Quick Access to Outlook Express Addresses

Outlook Express users can quickly access their address books by enabling the Contact view. Here's how:   In Outlook Express, click View from the menus   Click Layout Check the "Contacts" box Click OK Now with this mode enabled, you can simply double-click on an address book entry to pull up a new email addressed to that person. Remember that you can also quickly get to your address book in the...

How to open strange email attachments

One of the most common email questions we get is along the lines of how to open email attachments. An email attachment is a file that is sent along with a regular email message. The file or files can be photos, PowerPoint presentations, documents or just about anything else. Here are a few tips for opening strange email attachments. 1. Don’t do it unless you know it’s safe. There are still a few viruses out there...

Save yourself some grief

And money and time. We have many tips on our web site concerning passwords . The number one issue with passwords is remembering them. It’s crazy how many computer users I help that tell me, “I don’t have a password.”, when I query them about their email or Internet password to troubleshoot a problem or setup a new computer. ANYONE WHO HAS AN EMAIL ADDRESS HAS A PASSWORD. It may have been years since...

An analog tip for digital passwords

Sometimes the best solutions for our digital problems can be found in the analog world. Today I had a client who used a great method to remember all of her passwords. She used a little address book – the kind you keep next to your phone or in your car to keep track of important contact information. For example, you can put your Visa.com user name and password under the V section. Best of all, it doesn't look like a...

When it’s gone, it’s gone

Adam eluded to a trend that he has noticed about failing computers and hard drives lately. Indeed, I have seen the same epidemic. My question to you is, do you really know what the hard drive is and what its function is? Some computer users point to the box that sits on their desk or floor and call it a hard drive. Others know that it stores data. I think few understand how important and valuable the hard drive really is and...

Repair/Reinstall Outlook Express

We had a caller who had a problem importing and exporting her address book in Outlook Express. While we still haven't found a solution for her exact problem, this link will take you to Microsoft's support site that explain's how to repair and reinstall Outlook Express.

The backdoor to your Outlook Express addressbook

If your hard drive crashes and you need to find your Outlook Express addressbook – here is where you will find it in Windows XP. C:/Documents and Settings/(your user folder)/Application Data/Microsoft/Addressbook/(here you will find your addressbook). Before you try this maked sure you go into Tools/Folder Options and choose to show hidden folders. The addressbook will be called something like...

The power of databases

Lately, I have been helping a business customer set up a database to help manage a portion of their business. Databases are highly underutilized in the small to medium sized business. Databases differ greatly to spreadsheets and potentially offer many more benefits to using spreadsheets. Properly designed and built, a database can save many hours of data entry and reduce entry errors to almost zero. Databases also provide the...

Moving from AOL isn’t always easy, but it...

I am currently helping two clients make the move off of AOL after many long years of being AOL customers. While each client is having a few problems making the adjustment, each has stated that they small issues are worth it to get away from AOL. There are a few things that you need to get ready for when making the switch from AOL.  1. There is no easy way to backup your address book and move it over. You can print it out...

Changing your email address is easy

A new customer that I helped today uses AOL. She stated that she is frustrated with AOL’s support, price, and continuous barrage of advertising among other things. In the next breath, however, she said that she couldn’t leave AOL because too many people know her at that address and it would be hard to change email addresses. (I hear this comment many times every week). No matter who your Internet providers is,...

What should I back up?

Recently, you have heard me talk a great deal about flash memory drives and there usefulness for backup. One of our listeners/newsletter readers, recently asked what files are important to backup. So, tip number one in backup is to backup only those files that you create. These include but are not limited to: Financial program data (Quicken, Money, etc)  Email and other address books  Saved email messages Important...

Recycle a Floppy Disk

Floppy disks, as slow and old as they are compared to CD’s and Zip disks, still provide a useful tool in our computing lives. They dutifully back up our important files and allow us to share those files between computers and colleagues.   However,  did you realize that a floppy disk is reusable?  You can turn those old floppy disks into newly usable media again by...

Backups: Don’t try to double-click on them

I received many emails this week thanking me for the tip on how to back up your address book. Don’t forget that I also have past tips on how to print your address book as well, check out the archives below. However, I also received many questions regarding why when you try to double-click to view a back up file an error occurs. When you backup a database from within a program (like Quicken, Quickbooks, your address...

Print Address Book – Outlook Express Revisit...

Prompted by a listener, here is the procedure for printing a copy of your address book from Outlook Express with more control than the tip we discussed a few weeks ago. 1. Open your Address Book from within Outlook Express 2. Click on File 3. Click on Export 4. Click on Other Address Book 5. Click on Text File (Comma Separated Values) 6. Click on Export 7. Type in Address in the white box 8. Click on...

Printing your email address book – Outlook E...

As promised, here is the technique for Outlook Express and AOL users: Outlook Express Users 1. Start Outlook Express 2. Click on Tools from the menus 3. Click on Address Book 4. In the address book window, click on File from the menus, then Print 5. The print window gives you “style” options. Choose Business card for simplicity and to save paper AOL Users Use the “Print” option in...