21.Outlook Express neatly organizes and displays the status of your messages

Outlook Express neatly organizes and displays the status of your messages in its opening display. Each time you start the program, you find a vertical list of the following

- E-mail: With buttons you can click to access unread messages, create a new message, and review messages you've already read. - Newsgroups: With buttons you can click to access both unread and read postings. - Contacts: With buttons that let you open your address book or find people.

Below all these items is a check box labeled When Outlook Express Starts, Go Directly to My Inbox. Select this option and, naturally, the next time you run Outlook Express, you see the Inbox instead of the overall list.

22.Open or save an attachment

When you open an attachment in Outlook Express or download a file from the Internet with Internet Explorer, you get by default a dialog box asking you whether you wish to open this file or save it to disk. In this dialog box is also a check box to Always ask before opening this type of file. If you accidentally unchecked this box, you won't get this dialog anymore and are stuck with whatever action you chose the last time. But you can easily fix this and get the dialog back. Open Windows Explorer, go to View/(Folder) Options, and select the File Types tab. Find the file type that you have the problem with and double-click it. In the resulting dialog box, put the check mark back in the box to Confirm open after download.

23.Flag each message that you reply to

Outlook Express does not indicate which opened messages have been replied to, but here is one way to handle it: Flag each message that you reply to. Find the message in the list and click on its Flag column.

24.Customizing Your Toolbar In Outlook Express

The Outlook Express toolbar is a wide swath of your screen and the easy way to quick action. Make it your own, with the tools that fit your needs

1. Right-click the toolbar and choose Buttons from the pop-up menu. The Customize Toolbar dialog box shows a list of available buttons on the left and a list of the actual buttons in the bar on the right.

2. From the list on the left, click any buttons you want to add; then click Add.

3. From the list on the right, click any button you want to remove and click Remove.

4. To move the buttons around, click a button you want in a different position on the bar and then click the Move Up or Move Down button.

5. Click Close.

25.Creating Folders in Outlook Express

When it comes to e-mail, do you keep all your messages around, just in case? In itself, message hoarding isn't too much of a problem. But what IS a problem is keeping all the messages in the same place--most likely your Inbox folder. The solution? Move the messages out of Inbox and into a well thought-out system of folders. Number one, your messages will be easier to find. Two, you'll leave your Inbox free and clear to do its job--receive new messages. Here's how:

Choose File + Folder + New Folder to open the Create Folder dialog box In the Folder Name text box, type a Folder name.

Select the folder in which you'd like to create the new folder. (For example, if you want the folder to be at the same level as Inbox or Sent Items, select Outlook Express.)

Click OK. Repeat these steps to create new folders and/or folders within new folders. As you create new folders, they appear in your Folder List.

26.Set Outlook's mail to organize messages the way you want

Set Outlook's mail to organize messages the way you want. In fact, each and every folder can sort your messages a different way

1. Click the Mail bar.

2. Right-click a folder you want to sort and choose Properties from the pop-up menu.

3. In the Properties dialog box, click the Administration tab.

4. In the Initial View on Folder drop-down list, choose one of the following: Normal, Group by From, Group by Subject, Group by Conversation Topic, or Unread by Conversation.

5. Click OK

27.The list of folders along the left side of your Outlook Express window

The list of folders along the left side of your Outlook Express window? Sure, this list is convenient, but if you'd rather use that space for your message list and preview, try the collapsible Folder Bar:

Choose View > Layout. Under Basic, deselect Outlook Bar and select Folder Bar. Click OK. Just below the Compose Message button is the name of the current folder. Click it to display the folder hierarchy and select the folder you want. If you'd rather view the complete folder hierarchy at all times, choose View > Layout and then select Folder List in the Basic area of the dialog box

28.Compress your folders so that they take up less space and perform more efficiently. To compress your folders

1. Choose Tools + Services.

2. In the Services dialog box, select Personal Folders.

3. Click Properties.

4. In the Properties dialog box, select Compact Now and click OK.

5. Click OK again.

29.How to change your default name in the FROM field

When you created your e-mail account, you told Outlook Express which name to attach to outgoing messages. If, in a fit of whimsy, you told it to identify you as Fred Flintstone, you may want to change it back to your real name.

1. Click Tools + Accounts.

2. Click the Mail tab.

3. Select the appropriate e-mail account, then click Properties.

4. In the Name Box (under User Information) type the name you want displayed in the From field in outgoing messages.

5. Click OK.

30.Adding a signature to your mail in Outlook Express

If you want, you can have Outlook Express "sign" every one of your messages like that too. Here's how:

1. Choose Tools + Stationery.

2. On the Mail tab, click the Signature button.

3. Select the option Add This Signature to All Outgoing Messages.

4. With Text selected, type your signature--your name, title, e-mail address, a quote, whatever--in the text box.

5. Click OK twice.

Now every time you open the New Message dialog box, you see this signature, ready to take its place at the bottom of your message. Compose your message as usual but forget about the signing part. It's already done! If for some reason, you do not want it on a particular mail, just simple highlight it and then delete it.

31.Do You Need to set up an extra e-mail account in Outlook Express?

Need to keep these two accounts separate? To set up another account, run Outlook Express and choose Tools, Accounts. When the Internet Accounts dialog box opens, click the Mail tab, then click Add, Mail. Now enter all the necessary information. Once you've entered your account information, click Close to dismiss the Internet Accounts dialog box. To test out your new account, click Compose Message and enter a message to yourself. Now choose File, Send Mail Using, and the name of your new account.

32.Outlook Express doesn't automatically show you all of the details of a message header

Outlook Express doesn't automatically show you all of the details of a message header. It hides most of them, just showing what most e-mail readers need. You can still see the rest of the details if and when you need them by right-clicking the message, then opening Properties, Details.

33.When you click on the Send & Receive button

When you click on the Send & Receive button, Outlook Express starts pushing out and grabbing in all of your mail. What if you don't want it to? Well, for email accounts. Perhaps you use one computer at home for a personal account most of the time, but do want the option of receiving business mail on it too. Both of those accounts must be set up in the Tools + Accounts area. However, you can set one of them--the business account in this example--to not automatically get its mail. On those rare occasions when you do want that home personal computer to grab the latest in your business box. Here's how you set up an account without automatic Send & Receive

1. Open Tools + Accounts.

2. In the Internet Accounts dialog box, click to select the account, then click on Properties.

3. In the Properties dialog box, click on the General tab.

4. Near the bottom of the dialog box, click to remove the checkmark from Include this account when doing a full Send and Receive.

5. Click on OK and then on Close.

34.Getting Rid of SPAM (Becoming one of the biggest problems on the Internet)

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.

35.Inserting a Hyperlink into your Email

1. Click the Compose Message icon on the toolbar. (If you don't see a toolbar of options just below the Subject line, choose Format + Rich Text [html] to make the toolbar appear.)

2. Type the body of your message, including some text you'd like to link to a Web page. (For example, you might type, "Click HERE if you want to see my Web site.")

3. Select the text you want to link to the Web page (in our example, "HERE").

4. Click the Insert Hyperlink button.

5. Type the address to the link in the URL text box (for example, http://www.yoursite.com).

6. Click OK.

7. Finish composing your message.

8. Click Send.

When the recipient clicks your hyperlink (assuming he or she has a browser installed), the link takes that person directly to your Web site.

36.Filtering Out Your Read Mail

Do you have a lot of messages in a folder--some read, some unread? When you're ready to tackle those unread messages, don't waste your energy scanning the message list for bold text. (As you may have noticed, unread messages appear in bold.)

Ask Outlook Express to filter out everything you've already read. Just choose View > Current View > Unread Messages. All but the unread messages disappear from the message list (and the message lists of every other folder). To make all the read messages reappear, choose View > Current View > All Messages.

If you decide to use this option, you should be aware that, by default, Outlook Express marks as "read" any message that's been sitting in the preview pane for five seconds. (A "read" message no longer appears in bold in the message list.) But just because a message hangs out in the preview pane for a bit doesn't mean you've actually had a chance to READ it. If you want to be sure you don't miss anything, turn off this automatic marking:

Choose Tools + Options. Click the Read tab. Deselect Message Is Read After Being Previewed for 5 Seconds. Click OK. Outlook Express marks a message read only if you scroll through the message in the preview pane, double-click a message to open it in a separate window, OR manually mark the message read (select the message and choose Edit > Mark as Read).

37.Using the Block Sender command to block email from certain people

1. Click a message from the sender you want to block.

2. Choose Message + Block Sender. An Outlook Express dialog box appears, telling you that the sender of this message has been added to your Blocked Senders list. You won't be seeing any more mail from that person: It's liquidated before it reaches your Inbox.

3. Click Yes in this box if you want to delete all current messages from this sender; click No if you want a last look at them.

Outlook Express 5 lets you block any messages sent from a particular sender. If you make a mistake, though, and start blocking messages from someone you still need to contact, you can edit the Blocked Senders list.

1. Choose Tools + Message Rules + Blocked Senders List.

2. In the Message Rules dialog box, with the Blocked Senders tab showing, click the address you need.

3. Click Remove and then click OK.

Now you'll receive any messages sent from that address.

38.Outlook Express 5 can give you a background color across the entire window


Outlook Express 5 can give you a background color across the entire window of an e-mail.

1. In the New Message window, choose Format + Background.

2. From the menu that appears, select a color (click it).

Your chosen color fills the message window.

With Outlook Express 5, you can also insert a background image in the email

1. In the New Message window, choose Format + Background + Picture.

2. In the Background Picture dialog box, click Browse and choose a picture from your disk drive.

3. Click OK.

39.Adding Sound to an Email with Outlook Express

1. In the New Message window, choose Format + Background + Sound.

2. In the Background Sound dialog box, click the Browse button and find the tune you want. Select the tune and click OK to get back to the Background Sound dialog box.

3. Back in the Background Sound dialog box, select either of these two options: Play the Sound for a set number of repeats or Continuously.

4. Click OK.

5. Complete your message and send it.

40.Drag and drop your email attachments

Need to add a file attachment to the e-mail you're composing? Don't bother with all those commands inside your e-mail editor. (For example, in Outlook Express, you'd select Insert, File Attachment, and so on.) Try a drag and drop--it's much faster.

Minimize your open message window and locate the file(s) you want to attach (for example, on the desktop). Click and drag the file(s) down to the open message's taskbar item, hold the mouse there for a second until the window opens, then drop the file(s) inside.