Microsoft Outlook - How to Leave A Copy Of Messages On the Server

If the option to Leave a copy of the message on the server is missing in Outlook 2010, it may be due to the type of email account you use. Of the most common types of email accounts, only POP3 accounts download the email to your computer.

If you have an IMAP, or HTTP (Gmail, Outlook.com etc.) account, mail is not generally stored on your computer. All email remains on the mail server until you delete it.

To enable (or disable) the Leave a copy of the message on the server option, follow these steps:

1. Open Outlook.
2. Click the File tab > Account settings.
3. Highlight your current POP3 account and click Change.
   Note: The window that opens will tell you what type of email account you have. (Look under Type.)
4. Choose More settings and click on Advanced.
5. You should see a check box titled: Leave a copy of messages on the server.
6. Checking the box will enable Leave a copy of the message on the server.

Note: Enabling Leave a copy of the message on the server will allow you to access your email from multiple computers.

If you would like to know more about different email account types, see Introduction to e-mail account types.

Recalling an Email

If you're in an Exchange environment (work, school, etc.) meaning your mail server is an Exchange server, when you try to recall a message you'll get an email in return that either your recall was successful or it wasn't (the recipient already opened it). 

If you're a home user and your mail server is hosted by an ISP or webmail (Gmail, Hotmail, etc.), then recalling a message won't work. 

In order to recall a message, if you have a Microsoft Exchange mail serever, you must do it directly from the sent email. You'll find the selection under Other Options. 

If you are connected to any other type of mail server, this option won't work. Outlook is an excellent product, and as a Microsoft product works best when connected to a Microsoft Exchange server and you'll have access to all the functions. including both Message Recall and even Recovering Deleted Items. 

If you're a home user, Outlook is still an excellent product but will lose some degree of functionality as a result. 

Introducing Windows 10

Here's a quick rundown:

- Return of the Start menu. After being inexplicably removed from Windows 8, the Start menu is back, and includes a new personalizable space for favorite apps, programs and websites.

- Apps in windows. With Windows 10, Microsoft has standardized the format for apps from the Windows Store and regular desktop programs. Both now run in traditional windows that can be resized and minimized from the bar at the top.

 - Multiple desktops. A feature Mac users have enjoyed for years: the ability to create and swap between different desktops.

- A soup-ed Snap. The "Snap" feature, which allows users to work on multiple apps at once from the same screen, has been redesigned with a new quadrant layout to allow for up to four programs at once.

- New Task view button. A new button on the task bar takes you straight to a single screen that displays all your open apps and files (the old Alt + Tab trick).

 Microsoft will allow business customers to choose specific Windows features to upgrade one at a time, rather than being forced to transition all at once from an older version.

Microsoft says Windows 10 "will run across the broadest range of devices ever," from consumer products like PCs, tablets, Xboxes and phones to enterprise data centers and "Internet of Things" connected devices. There will be just a single app store for all these formats, and Microsoft says it will be possible for developers to write an application once and then deploy it across device types.

  

   

How to Ask a Question So You Get the Help You Need

Before asking a technical question by e-mail, or in a newsgroup, or on a website chat board, do the following:

1. Try to find an answer by searching the archives of the forum you plan to post to.
2. Try to find an answer by searching the Web.
3. Try to find an answer by reading the manual.
4. Try to find an answer by reading a FAQ.
5. Try to find an answer by inspection or experimentation.
6. Try to find an answer by asking a skilled friend.

Be sensitive in choosing where you ask your question. You are likely to be ignored, or written off as a loser, if you:

• post your question to a forum where it's off topic
• post a very elementary question to a forum where advanced technical questions are expected, or vice-versa
• cross-post to too many different newsgroups
• post a personal e-mail to somebody who is neither an acquaintance of yours nor personally responsible for solving your problem

The first step, therefore, is to find the right forum. Again, Google and other Web-searching methods are your friend. Use them to find the project webpage most closely associated with the hardware or software giving you difficulties. Usually it will have links to a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list, and to project mailing lists and their archives. These mailing lists are the final places to go for help, if your own efforts (including reading those FAQs you found) do not find you a solution. The project page may also describe a bug-reporting procedure, or have a link to one; if so, follow it.

On mailing lists, newsgroups or Web forums, the subject header is your golden opportunity to attract qualified experts' attention in around 50 characters or fewer. Don't waste it on babble like “Please help me” (let alone “PLEASE HELP ME!!!!”; messages with subjects like that get discarded by reflex). Don't try to impress us with the depth of your anguish; use the space for a super-concise problem description instead.
One good convention for subject headers, used by many tech support organizations, is “object - deviation”. The “object” part specifies what thing or group of things is having a problem, and the “deviation”part describes the deviation from expected behavior.

Stupid:

HELP! Video doesn't work properly on my laptop!

Smart:

X.org 6.8.1 misshapen mouse cursor, Fooware MV1005 vid. chipset

Smarter:

X.org 6.8.1 mouse cursor on Fooware MV1005 vid. chipset - is misshapen

More generally, imagine looking at the index of an archive of questions, with just the subject lines showing. Make your subject line reflect your question well enough that the next guy searching the archive with a question similar to yours will be able to follow the thread to an answer rather than posting the question again.

Out of courtesy, do not hijack someone else's thread. Start your own. You may think you have the same problem but you might not. Keep your question separate from others. 

Write in clear, grammatical, correctly-spelled language

We've found by experience that people who are careless and sloppy writers are usually also careless and sloppy at thinking and coding (often enough to bet on, anyway). Answering questions for careless and sloppy thinkers is not rewarding; we'd rather spend our time elsewhere.
So expressing your question clearly and well is important. If you can't be bothered to do that, we can't be bothered to pay attention. Spend the extra effort to polish your language. It doesn't have to be stiff or formal — in fact, hacker culture values informal, slangy and humorous language used with precision. But it has to be precise; there has to be some indication that you're thinking and paying attention.
Spell, punctuate, and capitalize correctly. Don't confuse “its” with “it's”, “loose” with “lose”, or “discrete” with “discreet”. Don't TYPE IN ALL CAPS; this is read as shouting and considered rude.

If you are asking questions in a forum that does not use your native language, you will get a limited amount of slack for spelling and grammar errors — but no extra slack at all for laziness (and yes, we can usually spot that difference). Also, unless you know what your respondent's languages are, write in English. Busy hackers tend to simply flush questions in languages they don't understand, and English is the working language of the Internet. By writing in English you minimize your chances that your question will be discarded unread.
If you are writing in English but it is a second language for you, it is good form to alert potential respondents to potential language difficulties and options for getting around them. Examples:

• English is not my native language; please excuse typing errors.
• If you speak $LANGUAGE, please email/PM me; I may need assistance translating my question.
• I am familiar with the technical terms, but some slang expressions and idioms are difficult for me.
• I've posted my question in $LANGUAGE and English. I'll be glad to translate responses, if you only use one or the other.

Be precise and informative about your problem

• Describe the symptoms of your problem or bug carefully and clearly.
• Describe the environment in which it occurs (machine, OS, application, whatever). Provide your vendor's distribution and release level (e.g.: “Fedora Core 7”, “Slackware 9.1”, Windows 7 Home or Windows 7 Professional, etc.).
• Describe the research you did to try and understand the problem before you asked the question.
• Describe the diagnostic steps you took to try and pin down the problem yourself before you asked the question.
• Describe any possibly relevant recent changes in your computer or software configuration.
• If at all possible, provide a way to reproduce the problem in a controlled environment.

Do the best you can to anticipate the questions the person answering will ask, and answer them in advance in your request for help. Don't ignore their questions, don't make them go back and forth with questions to try and figure out your problem. 

If you are asked a direct question, don't ignore it. Please give a concise answer. People are very quick to dump a question when they don't get straight answers. 

Remember to describe your problem with details, try to anticipate any questions, be clear and concise, spelling counts, and use good manners. 

Distribution List Size Limits - Microsoft Exchange with Outlook

There is a limit (29 KB) to how large a distribution list stored on the server can be.

Distribution lists are saved lists of email addresses for use when sending a message to a

number of recipients. Generally, personal distribution lists will be stored in your personal Contacts list on the Microsoft Exchange server.

The limit for distribution lists stored on the server, is based on the size of the individual

contacts, not the number of contacts. Each distribution list can not exceed 29KB. This

limit applies whether the members of the distribution list are selected from your Contacts

folder, entered as full email addresses, or selected directly from the Global Address list

(GAL). Any single distribution list cannot exceed 29KB.

If you use very basic information for each contact (for example, only the name and the email address), your distribution list limit may be as high as 125 to 130 contacts.

If you have additional information on each contact (address, phone/fax numbers, birthdates, etc.), your distribution list limit may be significantly lowered.  

 

Outlook Send and Receive Issues

Whenever you have problems sending or receiving mail with Microsoft Outlook, there are basic troubleshooting steps to take.

I will cover both Outlook crashes as well as Outlook send/receive errors.

Note: If you are getting send/receive errors instead of crashes, see the guide; Send/Receive errors

If Outlook crashes when you try to send and/or receive, here are the first steps you should take:

Disable virus scanner integration

This is really where you need to start. If you still have a virus scanner installed which integrates itself with Outlook, disable this integration and try again. Turning off your virus scanner will not disable its integration components, what this means is that turning off your antivirus will not stop it from interfering with Outlook. Check the documentation of your virus scanner carefully to see how to properly disable its mail integration. It may be as simple as disabling the email scanning service, or it may be more complicated than that.
You can also opt to uninstall your virus scanner completely to make sure it cannot interfere while testing. Be cautious though, some brands of antivirus do not uninstall as gracefully as others (Symantec/Norton is an excellent example and requires a utility that you need to download from their website to complete the uninstall). Afterwards you can install it again without the mail scanning features or use Microsoft Security Essentials instead.
Contrary to common beliefs, you are still fully protected if your virus scanner does not integrate with Outlook. The real time scanner will catch everything it's updated for so please make sure that your application is kept up to date at all times. Also see; Disable virus scanner integration?

Reset send/receive settings

Outlook keeps the send/receive settings in an srs-file. If this file ends up corrupted, the send/receive will crash. To reset your send/receive settings, all you have to do is renaming the srs-file to .old when Outlook is closed. You can find the file in the following location;

• Windows 7 and Windows Vista
  C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook\
• Windows XP
  C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\

Note 1: The file is called <profilename>.srs where <profilename> stands for the name of your Outlook Mail Profile. By default this is called Outlook so the file would then be called outlook.srs and you would rename it to outlook.old or outlook.srs_old.
Note 2: Resetting the srs-file won't delete any mail accounts you've configured in Outlook. It only resets information such as how often Outlook checks the server for new mail.
Note 3: You must enable the view in Windows Explorer so that you can a) see file extensions for known file types, and b) Show hidden files and folders. Tools > Folder Options > View.

NOTE: As of March 2014, I will no longer support Windows XP as it has been end-of-lifed by Microsoft, and in March they will no longer release updates, hotfixes, security patches, etc. for this old operating system.

Pst-file corruption and size

If your pst-file is corrupted, then writing new data to it could crash Outlook as well. To scan your pst-file for errors you can use the Inbox Repair Tool (scanpst.exe).
If the pst-file is reaching the 2GB (usually around 1.6 - 1.8 GB) and you are using an ANSI formatted pst-file, you are reaching the limit of the pst-file. You must then start with a new pst-file. If you are in ANSI format and are using Outlook 2003 or later, you can convert your pst-file to a Unicode formatted pst-file.

Corrupt message on mail server

If the message on your mail server to be downloaded is not what Outlook expected, depending on the message corruption, Outlook could crash. To fix this, simply logon to your mailbox via the web interface provided by your ISP or company and take a look at the messages that still need to be downloaded. If the send/receive crash is caused by a corrupt message, it often is not hard to detect which message it is; often it is caused by a spam message.
Delete the corrupt message from the web based mailbox and try the send/receive function in Outlook again.
Note: Some web mailboxes require you to delete the message twice to really get rid of it. For instance, if your ISP is using H-Sphere Horde Mail, look for the “Purge Deleted” option.

Recreate the mail profile

If Outlook still crashes when you send/receive, the issue might be your actual mail profile. To verify this, you can recreate your mail profile.

Further troubleshooting

Still nothing? Further details about your crash and Outlook environment is needed. Look in the Event Viewer to locate Outlook’s error log. Then post this crash log including additional information about your environment (such as version of Outlook, version of Windows and type of mail account) in one of the Outlook Forums.

Office 365 - Resolving Outlook Connectivity Issues

Users of Microsoft Office 365 commonly report having trouble connecting Outlook to Exchange online. In most of the documented cases, this particular problem affects only a small number of overall users. There is no one fix for the problem, but there are a few things that can help you to troubleshoot and solve Outlook connectivity issues for some Office 365 users.

1) Make sure Outlook really is the problem!

First, you need to verify if the problem is truly with Outlook. Use an alternate method of connectivity to open your mailbox. For example, you might try accessing Outlook Web App (OWA) or through Exchange ActiveSync.
If the mailbox is accessible through OWA or Exchange ActiveSync, it means the problem is  likel to bey Outlook. If it isn't, the problem is then probably related to an Office 365 connectivity issue or even a corrupted mailbox.

2) Can you use Outlook from a different PC?

If you can determine that Outlook as a probable cause for a connection problem, try using Outlook to open the your mailbox on a different PC. If this works, then you've verified that the mailbox is not corrupted. If you can't open the mailbox on any PC but Outlook works for other mailboxes (but not yours), there may very well be a mailbox corruption issue at work. Before jumping to conclusions, there are other troubleshooting steps that can be taken first.

3. Reset your password. It's worth a shot.

Try resetting your Office 365 password. Even though we think it should not logically make a difference, there have been a number of documented cases in which people could suddenly use Outlook to connect to their mailboxes once their Office 365 password was reset.

4) Delete your profile

Try deleting your profile on the PC that you use to connect to Office 365. There are lots of documented reports of profile corruption that can interfere with Outlook connectivity. Most of these reports center on the Outlook OST (offline storage) file.

If the OST file is to blame, deleting the user profile should correct the connectivity issue because the OST file is a part of the user's profile. There isn't a definitive explanation for why the OST file becomes corrupted, but some speculate it may be a result of the way Outlook 2013 compresses OST file contents.

NOTE: As a first step though, I would actually recommend that with Outlook closed, you locate rename the OST file first. Try opening Outlook to see if that helps (the OST file should recreate itself, though this may slow Outlook down a bit while it completes this task - how long depends on how much mail you have). If that doesn't work, THEN try deleting the profile.

 

5) Try Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant

If you can't solve your Outlook connectivity problem so far, install the Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant. This tool shouldn't *technically* be needed, but some find installing it corrects connection problems for Exchange Online. You can download the tool here.

NOTE: Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant is NOT compatible with Windows 8.

Speeding Up Microsoft Outlook

If you've been using Microsoft Outlook for any length of time, you know that it has the potential to slow down... *WAY* down. Outlook can become pretty much useless if you don't perform some maintenance and upkeep.

Luckily for you, I have a few things you can do to make Outlook perform at a much improved level. None of it requires any change to your email server configuration (Exchange, IMAP or POP3).
You must understand however that some of these suggestions may seem a bit more rudimentary than others, and some may give you a light bulb moment! Since I can't comment on anyone's skill level, I'll cover the basics to help you improve your Microsoft Outlook experience.

1: Windows Updates

Most people don't understand that with Windows updates, the updates for Microsoft Office are also included. Make sure you allow the updates to install. Why? Microsoft may might update Exchange. Sometimes, those updates can either break or cause problems with the communication between Outlook and Exchange and Microsoft might issue a patch to the server or client to resolve a speed issue or patch a security hole. Don't use Automatic Updates strictly, visit the Microsoft update site to catch up on non-critical updates as well. Microsoft Windows Updates

2: Archive

I have truly lost count of how many times I see users with thousands of emails in their Inbox and Sent Items. This can cause serious issues, especially when using PST files. Instead of just letting those folders grow to ridiculous numbers, set up auto archiving so that your Inbox retains only a portion of those emails. When you archive, you create a new data file so Outlook doesn't have to struggle against the burden of an oversize PST or OST file. You truly do not need that Merry Christmas email from your boss from the 1990's!

3: Download complete items

When you use Outlook with either an IMAP or POP3 mail account, you should have Outlook set up to download the complete message (instead of just the header). If you do this, Outlook won't have to synch with the server every time you click on a new item (as it will already be in the data file.) How you do this will depend upon which version of Outlook you're using. Look for the setting "Download Complete Item Including Attachments" or similar.

4: Use Cached Exchange Mode

If you use Cached Exchange Mode in Outlook, you effectively take a copy of your data from the server and cache it on your local machine (OST). This can make a huge difference in speeding up your Outlook experience because Outlook doesn't have to read the data from a server across a network or outside the network. Instead, all it has to do is read the locally stored data file. This option (obviously) is available only when connecting Outlook with an Exchange server.

5: Compact your PST file

When the Outlook PST file gets out of hand, a built-in tool can keep the size of that file under control. One of the issues is that even when you delete email from your Inbox, the size of the PST file may remain the same, it's called whitespace. If you're using Outlook 2010, you can go to Account Settings | Data Files and select the data file to be compacted. Once you've selected the file click Settings | Advanced | Outlook Data File Settings and click Compact Now. Depending on the size of your data file, this process can take some time.

6: Repair your PST file

Scanpst is THE go-to tool when Outlook is acting off kilter. It will scan through your data file and look for data inconsistencies and errors. Here's the thing about Scanpst -- it's not always the easiest tool to find. Do yourself a favour and search through your C drive to locate the Scanpst.exe file. Make note of its location (usually within the Office installation folder). Be forewarned - Outlook must be closed while using it and it can be a time-consuming experience. Make sure you back up that data file before you start the repair tool. If Scanpst finds errors and repairs them, run it again. Repeat until no further errors are found. Then open Outlook.

7: Cut back on the published and shared calendars

It's easy to publish and share your calendars with others. The problem is that the more you do it, the more of a burden you place on Outlook. The more data Outlook has to share and pull down from the Internet, the slower it will perform. Just know that the more data you have to push and pull, the slower your connection will be.

8: Disable RSS

By default, Outlook will sync RSS feeds from Internet Explorer to the RSS reader in Outlook. If you have a lot of RSS feeds bookmarked in IE, that syncing could easily bring Outlook to a crawl. Disable this feature (if you don't use Outlook as an RSS reader) from within Outlook 2010 by going to Options | Advanced and then unchecking both options under RSS Feeds.

9: Disable add-ins

How many times have you installed some program only to find it installed something else behind your back? This can happen to Outlook as well as Internet Explorer. Sometimes those add-ins can cause major Outlook slowdowns. To find out what add-ins you have installed in Outlook 2010, go to Options | Add-ins. Select COM Add-ins from the drop-down and click the Go button. The resultant window will list all add-ins available to Outlook. Search through this list and uncheck any that might seem suspect. If you want to test how Outlook runs without any Add Ins, open it in safe mode: Start > Start Search > outlook.exe /safe (note the space between outlook.exe and /safe).

10: Get rid of Antivirus integration

Configuring your antivirus to actively scan incoming and outgoing email is a great way to slow Outlook down, and it accomplishes nothing. There is no need to scan outgoing email since you're not going to detect anything malicious going out. If you can send it in an email, your antivirus is already compromised so scanning won't do you any favours. As for scanning incoming email, your real time scanner will catch everything it's updated for anyway. How you disable email scanning depends on your antivirus solution. Some are easily handled (check services for the email scanner and disable it) and some not only require an uninstall but you must download a utility off their website to complete the uninstall, then you have to reinstall but make sure you omit the email scanning portion.

If you know of other ways to speed up Outlook, I am interested in hearing from you and any comments you may have, as always.

 

Repair Your Microsoft Outlook PST (Personal Folders)

One day, you try to open Microsoft Outlook and encounter this error:



What is this and what do you do? How do you fix this?

Your personal folders (aka PST file) has corrupted or suffered errors. How does this happen?

You may have forced Outlook to close.
You may be keeping the PST file in a location other than on your local drive. Not only is it not supported by Microsoft, but it is not practical to keep your PST anywhere other than your local PC/laptop. Outlook needs constant read/write access to the PST with no interruption. The tiniest blip in the connection can cause corruption.
You may have shut down the PC, or even lost power to it, before Outlook had time to finish writing to the PST file after Outlook closed.
Multiple other reasons.

Before you attempt to repair the file however, you must make sure you can see files properly:

• Open Windows Explorer. Click on View and ensure Details is checked.
• Then click on the Tools tab. Scroll to Folder Options. Click on View.
• Click the radio button Show Hidden Files and Folders.
• Uncheck the box Hide Extensions for Known File Types. Click Apply. Click Apply to Folders. Click OK.

Now search for scanpst.exe. You can either use the search function, or locate it in the default location.For the purposes of this blog, listed below are the default scanpst.exe locations for various versions of Microsoft Outlook:

Outlook 2013
32-bit Windows; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\
64-bit Windows; C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\
64-bit Outlook; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\
Office 365 Home Premium / Outlook 2013 Click to Run
any Windows; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15\Outlook 2010
32-bit Windows; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\
64-bit Windows; C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\
64-bit Outlook; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\
Outlook 2007 32-bit Windows; C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\
64-bit Windows; C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office12\
Outlook 2003
32-bit Windows; C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\<locale ID>\
64-bit Windows; C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\<locale ID>\
Outlook 2002/XP
C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI\<locale ID>\
Outlook 2000
C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MAPI\<locale ID>\NT\
Outlook 97 / Outlook 98
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Windows Messaging\

When you locate it, double click it. Follow the instructions (it will ask you to browse to the location of your PST).  One fast and easy way to check is to open the Control Panel, click on Classic View or Small Icons and check the mail applet. It will tell you where your data files are. Again, for the purposes of this blog the default location of the PST is as follows:

Windows XP


• Outlook 2007 and previous
  C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\
• Outlook 2010
  C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\My Documents\Outlook Files\

Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8

• Outlook 2007 and previous
  C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\
• Outlook 2010
  C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Outlook Files\
• Outlook 2013
  C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Outlook Files\

After double-clicking on scanpst.exe, allow it to run through completely. It will find errors and repair them. Run it again. If it finds no further errors, then close everything and try opening Outlook.

If scanpst.exe finds further errors, run it again. Repeat until no errors are found. This can be a lengthy and time-consuming process. Make sure you close scanpst.exe before opening Outlook.

Writing Effective Email

Do people respond to your emails in the way you really want them to? Or do they seem to ignore them, or miss important information? Are you even sure that you're making the best possible impression with your emails?

When you compose an email message, there are a few very simple rules that you can follow to ensure that your emails make a positive impression as well as get you the response you want. I'm going to give you some examples to illustrate the points I'm making with both good and bad examples at the end of each section.

Subject Lines are Like Headlines

A newspaper headline has two functions: It grabs your attention, and it tells you what the article is about, so that you can decide if you want to read further. Email subject lines need to do exactly the same thing! Use a few well-chosen words, so that the recipient knows at a glance what the email is about.
If your message is one of a regular series of emails, such as a weekly project report, include the date in the subject line. And for a message that needs a response, you might want to include a call to action, such as "Please reply by November 7".
Remember that everyone tries to reduce the amount of "spam" email messages they receive. If you make appropriate use of the subject line, you increase the chances that your email will be read, rather than mistaken for spam and deleted without so much as a glance.
Of course, just as it would be ridiculous to publish a newspaper without headlines, never leave the subject line blank. Emails with blank subject lines are usually spam and if they aren't, they're highly annoying!

Bad Example

Subject: Meeting
Hi Cameron,
I just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have scheduled next week. Do let me know if you have any questions!
Best wishes,
Katie

This email is an example of poor communication for several reasons. Let's focus on the headline. As you can see, it's titled "Meeting".
Why is this a bad headline?
There's no information about the meeting. If your calendar is full of meetings, you might even wonder which one Katie is talking about. And there's certainly no clarity about the subject including when and where the meeting's being held.
What's more, the lack of specific information makes it look like a spam email. This email risks being deleted without being read!
Also, the tone of the message is that of a friendly reminder. There's nothing wrong with that, but essential details are missing. If Cameron hasn't heard anything about the meeting, or has completely forgotten about it, he'll have to write back for more information.

Good Example

Subject: Reminder of 10am Meeting Sched. 10/05 on VMWare Process.
Hi Cameron,
I just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have scheduled for Monday, October 5, at 10:00am. It's being held in conference room A, and we'll be discussing the new VMWare Process.
If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch (x3021).
Best Wishes,
Katie

See how specific this new headline is?
The great thing about this headline is that the reader doesn't even have to open the email to get most of the relevant information.
And the precise nature of the headline serves as a useful prompt. Every time the reader glances at his saved emails, he'll be reminded about that specific meeting.

Make One Point per Email

If you need to communicate with someone about a number of different things, consider writing a separate email on each subject. I don't necessarily agree with this but this particular method has its merits:

This way, your recipient can reply to each one individually and in the appropriate time frame. One topic might only require a short reply that he or she can send straight away. Another topic might require more research. By writing separate messages you should get clearer answers while helping other people manage their inboxes better.
If you do want to put several points in an email - perhaps because they relate to the same project - consider presenting each point in a separate, numbered paragraph. This makes each point stand out, significantly increasing the likelihood that each point will be addressed.
As with traditional business letters, each individual email should be clear and concise, with the purpose of the message detailed in the very first paragraph. Sentences should be kept short and to the point. The body of the email should contain all pertinent information, and should be direct and informative.

Bad Example

Subject: Revisions For Sales Report
Hi Jacqui,
Thanks for sending in that report last week. I read through it yesterday and feel that you need more specific information regarding our sales figures in Chapter 2. I also felt that the tone could be a bit more formal. The report is going to be read by our Executive Team, and needs to reflect our professionalism.
Also, I wanted to let you know that I've scheduled a meeting with the PR department for this Friday, regarding the new ad campaign. It's at 11:00, and will be in the small conference room.
Please let me know if you can make that time.
Thanks!
Celeste

Celeste got a good headline in there, and she was pretty clear on the changes she wanted Jackie to make to that report.
But what did she do wrong?
Well, that second paragraph about the meeting is pretty important, and yet she lumped it into the email that detailed the revisions. If Jacqui doesn't put it straight in her calendar, she'll have to remember that the meeting details were in the email titled "Revisions For Sales Report", which is not very logical.
Combining those two important communications increases the chance that either the meeting or the revisions will be forgotten. Let's look at how she could have done it better:

Good Example

Subject: Revisions For Sales Report
Hi Jacqui,
Thanks for sending in that report last week. I read through it yesterday and feel that you need more specific information regarding our sales figures in Chapter 2. I also felt that the tone could be a bit more formal. The report is going to be read by our Executive Team, and needs to reflect our professionalism.
Thanks for your hard work on this!
Celeste

AND

          Subject: Friday 10/9, 11am Meeting w/PR Dept

Hi Jacqui,
I wanted to let you know that I've scheduled a meeting with the PR department for this Friday, 10/9, regarding the new ad campaign.
It's at 11:00am, and will be in the small conference room. Please let me know if you can make that time.
Thanks!
Celeste

By separating those two important communications, Jacqui will be able to find what she needs quickly in her inbox.
As well as this, separating the two topics helps her keep her saved emails relevant. Once she's done with the revisions email she can delete it, but keep the meeting reminder email until the end of the week.

Specify the Response You Want

Make sure to include any call to action you want, such as a phone call or follow-up appointment. Then, make sure you include your contact information, including your name, title, and phone numbers. Do this even with internal messages. Remember, the easier you make it for someone else to respond, the more likely they are to do so!

Bad Example

From: homestaging@prettyhomes.com
Subject: Proposal
Lynn,
Did you get my proposal last week? I haven't heard back and wanted to make sure.
Can you please call me so we can discuss?
Thanks!
Joanne

There are several pieces of important information missing from this email.
The first thing that's missing is information about the proposal. What if Lynn got several proposals? Which one is the writer talking about? Also, did she send it by post, or through email?
Also, the writer gave Lynn no information on how to get in touch. Where is her office number, her cell number, or her business name? Lynn will have to go and find that information.
And, most critically, she didn't give his full name and title at the bottom of the mail - despite the fact that her name doesn't form part of her email address.

Good Example

Subject: Checking On Home Staging Proposal
Dear Lynn,
I just wanted to check that you have received the home proposal I emailed to you last week. I haven't heard back and wanted to make sure it went through.
Can you please call me by Thursday so we can discuss? This is when our discount offer expires, and I want to make sure you don't miss it!
The quickest way to contact me is by cell phone.
Thanks!
Joanne Doe, Owner
Homestaging, Inc.
555.135.4598 (office)
555.135.2929 (cell)

Joanne has now given Lynn all the information she needs. She knows she emailed the proposal last week, that she'd like her to call by Thursday, and that she should use her cell phone to make contact quickly.
Most importantly, Joanne included her name and title, so Lynn now knows who he is, and put her contact information at the bottom.

 

Be a Good Correspondent

Make sure that you go through your inbox regularly and respond as appropriate. This is a simple act of courtesy and will also serve to encourage others to reply to your emails in a timely manner. If a detailed response is required to an email, and you don't have the time to pull together the information straight away, send a holding reply saying that you have received the message, and indicating when you will respond fully.
How frequently you should check your mail will depend on the nature of your work, but avoid interrupting a task you're working on to check your mail simply because you wonder if something interesting has come in.
Always set your Out of Office agent when you're going to be away from your email for a day or more, whether on leave or because you're at meetings.

Internal Email

Internal emails, just like other emails, should not be too informal. Remember, these are written forms of communication that can be printed out and viewed by people other than those for whom they were originally intended! Always use your spell checker and most definitely avoid slang.

Above all, remember that email is surprisingly quite public. Never put anything in writing that you couldn't say to your mother.

Outlook Keeps Asking for a Password

Many Outlook users over the years have complained that Outlook keeps asking for a (network) password repeatedly. The problem is exacerbated when “Enter Network Password” pop-up message appears every 20-30 seconds - how frustrating! Even after you enter your correct user name and password the pop up keeps flashing and unfortunately, enabling the "Save Password" or "Remember Password" options do not solve the problem.

 

Two possible reasons for this problem:

• You have a corrupted Outlook profile (this is the most common)
• Your registry has incorrect Protected Storage System information (Please do *NOT* attempt this if you are inexperienced or unsure of working in the registry)

Fix your corrupted Outlook profile:

Create a new outlook profile and connect this profile to the .pst file (Microsoft Outlook Personal Folders data file that contains your contacts, emails, calendar, tasks, etc.) of your previous (corrupted) profile:

1. Create new outlook profile: http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/newprofile.htm#create 
2. Locate the .pst file used by damaged profile: http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/aboutpst.htm#location 
3. Configure new profile to use .pst file of old, corrupted profile. This can be done by following the given below steps (these steps are for Microsoft Outlook 2010):

1. Open Outlook.
2. File tab -> Info -> click Account Settings (Outlook 2007 Account Settings option is available in Tool menu, in Outlook 2003 and 2002 Tool -> Options).
3. E-mail tab-> click your email account. (in Outlook 2003 and 2002 Mail Setup -> Email Accounts -> View or change existing e-mail accounts - > Next)
4. In the "Account Settings" dialogue box Click "Change Folder".
5. Click New Outlook Data File-> click Office Outlook Personal Folders File-> click OK.
6. Browse and locate the .pst file of old profile-> click OK.

Resolve Your  Incorrect Registry information Problem:

Close all  programs, create a backup copy of the registry

1. Click on Start > Start Search
2. Type in Regedit and hit Enter
3. Locate the folder : HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
4. Edit Menu > New > Expandable String Value
5. Name it AppData
6. Double-click the new entry and type in: "%userprofile%\Application Data" (without the quotes) in the "Value data field" box.
7. Click "OK" and close the registry editor.

Note: Before following this solution make sure that you have created a backup copy of registry.

Microsoft Outlook Calendar: Meeting Forward Notifications

Today I'm blogging about the Microsoft Outlook Calendar. I covered it briefly here:

http://kathleenorlandoutlookmvp.blogspot.ca/2012/05/welcome-to-microsoft-outlook.html

But it was a very simplified overview. I think it's time now to cover a bit more of an in depth look at one of the calendar functions in Microsoft Outlook.

I recommend that you use at least Microsoft Office 2007, patched to SP3. SP3 provided many enhancements to the Outlook Calendar. This blog is going to cover the Calendar specifically for Outlook 2007 SP3 or later.

If you use an older version of Outlook, please refer to:

Outlook Meeting Requests Do's and Don'ts

First, this blog is for Exchange users. If you have an Exchange mailbox you are likely at a school, university, or in the workplace. If you connect to Microsoft Exchange 2007 or later with Microsoft Outlook 2007 SP3 or later, you've been introduced to Meeting Forward Notifications.

If you are not aware of them, what happens is that when some meetings are very important, important enough for the meeting notice to be forwarded to additional participants, if you are the person who originated the meeting you are then notified each time the meeting is forwarded to someone new who wasn't originally invited as an attendee. So basically, you send an important meeting request to Users A, B, and C. If one of them decides that Users D and E need to attend and they forward the meeting request to them, you are notified.

This is of course subject to Exchange settings. Meeting Forward Notifications to remote users not on your Exchange server may be disabled, as it might be to people outside your organisation.

NOTE: Delegates do not receive Meeting Forward Notifications.

Microsoft Outlook Rules

In Outlook, it is often in your best interests to create rules that will send specific emails or types of emails into folders so that you can view them later. It helps to keep your Inbox clean and free of clutter, and groups emails of a like nature together for easy access and reading.

You can easily create a rule, either from a template or from scratch. For example, if you are a member of the popular mailing list Freecycle you may want to make sure all of your Freecycle emails end up in one folder together. It's as easy as adding the Freecycle email to your contacts, and then creating a rule in a few clicks:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/outlook-help/create-a-rule-HP005242897.aspx

Managing your email by using rules has been around as long as Outlook has been. Outlook can easily help you to stay organized and up to date.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/outlook-help/manage-email-messages-by-using-rules-HA010355682.aspx

If you can't find the assistance you need in Outlook by pressing F1 (help), Microsoft themselves are extremely helpful:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291608

Additionally, there is tons of help just a quick Google entry away:

http://voices.yahoo.com/understanding-outlook-rules-create-edit-and-492780.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Manage-Email-Using-Microsoft-Outlook-Rules
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000781.htm
http://www.cba.org/bc/practice_resources/main/outlook.aspx (you may find this one especially helpful as it's written for lawyers, so even a child of five could understand this [law humour] - someone fetch me a child of five!)
http://smarterware.org/4057/three-microsoft-outlook-rules-that-prioritize-your-email

And if you overdo your rules, create rules that conflict, create so many that they can't run, they're very easy to disable.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/outlook-help/turn-on-or-off-a-rule-HP005242975.aspx

If you ever want to get rid of all rules at once and start over, it's this simple:

Windows XP and older: Start > Run > outlook.exe /cleanrules
(note the space between outlook.exe and /cleanrules)

Windows Vista and newer: Start > Start Search > outlook.exe /cleanrules
(note the space between outlook.exe and /cleanrules)

And as always, you can always ask me here or on Facebook, Twitter, or even LinkedIn.

Social Engineering and Outlook

Note: all links are in red to offer you more information and make them more noticeable for you.

First, let's define social engineering:

Social engineering is the act of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information.

Online criminals can use sophisticated technology to try to gain access to your computer, or they can use something simpler and more insidious: social engineering.

Social engineering is a way for criminals to gain access to your computer. The purpose of social engineering is usually to secretly install spyware or other malicious software or to trick you into handing over your passwords or other sensitive financial or personal information.

Some online criminals find it easier to exploit human nature than to exploit holes in your software. That is to say, they would rather trick you into giving up information than trick your computer because it's easier.

New scams appear daily. To keep up with the latest scams, check Microsoft's fraud section HERE. You can also learn to familiarise yourself with some of the more obvious telltale signs of a scam.

Scams can contain the following:

• Alarmist messages and threats of account closures.
• Promises of money for little or no effort.
• Deals that sound too good to be true.
• Requests to donate to a charitable organisation after a disaster that has been in the news.
• Bad grammar and misspellings.

What does a scam email commonly look like? Read HERE. What are some popular scams that never seem to die down? Read on!

Scams that use the Microsoft name or names of other well-known companies. These scams include fake emails or websites that use the Microsoft name. The email might claim that you have won a Microsoft contest, that Microsoft needs your logon information or password, or that a Microsoft representative is contacting you to help you with your computer. (These fake tech-support scams are often delivered by phone.) For more information, see Avoid scams that use the Microsoft name fraudulently. This also applies to AOL, Norton, IBM, Facebook, and your bank among others.

Lottery scams. You might receive emails that claim that you have won the Microsoft lottery or sweepstakes. These emails might even look like they come from a Microsoft executive. There is no Microsoft Lottery. Delete the email. For more information, see What is the Microsoft Lottery Scam? This also applies to the Nigerian 419 scam and so many others.

Rogue security software scams. Rogue security software, also known as "scareware," is software that appears to be beneficial from a security perspective but provides limited or no security, generates erroneous or misleading alerts, or attempts to lure you into participating in fraudulent transactions. These scams can appear in email, online advertisements, your social networking site, search engine results, or even in pop-up windows on your computer that might appear to be part of your operating system, but are not. For more information, see Watch out for fake virus alerts.

The bottom line to social engineering is to at least recognize certain principles: poor spelling and grammar, scare tactics, you may not know the sender or it would be unusual to receive an email from them, the email contains a link that you are not familiar with and that you didn't solicit, and more. A great trick is to hover your mouse over a link to see if the actual link matches the information given.

Here is a great visual to demonstrate the items in an email that should set off warning bells and BIG RED FLAGS.