There are many different ways to create, send and receive mail using the internet. A letter, a piece of mail, on the internet is called an email. This document describes how to use Outlook Express to handle your emails. It is written for the Windows XP version of Outlook Express but with minor variations it covers all Windows versions.
The first time you start Outlook Express (OE) a wizard offers to setup your email account. If you are setting up from scratch the wizard is fine. You can use this if you like or cancel it and create an account later on.
To create an account you need the following information:
· email identity and password
· incoming mail server name
· outgoing mail server name
Normally you have one email identity, supplied by your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Let’s imagine the commonest ISP BigPond has allocated you an account. (Substitute your ISP’s name) Your name is John Smith and your allocated account name is johnsmith@bigpond.com with the password abc23def. You also need to know the incoming and outgoing server names. You can find these by using your browser, going to your ISP’s home page and looking for mail account setup or similar. You could also try typing into Google bigpond mail setup. You may even see the settings you need without any further digging, otherwise look for Microsoft Outlook Express and drill down until you find it. Make sure you copy the information accurately!
Open OE and use the wizard if it’s presented, otherwise go to Tools/Accounts/Mail click Add and click Mail and the wizard will start. In Display name type John Smith and click Next. Leave POP3 in its box and type in the incoming server and outgoing server names; click Next. In Account name type in johnsmith leaving off the @bigpond.com part. Type in your password which appears as dots and tick the Remember password box; click Next and click Finish.
If you have more than one email address the procedure is the same; simply add another account.
If the account is with another ISP (say Optus) you need to edit the account properties; the outgoing server is always the outgoing server of the ISP you are logged into, in this example mail.bigpond.com while the incoming server is mail.optusnet.com.au. Think of it like posting a letter. You post all your letters in the Australia Post letter box (outgoing) but your delivered post comes to your private post boxes. Not quite a perfect analogy, but close!
Open Outlook Express. Click Tools/Options and choose the General tab. After the changes within a tab, click Apply and then choose the next tab.
Under the General tab, tick all 6 boxes and change the minutes to 3.
Under the Send tab tick all boxes and set the Mail Sending Format to HTML.
Under the Compose tab change the Mail Font Settings to 12 pt, Arial is OK.
Under the Security tab dot next to Internet zone … and tick Warn me … leave all the rest unticked.
Under the Spelling tab I choose Always check … and Suggest … , untick the two Words … , tick the next two and change the custom dictionary to English (Australia).
Now click OK.
Next, click View/Layout. Tick all except Folder Bar and Outlook Bar. Untick Show preview pane header. You may like the Beside Messages option, especially if you have a LCD wide screen display. Click OK.
Open Outlook Express and click the Create… icon in the toolbar. A window will appear ready for you to type your message. Click and drag the edges of the window to make it a reasonable size, covering about two thirds of the screen. Click in the clear area in the bottom half of the window. This is where you type your message. It’s like a word processor.
When you are done you need to address the message (email) by clicking in the area to the right of the To: up near the top on the left and typing in the recipient’s email address; something like johnj334@bigpond.com . Now click the Send icon near the top left and you are done.
This is the simplest form of email.
When you send an email, the recipient’s address is added to your address book if the address is not already in the address book. Next time you wish to send and email to that recipient, click the To: icon and the address book will open. Select the name of the recipient and click the To:è button to add the name and click OK .
Notice you may choose To:è , Cc:è or Bcc:è at this stage, once you have some names in your address book.
When you send an email there are some polite protocols!
When sending an email to one recipient it is normal to put the address of the recipient in the To: box.
More than one recipient may be placed in the To: box. Separate the entries with a semi-colon and a space.
Notice the Cc: box. A recipient placed in this box is sent a carbon copy of the email, just like an old fashioned letter written on paper, hence the acronym Cc .
Addressing an email to a Group.
It is polite practice to use Bcc (Blind copy) and so not include all of the recipient’s addresses in the properties of the mail. This is important if any of the recipients express the desire for privacy. In the case of a cooperative group who all know each other you may choose to use the To box which shows all addresses in all the copies.
Open Outlook Express.
Open the Address Book either by clicking Tools … Address Book or clicking the Addresses icon on the tool bar
Click File … New Group
Give the Group an appropriate simple name, say Book Club
Click Select Members and select singly (or batches with Ctrl+click) and click Select
You should include yourself in the group as this acts as a test that the message has been sent.
You may delete a member by simply right-clicking it in the right pane and choosing Remove or removing the entry before saving the group.
When you are done click OK.
When you send the message you will receive a copy in your Inbox confirming that all went well.
To send a message to a Group, create the message, click the To: icon, select the Group. Now click Bcc:è and click OK
If there is an incorrect address in the group your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will advise you. You have to remove the recipient from the group, correct the incorrect entry in your Address Book and re-add the name to the group.
To transfer your OE from one computer to another, create a folder called Transfer on an external drive or memory stick.
There are three parts which make up OE data.
· Address Book
· Messages
· Email Account settings
The first two are kept in folders in C:\Documents and Settings\<username> where <username> is the name you are logged in to Windows as. You can see this name by clicking Start. It is the name at the top of the start menu window.
Use Windows Explorer to navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book and copy the Address Book folder to the Transfer folder. The address book file is usually called <username>.wab.
Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{xxxxxxxxxxx}\Microsoft\Outlook Express and copy the Outlook Express folder to the Transfer folder. (The xxx’s indicate some arcane identifier of letters and numbers.)
(If OE will not run skip this part.) Next, start OE in the old computer. Now export the Account details. Click Tools/Accounts and then Mail. Click on the account name and click Export. Navigate to Transfer on the external drive and save the file created. It has the extension .iaf, for Internet Account File. There may be more than one account and if so do this for each account.
The memory device now has a Transfer folder containing two folders, Address Book, Outlook Express and some .iaf files.
Now run OE in the new Computer. Skip/Cancel the wizard and with the memory device connected, from the Transfer folder:
Import the Outlook Express folder using File/Import/Messages, choose Microsoft Outlook Express 6, choose Import mail from an OE6 store directory, click OK and browse to the Transfer folder, click the Outlook Express folder and then import everything.
Import the Address Book file using File/Import/Address Book, browse to the Transfer folder, click the Address Book folder and choose the .wab file without the ~ symbol preceding the name.
Import the .iaf file or files using Tools/Accounts/Mail/Import, browse to the Transfer folder, click the .iaf file. If there is more than one .iaf file, repeat the option.