Geniuses at the Apple Store tell her that she needs to bring the computer in so they can look at it. She's 75 and I'm in another city, so that's not practical. Anyone have any suggestions on how to solve this problem?



Any help would be appreciated.



Thanks

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 1
    If she's savvy enough, she could create a new user account with all the correct settings by hitting the "+" button on the bottom left. The other issue may be permissions. She should repair them. Mail is the most finicky Apple program I know.



    Apps/Utilities/Disk Utility/Repair Permissions



    Also, rebooting can help, oddly enough. But I recommend permissions as a first step.
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