[Users] Custom browser and access protection on Windows

[Dustin Miller]

On Thu, 28 May 2020 09:35:37 +0000
iman <imanggp at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi, I'm pretty new to Claws Mail and I'm using it under Windows 7
> 32-bit. I have some certain questions to decide if it fits my needs.
> So far it was so interesting and specially its bidirectional support
> surprised me. But I'm also seeking some other special features
> couldn't find till now: 
> 
> 1. How can I use Firefox as browser for Claws Mail on Windows 7? I
> couldn't find the browser field under external programs. I'm using
> Firefox portable from portableapps.com
> 
DM: Hi, iman. I use Claws Mail (CM) 3.17.4 on a Linux system, but am
assuming the layouts of the same versions would be similar
cross-platform. If I understand your question, what I do for that is go
to 'Configuration' - 'Preferences' - in 'Message View' section, choose
'External Programs' (perhaps what you're referring to above?).

DM: If you already have Firefox set as the default for your system,
then you may be able to just check the box for 'Use system
defaults...'. If not, then you'll need to make sure the box is
unchecked and enter the proper command in the 'Web Browser' field (for
Linux, it looks like it's as follows:

firefox '%s'

DM: Not sure if that will work for Windows or whether you need to
replace 'firefox' with whatever you would use on the Windows
command-line to start it, maybe 'firefox.exe'? I think the basic idea
is that you first enter whatever is needed to start the program and
then CM will automatically replace the '%s' with the file name
or URI.
> 
> 2. Can I password protect the entire software? In other word I don't
> want anybody with access to this PC, be able to simply open it and
> read my mails :)
> 
DM: There are likely multiple ways you can do this, and you might
prefer one over another depending on your setup. You'll first want to
find an encryption software that you want to use -- one option is
Veracrypt. If the software is able to provide whole-disk encryption,
then you could just encrypt your whole disk; assuming this includes
your system drive, then that would also cover CM since it installs
itself and related files on the system drive by default. (This would
also make installing it a bit easier.) I haven't used this approach
myself.

DM: You can also use encryption software to encrypt just a part of a
drive or partition. In Veracrypt, you can create what's called a 'file
container' of your specified size. You can then mount this as a
separate 'drive' or 'partition' by entering the password you created
for it. When you have it open, you can then 'tell' CM that you want it
to put your sensitive data (address book, emails, etc.) there. There
are two main parts to this:

* 1a. You will probably need to install CM by compiling it rather than
  by just running a setup file. I'm not sure what the compiling process
  is in Windows. In Linux, the first command you would run for a
  default install is './configure'. But if I wanted to put my CM
  configuration directory (includes address book, user settings, etc.)
  in the directory '/my/new/encrypted/drive', then I would use the
  option '--with-config-dir' to run the following command:

./configure --with-config-dir=/my/new/encrypted/drive/.claws-mail

* 1b. Once this has been done, you would then enter whatever additional
  commands are needed to complete the compiling and installing process,
  and the end result should be that you will find the CM configuration
  directory at the path destination you specified in the 'configure'
  command. This takes care of the installation part. (BTW, the thing I
  love about being able to specify alternative configuration
  directories is that you can have multiple instances of CM running at
  the same time, accessing a completely different set of settings and
  emails.)

* 1c. For using the configuration directory above when running CM, you
  need to add the option '--alternate-config-dir' to the run command.
  The Linux command for this example would be as follows:

claws-mail --alternate-config-dir /my/new/encrypted/drive/.claws-mail

* 1d. This tells the program to start running an instance of CM using
  the configuration directory at the specified location instead of at
  the default location. Assuming you don't want to start CM from the
  command-line every time, presumably there's a way for you to edit the
  CM menu short-cut or (if not) create a separate desktop shortcut that
  includes the expanded command you need. This should take care of the
  first part.

* 2a. The second part is to 'tell' CM where to look for your message
  (emails) store(s). For this, first make sure CM is not running.
  Then, you need to go into your CM configuration directory and open the
  'folderlist.xml' file that is there. Find any lines that start with
  '<folder type=...' (I think there's one for each mailbox you have set
  up, so the default is probably that there is just one.) On the line of
  that type find the section that starts with 'path=' and edit that
  accordingly. So if you want CM to find your emails at the path
  '/my/new/encrypted/drive/Mail', then on Linux you would edit that
  section to look like this:

path="/my/new/encrypted/drive/Mail"

* 2b. You should now be able to open CM and have it be able to access
  the emails at the specified location. If they're not showing up, you
  may need to rebuild the folder tree (right-click on the top-level
  folder representing the mailbox in question and choose 'Rebuild
  folder tree'). That should take care of the second part.

* One thing to keep in mind with this approach is that you'll need to
  always make sure you open the encrypted file container before you try
  to run CM, and also that you always have it open with the same drive
  letter; otherwise, CM won't be able to find what it needs to since
  the paths mentioned above won't match. This also applies to any
  changes you might make in moving or renaming folders in the relevant
  paths -- you will need to either revert those changes or else adjust
  the paths as necessary so that CM has a valid path to work with.

DM: As a reminder, the above is based on a Linux system, so it won't
work as a detailed walk-through for your system. But on a higher level,
it should point you in the direction of what additional details you'll
need to figure out about how to change the above instructions for a
Windows environment. I'd encourage you to review the manual and FAQ's
on the CM website as well as any documentation that is included in the
Windows download package. You could also review the archives of this
user list, although it might be easiest if you can figure out a way to
search through for what you're looking for (this may be possible using
Google, but I haven't tried it).

DM: If you've made a reasonable effort to look in these various places
and still aren't able to figure this out, then you can just email this
list again, specifying what version of CM you're using, as well the
details of whatever problem you're facing. I think there's at least one
Windows port maintainer on this list, as well as multiple Windows
users, so there's a good chance they'll be able to provide more
specific info related to a Windows environment.

DM: Also, if you've already started using CM with its default paths and
you don't want to lose those emails and config settings, then you
should be able to just do the following:
* 1. Find out what the defaults paths are on your system (you may need
  to show hidden files and folders) for the config directory and the
  message store(s).
* 2. Figure out where you want to store the config directory and
  message store(s), and then copy those to those respective locations.
* 3. Go through the above-mentioned installation and setup process.
* 4. Once you've confirmed everything is working as you want, you can
  then delete the config directory and message store(s) from their
  default locations if desired (i.e. if your system drive isn't
  encrypted or if you just want to clean things up, etc.).

DM: Those are the main things I can think of. There's even a chance a
Windows port developer or Windows user will chime in when they see my
post to highlight changes you need to make to the process, inadvertent
errors on my part, or important things you should know that I've
omitted. Meanwhile, this will hopefully get you started in knowing how
to proceed in regards to your two questions. Cheers, ---Dustin