Thursday 6 December 2012

What Happens When Outlook Won't Open

A recent post on the Microsoft Outlook forum caught my eye, about Outlook not opening. It happens to the user regularly and the application won't open from the desktop shortcut, the Start Menu, or the pinned location. The user had to restart to get Outlook going again, but the problem would re-occur. They wanted to know if there was a patch or hot fix for the problem.

Actually, the problem is usually pretty easy to troubleshoot and doesn't require a fix or patch.

First, make sure that Outlook is actually closed before you try to open it. Check by opening your Task Manager and then clicking on the Processes tab. Look for OUTLOOK.EXE. If it's running while Outlook is closed, this is why you can't open it.

Usually, if you have to restart the whole PC in order to open Outlook it's because it hasn't closed properly when you exited the program. Something is holding it open.

Shutdown issues are not always readily apparent and will show with sometimes confusing symptoms. You have to restart the PC in order to open Outlook, your nickname (often called auto complete or auto suggest) cache is corrupted and comes up empty, you may see data files issues or messages stating that Outlook did not close down properly and may have errors, you may notice a "gears" icon in the bottom right corner of Outlook, you may be unable to back up your data file. You may also notice Navigation Pane resets or corruption, or the Outlook icon in the system tray/notification area may have an X through it. There are a host of funky little behaviours that result from Outlook being unable to close properly.

So what do you do? First, ensure Outlook is closed. If it isn't, end the process in the Task Manager. Then instead of opening Outlook as you usually would, you would follow these instructions:

Vista, Windows 7: Start > Start Search > outlook.exe /safe
(note the space between outlook.exe and /safe)
Then hit enter.

Windows XP and earlier: Start > Run > outlook.exe /safe
(note the space between outlook.exe and /safe)
Then hit enter.

What this does is to disable all Add Ins that integrate with Outlook; FAX software, sync software that works with your smart phone, anti virus (don't worry, you are not left unprotected - more on that later), anti spam software, etc. This disables all of them all at once. If Outlook performs normally and as desired, then you know an Add In is the culprit and it's a matter of finding it, and usually that's the case.

Close Outlook and open it normally. Find your Add Ins (where they're located depends on the version you're using). Disable them all manually and restart Outlook. Enable one Add In at a time, and test Outlook by sending/receiving, and closing/opening. Test each Add In the same way until you find the one that broke Outlook's functionality.

Anti virus is a common culprit. You don't need to have it integrate with Outlook at all. Your real time AV scanner will catch everything it's updated for. Scanning your mail with anti virus causes more headaches than it prevents.

From an old post of mine:

Turning off your anti virus integration with Outlook is not a security issue
or it wouldn't be recommended. If your anti virus engine is updated regularly
and kept current, your real time scanner will catch anything it's updated
for since any attachment will be saved to the HD first before opening and
scanned. When you integrate anti virus with Outlook it also acts as a proxy
between Outlook and your mail server, hence the frequent problems
*especially* if your polling frequency is short.

Tuesday 20 November 2012

E-mail Privacy

In the workplace, technically you are not entitled to complete privacy in your email. It is after all, given to you so that you can do business on your employer's behalf.

Your email is the property of your employer and both yourself and your employer are liable for the contents. It is not intended for personal use and it can be viewed at any time, including after you leave even if you delete everything.

So how do you keep your personal email private when even the head of the CIA couldn't? His mistake was that he did not recognise the threat, and grossly underestimated it. His perceived threat was his spouse and didn't even conceive that the FBI would go looking through email servers.

Let's face it, anything that goes out over the Internet is at risk. To be honest, you should never put in an email anything you wouldn't want your mother to read.

That being said, if you want email privacy then there are steps you should take. You can mask your IP address which is traceable with any number of utilities that can accomplish that. I will not name names here since I am of the belief that one should have nothing to hide. Web mail providers like Google's Gmail and Yahoo keep log in records and IP addresses for 18 months.

In the U.S. the Fourth Amendment requires the authorities to get a warrant from a judge to search physical property. Rules governing e-mail searches are far more lax: Under the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, a warrant is not required for e-mails six months old or older. Even if e-mails are more recent, the federal government needs a search warrant only for “unopened” e-mail, according to the Department of Justice’s manual for electronic searches. The rest requires only a subpoena.

Did you know that U.S. law enforcement agencies requested data from Google for 16,281 accounts from January to June of 2012 alone, and Google complied in 90% of cases?

You can encrypt your email messages. Of course the encryption key is cumbersome and encryption does not hide the frequency of emails.

You can get a self-destruct timer, there is even one for your phone. It self-destructs the email address 10 minutes after a mail is sent. Nothing prevents your recipient from capturing screen shots though.

Saving emails into a shared Drafts folder rather than sending them doesn't work. This tactic had long been used by terroristsKhalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, and Richard Reid, “the shoe bomber,” among them — and it doesn’t work. E-mails saved to the draft folder are still stored in the cloud. Even if they are deleted, e-mail service providers can be compelled to provide copies.

You can use a separate device just for sensitive communications, but nothing yells philanderer/terrorist/drug dealer like a second cell phone.

Get an alibi. The sneakier you are, the weirder you look when you suddenly start carrying a second phone, a pager, become knowledgeable about encryption, etc.

Robust tools for privacy exist as they do for being anonymous, but they're just not integrated in a way that make them easy to use. All it takes is human error (reply to all, forgetting to mask your IP, and a couple dozen other ways to screw up), and your privacy is shot to heck.

The bottom line is that if you don't want what you say on a phone or in email to end up on the front page of a major metropolitan newspaper, then don't say it.

Wednesday 14 November 2012

And Now For Something Completely Different

Check out Microsoft Server 2012:

 
Download for a 180 day trial. Receive email with resources to guide you.
 
The Windows Server 2012 evaluation software is available in Standard and Datacenter editions. You will be prompted to choose a version during the set-up and registration process.

ISO available in: Chinese (Simplified), English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish.

VHD available in: English
 

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Backing Up Outlook Data

It's important to back up your data, all data - any data. It's no different with Outlook.

Reasons to back up Outlook data:

  • Computer hard drive crash
  • Corruption that can't be repaired
  • Accidental deletion
  • Damage to your storage medium (USB, CD, partition on your HDD, etc.)
  • Save a tree, you won't have to print everything.
  • Clean up and organise.
  • Play it safe.
  • Keep your sanity.
Data loss can happen to anyone, even a seasoned professional.

Before you can back up your data, you need to know where to locate it. The first thing you need to do is unhide system files, and hidden files and folders using Windows Explorer.

Microsoft covers this in their knowledge base (they cover most everything and are a good resource):

HTTP://support.Microsoft.com/KB/141276

Now you can search for your Outlook data file, also called Personal Folders, and known as a PST for short.

  • For Outlook 2007 and previous on Windows XP the default location is;
    C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\
  • For Outlook 2007 and previous on Windows Vista and Windows 7 the default location is;
    C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\
  • For Outlook 2010 on Windows XP the default location is;
    C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\My Documents\Outlook Files\
  • For Outlook 2010 on Windows Vista or Windows 7 the default location is;
    C:\Users\%username%\Documents\Outlook Files\

  • You can also locate the file this way:

    Right click the root folder (probably Outlook Today)-> Properties-> button Advanced-> field Filename
  • If you have multiple PST aka Data Files you can get an overview by clicking
      File-> Data File Management if you use Outlook 2007 or anything older
      File-> Account Settings-> Account Settings-> tab Data Files if you use Outlook 2010

  • NOTE: While making a copy of the PST-file will effectively backup your Outlook data, it will not include any mail account configuration settings (mail profile), templates or signatures.

    Backing up the PST-file is quite easy; you just copy the PST-file to your safe location *while Outlook is closed.* A safe location can be one of the following;
    • another physical hard drive in your machine
    • another physical hard drive in another machine
    • an external hard drive
    • a USB memory stick
    • a Flash memory card
    • a CD-R(W)
    • a DVD+/-R(W)
    • a backup tape
    I recommend running a backup whenever you make a significant change to the contents of your Outlook data file, or even daily.

    For myself, I have written a small batch file that runs every evening after I close Outlook that copies my PST file to another drive on another computer.

    The batch file reads like this: COPY %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Outlook\*.PST u:data\outlook /y

    u:data\outlook is the location that my PST file is copied to. You can change it to suit your particular location.

    It's written in Notepad, saved as a batch file. Then I use the Windows Scheduler to set it to run at my specified time. I have a copy of the batch file backed up in case I ever break it, delete it, do something stupid. I can wait for the scheduler to run at the appointed time but any time I close Outlook I can trigger a back up by simply double-clicking the batch file.

    And as always, backing up Outlook will not work unless Outlook is CLOSED.

    As always you can post questions on my blog if you want clarification or even help.    

      





    Thursday 1 November 2012

    Outlook's Command Line Switches

    Outlook's command line switches are manually typed commands that help you to troubleshoot or even repair Outlook when it has problems. Some of them will allow you to automate Outlook's behaviour to a certain degree.

    For example, you may have a reminder that just won't dismiss or maybe you find that you're sending multiple copies of an email you sent only once. Perhaps Outlook's behaviour and funtion has suddenly changed. The active window opens in the background instead of the foreground. For these behaviors and more, there are command line switches to either fix or help you troubleshoot the problem.

    How you get to the command line to type in a switch depends on your Operating System. If you are using Vista or later, you can click on Start > Start Search and enter the command there. If you're using Windows XP or earlier, you can click on Start > Run > and then enter the desired command there.

    For example, you have a reminder that won't go away and it annoys the heck out of you. There's a simple fix:

    Windows XP and earlier: Start > Run > outlook.exe /cleanreminders (or click the Windows Logo + R)
    (note that there is a space between outlook.exe and /cleanreminders)

    Windows Vista and newer: Start > Start Search > outlook.exe /cleanreminders
    (note that there is still the same space between outlook.exe and /cleanreminders

    Above is a problem solving command.

    A troubleshooting command would be to open Outlook in safe mode. A good reason for opening Outlook in safe mode is to disable all third party Add Ons to Outlook that might interfere with its normal function. Some operating systems will allow you to open Outlook in safe mode by simply holding down the Ctrl key while you open Outlook. Outlook then prompts you and asks if you want to continue opening Outlook in safe mode. Otherwise, you can type the command as follows:

    Windows XP and earlier: Start > Run > outlook.exe /safe (or click the Windows Logo + R)
    (note that there is a space between outlook.exe and /safe)

    Windows Vista and newer: Start > Start Search > outlook.exe /safe
    (note that there is still the same space between outlook.exe and /safe)

    There are all kinds of things that can interfere with Outlook's normal function; antivirus that actively scans incoming/outgoing email, anti-spam, FAX software, synch software that works with your handheld, etc.

    There are even command line switches that you can use for (limited) automation, such as always opening with Outlook displaying your calendar.

    Here is a list of Outlook switches and what they can do for you:

    Outlook Command Line Switches

    And a great tutorial is found here: Outlook Command Line Switches Tutorial

    As always, feel free to comment on my blog and even ask questions.

      

    Tuesday 9 October 2012

    Easy Outlook Workarounds

    Outlook errors with Hotmail too many devices synching


    After configuring Outlook to use a Hotmail account on multiple devices or an account with a large number of folders an error occurs when you try to synch:

    There are too many devices syncing with this account. To synch using Outlook, try removing another device that is connected with this account such as a phone or another computer.

    There is a limit placed on the total number of folders, including subfolders that can sync with Hotmail including use of multiple devices. The more devices you use to sync a large number of folders, the more likely you are to reach this limit.

    Workaround: Sync only the folders you absolutely need.

    Empty Deleted Items can cause full Exchange Mailbox deletion

    When you try to empty your Deleted Items folder, the entire contents of your Exchange mailbox (all content and folders) can be deleted. This issue can occur for the following reasons:
    1. Outlook 2010 is installed with an Exchange account in Online Mode, but with an .OST file associated with the profile that could be created after switching from Cached Mode at some point in the past. Or you installed Outlook 2013 (upgrade or side-by-side) and use the Online Mode profile.
    • The Exchange account must be in Online Mode (not Cached Exchange Mode) and the Cached Exchange Mode Sync Settings administrative template policy setting is configured.
    Workaround Download and install the MSI-based Setup update to Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 Preview to fix this issue.

    Important This download is only for people who installed the MSI-based Setup version of Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013. Anyone who installed using Office Click-to-Run automatically receives this update.

    Search isn’t returning results

    When you do a search in Outlook, no results are returned. Instead search returns the following message.
    We couldn’t find what you're looking for.
    Workaround Office Setup isn’t setting the registry keys correctly or not all keys are configured. You can do a repair to reconfigure the registry keys by doing the following:
    1. Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features.
    2. Click Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 > Change > Quick Repair.
    3. Restart your computer.
    4. Give some time to make sure indexing has time to work, and then test search.

    Error when connecting to Exchange 2003

    When you configure Outlook 2013 for an Exchange 2003 account, you can get the following error message:
    The resource that you are trying to use is located on an unsupported version of Microsoft Exchange. Contact your e-mail administrator for assistance.
    Workaround Outlook 2013 isn’t supported on Exchange 2003 and connectivity is blocked. Please connect Outlook 2013 to Exchange 2007, 2010, or 2013.
    This is no different than Outlook 2000 being unable to connect to Exchange 2010. You have to upgrade.

    Adding a new Hotmail account times out

    When adding a new Hotmail account to Outlook the operation never completes or times out with an error "An encrypted connection to your mail server is not available
    Workaround Manually add the Hotmail account by doing the following:
    1. Open Outlook.
    2. Click File > Account Settings > Account Settings > New > E-Mail account.
    3. Select Manual setup or additional server types, and click Next.
    4. Select Exchange ActiveSync, and click Next.
    5. In the Server Settings dialog box, enter your account information.
    6. In the Mail Server field, enter m.hotmail.com and click Finish.

    Vertical scrollbar is missing

    The vertical scrollbar is missing.
    Workaround Edit the registry and delete the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Word\Options\WordMail\VerticalScrollbar registry key, and then restart Outlook.
    NOTE: This edits the registry, proceed with caution and always make a backup.



    Friday 21 September 2012

    Where I Look For Outlook Help

    As a Microsoft Outlook MVP, you'd think I'd know everything there is to know about Outlook right? WRONG!  I just know how to search really well, and I do my research. I also pay attention to those people I think are very intelligent and knowledgeable when it comes to Microsoft Outlook!

    So here are my fave places to research the most accurate Outlook info:

    http://www.slipstick.com/
    http://www.howto-outlook.com/
    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/outlook
    http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/outlook-users/
    http://support.microsoft.com/ph/8753#tab0

    And of course
    https://www.google.ca/

    I listen closely when other MVP's talk about Outlook and I read their answers on the Outlook forum and Yahoo Group mailing list. They are bright people and well worth my time and effort to hear their advice. 

    I am an Outlook sponge!

    Wednesday 19 September 2012

    Customise your Tasks View

    In Outlook Tasks, you can find your tasks and view their status with a quick glance. If you choose the appropriate view for your needs, you can save a surprising amount of time. As a quick example, you can prioritise the items that are most critical on your list without scrolling through all the other tasks that are still marked as incomplete. If you prefer to deal with a priority task or if you want to sort your tasks by project, name, or who you assigned it to, the options in Tasks can help you organise your tasks the way that works best for you and the project at hand.


    To discover the task view that works best for you in Outlook 2010, in the Navigation pane on the left side of the window click Tasks. On the Ribbon, click the View tab, and then, in the Current View group, click Change View.

    For a basic view of your tasks and main details, click Simple List. In this view, you see columns for Task Subject, Due Date, Categories, In Folder, and Sort by: Flag Status.

    The Advanced View Settings dialogue box is available for each view. You can use it to add or remove categories, set various filtering parameters, and even adjust type size and font.

    To reset a Tasks view that you’ve customised back to its original settings, click the View tab, click Reset View, and then, when the dialogue box asks you if you’re sure you want to reset the view, click Yes.

    Try experimenting with different views, options, settings, fonts. If you don’t like the way your tasks appear, you can always reset the view to the default settings or choose a new one. The purpose here is to choose which view helps you sort your tasks so that you aren't digging for information. Create unique views that provide the information you need. This is your chance to customise Outlook to meet your needs.

    Outlook 2007 users: The processes for changing or customising your tasks views vary slightly. To find out more about customising views in Outlook 2007, go to Customise Your View.

    Tuesday 4 September 2012

    Things I Love About Outlook


     
    • You may choose to use Microsoft Outlook to be in sync with all your personal and business mail accounts. You can configure Exchange, IMAP, POP3 accounts as well as use the Hotmail Connector for Hotmail and now Outlook.com ALL at the same time! You may also opt to use Microsoft Outlook for your personal email account alone or along with your corporate or business needs. To be precise, it is highly customisable to your needs, preferences and requirements. It's a one stop email client.
    • It's been around since the 1990's and it integrates with the rest of Microsoft Office.
    • It integrates with Windows Desktop Search.
    • It has sticky notes you can use as reminders or for lists. You can even drag and drop them onto your desktop. They're very handy! 
    • I love the calendar! I can schedule reminders, either one time or with a recurrence so I don't forget to do things like change the back up tapes or take a vitamin pill. I can even invite others to participate, like when it's time to give our dog Dazzle her regular Revolution dose for flea, tick, and heartworm control!
    • Dazzle
       
    • I just invite my husband and when he accepts the request it goes into his calendar and reminds him when the medication is due. I love it's reminder function! I can snooze something I don't need to do right this moment. I also use the calendar to help set goals and time lines for myself.
    • If you have a handheld PDA or Smart Phone, you can sync the device with Outlook. Skype talks to Outlook. ACT! talks to Outlook.  
    • While it's not quite foolproof (reading some of the questions on the Microsoft Outlook Forum will show anyone that nothing is foolproof), it's mostly pretty straightforward.
    • For you Network Administrators/System Administrators, Outlook plays well with Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory plus you get OWA (Outlook Web Access) so you can check your work email from any browser.
    • Outlook's superior rules raise the bar. You can sort email, automatically send them into particular folders, and even set automatic responses for some. With newer versions of Outlook with Exchange as the mail server, you can even customise your Out of Office for internal and external users with different messages for each.
    • Outlook's improved security features are great. You have to now make a conscious decision to bypass them. It has great junk mail filtering and, as long as you keep Outlook up to date, it will block web bugs, downloaded images, disallows executable attachments, and even prevents ActiveX applets from executing. 
    • You can share mailboxes or even assign tasks to others. When you assign a task, you'll even get status updates, too.   
    • Voting buttons! You can use them to help facilitate work flow, choose a restaurant, or even with training. Example: we send a link via email monthly to employees to a training presentation. Once they read it, they can use the voting button to say that yes, they have read and understood the training.
    • When entering dates, you never have to type in the entire date. Outlook will offer a date for you. You can simply hit enter to accept it. If a date is in the current month, just enter the day and Outlook will enter the rest of the date for you. For instance, if the current month is March and you enter 14, Outlook assumes you mean March 14 of the current year and fills in that date.
    • If you use Outlook 2010, you have access to Information Rights Management. Information Rights Management (IRM) allows individuals and administrators to specify access permissions to documents, workbooks, and presentations. This helps prevent sensitive information from being printed, forwarded, or copied by unauthorised people. After permission for a file has been restricted by using IRM, the access and usage restrictions are enforced regardless of where the information is, because the permission to a file is stored in the document, workbook, or presentation file itself. In other words, you can prevent someone from forwarding, pasting, or even printing your email.  

    Thursday 30 August 2012

    Which Outlook is which?

    There is obvious confusion these days between Microsoft Outlook, Outlook.com (the new Hotmail), and Outlook 365. What are they?

    Microsoft Outlook is part of Microsoft Office that you install on your PC or laptop. You set it up as a client to receive your email be it Exchange, POP3, IMAP, or you use the Hotmail Connector to get your Hotmail into Outlook. It is a suite of applications that work together that are installed locally on your PC. You can read more here: Microsoft Office Information

    Outlook.com is the new Hotmail. Hotmail started out years ago as HoTMaiL - web-based HTML email. It evolved into Hotmail, became Windows Live, and has now been renamed to Outlook.com. This is confusing, but Outlook.com is simply just the new Hotmail. You can access it online or still use the Hotmail Connector to pull it into Microsoft Outlook.

    If you currently have a Hotmail email address, you can go through the steps to convert it to an Outlook.com email address. It's very easy to do and the steps are presented to you one at a time. You can read more here: Outlook.com Information

    Outlook 365 is essentially Outlook in the cloud. It is secure, anywhere access to Outlook, calendars, mail, etc. It's part of Office 365 and even includes file sharing. Here is a breakdown of Office 365:

  •  Cloud-based professional email
  •  Video conferencing and IM
  •  Share files inside and outside your organization
  •  Easy and secure administration
  •  Financially backed reliability
  •  Predictable monthly costs with no up-front infrastructure costs 

  • To find out more about Office 365, you can go here: Office 365 Information

    As always, feel free to post and ask questions.

    Thursday 9 August 2012

    Where Can I Find Microsoft Outlook Help?

    Where do you find understandable online help for Microsoft Outlook? Easy! There are people all over the place who are knowledgeable. They've created websites to help you troubleshoot Outlook, and there are forums too.

    Here are some excellent resources for you:

    http://www.howto-outlook.com/ - This website is excellent for someone who knows a little, but not a lot though I still find it extremely helpful for anyone of any skill level. It's well-written and easy to understand. It has a FAQ and How To sections, explains quite a bit about Outlook, and will cover most of your basic questions as a new Outlook user.

    http://www.slipstick.com/ - This website is excellent for people of all skill levels in Outlook. It's more sophisticated, covers more complicated issues,

    http://www.msoutlook.info/ - TONS of helpful information here. It's organized into neat categories that makes it easy to look up your particular problem.

    http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/?CTT=97 - as always, Microsoft has excellent support for their products.

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/office/forum/outlook?tab=unanswered - this is the Micrcosoft Outlook forum. Log in (you can use your Hotmail, Windows Live, or Outlook.com credentials), ask a question. Knowledgeable users or even Microsoft MVP's will answer you (maybe even me!).  Be sure to provide as many details as possible: version of Office, version of Operating System, antivirus (what type, do you have it actively scanning incoming/outgoing email), errors (include the entire error message and any numbers). Don't ever post your email publicly. It's an unwise practice and the moderators will remove it. No one needs to have it or any of your passwords in order to work to resolve your issue.

    Outlook.com is NOT Microsoft Outlook!

    Outlook.com is the new Hotmail. Hotmail started out as HoTMaiL (note the HTML?), a web-based email. It has now been updated to Outlook.com. You can convert your Hotmail email address to Outlook.com and even change your email address.

    Just like you can with Hotmail, you can use Outlook to pull your Outlook.com mail using the Hotmail Connector. It's quite easy to set up, it will walk you through it and you'll be pulling your Outlook.com email into Microsoft Outlook in no time!

    Here are some visuals:

    Hotmail

    Outlook.com

    Hotmail Connector (including overview)

    Note that it is recommended you be using Outlook 2003 or newer.


    Monday 30 July 2012

    Backing up Outlook Data

    Most people don't think of it until they learn it the hard way. They have not backed up their Outlook data! Fortunately, this task is relatively easy and can be done on a regular basis.

    I have a great go-to website for teaching Outlook back up step by step, and making it pretty painless.

    The data you want to back up includes everything from your Deleted Items folder to your Sent Items folder, and everything inbetween. The folders are kept alphabetically. This will include any folders that you create to make your mail more organized, and used for filing purposes.

    Note that the Deleted Items folder is not recommended as a filing folder or a holding folder. These items are "trash" and this folder should be emptied regularly.

    My favourite links for Outlook back ups are as follows:

    Outlook Back Up and Restore

    Back Up Your Outlook Account Settings

    Outlook Files and Settings Guide

    You can even recover items you've deleted if you're using Outlook Personal Folders:

    Recover Deleted Items

    So you see there are many options for ensuring that your important Outlook data is kept up to date and always available, even if you have a hard drive crash.




    Monday 9 July 2012

    Out of Office

    If you are going to be out of the office for a period of time, say for an afternoon or longer, it is customary to create an Out of Office message (OOF) so that your senders know that you are currently not available.

    If you are in an Exchange environment (connect to a Microsoft Exchange mail server):
    • In the Inbox, click the Tools Menu, and then click Out of Office Assistant.
    • Click I am Currently Out of the Office.
    • Type the message you want to send to others while you are out, in the text box.
    • Click OK when finished.
    If you are a home user, you can use Out of Office but you need to leave Outlook turned on and running in your absence.

    If this is not feasible, log onto your webmail and create the away message. Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) should also have this feature available and almost all of them have a webmail feature on their website.

    Tuesday 19 June 2012

    Outlook Calendar Features

    Basic Calendar Features of Microsoft Outlook

    • The purpose of this blog is to define the difference between Appointments, Meetings, and Events and to detail how to create them.
    • Appointments are activities that you schedule in your calendar that don't involve inviting other people. You can set reminders for your appointments. You can also specify how your calendar appears to others by designating the time an appointment takes as busy, free, tentative, or out of office.
    • You can schedule recurring appointments. You can view your appointments by day, week, or month. You can schedule an appointment in your own calendar and others can give you permission to schedule or make changes to appointments in their calendars. Appointments can also be made private.
    Calendar Features: Meetings

    • A meeting is an appointment you invite people to or reserve resources for (a meeting room for example). You can create and send meeting requests and reserve resources for face-to-face meetings or for online meetings. When you create a meeting, you identify the people to invite and the resources to reserve, and you choose a meeting time. Responses to your meeting request appear in your Inbox. You can also add people to an existing meeting or even reschedule a meeting.
    Creating a Calendar Entry

    • After you open Outlook, click the Calendar on the Navigation Pane (this used to be called the Outlook Bar in versions older than Office 2003). You must do this in order to set Outlook's focus on the calendar component.
    •  To create a new entry, click on the New Entry icon in the upper right hand corner of the calendar, or you can click on File > New > Appointment, or Meeting Request, or Live Meeting, or Conference Call, etc.
    • Enter a subject and location.
    • Select a start date and time, as well as an end date and time.
    • Click on the Scheduling button to add attendees, if appropriate.
    • Set the Reminder time if you want a reminder to pop up. The default is 15 minutes but you can change it from the drop down menu.
    • If you wish to set a recurrence for this entry, choose the recurrence button at this time.
    • You may also set the appointment as busy, free, tentative, or out of the office.
    • You may add additional details about the meeting in the blank pane under the time/date of the meeting.
    Inviting Attendees

    • Click on the Scheduling button to invite attendees or stay on the main pane and click on the To button. 
    • You can either type the names or email aliases in or click on the Add Others button at the bottom of the pane.
    • Under certain circumstances (an Exchange server environment which is normally seen in businesses and schools, very rarely for the average home user), you may see their schedule to know if they're available.
    • When finished, click Save and Close.  
    • When attendees receive the invitation if they choose to accept it, the meeting is automatically scheduled for them and a reminder will pop up at the correct time. When they accept, you will automatically receive notification of acceptance.
      



    Wednesday 6 June 2012

    Outlook Message Recall

    Today I'm going to cover how Message Recall works in Outlook. This is only of interest to you if you have an Exchange server mailbox since this feature requires Microsoft Exchange mail server running in the background in order to work. Most home and personal accounts do not use Exchange.

    Message recall is an excellent tool if you've sent an email in error. Perhaps you've made a terrible spelling error or forgot to attach an important document. Email is a great way to share communications, schedule meetings and events, and even share documents.

    Side note: I do not recommend emailing documents to your co-workers. If you're on the same network, rather than clutter up their mailbox and yours with needless attachments, you should instead place the document in a folder in a network location that everyone can access and simply email a hyperlink to it.

    Back to recalling a message! Sometimes your day is so busy and rushed, you may fail to include pertinent information, a critical document, or misspell words which comes across as very unprofessional. What if you sent the email to the wrong person? It's only after you hit the SEND button that you realize your mistake!

    How do you fix this? You want to recall the original message and send another with the correct information included and/or to the correct intended recipient. For anyone who hasn't opened the email yet, you can perform a little bit of trickery and pull the email out of their Inbox quietly and replace it.

    What steps does it take to do this? Read the following:

    1. In Mail, in the Navigation Pane, click Sent Items.
    2. Open (double-click, don't simply highlight) the message you want to recall or replace.
    3. On the Actions menu, click Recall This Message.
    4. Click Delete unread copies and replace with a new message.
    Note If you are sending the message to a large number of people, you may want to consider clearing the Tell me if recall succeeds or fails for each recipient check box.
    1. Click OK, and then type a new message and include the attachment.
    2. Click Send
    What if you don't see Recall This Message on the Actions menu? Make sure you are in the Sent Items folder. The command will also not appear if you are using a POP3, IMAP, or HTTP e-mail account, including MSN Hotmail. Remember, Recall This Message only works if you have an Exchange mailbox.

    In some scenarios, you simply wish to Recall This Message and choose Delete Unread Copies of This Message. Say you sent out an invitation to a party for your co-workers, but you chose the wrong date. Simply recall and delete the message quickly.

    Here's your next big question: Will my recall be successful?

    Whether or not your recall works will depend on several factors. The settings your recipient has configured in Outlook, whether or not you requested a response to notify you whether or not the recall failed, and the time it takes for your message and even your recall to reach the recipient.

    Here are some different situations you may run across:

    You send an email. You perform the steps to recall and replace it. In your recipient's copy of Outlook, they have selected Process Requests and Responses Upon Arrival in Tracking Options.
    What happens next is that both the original email and the recall request arrive in their Inbox. Assuming that the original email has not been read, your original email is deleted and your recipient is notified that you deleted the message from their Inbox.
    NOTE: If your original message is marked as read, then when the recall message is processed the recipient is informed that you wish to recall the message. However the message remains in your recipient's Outlook Inbox. Viewing the email in the Reading Pane does not constitute being read.

    You send an email. You perform the steps to recall and replace it. Your recpient does NOT have Process Requests and Responses Upon Arrival selected in Tracking Options. Your recipient receives both the original email and the recall. One of two scenarios happens for your recipient:
    • If your recipient opens and reads your recall message first then the original email is deleted. The recipient is informed that you deleted the email from their mailbox.
    • If your recipient opens and reads your email first, the recall fails. Both the email and the recall remain in their mailbox and are available to them. Again, viewing the email in the Reading Pane does not constitute being read.
    You send an email. You perform the steps to recall and replace it. Your recipient has moved your email to another folder, either by a rule or manually by dragging and dropping. The recall message remains in the Inbox, or is moved to another folder. If the recall message and the original email exist in separate folders, the recall attempt fails. This happens no matter what settings are configured in Outlook. This leaves both the original message and the recall available to the recipient.

    You send an email. You perform the steps to recall and replace it. Your recipient has either manually moved both emails to the same folder, or used a rule to move both messages to the same folder (not in the Inbox). This will cause Outlook to behave as though it's NOT set to Process Requests and Responses upon Arrival. One of two scenarios happens for your recipient:
    • If your recipient opens and reads your recall message first then the original email is deleted. The recipient is informed that you deleted the email from their mailbox.
    • If your recipient opens and reads your email first, the recall fails. Both the email and the recall remain in their mailbox and are available to them. Again, viewing the email in the Reading Pane does not constitute being read.
    If your recipient reads the mail and then marks it as unread, Outlook will treat the email as though it has never been read.

    You send an email to a Public Folder on Exchange. You perform the steps to recall and replace it. One of the following scenarios will occur:
    • If the recipient reading the recall message created and has read access to all the items in the public folder, and didn't read the original message, the recall succeeds, and only the new message remains. You, the sender, receive a message indicating that the recall succeeded.
    • If the recipient has already marked the original message as read, he or she is informed that the recall failed, and only the recall message is deleted.
    If a user with different or any other Public Folder rights opens the recall message, the recall will fail. Both the old and new messages will stay in the Public Folder. In a Public Folder, it is the Reader's Rights, not the Sender's, that determine if a recall attempt succeeds or fails.   



    Monday 4 June 2012

    The Outlook Toolbar

    A menu displays a list of commands. Some of these commands have images next to them so you can quickly associate the command with the image. Most menus are located on the menu bar which is across the toolbar at the top of the screen.

    Toolbars can contain buttons, menus, or a combination of both.

    Microsoft Outlook automatically customizes menus and toolbars based on how often you use the commands. When you first start Outlook,. only the most basic commands appear. Then as you work, the menus and toolbars adjust so that only the commands and toolbar buttons you use most often appear.

    To look for a command that you don't use often or have never used before, click the double down-facing arrows at the bottom of the menu to show all the commands. You can also double-click the menu to expand it. When you expand one menu, all of the menus are expanded until you choose a command or perform another action. When you click a command on the expanded menu, the command is immediately added to the short version of the menu. If you do not use the command often, it is eventually dropped from the short version of the menu.



     
     

    Tuesday 29 May 2012

    Microsoft Outlook Views

    The two main views I'm going to cover today are the Outlook Bar and the Folder List.

    • Outlook Bar: The column on the left side of the Outlook window that includes groups such as Outlook Shortcuts or My Shortcuts, and the shortcuts within each group. Click a group to show the shortcuts contained within it. Click a shortcut to quickly access that particular component of Outlook.

    • By default, Outlook displays folders under the Outlook Bar for each of the following item types: Inbox, Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, and Notes. It also provides the following folders: Drafts (stores unfinished emails you are working on), Sent Items (copies of emails you sent to other people), Deleted Items (stores temporarily deleted items until you permanently delete them. The Deleted Items folder is NOT a storage folder.

    • In Microsoft Outlook, you store information in folders, the same way you store documents in Windows Explorer or even a file cabinet. You use a variety of folders based on the type of Outlook item you're working with and the type of email account you have. The Folder List is the most complete list of all the components and information held within Outlook.

    • The Folder List is not displayed by default. To make the Folder List appear, perform the following steps: In Outlook, click on the View Menu at the top of the screen. Click on Folder List in the menu. If "Folder List" does not immediately appear as an option, single click the double down arros at the bottom of the menu list to see the full menu.


    Friday 25 May 2012

    Email Attachment Handling for the Visually Impaired

    I want to credit Karen McCall for the following information. She's a Microsoft Word MVP in Canada and her contributions to Microsoft accessibility are invaluable. I will include her information at the end of this blog.

    A note if you're using adaptive technology:

    First go into Word and turn off Screen Reading Layout or Reading Layout as this is an inaccessible view of documents when using adaptive technology.

    In both Outlook 2007 & 2010 if you press Alt + F for the File Menu, Office Button or File/Backstage area (it has changed over the past iterations of Office but can be accessed using the same keyboard command) you’ll see “Save Attachments.”

    If you are saving Office documents through Outlook 2010, once you open them they are in Preview mode so you need to press Alt + F, letter I for File/Backstage area, Info and then turn on editing by then pressing E.

    Here are the steps for Outlook 2010 from when an email arrives:

    1. Press Enter to open an e-mail with an attachment.
    2. Your cursor will be on the first line of the message.
    3. Press Shift + Tab to move to the attachments area of the e-mail.
    4. You can then use the Arrow keys to move among attachments.
    5. Press Enter on an attachment you want to open.
    6. If it is an Office document, you’ll then have to press Alt + F, letter I, E once the document opens as it will be in Protected view.
    7. Press Escape on the e-mail post to close the post and return to Outlook.

    You can choose to press the AppKey (located to the immediate left of the Ctrl key on the right side of the main keyboard area…has two little square applications on it) or Shift + F10 would also work I think. This gives you the option to open or save as without going through the Office Button/File menu in Outlook 2007 or the File/Backstage area of 2010.

    You can use Shift + Tab when a post is open to move to the BCC, CC or To field, press the AppKey/right mouse button and perform actions on addresses in those fields. Tab would move you forward through these fields.

    You can choose to go to the File Menu, Office button or File/Backstage area (depending on your version of Outlook) and choose Save Attachments. This will let you save all attachments to a location on your computer or storage device. As with the other method of saving attachments, if it is an Office document you’ll have to turn off Preview mode.

    I haven’t found a way to open or work with attachments in the Reading Pane (this happens in emails received in Rich Text Format). At one time F6 and Shift + F6 would move you forward or backward through the larger pieces of Outlook like the list of messages to the Reading Pane to the To Do Bar to the Status Bar and so forth and using Tab or Shift + Tab would move you forward or backward through the pieces of each larger chunk….the Reading Pane for example. This would let you navigate to the reading Pane using F6 and then use Shift + Tab to move to the Attachments area and work with attachments but this does not work consistently so working with attachments in the Reading Pane is not possible, you have to open the message or use the Save Attachments tool.

    If someone is blind and using the JAWS  screen reader, JAWS 13 announces it when you come across an attachment in Outlook 2010.

     A person using JAWS will hear that there is an attachment as long as the Attachments Colum in the mail folder is visible. This is the little paper clip next to a message. Pressing the JAWS command for listing objects, Ctrl + Shift + letter O will give you a list of the attachments which in this case are objects.

    I used the ability to create random text in Word/Outlook to create the surrounding text as many people just plunk objects into e-mail. The keyboard  command is =rand(3). This will put three paragraphs of text from the \Office Help files into a document. Each paragraph will have a default number of 3 sentences. If you type (4, 5) and press Enter you’ll get 4 paragraphs each with 5 sentences. I include this in case you didn’t know…

    Anyway, I can either use the Up and Down Arrow keys on their own or with the screen reader and the objects can also be found.

    Even if the attachment is indented on a line….is not at the left margin which is where most adaptive technology recognizes objects, JAWS 13 in Outlook 2010 found it and told me it was there. So once I knew it was there, or if you actually can see the attachment, select it by placing your cursor just before it and press the Shift key + right Arrow.

    You can then press the AppKey/right mouse button to access the context menu.

    There are lots of clues that the post contains an attachment and using the keyboard you can choose which ones to open or save, even print. If you need all attachments, it is still better to go through the Alt + F, Save Attachments method.

    In case you might need these, I have a page for Office 2007 accessibility including an Excel workbook with all the Ribbon, Sub-Ribbon and Non-Ribbon commands for Office 2007.

    http://karlencommunications.com/MicrosoftOfficeAccessibility.html

    And a page for Office 2010 with some resources:

    http://karlencommunications.com/MicrosoftOfficeAccessibility2010.html

    There is a book on each page about how to use OneNote from the Keyboard.

    Karen McCall, M.Ed.
    Microsoft MVP/Most Valued Professional for Word (2009-2011)
    Canadian delegate to the ISO/TC 171 committee
    Member of PDF/UA Universal Access working group
    Member of G3ICT
    Karlen Communications
    Paris ON Canada

    Wednesday 23 May 2012

    Organizing Your Inbox - Colour Code With Automatic Formatting

    Whether you have lots of email or just a few messages, you can use colour to help you quickly determine what you have. You can use the Automatic Formatting feature to quickly organize your email with colour. For example, you can see messages from your boss in one colour, and messages from your spouse in another!

    Use Automatic Formatting to make specific messages stand out in the colour of your choice so that even if you have thousands of emails, messages from your boss stand out and catch your eye.

    Select an email message. Click on the Organize command on the Tools menu. You'll find the Organize option when you click on Tools > Organize. Next click "Using Colours." Set the rule for colour coding, then apply it.

    Outlook creates an Automatic Formatting rule and shows you the details in the Automatic Formatting dialogue box. If you want to see the rule, click the Automatic Formatting button in the Organize pane.

    You can use this feature to colour code:

    • Mail from any specific person of your choosing
    • Mail to any email distribution list that you belong to
    • Mail regarding any specific subject that you choose
    Don't forget to test this out. Try turning colour coding off and on, or even change the colour. Delete and recreate the rule.

    In review, you may use colour coding to help you organize your inbox by making certain emails stand out visually.

    Monday 14 May 2012

    Ergonomics

    Today, a departure from discussing anything Microsoft Outlook! Instead, we're going to cover ergonomics to ensure that you're comfortable at your desk and stay healthy and battle fatigue. We're going to make your workspace as comfortable as possible.

    Monitor and Keyboard Placement

    • Adjust the monitor height so that the top of the screen is at or slightly below eye level. Your eyes should look slightly downward when viewing the middle of the screen.
    • Position the screen no closer than 508 mm (that's 20 inches for you Americans) from your eyes. A good rule of thumb is an arm's length distance. The larger your screen, the more distance you will want.
    • Adjust the screen position to eliminate glare from windows and overhead lights.
    • If lighting conditions permit, tilt the screen back 10 - 20 degrees. This will maintain the same distance between your eyes and the screen as you scan it from top to bottom.
    • EXCEPTION: if you're wearing bifocals, lower the monitor below eye level and turn the screen upwards, tilting it back 30 - 45 degrees. 
    • The centre line of the keyboard should be level with the height of your elbows.
    • Tilt the keyboard back 10 degrees so that your wrists remain flat.
    More Tips for Comfortable Computing

    • Use an adjustable chair. Get comfortable with its features and adjust them regularly.
    • Rest your eyes periodically by focusing on an object no less than 20 feet away.
    • Stand and stretch your arms and back from time to time.
    • Position whatever you're looking at most of the time (computer monitor, reference materials, telephone, etc.) directly in front of you so that you minimise turning your head.
    • Remember that even if your workstation is set up properly, you can still suffer fatigue from being in the same position too long. Be sure to regularly adjust your monitor, keyboard, and chair to stay flexible. Don't forget to get up, stretch, and walk around.
    Improve Your Posture

    • Know the warning signs of back pain caused by poor ergonomics and posture. Back pain may be the result of poor ergonomics and posture if back pain is worse at certain times of the day or week. An example may be after a long day of sitting at the computer, but not during weekends. Pain that starts in the neck and moves downward into the upper back, lower back, and extremities; pain that goes away after switching positions while sitting or standing; sudden back pain that is experienced with a new job, a new chair, or new car; back pain that comes and goes for months.
    • Get up and move! As muscles tire, slouching, slumping, and other poor postures become likely. This in turn puts extra pressure on the neck and back. In order to maintain a relaxed yet supported posture, change positions frequently. One way is to take a break from sitting in your chair every half hour for about two minutes to get up and stretch, stand, or walk.
    Your Mother Was Right, STOP Slouching!

    • Keep your body in alignment while sitting in an office chair or standing. Distribute your body weight to the front, back, and sides of your feet when standing. While sitting, take advantage of your chair's features. Sit up straight and align the ears, shoulders, and hips in one vertical line. Any single position, even a good one, will become tiring. Leaning forward with a straight back can alternate with sitting back, using the back support of your chair to ease the work of your back muscles. Also, be aware of and avoid doing things that unbalance your posture like crossing your legs, leaning to one side, hunching the shoulders forward, or tilting your head.
    Use Props

    • Use posture-friendly props and ergonomic chairs when sitting. They can help take the strain and load off the spine. A chair with an adjustable back support, a foot rest, portable lumbar support, or even a towel or pillow can be used while sitting in a chair or driving.
    • Use purses, bags, and backpacks designed to minimise back strain.
    • Proper corrective eye wear and positioning the screen to your natural, resting eye position can also help you to avoid leaning or straining your neck by tilting your head forward or to the side.
    Be Aware of Your Surroundings

    • Increase your awareness of posture and ergonomics in your everyday surroundings. Being away of ergonomics at home, at work, and at play is a vital step towards instilling good posture and ergonomic techniques. This includes making conscious connections between episodes of back pain and specific situations where poor posture and/or ergonomics may be the root cause of the pain.
    Exercise

    • You don't have to exercise like Arnold! Even walking around helps.
    • Use exercise to help promote good posture and prevent injury. Regular exercise such as biking, swimming, or walking will help the body stay aerobically conditioned, while specific strengthening exercises will help the muscles surrounding the back to stay strong. The benefits of exercise promote good posture which will in turn further help to condition muscles and prevent injury.
    • There are also specific exercises that will help maintain good posture. In particular, a balance of trunk strength with back muscles about 30% stronger than abdominal muscles is essential to help support the upper body and maintain good posture.
    It's All About the Shoes

    • Wear supportive footwear when standing. Avoid regularly wearing high-heeled shoes which can affect the body's centre of gravity and change the alignment of your body. This negatively affects back support and posture. When standing for long periods of time, placing a rubber mat on the floor can improve comfort.
    Poultry In Motion

    • Remember good posture and ergonomics when in motion. Walking, lifting heavy materials, holding a telephone, and typing are all moving activities that require attention to posture and ergonomics.
    • It is important to maintain good posture even while moving to avoid injury. Back injuries are especially common when twisting and/or lifting and often occur because of awkward movement and control of the upper body weight alone.
    Create Your Environment

    • Create ergonomic physical environments and work spaces, such as for sitting in an office chair at a computer.
    • It does require a small investment of time to personalize the workspace, home, and car but the payoff is well worth it. Undue strain will be placed on the spine unless the office chair, desk, keyboard, monitor, etc. are correctly positioned.
    Don't Bubble wrap Yourself

    • Avoid over-protecting your posture. Remember that it is important to maintain an overall relaxed posture to avoid restricting movements by clenching muscles and adopting an unnatural, stiff posture.
    • For individuals who already have some back pain, it is a natural tendency to try to limit movements to avoid the potential pain associated with movement. However, unless there is a fracture or other serious problem, the structures in the spine are designed for movement and any limitation over a long period of time creates more pain and a downward cycle of less motion and more pain.

    Thursday 10 May 2012

    Welcome to Microsoft Outlook

    What is Microsoft Outlook?

    Outlook is an information and communication manager that primarily handles messaging, calendaring, and contacts.

    Basic Outlook Overview

    • The mail component lets you send, receive, and manage email messages. Messages can be sent to other email users with a valid email address and can include file attachments and hyperlinks to webpages.
    • The calendar is used to keep track of appointments and plan meetings with other email users. On a personal level, it can be used to record appointments, events, and other important dates such as birthdays and anniversaries. You can even use it to remind you to do a task every day. On a group level it can be used to schedule and track meetings with others at a time convenient to all.
    • Contacts are used to maintain address, phone, FAX information, etc.
    Outlook's Additional Components

    • Tasks provide to-do lists comprising jobs that can be assigned to other Outlook users, tracked and scheduled in your calendar. You can check the status of a task and set tasks that recur at specific intervals.
    • Outlook can also be used to record notes for any textual information. Notes can be posted on your desktop as constant reminders and can be forwarded to other users or even included in Word processing documents.
    Your Outlook View

    • You can customize your Outlook View
    • To manage Outlook it's often easiest to view two toolbars (standard and advanced), the Outlook bar, and the folder view.
    • You should also view mails in your Inbox without the preview pane as a security measure but include the following fields: importance, icon, flag, attachment, From, Subject, Size, and Date.
    Outlook Options

    • Outlook options are where you set your signature, how you read your email, what format you use, how you choose to empty your Deleted Items folder, spellcheck, etc.
    • Options are the way you can customize some Outlook behavior.
    • Located under Tools on the Menu Bar, using options allows you to set some email preferences, format, spelling, and many other items.
    Outlook Format

    • The Outlook format, while found under Options, should be identified separately since incorrectly formatted emails may lead to several avoidable problems.
    • The default format on older versions of Outlook (95 - 2002) is Rich Text. Rich Text format is Outlook specific, that is to say that email recipients not using Outlook may not be able to read this format. They may even receive blank emails and if you include an attachment, they probably won't receive it since improper formatting may strip it out.
    • The format I recommend is either plain text or HTML.
    Outlook Signature

    • A signature goes out at the bottom of all of your emails. It should tell the recipient your name, title, telephone number including extensions if applicable, and your website if you have one. There is no need to include your email address since every email you send includes it already.
    • Don't make your signature too long or people will ignore it. If it's too cute, people may not take you seriously.
    • Keep the font simple and legible. Don't use all capitalized letters.
    • Your signature should not be sent on replies and forwards.
    Outlook Organization - Folders and Rules

    • To organize your mail and keep your Inbox uncluttered, create folders to hold common emails.  For example, if you receive mail from Microsoft on a regular basis create a Microsoft folder.
    • To further keep your Inbox clean, create rules that make Outlook automatically move emails into your important folders. Make sure you keep the folders up to date and delete anything not required (example: Merry Christmas from your boss in 1999 is not required).
    Outlook Size

    • If you are in an Exchange environment (at work or at many schools), you may face a mailbox cap. When you are close to your limit you will receive email notifications from the System Administrator. If you ignore the warnings and exceed your limit, you will be unable to send email. If you continue to ignore the warnings, eventually you will not be able to receive email.
    • Outlook itself does not have a cap, depending on which version you use and what type of mail account you have created. For a home user, older versions of Outlook (2002 and older) do have a Personal Folders maximum size of 2 GB though it can become pretty flakey at around 1.6 GB. In Outlook 2003, they did away with this cap by changing the format from ANSI (American National Standards Institute) to Unicode. This allowed the PST file in Outlook 2003 & 2007 to become a maximum size of 20 GB (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/830336).
    • To determine how much mail you have, view the properties of Outlook Today in the folder view. This will show you what you have and where the bulk of your mail is stored.
    Outlook Deleted Items

    • Emptying your Deleted Items folder regularly helps to maintain your mailbox or PST size. It is not to be used as a filing system.
    • To this end, if you delete an email and discover later that you need it, if you're in an Exchange environment you may be able to recover by clicking on Tools > Recover Deleted Items. If Deleted Item Retention is turned on, you have a chance of getting your email back depending upon how long it's been since you deleted it.
    • If you delete an email and you have a POP3 or IMAP account, you can try the following but it is unpredictable at best if you are not trying to recover a deleted email immediately: http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/restoredeleteditemsfromanoutlookpst.htm 
    Outlook PST (Personal Folders)

    • These can be helpful in an Exchange environment if you have a mailbox cap but should be used with caution. The Outlook PST is created automatically in a non-Exchange environment (say you're a home user and you create a POP3 for your ISP email).
    • If you're in an Exchange environment, all email moved to Personal Folders removes it from the Exchange mail server. This means it reduces your mailbox size but it is not being backed up anymore.
    • Whether you're a home user or in an Exchange environment, it is in your best interests to regularly back up your PST (aka Personal Folders). The procedure is easy, with Outlook closed, simply copy your PST to another location that is not on your C drive (on a network you can use your User or Home drive, if you're at home you can put it on a CD or USB key or on your D drive - away from your operating system drive which is usually C).
    • How to find your Personal Folders: http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm#Locating_the_pst-file 
    • How to back up and restore your Personal Folders: http://www.howto-outlook.com/howto/backupandrestore.htm 
    Outgoing Email Requests

    • Request a delivery receipt to verify it was delivered to the email address that you specified.
    • Request a read receipt to verify that an email has been read by the recipient. Use this with caution. A recipient may deny this read receipt or their email server can.
    • Voting buttons
    • Delayed delivery
    • Filing outgoing mail
    • Recall an outgoing email that you wish to revise or delete (this usually only works in an Exchange environment and only if the recipieint has not read the email).
    The Outlook Calendar

    • Use the calendar to schedule meetings, reminders, events.
    • All scheduled items can be single instance (once) or recurring.
    • Invite others to your meetings.
    • As the recipient of a meeting request, you can accept/decline/tentative.
    • Use the calendar to schedule with people ahead of time. Don't surprise them at the last minute. Give people time to prepare!
    Attachments

    • If you're in an organization, sending a document by email eats up everyone's mailbox space. Share the document, spreadsheet, PDF, presentation, etc. on the network in a common location that everyone can access. Instead of including the attachment in your email, insert a hyperlink to the location of the attachment.
    • Often, incoming and outgoing attachment size is limited. Take note of the size of the attachment size that you wish to send. Sending a huge file can also tie up your own outgoing email.
    Email Etiquette

    • I am covering email etiquette for several reasons; professionalism, courtesy, efficiency, and liability.
    • By using proper language and correct spelling, we portray an image of professionalism.
    • Emails that get to the point are much more efficient than poorly-worded ones.
    • Since text-based communication has no tone of voice or body language to associate with it, take extra care to be courteous.
    • Awareness of email risks protects you from lawsuits.
    What Are the Rules?

    • Be concise and to the point.
    • Answer all questions and pre-empt further questions.
    • Use proper spelling, grammer, and punctuation.
    • Make it personal.
    • Do not attach unnecessary files.
    • Don't type in all capitalized letters.
    • Add a signature to your outgoing email.
    • Read and re-read your email before you send it.
    • Double-check that you're sending to the correct recipient.
    • Do not forward chain emails and hoaxes.
    • Don't use email to discuss confidential information.
    Outlook Caution

    • Never send or forward emails that contain libelous, defamatory, offensive, obscene, or racist remarks.
    • Use the Reply to All button only when all recipients require the information you convey.
    • Don't reply to SPAM.

    Wednesday 9 May 2012

    Troubleshooting Microsoft Outlook

    It doesn't matter which version you use, though it is hoped you've upgraded to Office 2003 at the very oldest, you will come across problems with Outlook that you won't understand or know how to deal with. This is where troubleshooting comes into play, and you have many options!

    You can research for yourself and here are my two favourite websites to use:

    Robert Spaarnaij's Microsoft Outlook Help Site

    Diane Poremsky's Slipstick Solutions Centre for Microsoft Outlook

    Both websites will cover all of your basic questions and problems if you search through them. I would even advise you to bookmark them.

    Both are written and maintained by Microsoft Outlook MVP's. MVP stands for Most Valuable Professional. This is a coveted designation offered by Microsoft at their invitation only. That is, you can't write an exam to get this. Microsoft invites you to become an MVP based on your expertise!

    If you have a Yahoo! account, you can join the outlook-users group and post or email questions:
    Outlook Users Yahoo! Group

    You can also join and ask questions in the Microsoft Answers Outlook forum, all you need is a Live or Hotmail account to do so.

    Microsoft Answers Forum

    The forum is not frequented by Outlook developers but Outlook users and of course all of the Outlook MVP's who are experts in their field.

    And of course, Microsoft offers Outlook Help and How-to as well:
    Microsoft Office Help

    This is just a start to help you troubleshoot any Outlook problems you might have.

    If you have suggestions for further Microsoft Outlook blog topics, don't hesitate to let me know!