I have regular Yahoo! email, no Yahoo! messenger. How can I get an alert via desktop when I have new mail?

Without Messenger, the only way you can get alerts is on the mail icon in your toolbar. There will be a number next to your Mail icon. You must be signed in to Yahoo! in order to receive new mail alerts. Yahoo toolbar checks for new Yahoo! Mail every few minutes automatically. To check for new mail manually: 1. Click the Pencil menu in "Classic Yahoo." 2. Select "Refresh Toolbar. 3. The Mail button will update to show the number of new messages. You must have the mail button visible on your Yahoo Toolbar in order to receive mail alerts. If you do not have the mail icon on your yahoo toolbar and wish to add it, click the pencil icon and select Personal Options -> Add/Edit buttons. When the list of toolbar options page opens, check the box next to "Yahoo Mail." Go to the bottom of this page and click "Finished." If you still don't see the mail icon in your toolbar, click >> for items that didn't fit because the toolbar was too full.

Get Yahoo Widgets, they have one that will prompt you when there's new mail and plenty of other useful things http://widgets.yahoo.com/