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Email Management and Internet Connectivity
Two very common areas which I find people need help with are email management (especially Outlook Express) and setting up internet connections. I discuss these in this page. Also, various aspects of data security such as virus-checking are frequently requested and these topics are covered on my pages on data security.
- Outlook Express
There are numerous features of Outlook Express which are often unexplored and under-utilised but are extremely useful - such as message filtering, sorting emails by various criteria, creating multiple identities, etc. I can assist you in managing your emails in a way that may save you many hours of labouriously wading through thousands of emails to find what you are looking for, dealing with spam, etc., etc.
There is a very useful website which explains a great deal about Outlook Express. If you ever have any problems go here (or ask me!). The Microsoft knowledgebase is also full of useful fixes for Outlook Express problems. I have used these before and find them very good.
- Internet Connections As a rule of thumb, I would recommend that any connections you make to the internet are set up manually using Windows Dial-up Networking rather than via the CD-ROMs which most Internet Service Providers produce. This is for two reasons:
- These CD-ROMs usually automatically re-install Internet Explorer and Outlook Express which can cause problems especially if they contain an older version of this software than that which you are currently using. As Internet Explorer is so tightly integrated within the Windows operating system, any attempt to go back to an earlier version can wreak havoc. I am not sure if the installation would be stalled, but I would not like to take the risk. (I would also add that if you have anti-virus software already installed this could cause a conflict during setup. This latter problem is addressed in my security advice page.)
- They also often heavily customise Internet Explorer and Outlook Express in such a way that it becomes very hard to set up another internet connection with another provider! Morever, this customisation can adversely affect some of the plug-ins you may wish to use for these programmes. For example, I was unable to get an anti-virus email scanner to work with one such customised version of Outlook Express. Some companies, who shall be nameless, are notorious for this sort of thing, and, moreover, they sometimes also install a whole lot of extra software that you may not want and may find it hard to get rid of later!
My suggestion would be that if the ISP you wish to use does not offer you the opportunity to set up your own connection to them via dial-up networking, or insist that you must download some substantial connection software, then go somewhere else!! You may save yourself a lot of headaches in the future.
Computing.net Forum is useful for any questions you might have. As anyone is free to contribute, the advice does vary in quality so I would recommend you double-check with other forums if you are in any doubt.
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