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Email Tips

Printing your email address book – Outlook Express & AOL

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 your address book and choose from a single user, entire address book and choose whether you want all details for just essential information…choose the latter.

Printing your email address book – Netscape/Mozilla

Many people would like to print their address books as a backup. However, a better backup is to save your address book periodically on floppy disk.

Netscape Users

1. Click on Communicator from the menus, click on Address Book.
2. Click on the File menu
3. Click on Export
4. Click in the “save in” box and choose Desktop
5. Name the file address
6. Click in the “save as type” box and choose tab delimited
7. Click on Save
8. Close the address book
9. Click on Communicator from the menus, click on Navigator
10. Click on File from the menus
11. Click on “Open Page”

One Additional Defense Against Email Viruses

This simple tip should not be a substitute for anti-virus programs and keeping them updated, but can be an affective adjunct to anti-virus programs.

As always, remember that viruses can come from friends and family. Although not on purpose, if a friend or family email buddy received a virus unknowingly, they will propagate the virus unknowingly as well.

Because we have a tendency to look at email attachments, institute this easy method of intercepting some of the most virulent of viruses…the Visual Basic Script virus or worm (VBS). Follow these steps carefully and verbatim:

1. Click on Start –> Programs –> Accessories –> Notepad

Use Email Filters to Organize Email

If you receive more than a few email per day, you could probably benefit from using email filters. All major email programs can be used to look at your email as it comes in and then shift it to a designated folder or even delete it.

Before starting to use a filter, set up some email folders to organize your messages. Simply having an Inbox that collects all incoming mail can be cumbersome to work with and makes it easy to lose important messages.

In my email program, I have set up over 25 folders that collect and organize everything from listener mail, newsletters, daily tips that I receive, mail from specific contacts and more. When I check for email, the program applies the rules (filters) that I have setup and shifts the mail to where it belongs.

The efficient way to email your digital photos

I often get emails from family or friends who have recently been on vacation or been involved in some other event and they want to share a handful of photos with everyone in their address book. Some of the email works out great, but other email doesn’t quite make it through the way sender intended.

Emailing photos can be one of the most troublesome things you can do with your email for several reasons.

1. Non-resized photos can take a long time to upload to send through email on a dialup line.
2. Non-resized photos can take a long time to download for everyone you send the email to. Nothing is more aggravating than waiting 20 minutes for a photo to download so you can read your email, only to find out that the photo is of a funny position that the cat fell asleep in.

Delete an Email without opening it

A common question I am asked is how to delete an email without opening it first. Keep in mind that if you keep your anti-virus software up to date AND you don’t open suspicious attachments…even from people you know, you will lower your risk factor significantly.

To delete email without opening it in Outlook Express follow these steps:

1. Click on View from the menus
2. Click Layout
3. Uncheck the box next to “Show Preview Pane”
4. Click OK

Now you have to double-click on messages to read them, but you can delete messages without them opening

Cleaning up Headers in Email

This tip was prompted by an email from Jean. She, like many other people, is frustrated with email header information and wanted to learn how to print email without all the headers. This technique will work no matter what email program you are using.

The only way to get rid of headers when printing is to follow this procedure:

1. Start your Email session as normal
2. Keep your email open, but now Click on Start–Programs–Accessories–Notepad
3. This will open up the small program called Notepad (notice that you now have 2 buttons on the bar next to the Start button…one for your email and one for Notepad

Beware of Fraudulent Email

This week I had the unfortunate job of helping a client of mine change email addresses and passwords. Not that the change itself was unfortunate, it was the reason for the change. Earlier in the week, she fell prey to an Internet scam known as ‘phishing’.

Phishing starts in our email box. The email looks and almost sounds completely official and usually claims to represent a large company like AOL, Earthlink, Citibank, eBay, etc. Even the company’s logo and maybe an address or telephone number will appear in the email as well. The email states that either the company has had a catastrophic computer melt down and needs to rebuild their customer information database OR it says that for your security you need to react.

Attach files to email

Follow these simple guidelines for attaching files to email.

1. First and foremost, pay attention to the size of the files you are sending. As a rule of thumb, try not to send files larger than 750 kilobytes per email. If your files are larger than this, use a compression program like WinZip to make them smaller.

2. Be cognizant of what types of files you are sending. Sending files that are 'generic' in format will ensure readability for your recipient.

Adding a Mail notification sound to your email

OK, I?m going to pick on AOL a little this week. Who believes that ?You?ve got mail!? is not only horrible grammar, but also pretty corny!

If you are an AOL user and want to change that sound or are an independent Internet user who uses Netscape, or Outlook Express, Eudora, etc for their mail, this tip will help you add your own customized sound to your email.

The first thing you need is a sound file. You can get this one of three ways:

1. Use the stock sounds that come with Windows
2. Download a sound from the Internet (see Links of Interest below)
3. Or my favorite, record your own sound (or record your children, grandchildren, friend, dog, etc )

All Rights Reserved © 2024 Rick Castellini
All Rights Reserved © 2024 Rick Castellini