September 2007

Set Up Outlook Express
YOUR Way

You can greatly improve your e-mail experience by properly configuring Outlook Express, which is the default Windows e-mail client. Outlook, which is included with MS Office, is a completely different program, but it has a similar user interface for e-mail. The two programs are similar enough that you should be able to adapt these procedures to your version.

By default, Outlook Express has five local folders: Inbox, Outbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items, and Drafts. You can add more to make your e-mail messages easier to find in the same way that you organize your file system by using folders. Set up a separate folder for each major category of e-mail that you send and receive. With Outlook running, right-click on “Local Folders”, select “New Folder ...”, and put the desired name in the “Name:” box. You can now move the messages from your Inbox to the new folder. You will probably find some messages that don’t belong in any folder; just leave these in the Inbox.

You can change Outlook to operate as you find convenient by changing its rather intrusive defaults. Click on “Tools” and select “Options ...”. Under the General tab, I’ve unchecked everything, as I prefer not to be interrupted by every incoming e-mail. Under the Read tab, I’ve unchecked the first box (Mark messages read after 5 seconds. Under the Send tab, I unchecked the “Send messages immediately” item; many times I have second thoughts immediately after writing a response, and this gives me one last chance to make changes. Under the Spelling tab, I checked “Always check spelling before sending”. Finally, under the Maintenance tab, I checked, “Empty messages from the ‘Deleted Items’ folder on exit”. This does what it says and erases your deleted items. (Otherwise, why would you have deleted them? If you don’t check this item, your Deleted Items folder can contain a huge number of unwanted messages.) I left items under the Receipts, Compose, and Signature tabs at their defaults.

Deleting spam

You can also use Outlook Express to delete spam. Click on “Tools” and select “Message Rules” then “Mail ...”. You can new tell it how to handle certain specific e-mails. For example,if you are tired of the constant stream of forwarded trivia, use the following sequence. In Box 1, check “Where the Subject line contains specific words”. In Box 2, check “Delete it”. In Box 3, click on “contains specific words” and type “FW:” in the text box. Finally, in Box 4, name the rule “Delete forwarded items”. When you now go to “Message rules”, you will see this item. You can uncheck it, to disable the rule or edit it, if needed.

Spend some time exploring the Message Rules tool to see what else it can do. For example, you can act on messages based on who sent them or what words they contain. You can select multiple conditions; for example, you can delete forwarded messages only from certain people. You can also select multiple actions; for example, you can move selected messages to a folder and highlight them. Finally, in Box 2 you should select “Stop processing more rules”, if the action is something other than delete.

Your last step is to order your rules list. The rules moving the desired e-mail to the correct folders should appear at the top of the list. Since they stop checking other rules after they move a message, they will prevent the spam filter rules from throwing out messages from people with whom you regularly correspond. To do this, in the “Message Rules” window use the “Move Up” and “Move Down” buttons to sort the rules.

You will have to reorder the rules each time you add a new one.

Turn off preview panel

Just opening an e-mail can result in your PC becoming infected with a virus. Even worse, Outlook Express’s default is that the preview panel opens any message that you select, which means you have no way of deleting a suspect message without opening it. You can disable the preview panel using the following. Click on “View”, then “Layout ...”, and remove the check from “Show preview pane”. While you are there, also uncheck the “Folder bar” item; you won’t miss it.

Outlook Express has only limited capabilities and is the target of many viruses. If its limitations and vulnerabilities concern you, consider Thunderbird, which is a free download, or if you have MS Office, Outlook...

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