If you really like saving all of your email, you might seriously consider getting a Gmail account. With today’s emails sometimes weighing in at 5 megabytes and more, email programs (Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, etc) can get extremely sluggish. Sluggish performance eventually leads to corrupt data which means you lose all your email.
You can take steps to avoid this, however, by following a few simple
You can back up your address book very simply to a floppy disk or USB Flash drive and the heartache it has the potential to prevent far outweighs the thirty seconds it takes to complete the task. Follow these steps depending on the program you use:
Outlook Express Windows Mail Users
Windows Mail Users(Vista)
Thunderbird Users
AOL Users
Version less than 6.0, Start AOL, open the address book, insert a floppy or USB flash drive and use the “Save/Replace” button to save your address book.
Versions greater than 6.0 do not have the option of saving to a floppy because the address book is actually saved on AOL’s computers.
Juno Users
Refer to the instructions at Juno’s web site for details if you are using Juno 5.0 or earlier. Juno Platinum users can retrieve email in Outlook Express and use the instructions above.
I ran into a problem today with a Windows Vista machine that apparently isn’t unique. This tip only applies to Windows Vista users who use Windows mail.
Problem: Can’t delete any messages in Windows Mail…which also prevents new messages from being read.
Symptom: When you try and delete a message in Windows Mail, you get an “Internal Error” message then have to restart the program.
Solution:
No, I’m not so obsessive-compulsive that I do things twice. What I’m referring to in the title of today’s Shotgun/Email Tip is that almost all email programs require you to delete your email twice. Whether you use Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, Thunderbird, AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, or any of the myriad of other email services, when you delete your email, the email isn’t gone. Deleted email ends up in the “Deleted Items” folder or “Trash” folder of your email.
To get rid of your email for good, go to your deleted items folder and use its “empty all” option or delete the individual emails you want to get rid of permanently.
Also, don’t forget that your Sent mail folder also needs cleaned from time-to-time.
Some computer users who work in an office or on a PC with other roomates or kids would like to password protect their email, calendar, contacts, etc in Microsoft Outlook. Until today, I didn’t know how to do that. As you know, when I learn something new, I pass it on to you. Remember, this tip is for OUTLOOK users NOT Outlook Express users:
The next time you open Outlook, you will be prompted for the password you just set thus protecting access to your Outlook data.
When we vacation, checking our snail mail is either left up to a house sitter or a neighbor. However, email is something we don't usually delegate to these fine folks who keep track of our snail mail and newspapers. Did you know that you can check your email from almost anywhere in the world?
It's true and this week's tip shows you how to do it. All email is sent not to you, but first to your provider. They don't read it, but it sits on their computers until you retrieve it, thus allowing you to check it remotely. While you are away from your home computer on vacation, the mail sits and accumulates on the provider's computer. You can check in on your email by logging into your provider's web site from any computer that has Internet access and read and write email.
I ran into a strange problem today with a client using Windows XP and Outlook Express. They had to install a new copy of Office 2007 because they lost their certificate of authenticity for their old copy (don't lose those folks). Subsequently, their spell checker in Outlook Express now only uses the French dictionary. Thanks Microsoft!! Once again, fabulous upgrade to the "new" Office 2007.
After some investigation it turns out that the only viable option for Windows XP users using Outlook Express and Office 2007 is to download a free spell checker for Outlook Express. We have been recommending this one for years . Click here to download and install the spell checker and your Outlook Express spell checking errors will be history…unless you are French.
Some computer users who encounter my rules of email sometimes pass off my thoughts as being too strict. Unfortunately, I know it isn't true. Today, for the upteenth time, I worked with a customer who has had her email address for less than a year and already is inundated with more than 75 spam per day. Luckily her Internet provider has a decent spam filter, but she still has to put up with a lot of unwanted spam. The only thing she uses the email address for is correspondence with some family, friends, and two religious oriented weekly email newsletters.
One of our callers today, Jeff, couldn't get forwarded emails to open if they were attachments. We believe this method may work to rectify the situation:
Use the following steps to use the Clear Cache button in Outlook:
1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Other tab.
2. Click Advanced Options.
3. In the Advanced Options box, click Custom Forms.
4. In the Custom Forms box, click Manage Forms.
5. In the Forms Manager box, click Clear Cache.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could sort your email by the date it was received or by the name of the sender?
If you use Microsoft Outlook Express (or Outlook), Mozilla Thurnderbird, or most other email systems), you can quickly sort all of your mail. AOL finally added this feature for its members just last year. As an added bonus, this tip will work with any computer or operating system.
To sort the mail:
That's it! Simple, clean and useful…give it a try!! Watch the video below to see this tip in action.