Q. What is RemoteBot?
A. RemoteBot is a program that allows you to download files from another computer via your email account.

Q. How does RemoteBot work?
A. RemoteBot uses an email account to access another computer, retrieve files, get directory listings, and more. For a demonstration go to the How RemoteBot Works Demo

Q. How do I download a file?
A. There are two easy steps for downloading a file:

1. Request a directory listing of C:\ or C:\My Documents from the remote computer.  Choose New Request from the menu under File, or click on the New Request button on the toolbar.
   
2. Once the directory listing is retrieved, navigate to file's location, then point and click on the file you wish to download.  In the RemoteBot manager, double click the retrieved directory and the RemoteBot Explorer will appear.  Highlight the file or files you wish to download then click the download button or choose Action->download from the menu.
   
3. After a few minutes ( depending on the size of the file ) the file is sent back to your computer for you to save and use.

Q. Where do I find my computer's name?
A. Two places. First, on RemoteBot's title bar. Second, for Windows 95/98/NT:StartMenu->Settings->Control Panel->Networking-> Identification tab. For Windows 2000: Start Menu->Settings->Control Panel->System->Network Identification.

Q. Will RemoteBot transfer files between computers connected by cable?
A. RemoteBot will not directly transfer files between two computers connected via parallel cable.RemoteBot only transfers files through the internet. If you wish to perform this type of transfer we suggest that you use a different program.

Q. I've set up RemoteBot with MSN, but I cannot connect.
Or
My email uses a secure connection.
A. MSN uses secure email authorization. Unfortunately, RemoteBot cannot connect to mail servers with secure email authorization at this time. Please check back for newer versions of RemoteBot for an update that supports this feature. In the meantime, you can sign up for a free email account to use with RemoteBot.

**RemoteBot Requires a POP email Account** Do you use AOL or a free Internet Service? Need a POP mail account or do you want to have an email account to only use with RemoteBot? MyRealBox and Softhome offer free personal POP email accounts which can be used with RemoteBot.

Q. I use AOL or I can't get my email server names. Can I still use RemoteBot?
A. RemoteBot requires the names of the POP3 and SMTP servers. If you use AOL or don't know these two server names, you can sign up with a free POP mail service.
Additionally, in the future, ExclamationSoft will offer POP and SMTP service for registered RemoteBot users for a minimal fee.

**RemoteBot Requires a POP email Account** Do you use AOL or a free Internet Service? Need a POP mail account or do you want to have an email account to only use with RemoteBot? MyRealBox and Softhome offer free personal POP email accounts which can be used with RemoteBot.

Q. I have one email account, can two computers share the same email address?
A. Yes. Simply configure each computer to use the same email address; and, make sure that each computer has a different computer name.
**IMPORTANT**

you plan on using/sharing one email address for RemoteBot, you should configure RemoteBot to check for new tasks every 2 minutes or longer if you have a modem connection of 56K or slower. This will eliminate any potential conflicts when trying to delete messages from the POP3 server. (In order to delete a message on a POP3 server, only one program can be logged in at a time. Otherwise, the messages will not be deleted. )

Q. I want to use the same email account for regular email and RemoteBot, is this possible?
A. Yes. If the email account you specify for RemoteBot is not for exclusive use, you should set your Email reader program, i.e. Outlook, Eudora, to "Keep messages on the server" and to "Remove from server after 1 day". Outlook users can find these settings under Tools menu->Accounts->Select the email account->Advanced tab.
**IMPORTANT**

you plan on using/sharing one email address for RemoteBot, you should configure RemoteBot to check for new tasks every 2 minutes or longer if you have a modem connection of 56K or slower. This will eliminate any potential conflicts when trying to delete messages from the POP3 server. (In order to delete a message on a POP3 server, only one program can be logged in at a time. Otherwise, the messages will not be deleted. )

Q. Does RemoteBot work with Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes?
A. Since Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes do not use the standard protocols for internet mail, no. If you use Exchange or Notes with an Internet mail add-on, you may be able to, but we have not tested it nor do we know if it works.

Q. Does RemoteBot work with Proxy Server or WinGate?
A. RemoteBot has been tested and works with both Microsoft Proxy Server and WinGate. If you are having a problem connecting to your mail server through either one of these products, check in the configuration to ensure that port 110 is open for POP3 servers and port 25 for SMTP servers.

Q. I use Netzero for my ISP, but RemoteBot doesn't work
A. While connected to NetZero, your SMTP (outgoing) email server name must be smtp.netzero.com.

Q. I get the error: ATL - Can not run Unicode version of ATL.DLL on Windows 95. Please install correct version.
A. Unfortunately, RemoteBot may overwrite a file called 'atl.dll'. If you receive this error, you should perform the following steps:

1. Close all programs.
2. Using 'My Computer' or 'Windows Explorer', go to the directory 'Windows', then under that directory go to 'System'.
3. Find the file named atl.dll and rename it (right click on the file, and click rename') to 'atlbad.dll'
4. Download this zip file to a temporary directory, e.g. C:\tmp ( if it does not exist, you can create it through Windows Explorer)
5. Unzip the files in that temporary directory.
6. Run the file 'fixatl.bat' by double clicking on it.
7. Reboot.

Q. The connection keeps timing out when downloading a large file. Can this be fixed?
A. You can change the timeout values for connecting to a mail server, and for the general operation timeout.  If you continually get timeout messages when downloading files, change the general timeout value to a larger number.  Here's how to do it:

1. Go to Mail Settings in the RemoteBot Manager or under the Tools menu.
2. Click on the Advanced tab.  Move the General timeout to 5 minutes for cable modems, and fast connections, otherwise change to 10 minutes for modem connections.
3. Click on the OK button to save your changes.

Q. Sometimes RemoteBot will just seem to "hang" or do nothing at all? What's causing this?
A. Outlook users may occasionally experience a problem where RemoteBot will appear to "hang". This is caused after Outlook is Closed/Exited but is still running. If it continues to run while RemoteBot is running, a conflict with the communications DLLs will occur. You can resolve this problem by doing the following:

Windows 95/98:

• Press CTRL-ALT-DELETE
• Look for "Outlook"
• Highlight "Outlook"
• Press "End Process" button

• Press CTRL-ALT-DELETE
• Click on the "Processes" tab
• Look for "Outlook"
• Highlight "Outlook"
• Press "End Process" button

Q. What do the traffic lights mean?
A. The traffic lights are an indicator of the current status of RemoteBot. For an explanation on the traffic lights in the Task List visit the support page on Task List Indicators. For an explanation on the traffic lights in the system tray and the lower right hand corner of the RemoteBot Manager visit the support page on Status Indicators.

Q. When I send requests to another I see the messages in my Email program but RemoteBot never gets them. Why not?
A. If the email account you specify for RemoteBot is not for exclusive use, i.e. you get regular email on the account and you want to use it for RemoteBot, you should set your Email reader program, i.e. Outlook, Eudora, to "Keep messages on the server" and to "Remove from server after 1 day". Outlook users can find these settings under Tools menu->Accounts->Select the email account->Advanced tab.

Q. My email provider only allows a total of 3MB of storage. Sometimes when requesting a large file, only parts of the file are returned
A. Many mail providers put a limit on the amount of space that mail messages can occupy. If this is the case, then you may encounter problems transferring files larger than that limit. However, to get around this, set the file segment size to a lower number. This will allow RemoteBot to send and receive files more quickly without overloading the mail servers.