Microsoft Outlook Express Tips #5



*1. ENJOY THE SILENCE

June 8th, 1999

In our last tip, we showed you how to change the sound you hear 
when new e-mail arrives. But what if you don't want a bell 
chiming or a bird chirping every time you get a new message? 
You can turn it off: 

- 1. With the Inbox window open, choose Tools + Options. 
- 2. On the General tab, deselect Play Sound When New Messages
     Arrive (remove the check mark). 
- 3. Click OK 

-From now on, all you hear when a new message arrives is 
sweet silence.


*2. PEOPLE SEARCH--PART 1 OF 2

June 9th, 1999

Did you know you don't have to switch to your Address Book to 
track down a contact? You can search for a lost soul right from 
the Outlook Express front page (the one you see when you click 
the Outlook Express icon in the directory list): 

- 1. From the Outlook Express front page, click Find People. 
- 2. With Address Book selected in the Look In dialog box,
     enter part or all of the name, e-mail address, street
     address, or phone number of the person you're looking for.
- 3. Click Find Now.

Within seconds, the Address Book entry for the person you're 
seeking appears.


*3. PEOPLE SEARCH--PART 2 OF 2

June 10th, 1999

In the last tip, we showed you how to search your Address Book 
without even opening it. But the Find People option has even 
more search tricks up its sleeve. Not only can you search your 
own Address Book, but you can also harness the power of seven 
Internet search engines to track someone down. If you've been 
meaning to look up that old high school flame, now you have no 
excuse not to. 

- 1. From the Outlook Express front page, click Find People. 
- 2. In the Look In dialog box, choose a search engine: Yahoo!
     People Search, Bigfoot, InfoSpace, WhoWhere, and more.
- 3. Type in part or all of the name, e-mail address, street
     address, or phone number of the person you're looking for.
- 4. Click Find Now.


*14. RIGHT-CLICK TRICK

June 11th, 1999

Organizing your e-mail into folders is a great way to keep 
yourself organized. You can keep your personal and business 
correspondence separate and your Inbox uncluttered. Here's a 
quick and easy way to add a new folder:

- 1. Right-click anywhere in the folder pane on the left-hand
     side of the Outlook Express desktop. 
- 2. Select New Folder. 
- 3. Type the name of your folder and select which folder the
     new one should go in. 
- 4. Click OK. 

Now you've got a new folder, ready for filing.


*5. BRING IN THE OLD--PART 1 OF 2

June 14th, 1999

If you've recently switched to Outlook Express from another 
e-mail program, you've probably got a whole Inbox full of old 
messages that you can't access. So what do you do if you need 
last quarter's marketing report or that recipe for lemon 
souffle Aunt Lois sent last year? Not to worry. You can easily 
import old e-mail messages into Outlook Express from the most 
popular e-mail packages, including Eudora and Netscape Mail: 

- 1. Choose File + Import + Messages. 
- 2. Select the e-mail client you want to import messages
     from and click Next. 
- 3. Select which folders and messages you want to import. 
- 4. Click Finish. 

Then sit back while Outlook Express does the rest.


*6. BRING IN THE OLD--PART 2 OF 2

June 15th, 1999

In our last tip, we showed you how to import your old e-mail 
messages into Outlook Express. You can also import your old 
address book--welcome news if you were dreading retyping all 
that contact information. 

To import an old address book into Outlook Express: 

- 1. Choose File + Import + Address Book. 
- 2. Select the e-mail program from which you want to import
     the book and click Import. 

Sit back while Outlook Express does the rest.


*7. WARNING SIGNS--PART 1 OF 2

June 16th, 1999

A reader asks, "What's the small yellow triangle that appears 
in the lower-right corner from time to time?" 

It's an error message. If for some reason the transmission 
process is interrupted, the yellow triangle appears. If you 
click the triangle, a window pops up to inform you of the error.

Next time, we tell you what might be causing the error.


*8. WARNING SIGNS--PART 2 OF 2

June 17th, 1999

In our last tip, we told that the yellow triangle in the 
lower-right corner is an error message. Today, we help you 
figure out what's causing the error. Lots of problems can cause 
error messages, but a common one is an inability to connect 
because of heavy net traffic. So check your server timeout 
setting. A setting that's too low can cause the server to drop 
a connection too quickly. 

To adjust the server timeout setting: 

- 1. Choose Tools + Accounts. 
- 2. Select the Mail tab; then click your primary mail account.
- 3. Click Properties and select the Advanced tab. 
- 4. Move the Server timeouts slider bar from the default of
     one minute to a longer period of time. (Don't go up to
     five minutes, though; your server shouldn't take anywhere
     near that long.) 

Changing this setting should reduce the number of error message 
(and little yellow triangles).


*9. FORM A NEW ATTACHMENT--PART 1 OF 3

June 18th, 1999

One of the best things about e-mail is the ability to send 
files back and forth, whether you're mailing files to your home 
computer so that you can work on the weekend (we don't 
recommend it) or sending files to your boss so that she can 
work on the weekend (this we don't have an objection to). To 
insert a file into an e-mail: 

- 1. Click Compose New Message. 
- 2. Compose the message as usual. 
- 3. Click the Attachment icon (the paperclip) in the toolbar.
- 4. Select the file you want to send and click Attach. 
- 5. Send the message.


*10. FORM A NEW ATTACHMENT--PART 2 OF 3

June 21st, 1999

In the last tip, we showed you how to attach a file to your new 
e-mail message by using the paperclip icon. Here's another way 
to attach a file--by copying from Windows Explorer: 

- 1. From Windows Explorer, select the file you want to attach;
     then right click and choose Copy from the pop-up menu. 
- 2. Toggle over to Outlook Express and click Compose
     New Message. 
- 3. Compose the message as usual. 
- 4. Right-click in the New Message window and select Paste.
- 5. Send the message as usual.
