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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS :
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Tune up your Outlook Express
Did you know that you can tune up Outlook Express to improve your email
experience? A few simple tricks can make a huge difference.
(There are several versions of Outlook Express, with slightly
different settings; these tips are based on Version 6.)
All settings can be modified offline - you don't need to be connected to
the Internet. Simply start Outlook Express; if a dialup connection
appears, click the [Work Offline] or [Cancel] button.
Working Offline
If you have dialup Internet access, does the dialup connection
automatically pop up each time you open Outlook Express? You can control
when Outlook Express dials, either by clicking [Work Offline] or by
changing a setting so that the dialup process is initiated only when you
want.
It's not necessary to be connected to the Internet in order to compose
email messages. There's no need to tie up your telephone line (details).
When working offline, you can write any number of messages. Each time
you click [Send], the message goes into the Outbox, a folder that stores
messages temporarily. It's a bit like real postal mail: if you write
letters at your desk, you probably write them all before taking them out
to mail them.
In the case of Outlook Express, the mailing happens when you connect to
the Internet. If you're working offline, click [Send/Receive] to
start the dialup process. Clicking [Send/Receive] instructs Outlook
Express to send all mail waiting in your Outbox, and download any new
mail waiting on your Internet Service Provider's mailserver. You can
disconnect once mail transfer is complete.
If you prefer to work offline routinely, automatic dialup can be a
nuisance. To set Outlook Express so that it won't automatically offer to
dial every time you open it, click Tools | Options in the Menu Bar; remove
the checkmark from "Send and receive messages at startup"; click [Apply]
and [OK].
(Outlook Express might display "Working Online", even when you
aren't connected. You can tell whether you're really online by
watching for the small connection icon beside your computer clock.)
If Outlook Express doesn't open automatically to your Inbox, click Tools
| Options and check the box "When starting, go directly to my Inbox
folder." Click [Apply] and [OK].
Choose the appearance of Outlook Express
You can modify the layout of Outlook Express to enhance
convenience and give you more working space.
Panes - Choose your layout
Outlook Express is easier to use if it displays three or four
main panes. Normally the left side displays the folder list and
optionally your contacts; the right side is divided into the Index Pane
above and the Preview Pane beneath. Sometimes these panes are awkward
sizes or may not be visible.
To choose the layout, in the Menu Bar click View | Layout. In the
upper area, check the following boxes and uncheck any others:
- Folder List
- Status Bar
- Toolbar
- Contacts (optional)
In the Preview Pane area, both boxes should be checked and a dot
should appear by "Below messages". (You may choose not to display a
Preview Pane at all. As always, double-clicking a message in the Index
Pane opens it in a new window.)
Click [Apply] and [OK].
Are the panes sized properly? You can resize them simply by
dragging the thin grey bars that separate the panes: move the mouse
pointer over a divider bar until it changes shape to a double-headed black
arrow, then click and drag.
Columns - Choose the layout within Index Panes
You can gain a little more space in the message display area by
choosing which columns will be displayed. Column names are listed in the
header - the grey cells at the top of the Index Pane. Outlook Express
usually shows the Flag and Priority columns, which few people use.
Highlight the Inbox folder, then click View | Columns. Consider
checking only the following boxes:
- Attachment
- From
- Subject
- Size
- Received
Are column widths satisfactory? Adjust them by moving the mouse
pointer over the short vertical black bar that divides the cells
containing the column headers (such as From, Subject) until it changes
to a double-headed black arrow. Click and drag as appropriate. To
resize a column so that it is exactly wide enough for the widest text
displayed, double-click the divider.
Are the columns in the order that you prefer? If not, rearrange
them by clicking and dragging header cells along the header bar.
Organize your messages
There are two aspects to organizing your messages: how they are
arranged in the Index Pane, and which folders they're in.
Index Pane
You can quickly rearrange messages displayed in the Index Pane of
any folder.
Any column can be arranged in alphabetical or reverse alphabetical
order. Click once in the appropriate column header; to reverse the
order, click the header again. To rearrange messages based on a
different column, simply click its header.
For example, to arrange Inbox messages in the order in which
they were received, clickk once or twice on the "Received" column
header.
Folders
Outlook Express has built-in folders, including Inbox, Outbox,
Sent Items, and Deleted Items.
The Inbox can get large and confusing very quickly. To organize
messages and make backups easier, you can create as many new folders as
necessary, name them whatever you want, and locate them wherever they're
needed.
For example, you could create a folder named "Humour" in the
list of Local Folders along with the built-in folders, then create
subfolders within it.
To create new folders and subfolders, right-click the
appropriate existing folder and click New Folder (to create folders in
the same level as the default folders, start at Local Folders). Name
the folder and click [OK].
Now that you have all those folders, how do you get the right
messages into them? The easiest way is to drag and drop. To save time,
remember the Windows tricks for moving multiple files:
- to select a range, click the top item, hold down the
[Shift] key, click the bottom item
- to select items here and there, hold down the [Ctrl] key
while clicking items
- to select all messages in a folder, click Edit | Select
All
Then drag and drop them all into the appropriate folder.
You can also right-click a message(s) in the Index Pane and
click Move or Copy.
Maintenance matters
Aside from the difficulty of finding messages in large folders,
Outlook Express can cause problems if there are too many messages in
your Inbox, so make use of custom folders as appropriate.
Outlook Express saves deleted messages in the Deleted Items folder, and
keeps a copy of sent messages in the Sent Mail folder. Remember to
clean out these folders from time to time.
Outlook Express compacts folders at predetermined levels, but you may
get better performance and even correct strange errors by occasionally
compacting your folders: File | Folder | Compact all folders.
Miscellaneous
Attachments
Have you suddenly encountered problems opening attachments? If
you see the error message "OE removed access to the following unsafe
attachments ...", a new setting may have been inserted during a Windows
update.
Click Tools | Options | Security tab. If there is a check beside "Do
not allow attachments to be saved or opened that could potentially be a
virus", remove it. Remember the usual caveats about opening
attachments!
Blocked Senders and Message Rules
Some people use the Blocked Senders (a misleading term) feature,
mistakenly thinking that if they block a sender, they won't receive mail
from that source any more. Not so. Putting an address in the Blocked
Senders list doesn't prevent you from getting future mail from that
source - messages will still download and merely be diverted to your
Deleted Items folder.
For most situations, this isn't useful. Instead, use the much
more flexible Message Rules.
For example, you can tell Outlook Express to automatically
delete messages from the server based upon criteria that you select.
To create a Message Rule, Click Tools | Message Rules | Mail,
and create a rule. ("Delete from server" is found by scrolling down in
Area 2.) Be careful about the rules you create, since you could
unintentionally delete desired mail without ever seeing it.
Malfunctioning rules can be edited or deleted.
Versions
Keep up with version upgrades as they're made available by
Microsoft: they may add new functionality or plug security holes.
Windows
Updates will automatically update Internet Explorer and Outlook
Express.
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