I would recommend using Windows Live Mail, you can get it here for free:
http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mail
This seems like a lot of steps, but it goes really fast. Here is how you get your Gmail to work in Windows Live Mail:
* Make sure IMAP access is enabled in Gmail.
* Select Go | Mail from the menu in Windows Live Mail.
o Hold down the Alt key if you cannot see the menu bar.
* Click Add an e-mail account at the bottom of the list.
* Type your Gmail address under E-mail address:.
* Type your Gmail password under Password:.
* Enter your name under Display Name:.
* Make sure Automatically determine my login ID is checked. (You can verify it is working correctly if the local part, i.e. what comes before the @, in your Gmail address appears under Login ID:.)
* Type your Gmail password under Password:.
* Make sure Manually configure server settings for e-mail account. is checked.
* Click Next.
* Make sure IMAP is selected under My incoming mail server is a ___ server.
* Enter "imap.gmail.com" under Incoming server:.
* Make sure This server requires a secure connection (SSL) is checked under Incoming Server Information.
* Type "smtp.gmail.com" under Outgoing server:.
* Make sure This server requires a secure connection (SSL) is also checked under Outgoing Server Information.
* Also check My outgoing server requires authentication.
* Type "465" for Port: under Outgoing Server Information.
* Click Next.
* Now click Finish.
* Click OK.
* Select Tools | Accounts... from the menu.
* Highlight the Gmail account in the list.
* Click Properties.
* Go to the IMAP tab.
* Enter "[Gmail]#Sent Mail" (not including the quotation marks) under Sent Items path:.
* Type "[Gmail]#Drafts" under Drafts path:.
* Type "[Gmail]#Trash" under Deleted Items path:.
* Enter "[Gmail]#Spam" under Junk path:.
* Click OK.
* Click Close.
* Shut down Windows Live Mail.
Cheers,
Kyler
Windows Outreach Team