For those into extreme pain and the vi editor wasn't enough, this is a cheatsheet on how to access your POP3 email service from TELNET and a DOS prompt.

You have to be connected to the internet.

You need to know the name or IP number of your POP email server.

There is no prompt other than an occasional "+OK" response once you leave the DOS prompt. You're flyin' blind on a blank line in the TELNET window.

This assumes a very simple USER/PASSWORD login. If you have IMAP or a more complex POP3 login and authorization, go buy the book.

-- Programming Internet Email © 1999 David Wood, O'Reilly --

How you save mail on your local machine depends on your TELNET program. Some allow you to save activity to a file, some make you cut and paste between windows.

Conventions:
Substitute your data for the italics.
[Bracket entries] are optional.
The book insists on upper case commands, but lower case seems to work.

Basics:
To get in:
C:>\ telnet pop.myservice.net 110 <enter>

To get out:
QUIT <enter>

Once you're in:
USER username <enter>
PASS password <enter>
STAT <enter>
LIST [messsage number]<enter>
RETR message number <enter>
DELE message number <enter>
NOOP <enter>
TOP message number (space) number of body lines <enter>

--end--