We don't often cover Outlook Express tips, to discuss how to drag
mail and news messages to a new folder in Outlook Express...well, what
the heck.
If you would like to drag messages (mail or news) to a different
folder, you first need to have that folder visible. If your folders
aren't currently visible, run Outlook Express and choose View, Layout.
When the Layout dialog box opens, select the Folder List check box
(it's under Basic), then click OK to close the dialog box and record
your new setting. The folder list now appears at the left side of the
Outlook Express window.
To create a new folder, choose File, Folder, New Folder. When the
Create Folder dialog box opens, type a name for your new folder. Now
click Outlook Express in the folder list, then click OK to close the
dialog box and create your new folder.
With the new folder visible on the left side of the Outlook Express
window, you can use the mouse to drag messages from the current folder
(Inbox, News, and so forth) to your new folder.
"There are times when we may post a message to a newsgroup and
then have second thoughts. Is it possible to delete a message after
you have posted it to a newsgroup?"
Yes, you can delete a messages after it appears on the newsgroup.
Just right-click the message and choose Cancel. Note that all this
does is send a message to the newsgroup requesting a cancellation. It
may take some time before the message actually disappears. So be
careful about posting any potentially embarrassing messages.
"I recently noticed a file extension that takes up a lot of
space when backing up my hard drive, and it appears to do nothing more
than keep track of every piece of mail that goes through my In Box,
Out Box, Deleted, and Sent folders. After backing up my hard drive,
the file extension MBX on my Deleted folder was over 14MB (the folder
was empty), so I deleted it, rebooted, and got a welcome message from
Microsoft as if I was a new user. Everything seems to be working
normally, so why haven't you told people to delete the MBX files to
free up some space?"
We have mentioned this several times. When you delete the MBX
files, Outlook Express will re-create them. Dan is correct--this is a
very viable method to use when you need to free up some disk space.
Just make sure you have no files you might need later in any of the
folders.
The ability to cut and paste between various Windows 95/98 programs
means you can copy an e-mail address from almost any Windows program
(Word, Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, and so forth), then paste it into the
Outlook Express address line.
All you have to do is select the address in your Windows program,
then press Ctrl-C to copy it. Next, go to Outlook Express and click
Compose Message. When the New Message window opens, click in the To
entry box and press Ctrl-V. Now you can finish composing your message.
"I know you have probably answered this question before, but how
do you move your Outlook Express address book to another hard drive?
Can you e-mail your address book to a different location?"
If you used the default Outlook Express installation, you'll find
your address book at \Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book.
The address book will have a WAB extension and its name will depend on
the information you gave your system during Setup. For example, if you
typed in Alison when you set up Windows 95 or 98, your address book
will be named Alison.wab.
To copy your WAB file, run Windows Explorer and go to
\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book. Now use the mouse to
drag Alison.wab to a new location. After you finish the copy, you can
close Windows Explorer (choose File, Close).
Yes, you can e-mail your address book. Assuming you use Outlook
Express, open the program and enter a recipient's address. Type in
whatever message you wish and then choose Insert, File Attachment.
When the Insert Attachment dialog box opens, go to
\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book and double-click your
address book (WAB) file to insert it. Now click Send.
Note that e-mailing your address book could be a problem if the
file is very large.
"In your Outlook Express tips, you have often mentioned how to
create a new folder. However, I have never seen any mention of the
fact that you can quickly create a new folder by simply right-clicking
the folder in which you want to place the new folder."
Correct. Let's say you are currently working in the Outlook Express
Inbox, and you would like to create a new folder inside the Inbox
folder. All you have to do is right-click the Inbox folder (in the
folder list) and choose New Folder. When the Create Folder dialog box
opens, type a name for your new folder and click OK to create the
folder and close the dialog box.
"Although everyone knows how to use the Inbox Assistant to sort
future e-mail, many Outlook Express users don't know that you can sort
the current contents of the Inbox folder. All you have to do is set up
your sorting rules, then click Apply To. When the Select Folder dialog
box opens, click Inbox to select it. Click OK to close the dialog box
and apply your settings."
Let's take a closer look at this tip. Run Outlook Express and
choose Tools, Inbox Assistant. When the Inbox Assistant opens, click
Add. Now set up your sort options. As an example, let's say you have a
folder named Friends: Click in the From entry box and enter Friends.
Next select the Move To check box. Click Folder and select Friends.
Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box.
Back in Inbox Assistant, click Apply To. When the Select Folder
dialog box opens, click Inbox and click OK to close the dialog box and
save your settings. Finally, back in Inbox Assistant, click OK to
close the dialog box and apply your settings.
All your existing Friends messages will now appear in the Friends
folder. And, of course, all future Friends messages will go into the
Friends folder.
"I recently sent mail (with Outlook Express) to a large group of
recipients using the Formal Announcement stationery. I found out later
that many of the recipients couldn't see the stationery at all. Am I
doing something wrong? Is there something I should do to make sure all
my recipients can see the stationery I decide to use?"
You probably aren't doing anything wrong. We gather that a number
of your recipients did see the stationery. The most likely problem is
that some of your recipients aren't using e-mail programs that allow
graphics in the body of the message. Besides convincing the others to
use your e-mail program, there is nothing more you can do to make sure
all recipients can view the graphics.
"I recently sent a group of messages and now would like to have
hard copy versions of the mail. Is there an easy way to print Outlook
Express mail messages you have already sent?"
You sure can, as long as those sent messages still reside in the
Outlook Express Sent Items folder. Just run Outlook Express and go to
the Sent Items folder. Double-click the message you want to print to
open it, then press Ctrl-P.
To make sure you've placed your sent messages in the Sent Items for
later use, choose Tools, Options. When the Options dialog box opens,
click the Send tab. Next select the check box labeled "Save copy of
sent messages in the Sent Items folder" and click OK to record your
selection and close the dialog box.
"I don't think I've ever seen a tip that mentioned the fact that
you can attach a file to an Outlook Express mail message by simply
dragging and dropping the file on the message. I thought you might
like to report this."
There are at least two ways to attach a file to an Outlook Express
mail message--choose Insert, File Attachment, or drag and drop the
file on the message as suggested above.
"I use Outlook Express and have one newsgroup set up--the one
that comes from my ISP (Internet Service Provider). I understand that
Microsoft has a newsgroup that is open to everyone. Could you explain
how to access that newsgroup in Outlook Express?"
Sure--there is a Microsoft newsgroup (msnews.microsoft.com) that
you can use. To set up the account, run Outlook Express and go to News
(choose Go To, News). Next, select Tools, Accounts. When the Internet
Accounts dialog box opens, click Add and select News from the
drop-down menu.
In the Internet Connection Wizard, enter the name you want to use
and click Next. On the next page, type your e-mail address and click
Next. On the Server Name page, enter
msnews.Microsoft.com
and click Next. Now, type the name that you would like to use for this
account (MS News would do) and click Next again. On the next page,
select the radio button that represents the way you need to connect to
the newsgroup and click Next. On the final page, click Finish.
At this point, click Close to dismiss the Internet Accounts dialog
box. You will be asked if you want to download newsgroups from your
new server. Click Yes to continue. When this process finishes, your
newsgroup will be ready for use.
"It seems to me that Outlook Express takes longer to shut down
with every passing day. Is there some reason for Outlook Express to
take longer to close than when it was first installed? Is there
anything I can do to speed up the closing?"
We suspect that your Outlook Express is slowing because it has to
compress numerous messages as it closes. We had the same problem here.
Here is something you can try. Run Outlook Express and choose
Tools, Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the Advanced
tab. Now, set the Compact Files When There Is xxx Percent Wasted Space
spin box to 100 and click OK to close the dialog box and save your
settings.
This high setting will tell Outlook Express to not bother with
compressing files until there is 100 percent wasted space. This means
that your files will almost never get compressed and Outlook Express
will close more quickly.
"Not everyone knows about the Drafts folder. Suppose you write a
new mail message, but you decide that you may need to modify it
later--before you send it. All you need to do is choose File, Save.
Outlook Express will save the message in the Drafts folder. Later you
can open the Drafts folder and double-click your message to open it.
Now, you can edit the message all you like and then click Send. Or, if
you like, you can choose File, Save and save your modified message in
the Drafts folder for still more modification."
"You should always try to avoid posting information that isn't
pertinent to the current news group. Avoid spamming--nobody likes
spammers." (Spammimg is the cross-posting of messages to numerous
newsgroups. This is usually done by people with something to sell. For
example, it isn't uncommon to find ads for erotic Web sites in almost
any group.)
"Don't participate in flaming. Why propagate hate and anger? If you
get flamed unjustly, try to ignore it. If you feel you must reply to a
flame, try to state your position logically and then drop it.
"One final point: Don't send the entire message in a reply. If you
replay to a very long message, trim the original message to just
enough information to make your reply coherent. Nobody wants to read a
page of text just to see what your reply is about."
"Some people might like to know about the keystrokes you can use
with Outlook Express to make things a little quicker. For example,
when you need to compose a new message, just press Ctrl-N to open the
New Message window. After you type in a message, you can press Alt-S
to send it."
Note that pressing Alt-S sends the new message to your Outbox. In
most cases, the message won't be sent until you click Send And Receive
(or press Ctrl-M).
"I used to use Internet Mail and News and became accustomed to
using keystrokes. When I switched to Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 and
Outlook Express, I decided to see if my keystrokes would still work.
As it turned out, most of them do. Here are the ones I use most often.
To open a list of available newsgroups, press Ctrl-W. To create a
new message to the newsgroup, press Ctrl-N. To reply to the newsgroup,
press Ctrl-G. To reply to the author of a message, press Ctrl-R. To
forward the selected message, press Ctrl-F.
I find it much easier to get around in Outlook Express News using
the keystrokes."
"I usually copy my mail messages by selecting the message and
choosing Edit, Copy. Recently, I received a message that contained
some pictures (the message was in HTML format). I wanted to copy the
pictures, but all I got was the text. What do I have to do copy
pictures from Outlook Express?"
You can copy a picture in an OE message the same way you do in
Internet Explorer 4--right-click the picture and choose Save Picture
As. Just find a location for the picture and give it a name, then
click Save.
"I use the Move To command rather frequently, so I decided to put a
Move To button on the Outlook Express toolbar. To do this, you
right-click the toolbar and choose Buttons. When the Customize Toolbar
dialog box opens, scroll down in the Available Buttons list and click
Move To.
"Next, click Add, and the button will appear in the Toolbar Buttons
list. All you have to do now is click Close in the dialog box. Your
new button will appear in the toolbar."
"I was under the impression that Outlook Express would check my
spelling. But a few days ago, I sent a message that contained several
spelling errors. What happened to the spelling checker?"
The spelling checker isn't turned on by default. To turn it on, run
Outlook Express and choose Tools, Options. When the Options dialog box
opens, click the Spelling tab and then select the Always Check
Spelling Before Sending check box. Click OK to close the dialog box
and save your settings.
"When I open Outlook Express, it automatically connects to my
ISP (Internet Service Provider). Since I sometimes need to open the
program just to check on a message, I find it irritating that Outlook
Express automatically connects. Is there a way to stop this and still
have it connect when I want to check my mail?"
Yes, there sure is. Run Outlook Express and choose Tools, Options.
When the Options dialog box opens, click the DialUp tab. Now, select
the Do Not Dial A Connection option. Click OK to close the dialog box
and save your selections. Now, close Outlook Express and then run it
again. It should no longer automatically dial. However, it should dial
when you click the Send And Receive button.
NOTE: VERY FEW ISPs support OE in this configuration.
"I usually read through my Outlook Express mail messages and
then save the ones that I need to look at later. However, I sometimes
need to save a mail message without saving any attachment files. Is it
possible to save just the message? Right now, I select the text, copy
it, and then run Notepad and paste the text into the Notepad document.
I'm looking for an easier way."
You can save an Outlook Express message as a text file without the
attachments. Just open the message and choose File, Save As. When the
Save Message As dialog box opens, click the Save As Type drop-down
arrow and select Text File (*.txt). Type in a name and click Save to
save the message in text format and close the dialog box.
"In Outlook Express, when you click Send and Receive to check
your mail, a dialog box will open to display your progress. If you
click Details, you'll get a much more detailed display. I find this
helpful because I can spot problems when they occur, rather than sit
around waiting for an error message. Once you click Details, this view
will remain in effect until you change it."
It is a good idea to leave Details turned on. It's a great
diagnostic aid, and doesn't have any effect on the way Outlook Express
Operates.
"I need to send mail to a large group of people. What is the
maximum number of addresses I can enter on the To line?"
For all practical purposes, there is no limit. There may be a
maximum number due to individual computer system limitations, but in
general you can add as many addresses as you need to the To and CC
lines.
Additionally, there may be a limitation imposed by your ISP on the
mail server. This is done to lessen the amount of spam messages.
"When I forward a message to someone, I would like to have all
the attachments sent as well. Is there a way to make sure the
attachments are sent along with a forwarded message?"
When you reply to a message, attachments aren't included. However,
when you forward a message, attachments get included automatically.
You don't have to do a thing.
"Is there any way to have Outlook Express say 'You've got mail,'
just like in the movie?"
It's no problem to have any WAV file announce your mail. We suspect
that the sound byte played in the movie is copyrighted by America
Online. Even so, you can probably find a suitable sound on the
Internet. Try searching for
wav
and see what you find.
Once you locate a sound you want to use, click Start, Settings,
Control Panel. When Control Panel opens, double-click the Sounds icon.
When the Sounds Properties dialog box opens, scroll down through the
Events list and click New Mail Notification. Now, click Browse and
locate your new sound file. Double-click its icon to select it as your
new mail notification. Finally, click OK to close the Sounds
Properties dialog box and apply your selection.
The next time you have new mail, you'll hear your new
announcement--like in the movie.
"Is there a way to get pictures to show up in the body of a
message? I would usually prefer to see the message right away, rather
than having to open it in some other program."
Yes, you can view those attached pictures in your messages. To do
this, run Outlook Express and choose Tools, Options. When the Options
dialog box opens, click the Read tab. Now, select the check box
labeled "Automatically show picture attachments in messages" and then
click OK to close the dialog box and save your selections.
>From this point on, any attached pictures Outlook Express can
display will appear in the messages.
"Several times, you have suggested using stationery in Outlook
Express mail messages. I would like to comment that I think people
overuse stationery and other graphics. Adding stationery to a mail
message makes it much longer, which then requires a longer time to
retrieve from the ISP."
Correct--adding stationery does create a longer file. On the other
hand, if you don't get too fancy, most people will never notice the
download time at today's higher speed transfers.
We created two mail messages, one with stationery and one without.
The message with stationery was 10KB, and the one without was 2KB. We
were unable to detect any noticeable slowdown due to using stationery.
If you are concerned with download time, stick with the standard
stationery in Outlook Express. It's the custom stuff with photos and
so forth that tends to make a message extremely long.
"I frequently get e-mail messages in HTML format. I've started
playing around with HTML, and I was wondering if there is a way to
view such messages in HTML code."
Yes, there is. To have a look at the HTML source code of your mail
messages, just press Ctrl-F2. Notepad opens and displays the source
code for the current message. HTML code awaits you.
"I would like to change the name in my Outlook Express title bar
to my company name. Is there a way to change this title?"
Yes, you can change the title, but you will need to edit the
Windows 95/98 Registry with RegEdit. Before you start, you should back
up your Registry files. To do this, run Windows Explorer and navigate
to \Windows. Locate user.dat and system.dat and copy them both to a
new location. Now, click Start, Run. When the Run dialog box opens,
type
Right-click the right pane and choose New, String. Name the new
string
WindowTitle
Double-click the WindowTitle icon and enter your company name. Click
OK to close the dialog box and continue. You can now choose Registry,
Exit to close RegEdit.
The next time you run Outlook Express, your new title will appear
in the title bar.
"Here is one I have never seen mentioned--you can enter an address
by entering only part of the name. To see how this works, run Outlook
Express and click Compose Message. When the New Message dialog box
opens, type part of a name. Let's say you type
John
Since John is such a common name, you may have more than one instance
of it. If you press Ctrl-K, you'll get a list of all the people in
your Address Book named John. You can then double-click the correct
one to enter it, and continue with your message.
"Of course, you save more time when you are entering less common
names. For example, if you want to send mail to someone whose last
name is Cholmondely, you will probably only have to enter
"A few days ago, I created a new mail message and clicked the To
icon to open the Address Book as usual. I noticed that I have the same
name entered twice, and one of the entries is empty. I tried to delete
the entry, but couldn't find any delete command. The Delete key didn't
work. There must be some way to delete an incorrect entry."
Fear not, Lew, there is. To delete an Address Book entry, run
Outlook Express and click Address Book in the toolbar (or choose
Tools, Address Book). When the Address Book opens, click the offending
entry and press Delete.
"I just recently started using the Internet and have looked through
some of the news groups. I was wondering if it is OK to attach
pictures, sounds, and so forth to a news message. Will this upset
people, or is it standard practice?
"The reason I ask is that I saw a message with an attached picture,
and many people complained about the attachment."
In general, any BIN newsgroup expects users to attach files to the
messages. On the other hand, some groups encourage discussion only and
don't like people sending attached picture and sound files. The reason
is the time it takes to download messages with long
attachments.
So just go with what you see the majority of people doing in a
specific news group. Conformity is grand, isn't it?
"Is there a way to eliminate the splash screen that pops up when
you open Outlook Express? I know it doesn't make any practical
difference, but I would like to turn it off."
Since a number of readers have asked about eliminating the Outlook
Express splash screen, we wrote a REG file to do the job. As we always
say, be careful about running REG files. We offer no guarantee at all
that these files will do what you expect.
To create your REG file, open Notepad and enter the following as
shown here. Where you see ENTER BLANK LINE HERE, simply press Enter to
enter a blank line. Please don't type in ENTER BLANK LINE HERE.
REGEDIT4 or REGEDIT
ENTER BLANK LINE HERE
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express]
"NoSplash"=dword:00000001
ENTER BLANK LINE HERE
Choose File, Save As, and name the file Splash.reg. Locate a folder
to hold the file and click Save. To use the file, double-click its
icon. Click Yes in the first dialog box, and OK in the second. If you
decide you want the splash screen back (this would really be weird),
just change the NoSplash line to
"NoSplash"=dword:00000000
and save the REG file. Run it again, and your splash screen should
appear the next time you run Outlook Express.
To get to the Inbox, press Ctrl + I.
To open a selected message, press Ctrl + O.
To create a new message, press Ctrl + N.
To print the selected message, press Ctrl + P.
To delete a selected message, you can press Ctrl + D, or Delete.
To reply to a selected message, press Ctrl + R.
To forward a selected message, press Ctrl + F.
To open the Go To Folder dialog box, press Ctrl + Y.
To change your layout to display the folder list, press Ctrl + L.
To check your mail, press Ctrl + M."
"Is there a way to send a message to a large number of people so
that each person will not see who else is getting the message?"
This is a question we see often. Outlook Express will do this for
you. All you have to do is send the message to yourself and then use
BCC for all the recipients. When you do this, none of the recipients
will see who else is on the list.
It's not perfect, since the message will show that you sent it to
yourself--not to any other recipient, but it should do the job.
"Is there a way to save e-mail messages in Outlook Express and keep
the attachment? I sometimes save messages in text format and recently
discovered to my chagrin, that the attachments were gone."
When you open a message and choose File, Save As, you can click the
arrow at the right of the Save as type: list box to expand the list.
If you select Mail (*.eml), Outlook Express saves the message in its
standard mail format along with any attachments. If you select Text
Files (*.txt), the message will be saved in text format without the
attachment.
This doesn't mean that you can't save the attachments--you can save
them separately. Just choose File, Save Attachments.
"In Outlook Express, when you click Send and Receive to check your
mail, a dialog box will open to display your progress. If you click
Details, you'll get a much more detailed display. I find this helpful
because I can spot problems when they occur, rather than sit around
waiting for an error message. Once you click Details, this view will
remain in effect until you change it."
It is a good idea to leave Details turned on. It's a great
diagnostic aid, and it doesn't have any effect on the way Outlook
Express Operates.
"I often send e-mail that requires multiple attachments. I have
to send word processor files, spreadsheets, and pictures. My problem
is that it takes me forever to attach all these files. Is there some
way to attach a group of files with one command?"
You can't manage multiple attachments with one command, but you can
make the job easier. If all your attachments are in the same folder,
run Windows Explorer and navigate to the folder that contains your
attachments. Click one of the attachments, then press and hold down
the Ctrl key while you click the remaining ones. Now you can use the
mouse to drag the entire collection to your Outlook Express message.
Just drag the files right into the body of the message--Outlook
Express knows to turn them into attachments.
"You can easily add an address to your Address Book while working
in Internet Explorer 4. Just select the address you want to add and
copy it (Ctrl-C), then choose File, New, Contact. When the Address
Book opens, click New Contact, then click the Add New entry box. Now
press Ctrl-V to paste in the address. Finally, fill in the name and
other information and click OK. Back in the Address Book, choose File,
Close to return to your browsing."
"I have been doing a good job at keeping backups of my Mail and
Address Book, but I can't find a way to make a backup of my Inbox
Assistant rules. On two occasions, I had to use my backups. Both
times, I restored all the folders but had to enter all the rules
again. Is there any way to back up the rules?"
Yes, there is a way, but you will need to use Regedit. This is not
as bad as it may sound, because you don't need to make any changes to
the Registry--all you have to do is copy a portion of it. If you
decide to do this, don't make any changes while you're running RegEdit.
Click Start, Run, type in
regedit
and press Enter. Now navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
Express\Mail\Inbox Rules. Click Inbox Rules and choose Registry,
Export Registry File. Name the file Rules and locate a folder for it.
Now click OK to save the file. It might be a good idea to copy the
file to a floppy disk to keep it safe for later use.
To restore Inbox Rules, just double-click Rules.reg.
"Someone recently asked me how to back up the Address Book. I told
her to run Windows Explorer and go to \Windows\Application
Data\Microsoft\Address Book\ and copy Hername.wab to a floppy disk. A
short time later she called back to tell me that she couldn't find the
Address Book there. After a short discussion, I discovered that she
was running Windows 2000 rather than Windows 98. As I was trying to
discover where her Address Book might appear in Windows 2000, I ran
across this tip. If you open the Address Book and choose Help, About
Address Book, the resulting dialog box shows you where the file is
located. In her case, it was in C:\Documents and
Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\Administrator.wab.
"If you want to back up your Address Book and don't know where to
find it, just run Outlook Express, click Addresses, then choose Help,
About Address Book."
While we're on the subject of backups, here is how to make a backup
of your Internet Explorer 4 and Outlook Express accounts.
Click Start, Run, type
regedit
and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Account Manager\Accounts. Click Accounts and choose Registry, Export
Registry File. Give your file a name (we used Accounts) and locate a
folder for it. Click Save to close the Save As dialog box and save
your REG file.
To restore your accounts, just double-click the Accounts.reg icon.
"If you get droves of e-mail (as we do), you might like to keep
Outlook Express running all the time to check for new mail. To set
this up, run Outlook Express and choose Mail, Options. When the
Options dialog box opens, click the Read tab. Now select the check box
labeled Check For New Messages, and enter the time period you want to
use for checking the mail.
"Click OK to close the dialog box and apply your changes. Make sure
you keep Outlook Express open. You can click the Minimize button to
minimize Outlook Express and keep it out of your way while you work."
"I sometimes get mail with pictures I would like to keep--that is,
the pictures are in the body of the message, not attached. How can I
make a copy of these pictures?"
Outlook Express works just like Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 in
this regard. You right-click the picture and choose Save Picture As.
Then give the file a name, select a folder, and click Save.
In a preivious tip, we described how to copy your Inbox Assistant
rules. Reader Evelyn H. wants to know if there is an easy way to copy
her current Inbox Assistant rules to another computer.
There is, assuming the new computer is running the same operating
system and the same version of Outlook Express. You simply export your
rules to a floppy disk, then put the floppy disk into the second
computer and double-click the REG file. Let's back up a bit and start
from scratch. Remember to exercise caution when modifying the
Registry.
Place a blank formatted floppy disk in drive A:. Click Start, Run,
type
regedit
and press Enter. When RegEdit opens, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
Express\Mail\Inbox Rules.
In Rules, click the Inbox Rules key to select it, then choose
Registry, Export Registry File. Name your new file Rules, and select
drive A: as its home. Click Save to close the dialog box and save your
file. Now put the floppy disk into drive A: on the second computer and
double-click My Computer. Double-click drive A: to open it, then
double-click Rules.reg to merge the file with the Registry.
"When you need to create new folders in Outlook Express, you can
choose File, Folder, New Folder, then, in the Create Folder dialog
box, name your folder and select where you want it to go. But to make
the job easier, all you have to do is right-click the folder where you
want to add a subfolder and choose New Folder. This opens the Create
Folder dialog box immediately. Just enter the new name and press
Enter."
"Is there an easy way to delete all those extra addresses that get
added to my Address Book whenever I reply to a message? Why does
Outlook Express save all those addresses?"
To delete an Address Book entry, run Outlook Express and click
Address Book in the toolbar. When the Address Book opens, click an
entry, then press and hold Ctrl while you click others. Now, just
press Delete to get rid of the selected addresses.
As for Outlook Express saving addresses, this is an option, and you
can turn it off. Run Outlook Express and choose Tools, Options. When
the Options dialog box opens, click the General tab, and then deselect
the check box labeled 'Automatically put people I reply to in my
Address Book.' Click OK to close the dialog box and apply your
selection.
"I wonder if most people know that you can drag text from a word
processor to Outlook Express. I just discovered this by accident a few
weeks ago. All you have to do is get both the word processor and an
Outlook Express message on the screen at the same time. Then you
select some text in the word processor and use the mouse to drag it to
the Outlook Express message. I use Word 97, but I have also tried this
with Notepad. I assume it will work with other word processors as
well."
"I have just started looking at newsgroups. My problem is that when
you're reading a thread, you have to click a tiny little plus (+) sign
at the left of the message icon to see the rest of the thread. Is
there a way to get Outlook Express to automatically open the threads
you want to read?"
You can't get Outlook Express to expand only the threads you want
to read, but it will expand all the threads for you. Run Outlook
Express and choose Go, News. Now choose Tools, Options. When the
Options dialog box opens, click the Read tab. Select the check box
labeled Automatically Expand Conversation Threads and click OK to
close the dialog box and save your selection. From this point on,
Outlook Express will automatically expand all threads.
"Here is something I just discovered a few weeks ago. You can drag
text directly from a word processor to an Outlook Express message. I
use Microsoft Word, and I can select text in Word and then drag it to
the message area of an Outlook Express message. I don't know for sure
if this works with other word processors. I do know that it works with
Notepad and Wordpad."
"In my small office, all the e-mail comes to my computer. Each
message comes to the correct address for the recipient, but the server
forwards all of it to my computer. This is the way the experts have
set it up. When I get the e-mail, I then must forward each one to the
correct person at his or her personal address. All the employees know
about this, by the way, so the company is not spying on them. Here is
my question. Is there a way to have Outlook Express automatically
forward the e-mail?"
That sounds like an odd setup, and we're surprised the employees
don't mind. However, you CAN automatically forward e-mail in Outlook
Express. To do this, run Outlook Express and choose Tools, Inbox
Assistant. When the Inbox Assistant opens, click Add. Now click in the
To entry box and enter the e-mail address of the person to whom you
want to send mail. Next, select the check box labeled Forward To, then
click in the Forward To entry box and enter the recipient's e-mail
address (the same address you put in the To entry box.
Click OK to close the dialog box and save your new entry. Back in
Inbox Assistant, click Add and repeat the procedure for a new
recipient. After you get all the recipients set up, click OK to close
the Inbox Assistant and record your selections. When you next click
Send And Receive, the mail will go to the proper recipients.
"On the chance that the person who asked the question about font
size in Outlook Express might have been referring to the font in the
Preview pane, I too ran into a problem. Message fonts are no problem,
but the font in the Preview pane (and, incidentally, in Microsoft
Internet Explorer 4's Address Bar as well) is way too small, and I
couldn't find any documented way to change it. However, while
experimenting, I discovered that those two places used the same font
settings as the desktop icons. Change the font for your desktop icons
to something larger, and the Outlook Preview pane and MSIE 4 Address
Bar will reflect that change."
Perhaps we're still missing something, but if you run Outlook
Express and choose Tools, Options, then click the Read tab, you'll
find a Fonts button. Click Fonts, and you can then set the size of the
text in the Preview pane. Click OK to continue, close the dialog box,
and the Preview pane will immediately take on your new setting.
"I would like to get my Address Book into a Microsoft Excel
worksheet. When I try to open Stan.wab in Excel, all I get is garbage.
Is there any way to convert the Address Book to text? This wouldn't be
a problem if I had a smaller Address Book, but the thing is huge."
Run Outlook Express and click Address Book. When the Address Book
opens, choose File, Export, Address Book. When the Address Book Export
Tool opens, click Text File (Comma Separated Values) and click Export.
Type a name for the file and click Browse. Select a folder and click
Save. Click Next to continue. Select all the fields you want to export
and click Finish. Click Close to dismiss the Export Tool. You can now
close the Address Book and Outlook Express.
Your new file will be in CSV text format, and you can easily load
it into an Excel worksheet.
"I like to keep my mail in the Inbox for a while to make sure I
don't miss anything. The problem is, my Inbox gets so cluttered that I
have to scroll through a lot of messages just to locate the unread
ones. Is there a way to hide the read messages without actually
deleting them?"
Yes, you can hide those messages. Run Outlook Express and go to
your Inbox. Choose View, Current View, Unread Messages. All you will
see in your Inbox are the messages you haven't yet read.
To read those hidden messages, choose View, Current View, All
Messages.
"When you use the Preview pane, you can view any selected message
in that pane. To move to the Preview pane for scrolling through a
message, just press Tab. To get back to your message list, press Tab
again."
"I would like to use the same stationery and format for about 80
percent of my e-mail. Is it practical to create an e-mail template for
Outlook Express? If so, could you explain how?"
Run Outlook Express and click Compose Message. Don't enter an
address--just choose Format, Apply Stationery and select the
stationery you want to use. Now click in the message area and enter
any text you want as a permanent feature. When you're finished
creating the template, choose File, Save As. Type a name (MailTemplate.eml
is fine) and select the folder where you want to keep the file. Click
Save and close the dialog box.
Since the method we are describing will open the Message dialog box
and not Outlook Express, you will need to either open Outlook Express
later and click Send And Receive, or set Outlook Express to send
messages immediately. To do this, choose Tools, Options. When the
Options dialog box opens, click the Send tab. Now select the check box
labeled Send Messages Immediately and click OK to save your selection
and close the dialog box.
Close Outlook Express and run Windows Explorer. Navigate to the
folder in which you saved your template. Right-click the template's
icon and choose Properties. When the Properties dialog box opens,
click the General tab. Next, select the check box labeled Read-Only
and click OK to close the dialog box and save your setting.
Use the right mouse button to drag the template's icon to your
desktop, where you can access it quickly. When you release the mouse
button, choose Create Shortcut(s) Here. All you have to do is
double-click the shortcut to open your template. When the template
opens, type your message and click Send.
"I sometimes mail a Web page to a friend. I thought this was going
fine until someone told me a few days ago that the Web page only
appears in Outlook Express. To check this out, I sent myself a Web
page and, sure enough, it appeared only in Outlook Express.
"I had expected that the Web page would appear in Outlook Express,
but would also have an attachment you could click to open the page in
Internet Explorer. As it turns out, there is no way to open the page
in Explorer. Do you have any suggestions?"
Yes--instead of mailing the Web page, mail the URL. In Internet
Explorer, choose File, Send, Link By E-mail. When your recipients get
the mail, they can click the URL to open the Web page in Internet
Explorer.
You'll find sounds from movies and TV shows, suitable for use as
mail announcements."
To apply a new sound, move or copy the sound to \windows\media.
Click Start, Settings, Control Panel. In Control Panel, double-click
the Sounds icon. When the Sounds Properties dialog box opens, locate
New Mail Notification in the Events list and click to select it. Click
Browse, then double-click your new sound. Back in Sounds Properties,
click OK to apply your new sound and close the dialog box.
"By default the Outlook Express Delete button and the Send And
Receive button are right next to each other in the toolbar. After
accidentally deleting some messages, I decided to move the Delete
button to a safer location.
"To do this, run Outlook Express and choose View, Layout. When the
dialog box appears, click Customize Toolbar. Now, under Toolbar
Buttons, click the Delete icon. With the icon selected, click Move
Down until it won't move any farther. Click Close. In Layout, click OK
to accept the new toolbar setting and close the dialog box. This
places the Delete button on the far right side of the toolbar."
"For months, I went to all the trouble of opening each Outlook
Express mail message, then choosing File, Print. Only a few weeks ago,
I discovered that you don't have to open the message to print it. All
you have to do is select the message and press Ctrl-P. This opens the
Print dialog box just as File, Print does."
"When I select a message in Outlook Express and want to print it, I
choose File, Print. This opens the Print dialog box, and then I have
to click OK to continue printing. I tried using Ctrl-P, but that also
opens the Print dialog box. What I would really like to do is print
the message without having to deal with the Print dialog box. Is this
possible?"
If you double-click the message to open it, you can then click the
Printer button in the message toolbar. This will print the message
with no further input from you. Simple enough?
"I get quite a lot of e-mail each day. I go through the mail
quickly just to see who it's from, then I go back and read it all in
detail later. However, it's hard to tell what I have read and what I
haven't because I keep all the mail for a few days. For whatever
reason, Outlook Express is determined to mark all messages as read
just because you happen to click one. I would like to mark the
messages as read manually. That way, the message header would stay in
boldface and I could locate the unread messages more easily. Do you
have any suggestions?"
You can turn off the function. Run Outlook Express and choose
Tools, Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the Read tab.
Now, deselect the check box labeled Message Is Read After Being
Previewed For 5 Second(s) (five seconds is the default). Click OK to
close the dialog box and save your new parameters. To mark a message
as read, select the message and press Ctrl-Q.
"I would like to access my e-mail when I am away from home for more
than a day or two. The problem is that I have cable at home, so I
don't have a dial-up connection to use. Does anyone offer a free
dial-up e-mail service? I would rather not have my mail forwarded to
some other service. Can I read my own mail directly from a remote
dial-up?"
The cable services we're aware of offer a dial-up connection for
just the purpose you describe. It does cost extra, but would do
exactly what you want.
The other approach is to use one of the free ISP services. We use
AltaVista, which allows us to dial in and use Outlook Express to read
our mail. Note that not all the free services will allow you to read
POP3 mail.
If you decide to use this approach, you will need to set up an
account in Outlook Express to read your mail at any available
connection. With this in place, you open the ISP service to get
connected, then run Outlook Express and read your mail. The extra step
is necessary because you can't sign on to the free service unless you
do so using its software.
If you're out of town a lot, we suggest that you check with your
ISP first.
"I am dual-booting between Windows 2000 Professional and Windows
98. Windows 2000 uses Outlook Express 5.x, and I am running Outlook
Express 4.72 in Windows 98. I would prefer to keep using Microsoft
Internet Explorer 4 and Outlook Express 4 in Windows 98. However, I
need to be able to read all my mail in both systems.
"Here is what I did to try to get all the mail. I set both Outlook
Express in Windows 98 and the Outlook Express in Windows 2000 to save
files in the Mail folder on drive D:. This folder is formatted using
FAT32, and both operating systems can use it. I felt confident that my
solution would work, but it doesn't seem to be the case. I don't see
any of the Outlook Express 5 files in Windows 98, and in Windows 2000,
I see no Outlook Express 4 files. Do you have any suggestions?"
We spent an hour or so looking into this. It appears the file
structures are not compatible. But if you save a mail message as an
EML file in either version of Outlook Express, both versions can read
it. We have no solution to the problem, other than to suggest that you
either switch Windows 98 to MSIE 5 or try some other mail program. For
example, Pegasus is an excellent freeware mail client:
"I sometimes need to save my mail messages in a particular folder.
I would like to know if it's possible to save those messages without
the attachments. I get a lot of messages that have picture files
attached. Although the messages are important to me, the pictures are
not. Do you have any suggestions?"
You have two choices when you save an Outlook Express e-mail
message. Open your message and choose File, Save As. When the Save As
dialog box opens, click the arrow at the right side of the Save As
Type list box to expand the list. Here is where the choices come
in--you can select Mail (*.eml) or Text Files (*.txt). If you choose
Mail (*.eml), Outlook Express saves the entire message--attachments
and all. If you choose Text Files (*.txt), Outlook Express saves only
the message without the attachments.
"I have created folders in the Outlook Express Inbox that I would
like to back up on floppy disks. I am using version 4.72. Is it
possible to do this? If so, how?"
Run Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\Windows\Application
Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express.
Copy the Mail folder to a new location (a floppy disk perhaps).
C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express\Mail contains
all your current mail and all your mail folders. If you have extra
folders, you may also use the Inbox Assistant.
Remember to exercise caution when modifying the Registry.To back up
the Assistant, click Start, Run, type
regedit
and press Enter. When RegEdit opens, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
Express\Mail\Inbox Rules.
In Rules, click the Inbox Rules key to select it, then choose
Registry, Export Registry File. Name your new file Rules and click
Save. To restore your rules, double-click the Rules.reg file.
"If you like, you can send someone an entire Web page using Outlook
Express. To do this, first run Outlook Express and choose Tools,
Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the Send tab. Now,
under Mail Sending Format select the radio button labeled HTML, then
click the Settings button to the right of the radio button.
"When the HTML Settings dialog box opens, select the check box
labeled Send Pictures With Messages and click OK to close the dialog
box. Back in Options, click OK to close the dialog box and save your
settings.
"Now close Outlook Express and run Internet Explorer 4. Navigate to
a Web page of your choice and choose Mail, Send Page. Finally, just
enter the address and click Send. Depending on how you have Outlook
Express set up, you may need to choose Mail, Read Mail, then click
Send And Receive to send the mail.
"You recently suggested that a reader drag selected files to
Outlook Express to place multiple attachments in the message at once.
There is an easier way (at least I think it's easier). All you have to
do is select all the documents you want to attach to a message, then
right-click the selected documents. When the menu opens, choose Send
To, Mail Recipient. This will attach all the selected documents to a
new mail message. Just add the text and click Send."
"I have Microsoft Outlook Express as my e-mail program, and I also
have Microsoft Office 97 on my computer. Prior to installing Office
97, when I wanted to send a file to someone I would right-click the
file, choose Send To, Mail Recipient--that would send the message via
Outlook Express. Now it comes up with Outlook from my Office 97
program. How do I get it to go back to Outlook Express, which I find
easier?"
Run Windows Explorer and navigate to \Windows\SendTo. In the SendTo
folder, you'll see the current shortcut for Outlook 97. Click to
select it and then press Delete.
Now right-click in the SendTo folder and choose New, Text Document.
After you create the document, name it Mail Recipient.MAPIMail. This
should get you back where you started before you installed Microsoft
Office 97.
"I need to send a special e-mail message to about 50 people. I
would like to send it all at once, but I don't want my recipients to
see the addresses of the other recipients. Do I have to send each
message individually, or is there a way to send it all at once without
everyone seeing who received the message?
"I would also like to know about getting all the recipients in the
To field. All the names are in my Address Book. Do I have to enter
each one into the mail message?"
Let's start from scratch. Run Outlook Express and click Address
Book. When Address Book opens, click New Group. Type a name for your
new group and click Select Members. Click the first name you want to
add to your group, then press and hold Ctrl while you click each of
the remaining names. After you have selected all the names, click
Select to copy them to your new group.
Now you're ready to send your message. Open the message and type
your address into the To entry box. Next, click BCC. This will open
the Address Book. Click your group name to select it, then click BCC
one more time.
You can now send the message. All the recipients will see that you
sent the message to yourself. They will not see the other addresses.
"I find the default Outlook Express font too small. I have looked
everywhere and can't find a way to change the default font. What's
going on?"
The problem is that you can only set the font for HTML messages. To
set the font, choose Tools, Stationery. When the Stationery dialog box
opens, click Font Settings. Now select your new font and click OK.
Back in Stationery, click OK again to close the dialog box and save
your new setting. Remember that the setting affects only those
messages you send in HTML format, which is probably most of your
messages anyway.
"When I use Outlook Express news, I read part of the messages, then
close the program. When I come back later, all the messages still
appear. The messages I have read are a lighter shade so I can see
which ones I have not read. Is there a way to keep the read messages
from showing up at all? This would be much better for me."
If you don't want to see the read messages, run Outlook Express and
go to News. Now choose View, Current View, Unread Messages. If you'd
like to see all the newly downloaded messages plus the ones stored on
your computer, choose View, Current View, All Messages.
Note that under View, Current View, you can also choose Downloaded
Messages, Filtered Messages, and Replies To My Posts.
"Is there a way to sort the Outlook Express messages by sender?"
You can sort by Priority, Attachment, From, Subject, and Received.
Choose View, Sort By and take your pick. Note that you can also elect
to sort in descending order by choosing View, Sort By, Ascending.
Ascending is a toggle command. If it's active, selecting it turns it
off. You can turn Ascending back on by choosing View, Ascending again.
We recently suggested that you choose View, Sort By to sort your
mail.
"Recently you featured a tip on sorting your e-mail in Outlook
Express. Here is a much easier way to sort messages. If you--like
me--prefer to avoid menus whenever possible, simply click the header
of each column. Click the Received header bar, for example, and you'll
sort from newest to oldest message; another click immediately arranges
your e-mail from oldest to newest. This works for any column. For
example, click Subject to sort alphabetically or in reverse
alphabetical order. Using this method, you can arrange many tabular
lists within Outlook Express."
"With all the talk about spam, I have never seen any mention of the
fact that Outlook Express offers a way to get rid of most of it. When
you get a message from someone you never want to hear from again, just
select the address and press Ctrl-C to copy it. Now choose Tools,
Inbox Assistant. Click Add and then click in the From entry box. Press
Ctrl-V to paste in the address, then select the check box labeled Move
To and click Folder. When the Move dialog box opens, click Deleted
Items and click OK. Click OK again to return to the Inbox Assistant
dialog box. Click OK to close the Inbox Assistant and save your
changes. The next time e-mail appears from the unwanted address,
you'll never even see it. It will go straight to the Deleted Items
folder."
We agree, this is a good way to get rid of what you don't want.
This method will work well unless you're inundated with spam from
numerous sources.
If you'd like some cool movie stationery for Outlook Express
messages, take a look at the freeware JobuSoft Outlook Stationery
Movie Themes 1.0 package at
The stationery includes The Beverly Hillbillies, The Godfather,
Forrest Gump, and The Pink Panther, complete with theme music. All you
have to do is download the file and double-click to install it. Your
new stationery is available immediately. That's the beauty of the
Internet.
"I thought I could save a message in the Outlook Express Drafts
folder, then come back later and send it on its way. This sounds good,
but I don't see a way to send a message from the Drafts folder. Am I
mistaken about its function?"
You can save a message in the Drafts folder, then edit and send it
later. Or you can just send it later. To do so, run Outlook Express,
go to the Drafts folder, double-click the message to open it, then
click Send. Or open and edit the message, then click Send.
Like other files, the sent message goes to the Outbox and gets sent
the next time you click Send And Receive, unless you have instructed
Outlook Express to send messages immediately. To add a file to the
Drafts folder, just choose File, Save. Outlook Express will save it in
the Drafts folder.
Here's a question that pops up regularly. We suspect it appears
more often just after the movie You've Got Mail appears on TV. The
question is how you can get Outlook Express to announce You've Got
Mail, just as America Online does.
It's no real problem to have a voice announce your mail. However,
AOL has probably copyrighted the sound you heard in the movie. You can
probably find a similar sound somewhere on the Internet, though. Try
searching for Wav to see what you can locate.
Once you locate the sound you want, click Start, Settings, Control
Panel. When Control Panel opens, double-click the Sounds icon. When
the Sounds Properties dialog box opens, scroll down through the Events
list and click New Mail Notification. Click Browse and locate your new
sound file. Double-click its icon to select it as your new mail
notification. Finally, click OK to close the Sounds Properties dialog
box and apply your selection.
The next time you have new mail, you'll hear your new announcement.
"I am setting up a small four-computer network for my office. I am
using one computer running Windows 2000 Professional as a server with
a modem and dial-up connection for e-mail. I have three other
computers attached via 10/100 NIC cards. The network is just a simple
peer-to-peer. I have been looking for an inexpensive mail server that
would collect all the mail and then route it to the correct person.
"For example, I would like to set up my e-mail address as tom@work.com,
and two other coworkers as sue@work.com and bob@work.com. We all have
different e-mail addresses with our ISP. So I would like the mail
program to collect mail from each address and then route it to local
POP accounts named tom, sue, and bob. When one of us sends e-mail, I
would like it to get routed to the ISP. So far, I am running across
software that either won't do the job or costs far more than we can
spend. Do you have any suggestions?"
Mercury 32 will do what you want. And the price is very hard to
beat--the program is freeware. Go to
The best way to see what is available is to run IE 4 and type
? newsgroups
into the Address Bar. You will get a list of possible sites. If
necessary, you can do a full search to locate additional sites. Also,
you may want to try searching with several search engines. We found
quite a few searching with WebCrawler, at
"Since Windows 95/98 is so big on using drag-and-drop, why can't
you just drag a picture file or whatever to an Outlook Express message
to send it as an attachment?"
You can--it's just a matter of logistics. Run Outlook Express and
create a new message. With your message still open, run Windows
Explorer and place its window beside your Outlook Express message. In
Explorer, locate a file you would like to attach to your message and
use the mouse to drag its icon to the body of your message.
By the way, any file you drag to the message--even a text
file--will appear as an attachment.
Need an e-mail address--someone you've lost contact with, or
someone you've been searching for to pay back that friendly loan? If
so, try EmailFerret. This program locates e-mail addresses of people
or companies using multiple databases. It's worth a try, since the
program is free. Just go to
"I like to have Outlook Express run when I start my computer in the
morning, so I put a shortcut to the program in my Start Up folder. The
problem is that the jokers I work with keep taking it out. I have seen
programs that start automatically without an entry in the Start Up
folder. Is it possible to do the same with Outlook Express?"
Yes, you can start a program automatically without using the Start
Up folder. The catch is that you have to edit the Windows 95/98
Registry to do it. To make the job easier and safer, we wrote a short
REG file to add Outlook Express to the Run key in the Windows
Registry.
Although a REG file is safer than fooling with RegEdit, you could
still have problems. We don't guarantee that any REG file will do what
you expect.
It is also very important that you enter the REG file as shown.
Where you see the words, BLANK LINE GOES HERE, press Enter--do not
type in BLANK LINE GOES HERE.
To create the REG file, run Notepad and enter the following code:
REGEDIT4
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Run]
C:\\WINDOWS\\SYSTEM\\EPSHELL.CPL,RUNDLL_EpIn"
"Outlook Express"="\"C:\\Program Files\\Outlook Express\\MSIMN.EXE\""
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
Choose File, Save As and name the file Outlook.reg. Locate a folder
for your new REG file and click Save. To run the file, double-click
its icon. You get a dialog box asking if you really want to enter this
data into the Registry. Click Yes. Another dialog box appears, telling
you that you have entered the data. Click OK.
Now restart the computer and Outlook Express will open
automatically. The jokers in your office will find nothing in the
Start Up folder to delete. Just watch out for their next
move--sabotage can be an unpleasant experience!
By now you've probably heard about Bubbleboy, the latest virus--one
that escapes the scrutiny of the currently available virus protection
programs. What makes this virus technique different is that you can
get it just by opening your mail--you don't have to open any
attachments.
As it exists now, Bubbleboy isn't especially damaging--it modifies
the Registry to make the registered user Bubbleboy, and the company
name becomes Vandelay Industries. It also attaches itself to your
e-mail and propagates itself to your recipients. If you suspect you
have been infected, right-click Start and choose Open. Double-click
Programs and then double-click StartUp. If you have a file named
update.hta, delete it. This will remove the virus, but will not change
the Registry entries.
A short time ago, we published a tip suggesting that one can get
rid of that large Deleted Items folder by deleting the folder and
allowing Outlook Express to create a new one.
"Just a note regarding one of your August Internet Explorer tips:
You mentioned that you can clear out your deleted mail by deleting a
couple of files. This will certainly work, but an even simpler
solution exists. Under default conditions, your mail gets moved to the
Deleted Items folder when you click the Delete button. But you'll
actually delete the files permanently if you select the Deleted Items
folder (so you can see the mail you've deleted), then choose File,
Delete."
"Sometimes I receive an attachment in an E-mail message (I am using
Internet Explorer 4 and Outlook Express) that I want to send on to
someone else without all the route info--particularly when many others
have sent along the attachment.
Normally, when I want to send part of an E-mail message that is in
the message body, I just cut and paste. Apparently this technique does
not work for attachments. I would appreciate your help."
Here's a technique you can try. Click Compose Message and enter the
recipient's address, subject, and so forth. With the new message still
open, open the message with the attachment. Place the two windows side
by side and drag the attachment to the body of the new message. Now
click Send, then click Send And Receive to send the message on its
way.
"I would like to send some Outlook Express messages with yellow
text on a black (or dark blue) background. I have no trouble setting
the text to yellow, but I don't see a way to get a black background.
Can you help?"
We can try. We suggest that you use a plain black stationery HTML
file. To create the file, run FrontPage Express and choose Format,
Background. When the Page Properties dialog box opens, click the arrow
at the right side of the Background list box. When the list expands,
select Black and click OK to close the dialog box and save your
selection.
Now choose File, Save As. When the Save As dialog box opens, click
As File. Name your file Black and save it in the \Program Files\Common
Files\Microsoft Shared\Stationery folder. Choose File, Exit to close
FrontPage Express.
Run Outlook Express now, and click the arrow at the right side of
Compose Message. When the Stationery menu opens, click More
Stationery, locate Black.htm, and double-click its icon. This will
open your new message with a black background. You can now set your
text color and write your message.
"I have never seen a tip on this subject. When you use Inbox
Assistant to assign messages to separate folders, you don't have to
fill in the >From box if the address is in your Address Book. All you
have to do is click the icon at the left side of the entry box and
Outlook Express
will open the Address Book. You can then select the address from the
list.
"If you would like to give this a try, run Outlook Express and
choose Tools, Inbox Assistant. When the Inbox Assistant dialog box
opens, click Add. Now click the icon at the left side of the From
entry box. When the Address Book opens, double-click the address you
want to use and then click OK to close the dialog box and record your
selection.
"Finally, select the folder to which you want to move files from
this address and click OK. In the Inbox Assistant dialog box, click OK
to close the dialog box and use your new settings."
"I have noticed that some copies of Outlook Express at work have
the company logo in the upper right corner of the window. I was told
that an ex-IS employee put them there, but no one else knows how. Do
you know if I can put a custom logo in my own copy of Outlook
Express?"
You can do it, but you'll need to edit the Registry. To make this
procedure easier and maybe a bit safer, we wrote a REG file to make
the changes. Again, although REG files are a little safer than using
RegEdit, we can't guarantee that any REG file will work as expected on
your system.
To generate the REG file, run Notepad and enter the following as
shown here. Where you see BLANK LINE GOES HERE, press Enter. Do not
type BLANK LINE GOES HERE.
REGEDIT4
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar]
"BrandBitmap"="c:\\windows\\MyLogo.bmp"
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
Enter your own logo file and its folder in the "BrandBitmap"= line.
Make sure you use the quotation marks, and also make sure you use the
double back slash for the path as shown in the sample file.
Now choose File, Save As and name the new file Logo.reg. Select a
folder for your new file and click Save. Next, you can double-click
the new file's icon to enter the data into the Registry. Click Yes in
the dialog boxes that open.
Note that you must keep your logo size to approximately 40 pixels
wide and 45 pixels high. If the logo is larger than this, you may get
some odd visual effects, which may or may not please you.
In any case, if you want to remove the logo, just modify the "BrandBitmap"=
line to "BrandBitmap"="" and save the file under a new name--perhaps
LogoOff.reg. Running the new file will remove your custom logo.
"I always hated that splash screen that pops up when you run
Outlook Express. As splash screens go, it's OK, but I just don't much
like splash screens. I decided to see if I could eliminate the splash
screen, and what I came up with was a REG file."
Although REG file is safer than using RegEdit, we can't guarantee
this file will do exactly what you expect on your system. Good luck.
If you decide to continue, run Notepad and enter the following as
shown here. Where you see BLANK LINE GOES HERE, press Enter to produce
a blank line--please don't type BLANK LINE GOES HERE.
REGEDIT4
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express]
"NoSplash"=dword:00000001
BLANK LINE GOES HERE
Now choose File, Save As and name the file NoSplash.reg. Locate a
folder to hold the file and click Save. To use the file, double-click
its icon. Click Yes in the first dialog box, and OK in the second.
The next time you start Outlook Express, it will open without the
splash screen.
"It seems to me that I'm always losing my Address Book. Whenever
anything at all goes wrong, the only thing I invariably lose is my
address book.
"Since I never remember to back up the Address Book, I decided to
write a batch file to do the job for me. Just copy the Address Book to
a folder named Utility. Next, back up the Utility folder before doing
anything drastic--such as reinstalling Windows 98.
"Here is a batch file you may want to try:
@echo off
copy "c:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\*.wab"
c:\Utility
"Just place the batch file into the Startup folder so it runs any
time you start the computer."
If you would like to duplicate Dennis's batch file, run Notepad and
type the code as shown above. Note: Don't forget the quotation
marks--they are necessary.
If you'd rather not create a folder named Utility, use any folder
you like. Just make sure the name in the batch file matches the folder
name. Now choose File, Save As and name the file addr.bat. Locate a
folder for the new file and click Save to save the file and close the
dialog box.
Run Windows Explorer and locate your addr.bat file. Next,
right-click Start and choose Open. When the Start Menu window opens,
double-click Programs. Next, double-click StartUp to open it. Now use
the right mouse button to drag addr.bat to the Startup folder window.
Choose Create Shortcut(s) Here from the menu that pops up when you
release the mouse button.
Finally, in the StartUp folder, right-click addr.bat and choose
Properties. When the Properties dialog box opens, click the Program
tab. Select the check box labeled "Close on exit" and then click the
arrow at the right side of the Run list box. When the list opens,
select Minimized and then click OK to close the dialog box and save
your settings.
The next time you start your computer, addr.bat will copy your
address book (or books) to the new folder.
"I always used to open my mail messages and then choose File,
Print, and so forth. I have found all this isn't really necessary. All
you really have to do is select the message you want to print, then
press Ctrl-P. When the Print dialog box opens, just press Enter and
the message prints."
"Sometimes Outlook Express asks if I want to send a message in
plain text or HTML. Which should I choose?"
The format is up to you. However, keep in mind that anyone can read
a plain text message, and some recipients can't read an HTML message.
To get Outlook Express to default to a format, run the program and
choose Tools, Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the
Send tab. Now you can select the check box labeled "Reply to messages
in the format in which they were sent".
Under Mail Sending Format, select the Plain Text radio button.
Click OK to close the dialog box and save your settings.
When you reply to someone who sent you an HTML message, Outlook
Express will use HTML for the reply. All mail you originate will
appear in plain text unless you choose to use HTML (in your new
message, choose Format, Rich Text (HTML). Now no one can accuse you of
being difficult.
"Is there an easy way to get Outlook Express to display messages in
the Inbox by subject? This would make it easier for me to deal with
the mail first thing in the morning."
By default, Outlook Express sorts messages by the date received.
However, you can tell Outlook to sort by subject. To do this, run
Outlook Explorer and go to the Inbox. Now choose View, Sort By,
Subject.
"I use Outlook Express in several newsgroups. There are times when
I have only a few minutes, so I like to read just those messages
posted in reply to my own messages. This is very easy to do in Outlook
Express. You just open a newsgroup and choose View, Current View,
Replies To My Posts."
This will work just fine for anyone who wants to see only replies.
The only thing you have to remember is that you need to set the view
back to All Messages or Unread Messages to read all the posts.
Otherwise, you might end up missing some important message from your
boss--ooooh, that wouldn't be good. To reset the view, choose View,
Current View, All Messages (or Unread Messages).
If you're new to Newsgroups, you may find you would like to find
out if all is working well by posting a test message. Don't post a
test message in your favorite newsgroup; use a Test Group instead.
To post to a Test Group, run Outlook Express and choose Go, News.
Now, click the Newsgroups button in the toolbar. When the Newsgroups
dialog box opens, type
test
and then select a test group from the list. Click Go To to navigate to
the selected test group. Next, click Compose Message. When the New
Message dialog box opens, enter
test
as the subject, and then enter whatever you want as a message. Click
Post to post the message to the newsgroup. Note: This last step sends
the message to your Outbox. To actually send the message to the
newsgroup, choose Tools, Send. Your message probably won't appear
immediately. You'll need to go back to the test group later to check
your posting. Good luck!
