Outlook Express Tips

Look in the msoe.txt file located in the Outlook Express folder for tips and advice on using Outlook Express. To get rid of spam, create this rule; "Where the To or CC line Does Not Contain <your email address> Move to folder Possible Spam." If you're having problems sending or receiving mail then turn the logging on. To do this go to the Tools menu, select Options then the Maintenance Tab and select the Mail option in the Troubleshooting box. Now have another go at collecting your mail. To view the log goto the "\Windows\Application Data\Identities\[ID Number]\Microsoft\Outlook Express" folder, and open the pop3.log file. Lines marked with [rx] are ones received from the remote mail server and ones marked [tx] are messages sent from your pc. To stop disconnecting after sending or receiving mail select Tools->Options->Connections to clear the 'Hang up after sending and receiving' option if it is checked. To remove any ISP branding on the title bar use Notepad to create a file called debranding.ins which contains the following two lines -

[Internet_Mail]

Window_Title=Outlook Express

Open Explorer and double-click the file, selecting OK to accept changes to settings.

To reduce the size of your folders regularly compact them. Select File->Folder->Compact All Folders. If more than one person uses Outlook Express on your computer set up identities giving everyone their own mailbox. Select File->Identities->Manage Identities->New and the name of the new person. When you restart you will be asked for the identity to use. You can also use File->Switch Identities. When exiting ensure you select 'Exit and Log Off Identity'. Setup groups to make sending mails to the same set of people easier. Select Tools->Address Book->File->New Group. Add the required people. Now when composing your mail put the group name into the To, CC or BCC field as required. Use the 'Send To' options in Windows Explorer and Microsoft Office programs to send the selected document. Saves opening Outlook Express. To disable the splash screen run REGEDIT and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\[ID Number]\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express\5.0 and add a new DWORD value called NoSplash and set its value to 1. To removing the < marks when forwarding email choose Tools|Options. When the Options dialog opens, click the Send tab. Now, under "Mail Sending Format" click Plain Text Settings. Deselect the check box labeled "Indent the original text with < when replying or forwarding" and then click OK. Back in Options, click OK to close the dialog box and save your new selection. You can use BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) to send e-mail to a group of people so that each recipient doesn't know there are other recipients. To do this, send e-mail to yourself with all the recipients listed in BCC. To display BCC choose View->All Headers. If you want to hide it again, repeat the process -- this is a toggle command.

Outlook Tips

To restore your default Outlook bar run Outlook with the /resetoutlookbar switch. To cure problems with customised menus and toolbars, locate a file named Outcmd.dat. Rename the file to Outcmd.old. Now start Outlook and all the default setting will be rebuilt. To resolve problems with corrupted views and reminders run Outlook with the /cleanviews and /cleanreminders switch. To go to the Inbox select <CTRL> <SHIFT> I, to go to the Outbox select <CTRL> <SHIFT> O. To create a new email select <CTRL> N. To see further keyboard shortcuts for creating new items, select File->New.