RAPID CITY - Some customers of PrairieWave Communications Internet service have experienced problems including lost e-mails, password problems and an increase in spam since Sunday.

But Steve Schirber, PrairieWave's Black Hills general manager, said those glitches should be temporary.

He said parent company Knology wanted to migrate PrairieWave's old e-mail platform to a new platform that offers more features and services. The company made the change Sunday night.

The password issue is fairly easy to fix, he said. Users who experience problems can reset their passwords to regain access to their e-mail accounts.

He said a handful of customers have been unable to locate e-mails that were saved in folders. As the change to the new platform is completed, those errant e-mails should return to the customers' accounts. It might take 24 to 48 hours in some cases.

The uptick in the spam flow hasn't hit all e-mail accounts, but the company has been getting some calls, he said. "I'm most concerned about that one, because we were trying to prevent unwanted spam from coming in," Schirber said.

The new e-mail platform allows customers to set their own levels of spam filtering, on a scale from 1 to 10. The unwanted e-mails are dumped into a separate folder, where they are erased after 14 days.

He said instructions for setting spam-filter levels are contained in an e-mail sent oto customers last week. If you're seeing more unwanted e-mail, Schirber suggested resetting the spam filter.

Contact Dan Daly at 394-8421 or dan.daly@rapidcityjournal.com