The next window will ask you "How do you connect to the Internet?". Select the option that reads "I connect using a phone line and a modem", and then click on the "Next" button at the bottom of the window. If you have more than one modem in your computer, or if the computer thinks that you do, the next screen will ask you which one you want to use. Select your modem and then click "Next".

Otherwise, the next screen will ask for the Dial-Up telephone number. This is the number that you use to call Trip.Net, not your telephone number. If there are any numbers in the blank labeled "Area Code", click on them and then remove them by using the DEL or BACKSPACE keys on your keyboard. The complete phone number that you will dial should be entered into the blank labeled "Telephone Number". For example, if the number that you use to connect to Trip.Net is 713-554-8000, you would enter "7135548000" into the blank labeled "Telephone Number". If you are not required by the telephone company to use the area code when you call local numbers, do not enter it into the blank. In other words, you need to enter the phone number exactly as you would dial it from your telephone. Once you have the telephone number entered, left-click on the checkmark next to the words "Dial using the area code and country code". When you do this, the Area Code and Country Code blanks should 'fade out'. When you are done, click on the "Next" button.

The next screen will ask you for your user name and password to access Trip.Net. Both the user name and password are case-sensitive, and most of the time they will be all lowercase letters. Make sure that you enter your user name and password correctly, and then click on the "Next" button.

The next window will ask for a name for the connection. Delete whatever is in the blank, usually "Connection to..." or "My Connection" and then enter "TripNet". It doesn't matter how you enter it, as this is basically for your reference only. When you have the connection name entered, click on the "Next" button.

The next window should ask you if you would like to set up an internet email account. Make sure that the circle next to the word "Yes" is selected with the small black dot, and then click on the "Next" button.

If you have had email on the computer before, the next screen will ask if you want to create a new email account, or use an exisiting email account. If you get this window, select "Create a new Internet Mail Account" and then click on the "Next" button.

Otherwise, the window will have a blank labeled "Display Name". When you send email to someone, on their computer the email will say "From:" and then whatever you enter into this blank. For example, if your name is John Smith, and you want the emails that you send to say that the mail is from your full name, enter "John Smith" into this blank. However, if you want to have your email display your company name, nickname, etc., you will need to enter that into the blank. When you are finished, click on the "Next" button.

The next window will be asking for your email address. With Trip.Net, your email address follows this format:

[username]@trip.net

So, if your username is "jsmith", your email address is "jsmith@trip.net". Be sure to enter the complete email address into this blank, and also make sure that you type it all in lowercase letters. When you are finished, click on the "Next" button.

The next window will ask for your mail server information. The window should have a sentence at the top that reads "My incoming mail server is a POP3 server". Beneath, there is a blank labeled "Incoming mail (POP3, IMAP or HTTP) server:". In the blank, type the following:

mail.trip.net

Be sure to type it in lowercase letters. Beneath that, there is a blank labeled "Outgoing mail (SMTP) server". Enter the same thing into this blank, "mail.trip.net". When you are finished, click on the "Next" button.

The next window will once again ask for your user name and password. This is because sometimes your user name and password for email is different from the information that you use to access the internet. Make sure that your user name that has been automatically entered into the blank is correct (it should be your user name, like 'jsmith', not 'John Smith'), enter your password into the blank, and then make sure that the checkbox next to "Save Password" is selected. The other checkbox, labeled "Log on using Secure Password Authentication", should NOT be checked. When you are finished, click on the "Next" button.

The next screen should be titled "Completing the Internet Connection Wizard". There is a checkbox on this screen that will connect you to the internet when you click on the "Finish" button at the bottom of the screen. It is very important that you click on the "Finish" button, or all of the information that you have entered will be lost.

Once this procedure is complete, you will be able to connect to the internet by clicking on the Internet Explorer icon on your desktop. Internet Explorer will open, and a window titled "Connect To..." will open. Verify that your user name and password are correctly entered into the "Connect To..." window, and then click on "Connect". The computer will then dial our network and connect you to the Internet.

To check E-Mail, you can click on the button in Internet Explorer labeled "Mail". A menu will pop up when you click on this button with the options to "Read Mail", create a "New Message", etc.

Locate "Dial Up Networking" on your computer. Depending on the version of Windows that you are running, this can be located in the "My Computer" screen, or on the "Settings" menu (click on Start and then choose settings), or in the Control Panel (click on Start, then choose settings, then click on Control Panel). Once you have located the icon for "Dial Up Networking", double-click on it to open the Dial Up Networking window.

Within this window, you should see an icon for "Make New Connection". Double click on this icon, and a window should appear that asks you to "type a name for the computer that you are dialing". Enter "Trip.Net" into the box, and then click on the "Next" button that is at the bottom of the window.

The window will then ask for the phone number. Do not enter any numbers into the box for "Area Code", instead place the full dial-up number into the box for "Telephone Number". For example, if the number that you use to dial into Trip.Net is 713-554-8000, you would put "7135548000" into the Telephone Number box, unless you had to dial a "1" before the area code, or do not have to dial the area code from your telephone. Beneath the Area Code and Telephone Number boxes is a box for Country Code. Verify that it is set for "United States (1)" and then click on the Next button at the bottom of the window.

You should then be at a window that congratulates you for successfully creating a new Dial Up Connection. Click on the "Finish" button in this window to complete the configuration.

You should now be back in the Dial Up Networking window, and there should now be an icon titled "Trip.Net". If there is no icon titled Trip.Net, and only the "Make New Connection" icon, you will need to repeat the above steps.

If you have the "Trip.Net" icon, right-click (one click with the right mouse button) and then choose "Properties" from the menu that appears. This will open a window titled "Trip.Net". If this window does not appear, make sure that the mouse pointer is directly over the picture for "Trip.Net" and click once with the right mouse button, repeating the steps in this paragraph.

In this window, you should see the telephone number that you had entered to dial Trip.Net, and beneath that, the Country Code ("United States (1)"). Beneath the Country Code is a checkbox next to the words "Use area code and Dialing Properties". If there is a check in the box, verify that there is no area code entered in the area code box, and then click once with the left mouse button on the check mark to remove it. The area code and country code should 'fade out' when this is completed.

Across the top of this window, you will see the words "General, Server Types, Scripting, Multilink" or if you are using Windows ME, "General, Networking, Scripting, Multilink, Dialing". If you are using Windows 95, the "Server Types" will be a button towards the bottom of the window.

Click on the word "Server Types" or "Networking" (or the button labeled "Server Types" if you are using Windows 95) with the left mouse button. The contents of the window should then change, or a new window will appear with the following text at the top: "Type of Dial Up Server". Underneath this text is a box, and the contents of the box should read something like "PPP: Internet, Windows NT Server, Windows 95/98". So long as the contents of the box begin with "PPP:", the setting should be correct.

Beneath this text is a section labeled "Advanced Options". There is a group of checkboxes, and the only item which should have a check in the box is "Enable Software Compression". If there is a check in any other box in this section, click once on the check mark with the left mouse button to remove it.

Below this section is another section labeled "Allowed Network Protocols". Again, there are checkboxes, and the only one in this section which should have a check mark is "TCP/IP". Click once with the left mouse button on any other checks in this area to remove them from the box.

On the right-hand side of these checkboxes is a button labeled "TCP/IP" properties. Click on the button and another window will appear titled "TCP/IP Properties". Make sure that the following options are selected (with the small black circle in the white circle next to these words): "Server assigned IP address", "Specify name server addresses". Beneath "Specify Name Server Addresses", enter the following numbers exactly as they appear here:

Primary DNS : 216.139.64.16

Secondary DNS: 216.139.64.17

When you are finished, click on the "OK" button. Complete the following only if you are running Windows ME: Click on the "Dialing" tab at the top of the window, and make sure that the following options are NOT selected (no check in the box). "Enable Idle Disconnect" and "Disconnect if connection is not required". If there are checks in the boxes next to these words, click once with the left mouse button on the checks to remove them.

When you are finished, click on "OK" to return to the Dial Up Networking screen. Locate the icon for "Trip.Net" and click once with the right mouse button to bring up the little menu. Choose "create shortcut" from the menu, and a message will appear: "Windows cannot create the shortcut here, do you want the shortcut to be placed on the desktop instead?". Click on "YES".

This will create an icon on your desktop called "Shortcut to Trip.Net" or simply "Trip.Net". This is what you will double-click on to connect to Trip.Net, but first, you will need to configure your email program.

In Outlook, locate the word "Tools" from the menu in the upper left-hand side of the window. Click on the word "Tools" with the left mouse button, and choose "Accounts" from the resulting menu. This will open a window called "Internet Accounts". In this window, locate the button on the right hand side labeled "Add" and click once with the left mouse button. Another smaller menu will appear, choose "Mail" from this menu.

You will then have a window that asks for your name - type in your name and then click on the "Next" button. In the next window, make sure that the words "I already have an email address that I'd like to use" is selected, and then click on the "Next" button. In the next window, make sure that the first item reads as follows: "My incoming mail server is a POP3 server". You should also see a blank next to the words "Incoming mail (POP3, IMAP or HTTP server)". Type "mail.trip.net" into the blank. There is another blank on this page labeled "Outgoing mail SMTP server". Enter "mail.trip.net" into this blank as well.

When you have verified that this information is entered correctly, click on the Next button. You should now be on a screen that asks for your account name and password. Enter your Trip.Net account name and password into the blanks, and make sure that the checkbox for "Remember Pasword" is checked, and that the checkbox at the bottom of the screen "Log on using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)" is not checked.

When you are done, click on the Next button, and then on the Finish button on the next page. You should now be ready to send and receive mail through your Trip.Net account.

In order to connect to Trip.Net, you will double click on the icon on your desktop labeled "Trip.Net". Once connected, you can open your Outlook to send and receive your email.