Use the information below at your own risk.  See "Terms of Use"

 Keyboard Shortcuts

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 Read Receipt

NOTE: Outlook Express only supports the read receipt feature in version 5.01 and later.  You can upgrade Internet Explorer to upgrade Outlook Express.

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Add New Sub Folders

1. Right-click the folder you want to use as the parent.
2. Then select New Folder.
3. Enter the new folder's name.
4. Click OK.

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Automatically Sort Your Mail

To access the Assistant.

1. Select Tools/Inbox Assistant from the main Outlook Express menu.
2. Click the Add button to create a new sort rule.
3. The old Inbox Assistant let you select only basic To, From, CC, and Subject criteria, and then only let you move corresponding messages to a new folder. The updated Inbox Assistant gives you many new options, such as deleting messages, autoreplying, leaving copies on the server, or forwarding messages to a different address.

You can even use the Inbox Assistant to sort mail that's already in your inbox. Just set up your sorting rules with the Inbox Assistant, click the Apply To button, and select your inbox. Outlook Express filters through the existing inbox messages and applies the rules accordingly.

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Sending Mail in HTML

To create an HTML message, click the Compose Message button on the main menu. In the New Message menu, select Format/Rich Text (HTML). A new toolbar appears that contains standard HTML formatting buttons for fonts, lists, images, and lines. You can use these buttons to create slick HTML email that your recipients can view either in HTML-ready email programs or in a Web browser.

NOTE: Not all mail software can read HTML pages, so unless you know the recipient can read this format send the mail in text format.

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Import your address book

To import messages.
Select File> Import> Messages from the main menu. A Wizard steps you through the process of importing the message.

Importing an address book is even easier.

1. Select File/Import/Address Book from the main menu.
2. Select the email client you want to import from
3. Click the Import button. Done!

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Create Multiple Email Accounts

Outlook Express makes it easy to create several accounts that you can check independently or all at once. With Inbox Assistant, you can even combine multiple accounts and put your mail in different folders based on those accounts.

When you first install Outlook Express (as part of the IE 4.0 installation) you create your first account.

To add more:

1. Select Tools> Accounts from the Outlook Express main menu.
2. Click the Add button
3. Select the Mail tab to create a new mail account.

The Wizard steps you through the process of creating the new account. When the Wizard finishes, click the Close button in the Internet Accounts dialog box.

Note: You will need to know the necessary SMTP (outgoing) and POP3 (incoming) server mail addresses. Contact your Internet Service Provider for these details. 

To check mail in any or all of your accounts:

1. Select Tools> Send and Receive from the Outlook Express menu.
2. Choose either All Accounts or an individual account name.

This will check for mail in the account/s you have specified.

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Change the title bar text

1. Start the Registry Editor (Start> Run> type in regedit)
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Outlook Express
3. Click on Outlook Express to open its contents in the right pane. 
4. Select Edit from the menu.
5. Select New> String Value
6. Name it NewTitle
7. Now double-click this entry and insert your text.
8. Close the Registry editor and restart Outlook Express.

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Change the Default Font

1. From the menu bar select Tools, then select Stationery
2. You can now set the Default font for both Mail and News

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Backup your Accounts Information

1. Start the Registry Editor (Start> Run> type in regedit)
2. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Account Manager/Accounts
3. Click the Accounts key.
4. From the menu select Registry> Export Registry File
5. Select a name for the file, select the location where you want to save it, and from the Export range, make sure that Selected branch is selected
6. Click Save

If you want to restore your Accounts Information, simply Double click on the registry file, and the values will be imported to your registry (you will have to re-boot for the process to be completed).

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Create a Signature

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Dialup a Contact

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Block senders list

Choose Tools> Message Rules> Block Senders List, click the address of the person in the list, and click Remove.

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Sending attachments

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Prompt for password

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Save a formatted email

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File Attachment Considerations

• If the file is larger than 2mb (2,048K), check with the recipient before sending to ensure that he/she will be able to receive it. Some Internet Service Providers place restrictions on message sizes.
• Do not change the extension of the file. This extension (for example, .doc for Word documents, .xls for Excel spreadsheets) is used by Windows 95 to determine what program was used to create the file, and it also makes it easier for the recipient to know what type of file you have sent.
• When sending an attachment, be specific when indicating what type of document is attached. If you know the software program and its version, include that in the message

Note:  You may find it necessary to zip or compress the files.

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Delete attachment not the email

1. If it is a new message, you can remove the attachment by opening the email message, right-clicking the attachment icon and selecting "Delete".  This operation will not work once the email has been moved to another folder as the "Delete" option will be grayed out.
2. Open the email, click File/Save As and save the eml file on your Desktop.  Then open it there with Notepad or Wordpad and delete all info below the text in the body of the message all the way to the end.  Then in Notepad or Wordpad, click File/Save (NOT Save As) and you can then drag and drop it into a local mail folder in Outlook Express.
3. Open the folder with the message(s) from which you would like to delete the attachment. Right click on the message in the message list and chose "Save message(s) to file(s)...". Save the message to your "New mail folder" which is nothing but your mail directory and give the file containing the message the extension ".cnm". A few seconds later you might be informed that new mail had arrived .... Proceed with method "deleting attachments, when mails are still in the new mail folder".

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Drag and Drop Attachment

Open up a New email, then minimize it to the taskbar. Browse for the file you wish to attach and drag & drop it in to the email sitting on the taskbar.  

Note: You will have to hold the mouse over the email until the email opens up, then drop it in.

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Backup address book and put on new computer

To copy the Windows Address Book from one computer to another, use the following steps: 

1. Start Outlook Express on the computer that has the Windows Address Book you want to copy, point to Export on the File menu, and then click Address Book. 
2. Click Text File (Comma Separated Values), and then click Export. 
3. Type a descriptive name in the Save Exported File As box, click Browse, click a floppy drive in the Save In box, and then click Save. 
4. Click Next, click the appropriate check boxes to select the fields you want to export in the "Select the fields you wish to export" box, and then click Finish. 
5. Quit Outlook Express, and then insert the floppy disk in the computer you want to copy the Windows Address Book to. 
6. Start Outlook Express on the computer you want to copy the Windows Address Book to, point to Import on the File menu, and then click Address Book.

NOTE: To import a comma-separated file in Outlook Express 5, point to Import on the File menu, click Other Address Book, click "Text File (Comma Separated Values)," and then click Import. Skip to step 8. 

7. Click Text File (Comma Separated Values), and then click Import. 
8. Click Browse, click the appropriate floppy drive in the Look In box, click the file name you typed in step 3, click Open, and then Next. 
9. Click the appropriate check boxes to select the fields you want to import in the "Map the fields you wish to import" box, and then click Finish. 
10. If you receive a message "Would you like to replace the existing entry with the import entry?," click Yes To All to replace all duplicate entries, and then quit Outlook Express.  Reopen outlook Express and the address book will function normally.

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Open Address Book from Run

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Quickly add an address

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Archiving OE Messages

1. Run Outlook Express 
2. Select the folder you want to save.
3. Click Create Mail and enter a name for your backup in the Subject line. 
4. Drag all the messages you want to save from the selected folder into the new mail message.

Note: You can use Ctrl + A to select all the messages. Dragging the messages to the new mail message will attach all the files to the new message. 

5. Choose File/Save As
6. Locate a folder for your file and click Save.

Now, you can double-click your new file to read any of the saved messages.

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Choose Message Columns

1. Run Outlook Express
2. Choose View/Columns.
3. When the Columns dialog box opens, deselect the check boxes of columns that you don't need and click OK.

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HTML Message Won't Print

1. In MS IE, OE or Exchange click the View menu> Encoding > clear the Auto-Select box.

Note: Prior to making any changes to your registry ensure to make a back up copy. If you do not feel comfortable or are not at an experience level to perform this task, then do not attempt it.

2. Run Regedit and go to:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
3. In the right hand pane look for the "Use StyleSheets" String Value.
4. Create it if not present, or edit it to change its value from no to yes to enable the use of Style Sheets.
5. Then try to print a web page from Windows Explorer, MS IE or OE.

If the printing function is still disabled, if you get a blank page, or if your printed page(s) look garbled, delete the "Use StyleSheets" value altogether. Exit the Registry Editor when done.

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Change your view

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Uninstall and Reinstall OE

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Compressing OE Folders

1. Open Outlook Express
2. Select Tools
3. Select Options
4. Select the Maintenance tab
5. Select the option titled: Clean Up Now
6. In the Local File Cleanup windows, select Compact
7. Click Close

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Remove Windows Messenger From OE

1. Open your registry and find or create the key below. 
2. Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, called "Hide Messenger" and set it according to the value data below. 
3. Exit your registry, you may need to restart or log out of Windows for the change to take effect. 

Note: This tweak should also remove AOL Instant Messenger 5 integration. 

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Delete Mail Without Opening

Also, you can setup a Preview button on the top toolbar in OE to toggle this effect on/off. Go to View>> Layout>> Customize Toolbar.  From the left pane select Preview and move it to the right pane, click close. You should now have a button on the toolbar that says Preview. You can now toggle between having the bottom pane closed or opened.

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Change sound for new messages

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Save a message w/o attachment

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Attaching Multiple Files

1. Use the paper clip button on the Compose message window 
2. Using Windows Explorer and then navigating back to your Compose message window
3. Drag and drop the file into your message window.

To attach multiple files, first compose your message in the Compose/Reply Message window. Next, open Windows Explorer and highlight all the files you want to attach. Third, drag the files over the top of the New or Reply Message window that is on your toolbar and hold them there long enough for the window to become active. Release your mouse button of the message. There you are-multiple files attached at once.

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Send Picture Not As Attachment

1. Click the Compose Message icon on the toolbar. (If you don't see a toolbar of options just below the Subject line, choose Format + Rich Text [HTML] to make the toolbar appear.) 
2. Type the body of your message. 
3. Place the cursor wherever you want to insert the picture. 
4. Click the Insert Picture button on the toolbar (it looks like a postcard with mountains on it). 
5. Click the Browse button and navigate your way to the picture you want to use. 
6. Select the picture and then click Open. 
7. Click OK. 
8. Click [Send]

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Add a Dividing Line

1. Click the Compose Message icon on the toolbar. (If you don't see a toolbar of options just below the Subject line, choose Format + Rich Text [HTML] to make the toolbar appear.) 
2. Type the text of your message. 
3. Place the cursor where you want the separator to appear and then click the Insert Horizontal Line button (it has--of all things--a horizontal line on it). 
4. Click [Send].

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Attach Background Sound

1. Create a new email message.
2. Ensure that it is in HTML format by going to Format on the toolbar and selecting Rich Text (HTML).
3. Then select Format>> Background>> Sound
4. Use the Browse button to select the sound file you want to play in the background. 
5. Specify whether you want the sound file to be played continuously or a certain number of times. 
6. Click OK. 

Note: Be sure that the file size is not too large. Large files can take a great deal of time to download which can be very annoying to the recipient.

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Free Spell Checkers

TinySpell

Occasionally you need to check the spelling of words in an application that does not include a spelling checker and you don't want to launch your word processor just for that. This is when tinySpell becomes handy. It is a small utility that allows you to easily and quickly check the spelling of words in any Windows application. tinySpell monitors your typing on the fly and alerts you whenever it detects a misspelled word. It also checks the spelling of every word you copy to the clipboard.
tinySpell installs itself in the system tray for easy access. It comes with an American-English dictionary containing more than 110,000 words.

Checking your spelling is simple:
While you are typing, tinySpell monitors the text you enter and whenever it detects a misspelled word it beeps and the tinySpell icon in the system tray turns from white to yellow.

Correcting a misspelled word is also simple:
When a misspelled word is detected, click the tinySpell icon or press the hot-key to pop up a list of suggested replacement words from which you can select a correction. The selected word is inserted into your document, or is copied to the clipboard (so you can paste it in your document), or both (depending on your settings).

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Vampire

A free program, made to allow people to use Spell Checker in Outlook Express. This is a stand alone application, that incorporates in Outlook Express.

The purpose of this program, is to supply for free the ability to use Spelling in OE, without the need to purchase other software, such as MS Word,Works, or Office.

Disable the OE splash screen

1. Go to Start>> Run. Type in: regedit [Enter] or click OK
2. Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER>>Identities>>{GUID}>>Software>>Microsoft>>Outlook Express>>5.0

Note: GUID is your Global Unique IDentifier for your identity.

3. Click once of the 5.0 entry to empty its contents into the right pane.
4. Right click an empty area of the right pane.
5. Select New>> DWORD
6. Name this new DWORD value NoSplash.
7. Now, double-click your new NoSplash entry and enter a value of 1.
8. Exit the registry editor and reboot your system.

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Hide Outlook Bar in Outlook Express

Since Outlook Express already has a layout that shows folders that duplicate the Outlook Bar. You can just go ahead and hide it by using Window Layout Properties.

Select View>> Layout. When the Window Layout Properties dialog box appears, simply deselect the Outlook Bar check box and click OK.

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How to Delete Outlook Express Emails Without Opening Them

To setup OE to delete an email without opening it:

1. Open your Inbox and click View in the top menu bar
2. Select Layout and a Window Layout Properties box will open
3. Uncheck the box that says Show Preview Pane.
4. Click Apply and OK.

This will mean that only your Inbox list of messages will be displayed. To view a message, just double-click it, and it will open in a new window. To Delete a message, just click once on it to highlight it and then click the Delete button. It will now be sent to your Deleted Items Folder and can be restored from there if you make a mistake.

Toggle the Preview Pane

You can also setup Outlook Express to toggle the Preview Pane on and off. Here's how:

1. Open your Inbox and click View in the top menu bar
2. Select Layout...
3. Click the Customize Toolbar button
4. In the Customize Toolbar window and inside the menu titled "Available toolbar buttons", scroll the list and locate "Preview Pane".
5. Click once on Preview Pane and click the "ADD" button to the right. The Preview Pane entry will now reside in the "Current toolbar options" window.
6. Again, click on the Preview Pane entry to highlight it and select the "Move" button options to locate the Preview Pane button to a desired location on your toolbar.

Now that you have the Preview Pane button on your toolbar, you can click on your email message to highlight it and select the Preview Pane button in your toolbar to preview this message. Clicking the Preview Pane button again will return you to your previous setting.

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How to Backup Outlook Express Data

1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
2. On the Maintenance tab, click Store Folder.
3. Select the folder location, and then press CTRL+C to copy the location.
4. Click Cancel, and then click Cancel again to close the dialog box.
5. Click Start, and then click Run.
6. In the Open box, press CTRL+V, and then click OK.
7. On the Edit menu, click Select All.
8. On the Edit menu, click Copy, and then close the window.
9. Right-click any empty space on your desktop, click New, and then click Folder.
10. Type "mail backup" for the folder name, and then press ENTER.
11. Double-click the Mail Backup folder to open it.
12. On the Edit menu, click Paste.
13. Close the Mail Backup window.

Copy the contents of the "mail backup" onto a floppy (or similar device).

Please check the contents of the floppy for these following files:

• SentItems.dbx
• DeletetedItems.dbx
• Folders.dbx
• Inbox.dbx
• Offline.dbx
• Outbox.dbx
• pop3idil.dbx

If the contents on the floppy are similar to the contents as specified above (they do not need to be all the same) then perform the following steps to import them to the new system:

1. Insert the floppy drive into the new drive.
2. Make a folder and name it: "backup" and place it on the desktop.
3. Copy the contents of the floppy drive into the "backup" folder on the desktop.
4. Open Outlook Express
5. Click File in the menu bar, select Import and then select Messages
6. Click Microsoft Outlook Express 5
7. Click Next
8. Click the radio button for "Import mail from an OE6 store directory"
9. Click OK
10. Click Browse button
11. Double-click Desktop and then select Backup folder
12. Click OK
13. Click Next
14. Click on the radio button of "All Folders"
15. Click Next, this will restore all the data into the Outlook Express boxes
16. Click Finish

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Add a Signature to Outlook Express

1. Open Outlook Express
2. Go to Tools>> Options...
3. In the Options menu, choose Signatures, then select New

4. In the Edit Signature section, make sure that the "Text" selection is ticked. Or, if you would like to browse for a signature on your hard drive, you can tick the "File" selection.
5. Enter the text for your new signature. Most commonly used signatures include:

• Name
• Company
• Title
• Web Address of company
• E-mail Address
• Company Slogan

Here is a sample of what mine looks like:

Vince Underwood
President, 5 Star Support
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
http://www.5starsupport.com/ipboard/index.php
http://www.5starsupport.com
admin@[no spam]5starsupport.com
A Computer Learning Environment

6. After you've finished inputting your new signature, click Apply

Your new signature will now be available to use with your outgoing mail.

Here is how to attach your new signature to an Outgoing message:

1. Open Outlook Express
2. Click the Create Mail button
3. In the New Message window, type your message as you normally would
4. Place your cursor where you would like your signature to appear
5. Go to Insert>> Signature>> Select the signature that you would like to use

Your signature will now appear in the body of your email message.

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Send a picture in the body of your message

1. Click the Create Mail button in the top toolbar.
2. Type the body of your message.
3. Click in the body of your message where you would like to insert your picture. The cursor will now blink at this location.
4. Click the Insert button on the New Message toolbar.
5. Click the Browse button and navigate to the picture you want to use.
6. Select the picture and click Open. Then click OK.

Next, I will show you how you can resize the picture to any desired size:

1. Click once on the picture in the body of your e-mail message.
2. Place your cursor over any of the small square boxes that reside on the pictures edges until the cursor changes into two arrows.
3. Left click once and while holding the mouse button down, drag the picture to the desired size.

Next, I will show you how you can format the picture:

1. Right click the picture in the body of your e-mail message.
2. Select Properties (See resulting image below).

• From here you can insert "Alternate Text" into the picture so that the recipient will see what you've typed when they mouse-over the picture.
• Or, you can modify the layout of the picture, such as; align it to the left or right by clicking the dropdown menu labeled "Alignment". Once you open this menu, you will see a large selection of options available. The default setting is "Baseline".
• Or, you can add a border to the picture by simply placing a number inside the box labeled "Border Thickness". The larger the number, the thicker the border.
• Or, you can indent your picture by placing a number inside the two "Alignment" boxes labeled "Horizontal" and "Vertical". The larger the number, the larger your picture will be indented.

3. Feel free to play with any of these settings. Everything can be easily reversed. Once you have everything just the way you want it and you have filled in the "Send To" and "Subject", click Send

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Managing Your Outlook Express E-mail

1. Open Outlook Express
2. In the left pane and under the "Folders", click the "Local Folders" folder towards the top
3. Go to File>> Folder>> New (CTRL + SHIFT + E)
4. Type in the name for your new folder under "Folder name:". In this example I will use: "Shift Manager" as the name for this new folder.
5. Click OK

The new "Shift Manager" folder will now be created and reside within the rest of your local folders.

To make each e-mail from the "Shift Manager" automatically go to your new folder, you need to set up an e-mail rule for Outlook Express to follow, here's how:

1. With Outlook Express open, go to Tools>> Message Rules>> Mail...
2. The New Mail Rule window will now be shown. Under item #1 (Select the Conditions for your rule), place a checkmark in the checkbox titled: "Where the From line contains people"
3. Under item #2 (Select the Actions for your rule), place a checkmark in the checkbox titled: "Move it to the specified folder".
4. Now there will be two links residing in the item #3 box (Rule Description). You will need to click each link separately and fill in the appropriate information pertaining to each rule. In this case, you would click the two links named:
    
   • Contains people:
     Place the name of the person sending you the e-mail in this box. Or you can select the individual from the Address Book by clicking the Address Book button. Once you have selected the name, click "Add", then click OK.
      
   • Specified:
     Click the folder that you would like associated with this rule and then click OK.
      
5. Under item #4 (Name of the rule), for this example I will name it "Shift Manager". Then click OK and the OK again.

The new "Shift Manager" folder is now set up to receive e-mail from the person that you've specified in your rules.

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Configure Outlook Express for Yahoo mail

1. From the Tools menu, choose "Accounts."
2. Select the "Mail" tab.
3. Click the "Add" button.
4. From the Add menu, click "Mail."
5. In the text box labeled Display Name, type your name and click "Next."
6. In the Email Address box, type your Yahoo! Mail address (be sure to include "@yahoo.com") and click "Next."
7. Under "My incoming mail server is a..." select "POP3."
8. Type "pop.mail.yahoo.com" in the Incoming Mail (POP3, IMAP, or HTTP) Server box.
9. Type "smtp.mail.yahoo.com" in the Outgoing Mail (SMTP) Server box.
10. Click "Next."
11. In the Account Name box, type your Yahoo! Mail ID (your email address without the "@yahoo.com").
12. In the Password box, type your Yahoo! Mail password.
13. If you want Outlook Express to remember your password, check the "Remember password" box.
14. Do not check the boxes labeled "Log on using Secure..."
15. Click "Next."
16. Click "Finish."

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Saved E-mail Template

• Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them.
• Notify me but don't automatically download or install them.

4. Click OK and Exit the System Properties window.

Now that you have reconfigured your settings, you still see the yellow install shield in your taskbar. You will need to tell Automatic Update to ignore this update, here's how:

1. Click the yellow install shield in your taskbar.
2. Select 'Custom' installation.
3. In the resulting window, uncheck the update and click OK.
4. Check the box that states; "Do not tell me about it again" (or similar).

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Slow Down (or Stop) Spam Email

1. Open Outlook Express.
2. Select Tools>> Accounts
3. From the Internet Accounts window, be sure that the 'Mail' tab is selected.
4. At the right side of the windows, select Add>> Mail.
5. The Internet Connection Wizard will now start. Enter in a Display name that your would like to use (eg: nospam). Click Next
6. Enter a totally fictitious email address in the "email address" textbox (eg: fake@email.addy). Click Next
7. At the email server names window, you must enter in fake email servers in order for Outlook Express to accept your new email address. In the Incoming mail textbox, enter in: pop.xspam.xspam. In the Outgoing mail textbox, enter in: smtp.xspam.xspam. Click Next.
8. At the Internet mail Logon windows, type in an account name that you would like to use (eg:stopspam). Be sure to leave the password textbox blank and uncheck the "Remember password" box. Click Next.
9. At the properties window, type in a fake Mail Account name (eg: stop.spam.spam). Under "User Information", enter a name (eg: stopspam) and then enter your fake Email address: fake@email.addy. Be sure to uncheck the "Include this account when receiving mail or syncronizing" checkbox. Click OK.
10. The Wizard will now quit. Make sure each time you open a "New Message" window, you must select a valid email account from the dropdown list in the "From" field.

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