STFU && RTFM

I recently had a user drop by and ask me about an odd error he was seeing when starting Microsoft Outlook. The error looked like this:
 

 
Looking about on the internet, I couldn’t find a lot of help, and enlisted the assistance of a friend of mine. After some trial and error, we found that the problem lay with the navpane, and that the solution was to reset it. Here’s how:
 

1. Open a command line window (Start – Run – cmd)
2. Enter this command: cd C:Program Files (x86/x64)Microsoft OfficeOffice12outlook /resetnavpane

 
After Outlook has opened, it should open like normal from the desktop icon. Also remember to use x86 if you’re using a 32-bit version of Windows, and x64 if you’re running the 64-bit version.

A user called me up, telling me that whenever she’d minimize Outlook, it would shut down in stead of minimizing. Accessing her computer remotely, I easily saw that Outlook wasn’t closed, it was minimized to tray.
 
To avoid this problem reappearing, I did the following:
 

1. I located and right clicked the Outlook icon in the system tray.
2. I then cleared the check mark for ‘Hide when minimized’.

I was contacted by a user telling me that Outlook was running slowly on his computer, especially when switching between Mail and Contacts, etc. He also reported that when he had Outlook open, he didn’t get the speed he was supposed to while surfing the web.
 
The problem was simply that Outlook was set to check with the Exchange Server constantly. To avoid this problem, you need to turn Cached Mode on. Here’s how:
 

1. In Outlook 2003, click Tools -> Email Accounts.
2. Click the second option (View or Change Existing Email Accounts) and click Next.
3. Highlight your Exchange account and click Change.
4. Make sure the checkbox for ‘Use Cached Mode’ is checked and click Next.
5. Click Finish.

 
The procedure is the same in 2007, but for step one click on Tools -> Accounts and you may disregard step two.

I’ve been using email since 1998, and from the get-go I’ve been using various webmail-clients, in addition to locally installed clients such as Outlook Express (urg), Outlook (Yum-yum), Lotus Notes (Oh-so-bloated) and Thunderbird (Weighed, measured and found wanting). My first email address was a hotmail one, and although that specific incarnation of my online presence no longer exists, I still have a hotmail address.

In addition to my hotmail adress, I’ve got five other main emails, three personal and two professional. All in all, this is a whopping total of five. Two of my four personal addresses are hosted by traditional mail and web hosts, and normally speaking they’d be accessed using a locally installed email client. Not so with me, mine are forwarded to my non-hotmail webmail provider, GMail.

Now, you can like or dislike GMail, it doesn’t change the fact that GMail has garnered a large following, and I for one love the archiving system they’ve got, as I do tend to need old emails from time to time, and at times need to label emails with more than one label.

I’ve spent two years abroad, one in the South England town of Poole, and one all over Israel. Both places, email was a great way of communicating with family and friends back home. However, not having my own computer in England, and not wanting to risk my personal communication being spread for the winds in Israel, webmail was the perfect solution, for a few simple reasons:
•If you’ve got ‘net, you’ve got mail
•Read and reply to email when and where you can and want
•Read old emails at need

Nowadays, getting an email address costs nothing, you get loads of space, and it doesn’t take a lot of time to set up or learn how to use. Simply put; if you know how to use the web, you already have the tools to acquire and start using your very own email adress.