Q: I switched to Gmail, and one feature puzzles me: I delete messages at one session, and when I log on again, the messages are back! They are like vampires that refuse to die. How can I drive a stake through unwanted messages?

E.H., Chapel Hill

A: You're noticing a consequence of one of Gmail's signature features, said Leon Kotlyar, a spokesman for Google.

One of the things many people like about Gmail is the fact that messages are organized into "conversations," keeping all e-mails with the same subject line together in a thread. The feature is great if you want to keep all the messages you've ever received -- and Google says there's enough space for most of us to do that -- but it's more problematic if you want to delete one or more messages within a conversation.

As you've noticed, the issue is that even if you delete or archive a message, it will reappear in your inbox if someone replies to it.

The way to get around this is to mute a conversation, Kotlyar says. In the main Gmail screen, just click on the box to the left of a message sender's name, then go to the scroll-down "More Actions" menu at the top of the page. You can also click on the "More Actions" menu within a message.

Clicking on the "mute" option removes the conversation from your inbox, even if there are further replies. However, muted messages are still searchable if you need to find them later.

This feature is especially helpful for group conversations that are only tangentially related to you but that keep re-appearing in your inbox when members of the group reply, Kotlyar said.

But be aware: If you want to see replies to a particular message, this isn't the solution for you; clicking "mute" is choosing to ignore all future replies.

Q: When I receive e-mail with pictures, I cannot send them on. When I click on "send," the pictures disappear, and boxes with a red X in the left-hand corner appear. The text does send on, however. I also have received e-mail from others with just the boxes, no pictures. Can you explain what my friends and I can do to fix this problem?

P.S., Cedar Rapids, Iowa

A: Different e-mail clients handle images in different ways, so it's difficult to come up with a one-size-fits-all solution, said Priscilla Alden of UNC-Chapel Hill's Information Technology Services.

Still, she offers two suggestions.

If you're having problems forwarding an e-mail with images, Alden suggests copying the contents of the e-mail you received and then pasting it into a new message instead of forwarding the original. Sometimes embedded information such as images won't forward correctly but can be successfully cut and pasted into a new e-mail, she said.

In terms of receiving images, you need to make sure your mail client preferences are set to accept images. For AOL, for instance, you'll see a message about allowing links and images when you open an e-mail containing pictures. If you recognize the sender, you can probably allow them.

Another reader asked about viewing images in Gmail specifically. Users must manually open most images themselves for security reasons, Kotlyar said. To do this, open the message and click "Display images below" in the green box above your message. If you'd like to always view images from a particular sender, click "Always display messages from sender@domain.com" instead.

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