Microsoft Outlook Tips #1



*1.   MAIL CALL--PART 2 OF 3               
      
In our last tip, we showed you how to add a second (or third) 
e-mail account to Outlook 98: Select Tools, Accounts; on the 
Mail tab, click Add, Mail; follow along to complete the 
Internet Connection Wizard; then click Close. We also pointed 
out that once you have multiple accounts, you can retrieve 
messages from all accounts by clicking Send And Receive or 
allowing Outlook 98 to send and receive messages automatically 
as defined on the Mail Delivery tab of the Tools, 
Options dialog box. 

Want to check a single account for messages? Just pull down 
the Tools menu, select Send And Receive, and in the resulting 
menu choose the account you want to check. 

Tip: If you plan to check for messages separately all the 
time, you should disable the "Check for new messages every XX 
minutes" option on the Mail Delivery tab of the Tools, 
Options dialog box.


*2.   MAIL CALL--PART 3 OF 3

In the first tip in this series, we showed you how to add a 
second (or third) e-mail account to Outlook 98: Select Tools, 
Accounts; on the Mail tab, click Add, Mail; follow along to 
complete the Internet Connection Wizard; then click Close. Then 
in our last tip, we showed you how to check a single account 
for messages: Select Tools, Send And Receive; then select the 
account you want to check. 

Now let's look at another scenario: Is there one account you 
want Outlook 98 to send and receive messages from all the time, 
and another you use rarely? You can remove any account from 
Outlook 98's Send And Receive operation without actually 
removing the account from the system. From then on, the account 
remains inactive until you designate it otherwise. 

Select Tools, Accounts to open the Internet Accounts dialog 
box. Select the account you want to deactivate, click the 
Properties button, and deselect "Include this account when 
doing a full Send and Receive." Click OK, then click Close. 
From now on, clicking the Send And Receive button sends and 
receives mail from all accounts but this one. 

Tip: If and when you do want to send and receive mail from this 
account again, just select Tools, Send and Receive, then choose 
the account name.


*3.   THE ULTIMATE MAIL SORTER

P. Tan writes: 

"I download e-mail from various accounts, but have trouble 
figuring out which account each e-mail is from. I previously 
used MS Outlook Express to set rules that check the e-mail as 
they come in. The rule moves messages to specific folders 
depending on the account from which they are downloaded. Can I 
do this from MS Outlook 98, and if so, how?" 

You can accomplish this same sorting using Outlook 98's Rules 
Wizard. Just tell Outlook where to move incoming messages based 
on the address to which they were sent. 

First make sure each of your e-mail addresses--one for each 
account--appears as a separate Address Book entry. Next select 
Tools, Rules Wizard and click the New button. Select "Check 
messages when they arrive" and click Next. Select "Sent to 
people or distribution list." Then click "People or 
distribution list" under Rules Description, select the 
appropriate Address Book entry for the account you have in 
mind, and click OK. Click Next and select "Move it to the 
specified folder." Under Rules Description, select Specified 
and select the folder to which you would like to move messages. 
Click OK, Finish, OK. 

*From now on, Outlook moves any messages sent to that e-mail 
address to the specified folder. Repeat these steps for any 
other accounts you'd like to redirect. (Tip: Assuming you want 
mail from one account to end up in your in-box, don't follow 
these steps for that account.)


*4. YOU CAN NEVER BE TOO SAFE--PART 2 OF 2               
      
In our last tip, we showed you how to back up your Outlook 98 
message folders: Select Start, Find, Files or Folders; locate 
all the *.mbx files on your system; then copy them to a safe 
location, such as a floppy disk. Now we'll show you how to 
restore this information to Outlook 98 in the event of 
a disaster.  

Exit Outlook 98 and in an Explorer window, navigate your way to 
the folder that contains your Outlook 98 *.mbx files. (If you 
aren't sure, use Find to search them out.) Rename the *.idx and 
*.mbx files that correspond to the folders you're about to 
restore. (For example, if you plan to restore the Inbox folder, 
rename Inbox.idx and Inbox.mbx.) Copy the backed-up *.mbx files 
to the Mail folder, then delete the file folders.nch from the 
Mail folder. 

That's all there is to it. Launch Outlook 98, and your messages 
should appear right back where they belong. Feel free to delete 
the renamed *.idx and *.mbx files once you're sure the 
operation was a success.


*5. IF I WANTED TO DISCONNECT, I'D HANG UP

Tired of seeing that "Would you like to disconnect from the 
Internet?" prompt every time you exit Outlook 98 (or Internet 
Explorer) while you're online? According to Microsoft, this 
message should go away if you disable Internet Explorer's Auto 
Disconnect feature.  

Go to Start, Settings, Control Panel and double-click Internet 
Options (or launch Internet Explorer and select Edit, Internet 
Options; or right-click your desktop's Internet Explorer icon 
and select Properties). Click the Connection tab, click 
Settings, deselect the "Disconnect if idle for XX minutes" 
option, and click OK.  

Just remember that now after you exit Outlook 98 or Internet 
Explorer, you'll need to disconnect from the Internet manually. 
One way is to right-click the dial-up icon in the tray of your 
taskbar and select Disconnect.


*6. SEND OUT A MESSAGE SEARCH PARTY

In the first tip in this series, we introduced 
newsgroups--collections of messages about a given topic. To get 
started, select Go, News, click the Read News button, and when 
you see a message asking if you'd like to view a newsgroup 
list, click Yes. Type some criteria in the box next to "Display 
newsgroups which contain" (to narrow your search), then preview 
any newsgroup by selecting it and clicking Go To. If you find a 
group to which you'd like to subscribe, right-click it in the 
folder list and select "Subscribe to this newsgroup." From now 
on, switching to this newsgroup (in your newsreader's folder 
list) downloads any new headers for that group. 

Do you remember reading a newsgroup posting to which you'd like 
to refer again? Don't strain your eyes scanning through a sea 
of headers. As long as you know the name of the person who 
posted the message, one word from the subject, or an 
approximate date, your newsreader can find it for you.  

Open the newsgroup folder that contains the message and select 
Edit, Find Message. In the Find Message dialog box, fill in as 
much as you know about the message. For example, if you know a 
word or name from the Subject or From fields, type this 
information in the appropriate text box. If you know the 
approximate posted date, select Before or After (or both), then 
click the down arrow on that line and select the appropriate 
date. Click Find, and Outlook stops at the first message that 
meets your criteria. If that was the one you were after, 
great--mission accomplished. If not, press F3, and Outlook 
jumps to the next message that matches your search. Eventually, 
you'll get the one you were after.


*7. I CAN SUBSCRIBE TO HOW MANY NEWSGROUPS?

Do you wish you knew more about the whole newsgroup thing? 
You've come to the right place. A newsgroup is a collection of 
messages (from subscribers like you) about any--and we mean 
any--given topic. You can simply browse a newsgroup by reading 
the messages there; or you can participate by submitting your 
own messages. 

To get a feel for exactly how many newsgroups are out there, 
download the list of groups available to your server. Select 
Go, News, and Outlook 98 launches a news-only version of 
Outlook Express. For information on installing this component 
if it isn't already on your system, point your Web browser to 

http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-0421o%2C00.html 

Once you have the news-only version of Outlook Express up and 
running, select Read News, then follow along with the Internet 
Connection wizard to enter all the necessary news server 
information. You can obtain this information from your ISP or 
network administrator.  

Click Finish, and you'll receive a message asking if you'd like 
to see a list of all available newsgroups. Click Yes, wait for 
the list to finish downloading, and you'll find yourself in the 
Newsgroups dialog box with a very long list (we ended up with 
over 20,000 names)! 

Fortunately, you only have to wait for this list to download 
once. >From now on, selecting Go, News and clicking the 
Newsgroups button takes you directly to the Newsgroups 
dialog box.


*8. THERE'S A NEWSGROUP FOR EVERYONE

In our last tip, we introduced newsgroups--collections of 
messages from subscribers like you about a given topic. To get 
started, select Go, News, click the Read News button, and when 
you see a message asking if you'd like to view a newsgroup 
list, click Yes. If you've already followed these steps once, 
select the Newsgroups button to access the list of newsgroups 
directly. 

Before you start scrolling through over 20,000 names (or 
attempt to make sense of all those abbreviations), narrow your 
search a bit. Based on the newsgroup category for which you're 
looking, type some search criteria in "Display newsgroups which 
contain." For example, you might type "baseball" or 
"woodworking." As soon as you're finished typing (and often 
sooner), Outlook starts the search automatically. Don't press 
Enter, or you'll close the dialog box altogether. 

Once you find a group that looks interesting, click the Go To 
button and wait as Outlook downloads the headers, or list of 
messages, from that group. Then just select any message to 
read it, as you would in your in-box. To return to the 
Newsgroups dialog box, click the News Groups icon or select 
Tools, Newsgroups. (You'll need to type your search 
criteria again.) 

Exiting the Outlook Express newsreader removes any previewed 
newsgroups from your folder list unless you subscribe to them.


*9. INTRODUCING A LOW, LOW SUBSCRIPTION RATE OF...NOTHING

In the first tip in this series, we introduced 
newsgroups--collections of messages about a given topic. To get 
started, select Go, News, click the Read News button, and when 
you see a message asking if you'd like to view a newsgroup 
list, click Yes. If you've already followed these steps once, 
select the Newsgroups button to access the list of newsgroups 
directly. Type some criteria in the box next to "Display 
newsgroups which contain" (to narrow your search), then preview 
any newsgroup by selecting it and clicking Go To. 

If you find a newsgroup that really interests you, you might 
want to subscribe to it (for free, of course), and make it a 
permanent part of your newsreader's folder list. (Previewing a 
newsgroup only adds it to the newsreader's folder list 
temporarily, until you exit this window.) If you're already 
previewing the newsgroup, right-click it in your folder list 
and select "Subscribe to this newsgroup."  

To subscribe to a group from inside the Newsgroups dialog box, 
select the newsgroup and click Subscribe. Click Go To, and 
Outlook 98 proceeds to download new headers for that group.  

Any newsgroups to which you've subscribed appear in list form 
under your main newsreader folder, and on the Subscribed tab of 
the Newsgroups dialog box. To unsubscribe to a newsgroup, 
right-click the group in the folder list, select Unsubscribe, 
and click Yes to confirm. Or you can open the Newsgroups dialog 
box, click the Subscribed tab, select the newsgroup, 
and click Unsubscribe.


*10. LIMITED HEAD ROOM

In the first tip in this series, we introduced 
newsgroups--collections of messages about a given topic. To get 
started, select Go, News, click the Read News button, and when 
you see a message asking if you'd like to view a newsgroup 
list, click Yes. Type some criteria in the box next to "Display 
newsgroups which contain" (to narrow your search), then preview 
any newsgroup by selecting it and clicking Go To. If you find a 
group to which you'd like to subscribe, right-click it in the 
folder list and select "Subscribe to this newsgroup." 

You'll notice that when you preview a newsgroup, Outlook 98 
downloads only the 300 most recent headers for the newsgroup. 
But look to the status bar, and in most cases you'll see "XX 
headers not downloaded." To download the next batch of headers, 
select Tools, Get Next 300 Headers, and so on, until all the 
messages download. 

To set the maximum number of headers your newsreader will 
download at a time, select Tools, Options, click the Read tab, 
and adjust the number next to Download. Or you can deselect 
this option entirely to allow the newsreader to download an 
unlimited number of messages.  

Note: Opening a newsgroup folder automatically downloads any 
new messages for that group.


*11. START WITH A CLEAN SLATE

In the first tip in this series, we introduced 
newsgroups--collections of messages about a given topic. To get 
started, select Go, News, click the Read News button, and when 
you see a message asking if you'd like to view a newsgroup 
list, click Yes. Type some criteria in the box next to "Display 
newsgroups which contain" (to narrow your search), then preview 
any newsgroup by selecting it and clicking Go To. If you find a 
group to which you'd like to subscribe, right-click it in the 
folder list and select "Subscribe to this newsgroup." 

If you've downloaded quite a few headers (by previewing a 
newsgroup and/or by clicking Tools, Download Next 300 Messages 
a few times), you may find your newsgroup folder overwhelmingly 
full. To delete all the headers inside, select Tools, Options, 
click the Advanced tab, and click Clean Up Now. Next to "Local 
file(s) for," click the down arrow and select the newsgroup you 
want to clean out. Click Delete, then Yes to confirm. Finally 
click Close, then OK. The next time you open that newsgroup, 
you'll find its header list clean as a whistle.
