how do i stop mutt from copying all email after install to /$HOME/mail

Are you wanting to keep the mail in the default /var or /maildir location I take it? Not really sure but I do believe this is the default behaviour of mutt and just about all other mail programs. I would believe the most common reason the email is moved from it's spool directory to your /home directory is so that you don't keep downloading messages you've already downloaded, since the /var/mail or spool directory is just that, a spool directory. It doesn't have any type of structure to organize your messages until you use mutt or any other email program to do this for you.

and how can a stop mutt downloading a big message?
or at least, give him a limit, up to which size a eMail is to be loaded automaticaly?

thx.

BAUMI