Hi, Michael.

We do use SMTP for all alert emails. The File -> Send Email option is used to help make it a bit easier for some of our users to email data and images to others. You might be collecting data that you want to send to your ISP, for example, and you might find it handy for PingPlotter to automatically create an email for you that included a PingPlotter image or data. In this scenario, you'll have to edit the email text and make a meaningful message for your ISP, so we try to open that email in your email client. But ... you don't have an email client installed, so that doesn't work.

We cover that particular scenario here:

http://www.nessoft.com/kb/83

If you're just trying to get alerts working, you don't need to use the File -> Send Email at all, as the alert system uses an entirely different mechanism (since alerts are an automated process and you don't need to edit the email text to make it meaningful).

Hopefully, that points you in the right direction.

- Pete