June 21, 2008

Organizing Outlook Mail

by Dian Chapman, MVP, MOS

The Problem
If you use Microsoft Outlook, this article will show you how to better organize your email files to help prevent corruption and speed up how Outlook accesses your files.

If you save a lot of email, you could end up with one, very large email data file. In Outlook, your email is stored in one file, usually called Personal.pst. Over time, this file can become so large that it will not only cause Outlook to take longer to open and close, but there's a chance that the file could become corrupt if it's too large. If it does become corrupt, you could lose all that valuable email you've been saving! So it's important to take steps to protect those files. One way is to set files to be archived, thereby compressing and managing older emails in an archive file. The other way is to locate your PST file(s) and save a copy of it to another directory, drive, computer or CD as a backup. But there's another way you can help to reduce the risk of losing email. You can create several smaller PST files from that one large file.

In this article, I'll show you how to do this and suggest ways to better organize your email.

Locating Your Email Files
One of the first things you should do is to search your hard drive for *.pst to make sure you only have two files. One called Personal.pst and one called Archive.pst. If you have more than that, you should open these files to see what is contained in them, so you can better organize these files, too. When I decided to organize my mail, I did a search and discovered I had three personal.pst files. One was an old backup from a previous computer that had died. Another was from my desktop computer, back when I used it as my email center. And the third from the current file from my laptop. So the first thing I did was rename the other two so I could then move them all into the same directory for further sorting.

To open a PST file to see what's in it, open Outlook. Click File/Open/Outlook Data File.

That will bring up a dialog box pointing at the default file location for Outlook. This path is usually: C:\Windows\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook. If you didn't already move any additional PST files into this path, then ferret around from this dialog box to find the path where those files are currently located. When you find the file you want to open, click it and click OK. As you can see from the image below, I have several different PST files.

When the new file is opened, you'll see it now listed in your Folder List. Click View/Folder List to display the Folder List, if it's not already displayed. As you can see in the image below, I currently have three separate PST files open. One is for my current email, this would be the file currently called Personal.pst. The other is one I've saved to contain email related to technical issues and a third one related to email about the web sites I maintain. And as you can see in the above image, you can easily match the names of the Web Sites file up with the Web Sites PST file. Same with the Tech Mail PST.

Create a New Email Folder
Let's assume you're dealing with just one large personal.pst file. You want to organize it better. So you're going to need to create a few separate PST files to which you can move the email around.

Click File/Data File Management. This will bring up the Outlook Data Files dialog box.

As you can see, it shows that I'm currently working with three PST files. You can also see that new mail delivery is defaulted to arrive in the Dians Current file. Click Add in this dialog to add a new PST file. A dialog box will appear confirming that you want to add a new personal.pst file. Click OK.

That will bring you again to the dialog box that defaults to your PST files. If this is not where you want to save these files, then select another directory. Give your new file a name and click OK to save this new, empty mail folder.

Tip: Since this is the default path that will appear whenever you save or open a PST file, I'd suggest you just save it here. I attempted to better organize my files by creating a Dian Email directory and saving all my files there. But I found I was wasting a lot of time having to locate that path over and over again. It's much faster to just accept this default path!

If you're planning this new folder to be used for, say, storage of all the email you send/receive from family members, then I'd suggest you save this file as Family.pst. After you give the file a name and click OK, you'll be presented with another dialog box. This one allows you to customize the configuration of your new folder.

As you can see in the image above, I have named the file the same as the name I used to save the file. The name you enter into this dialog box will be the name that will be displayed in the Folder List in Outlook when this file is open. So it only makes sense to give it a similar name. That way you will more easily know which is which.

Also in this dialog box, you can set your compression preferences, as well as whether you'd like the folder passworded. If you give it a password, be sure you use a password you won't forget. If you do forget it, you'll be locked out of all the email you put in this folder. When you're finished making your selections, click OK.

After clicking OK, you'll be taken back to the previous data file dialog. As you can see in the image above, the new file is now listed among my open PST files. At this point, you can also highlight your new PST file and click Settings.

You'll be presented with a dialog box that will allow you to compress the folder, if necessary and also to add any comments as notes to yourself so you won't forget what information is contained in this file. After you back out of the open dialogs, you'll notice that your Folder List now also shows this new file. It's now available for your use. Also notice that it also has it's own Deleted Items default folder.

I can now expand one of the other, larger folders and choose email from that file to click and drag into my new file. If I had created this file to hold all my Family related mail, I first would have obviously saved the file as Family.pst. Then I would have named it Family. And now I would go through all my email folders in that one large folder and pull out all email related to family issues and move it into this folder. You can drag over individual emails. You can click on one item, then hold down the Shift key, move your cursor to the end of the list of files you want to move, click on the last item and all items between will be selected. Then you can move the file in masse. You can also use the Ctrl key to selectively click to choose emails to move in a group. Or you can click and drag a whole folder into this new file.

Closing Email Files
Because I don't need to have this new folder opened all the time while in Outlook, I can now close this file. Highlight the folder, right click and click Close. This will keep all my email in this folder safely stored away in the Outlook directory.

However, should I later need to locate an important email from Uncle George, I would simply click File/Open/Outlook Data File, as we did in the beginning. I'd locate the PST file I'd need to search and click OK to open it. Then it would again be listed in my Folder List of open and available files.

Saving Backup Files
After I have created all my new PST files for each category that I need and I've taken the time to move all the email from the large personal.pst file into the separate files, it's important to make backups of these files. Then, should any individual PST file become corrupt, I'll have a backup to move over into my default directory.

After you close Outlook, open your Windows Explorer (hit Windows + E or right click the Start button and click Explore). Navigate to the directory where all your PST files are currently located. Select them all and hit Ctrl/C to copy them all. Then move to some backup directory, select it and hit Alt/V to paste a copy of all these files into your backup directory. Just be sure to do this now and then so you know you have a current copy of your files.

Note! Although you can copy files while Outlook is open, you will not be able to copy all the PST files because some will be in use. So it's best to wait until you've closed Outlook so all the files are available to be copied at one time.

Staying Organized
During my normal use of Outlook, after I receive and read email, any email I want to keep, I put into a central directory called Mail To Sort. I keep this folder handy by putting a shortcut to the folder on my Outlook bar. (NOTE! To learn how to take advantage of the Outlook shortcut bar, read this article: Looking Out Through Outlook.) Obviously, these emails are a mix of all the various mail categories. But rather loss propecia than taking time every day to sort out my email by opening and closing all the PST files, I wait until the end of the month and do it all at once. I can click on the Column Titles to sort by Sender or Subject to group your email. Then I can grab chunks at move them all off into their respective PST files. This way I can keep my In Basket from becoming too cluttered between sorting, yet I don't have to spend time each day opening and closing all my files just to sort a few pieces of email.

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Windows XP Fax Service

If you're running Windows XP, you can finally donate that old fax machine to a local charity and use the desk space for something more valuable (like a box of doughnuts, perhaps!) Believe it or not, but an easy to use fax service is built into Windows XP already, so you can send and receive faxes from your computer.

There are a number of advantages of moving to a Windows XP based fax system, with the main one being no wasted paper. There's no need to print documents before faxing them. You can read, save, delete or attach incoming faxes to an e-mail, all without using a single piece of paper. Of course, you can print them too!

Although you don't need a fax machine, you'll need a phone line, a modem and a scanner to send and receive faxes from your computer. For faxing, the modem and scanner don't have to be anything special. Even a 33.6 bps modem will dispatch a multi-page letter in a minute or two. As to the scanner, faxes are sent in black and white and usually at a default resolution of no better than 150×150 dpi (dots per inch). Any working scanner can manage that.

Setting Up and Configuring Windows XP Fax

The fax service isn't automatically installed in Windows XP. To install the fax component:

1. Go to Start, Control Panel and click Add/Remove Programs.

2. Click Add/Remove Windows Components. Select the Fax Services check box and then click Next. The Windows Component Wizard takes care of the rest.

After the fax component is installed, the next step is configuring it. You can configure the fax service in the Fax Console, the center for faxing tasks. To configure the Fax Console:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to Communications, point to Fax and then click Fax Console.

2. On the Tools menu in the Fax Console, click Configure Fax. This will start the Fax Configuration Wizard. Click Next to start configuring your fax information.

3. On the Sender Information lamina propecia fracture page, include your name or your business name and your fax number. Everything else on the page is optional.

4. On the Select Device for Sending or Receiving Faxes page, your modem will be selected, unless you have more than one. If you do, just select the one you want to configure at this time. Specify send and receive options and whether you'll manually answer incoming faxes or answer automatically when received.

5. On the Transmitting Subscriber Identification (TSID) and Called Subscriber Identification (CSID) pages, enter your business name and fax number. These fields really matter when you're running special fax routing software. Most software of this kind depends on TSIDs to determine where to direct an incoming fax.

6. On the Routing Options page, specify how incoming faxes will be handled. All faxes are stored automatically in the Fax Console, but you can also print a copy or store a copy in a local folder or on your network.

Sending Faxes From Your Computer

You can fax a document that's stored on your computer or you can scan a document and fax it by sending it to your fax printer. The Windows XP fax service uses the Windows Address Book (WAB) as its default book for fax numbers. If you ever install Outlook 2000 or Outlook 2002, the fax service switches to the Outlook Address Book (OAB) as its source for fax addresses. So, you don't need to maintain two address books, just one will do. To fax a document stored on your computer:

1. On the File menu of the document, click Print.

2. In the Print or Print Setup dialogue box, in the Printer name box, click Fax to open the Send Fax Wizard. (When faxing from an MS Office program, on the File menu, point to Send To, and then Click Fax Recipient. An Office Fax Wizard asks for specific information and then hands the process over to the Send Fax Wizard).

3. To supply the recipient's fax number, click Address Book and select one or more recipients just as if you were sending them an e-mail message.

4. If you've already set up Dialing Rules, skip ahead. If you haven't, click Dialing Rules. If you need to dial an extra digit to get an outside line, use a special carrier code or dial an area code even for local numbers, add those settings here and then click OK to return to the fax sending.

5. Specify when the fax should be sent, as well as, the fax's priority. Priority only matters if you're stacking up a number of faxes to be sent at a particular time. In that case, the order of sending will be determined by the priority you set.

6. Finally, you're presented with a screen that recaps the details of the fax. It also offers you a chance to preview it. If the fax is a multi-page, you'll be able to preview only the first page.

If you're sending the fax right away, the Fax Monitor, shown below, will start when the dialing does.

Faxing Scanned Documents

The second way to send a fax is to scan a document and then send it to your fax printer. The software that came with your scanner can help you set up this kind of fax and send it directly to your fax printer. However, you can also fax from a scanner using the tools in Windows XP:

1. Open Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, click Scanners and Cameras and then double click the icon for your scanner to start the Scanner and Camera Wizard.

2. On the Choose Scanning Preferences page, click Grayscale picture and then click Preview to start the scanner.

3. Provide a name and location for the scanned document.

4. Open the folder that contains the image file, right click the image and then click Print. The Photo Printing Wizard will open.

5. Select the check box for the image to be faxed.

6. Select Fax as the printer you want to use.

When you finish the Photo Printing Wizard, the Send Fax Wizard opens and you proceed as described in the procedure for sending a fax from your computer.

Does that sound pretty cool to you?! Go on and give it a try!

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Take advantage of the pinned items list in the XP Start menu

Date: June 18th, 2008

Author: Greg Shultz

The pinned items list found in the Start menu of Microsoft Windows XP can be customized to save you time by keeping your most-used applications in an easily accessible list.

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The left panel of the Start menu consists entirely of a divided list of programs that Microsoft Windows XP thinks will come in handy for you: the pinned items list above the separator line, and the most frequently used programs list, displayed below the line.

This blog post is also available in the PDF format in a TechRepublic Download.

By default, Windows XP places links to your Internet browser and your e-mail application in the pinned items list and will place as many as 30 shortcuts to the programs that you’ve recently used in the most frequently used programs list. (The most frequently used programs list is, by default, six shortcuts long.)

In order to really take advantage of the Start menu as a launching area for all the programs you use most often, you can configure the entire left panel as a pinned items list. Here’s how:

Right-click the Start button and select the Properties command to display the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog box.
Click the Customize button adjacent to the Start Menu radio button to display the Customize Start Menu dialog box.
In the Programs panel, use the Spin button to set the Number Of Programs On The Start Menu setting to 0. Click the Clear List button.
In the Show On Start Menu panel, you can clear the Internet check box, because the Internet Explorer icon already appears in the Quick Launch menu by default, and maybe even the e-mail check box, depending on how you launch your e-mail application.
Click OK twice — once to close the Customize Start Menu dialog box and once to close the Taskbar And Start Menu Properties dialog boxes.
Click the Start button and access the All Programs submenu.
Locate and right-click on a shortcut to a program you use most often and select the Pin To Start Menu command.

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You can pin as many as 30 of your most often used programs to the Start menu, depending on your screen resolution setting. With your actual favorite programs on the pinned items list, you can now really take advantage of the Start menu.

Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.

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How to add a drop-down list to an Excel cell

Date: June 12th, 2008

Author: Susan Harkins

In Access, you can limit user entries by forcing users to choose a value from a list control. Office applications use the same functionality in built-in drop-down lists. For instance, the Highlight and Font Color controls on most Formatting toolbars use this flexible tool. Simply click the small triangle to the right of the icon to display a list of choices.

You can create the same type of control for your users in an Excel sheet, but the process isn’t intuitive. The option is in the Data Validation feature. Fortunately, once you know the feature exists, it’s easy to implement. You need only two things: a list and a data entry cell. The following sheet shows a simple drop-down list in an Excel sheet.

Users click the drop-down arrow to display a list of items from A1:A4. If a user tries to enter something that isn’t in the list, Excel rejects the entry. To add this drop-down list to a sheet, do the following:

Create the list in cells A1:A4. Similarly, you can enter the items in a single row, such as A1:D4.
Select cell E3. (You can position the drop-down list in most any cell or even multiple cells.)
Choose Validation from the is propecia covered by insurance Data menu.
Choose List from the Allow option’s drop-down list. (See, they’re everywhere.)
Click the Source control and drag to highlight the cells A1:A4. Alternately, simply enter the reference (=$A$1:$A$4).
Make sure the In-Cell Dropdown option is checked. If you uncheck this option, Excel still forces users to enter only list values (A1:A4), but it won’t present a drop-down list.
Click OK.

You can add the drop-down list to multiple cells. Select the range of data input cells (step 2) instead of a single cell. It even works for noncontiguous cells. Hold down the Shift key while you click the appropriate cells.

It’s worth noting that the drop-down arrow is visible only when the cell is active.

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PowerPoint guidelines at a click

Date: June 13th, 2008

Author: Susan Harkins

PowerPoint’s guides intersect the middle of a slide, resembling a gun sight, just a bit, if you ask me. You can use these guides to measure the distance between objects and to position things accurately.

Guides are easy enough to display. Just right-click the slide, choose Grid And Guidelines from the resulting context menu, check the Display Drawing Guide On Screen, and then click OK. By default, there are only two guides, but you can move them. Simply click a guide and drag it.

Moving guides around can present a bit of a problem if you’re working with a lot of objects. Sometimes, it isn’t the guides’ position — you simply need more of them. The good news is that you can add as many guides as you need. This is one of those tips that seems simple and intuitive, especially if you use Office products a lot. Yet, I just discovered it. I can’t remember that I ever needed it before, which is generic propecia safe probably explains the lapse.

To add new guides, press Ctrl and drag a guide. Instead of dragging the existing guide to a new position, PowerPoint generates a new guide.