Communicate with Outlook Express 6 in Windows XP
Published: February 2, 2004
By Joli Ballew, Windows XP Expert Zone Community Columnist
If you have Windows XP Professional or Home Edition, you also have access to Outlook Express. It's a component of Microsoft Internet Explorer, and chances are it was one of the first e-mail programs you ever used. Outlook Express is a great application for keeping in touch with relatives, friends, or your boss and coworkers. Outlook Express can be used to join and post to newsgroups too, making it a well rounded and comprehensive application.
In this column, I introduce Outlook Express and explain the benefits of choosing it as your e-mail application. For those of you who are already using Outlook Express regularly, I'll provide tips that can make your sessions more productive. If you're still deciding whether Outlook Express is right for you or wondering if you should purchase Outlook 2003 instead, read on!
Benefits of Using Outlook Express
First of all, anyone can learn to use Outlook Express, so if you're looking for something simple, this is it. My parents and most of my online friends use Outlook Express 6.0 for e-mailing and participating in newsgroups. It's easy to set up and use, has the familiar Windows interface, and doesn't require downloading or purchasing another program.
Outlook Express makes it easy to send and receive e-mail, forward pictures and jokes, and add and open attachments. My folks have even learned to create folders and organize their e-mail, create signatures for outgoing messages, and fill an address book of their contacts. If you want an e-mail application that provides these services, Outlook Express might be right for you too. Outlook Express can be used by individuals, by owners of small businesses or home-based businesses, and even by end users in larger companies.
In a professional setting, I've used Outlook Express in my small business for years and find the program works well as a business application. I've created folders for individual clients, for ongoing projects, and to organize online receipts, validation codes, invoices, and billing data. I've created several folders in my Address Book too, including folders entitled Business Contacts, Former Clients, and Professional Contacts, and their contact data is organized accordingly. Each business, client, or professional contact has their name, phone number, address, and other information in their personal properties page, creating a virtual client database without the hassle of actually creating one. Adding data to the address book can be done on the fly, as it comes to me by e-mail correspondence.
So What about Outlook?
If Outlook Express is so useful, then what's the big deal with Outlook? Outlook 2003 is part of the Microsoft Office System. It can do everything Outlook Express can do and then some. Outlook contains support for Microsoft Exchange Server, which makes online forms, scheduling, and collaboration possible.
For the administrator, Outlook contains information management software for e-mail, for calendar scheduling, for meeting planning, and for resource management. For the end user, Outlook offers new ways to organize contacts, track tasks, schedule daily appointments, keep notes, and plan meetings. End users can create reminders and configure alerts that appear on their computer prior to meetings, presentations, due dates, or deadlines. There's even a snooze option!
As you could guess, many larger companies opt for Outlook because they need more features than Outlook Express offers. If you need more features, specifically a calendar, a place to list and keep track of tasks, a place to keep notes or a journal, a superb junk e-mail filter, options to mark e-mail with flags, or if you want spelling and grammar to be checked automatically as you compose your e-mail messages, check out Outlook 2003. The Junk E-mail feature is earning rave reviews from users.
Depending on your needs, you might find that Outlook offers what you're lacking in Outlook Express. The Crabby Office Lady covers the differences between Outlook Express and Outlook in Outlook and Outlook Express: Brothers, Not Twins. (And she points out that Outlook doesn't provide support for newsgroups.)
Outlook Express Basics
If you're using Outlook Express and want to know how to compose or send e-mail, organize messages, create an address book, post to newsgroups, or personalize e-mail messages with signatures, you can learn how to do these tasks from the Outlook Express How-to Articles. These are well-documented procedures, so I won't repeat them here. I will introduce a few basic and advanced tasks, some of which are included here just for fun and others that are necessary to maintaining Outlook Express.
Send a Group E-Mail Message
Are you one of those people that forward jokes, virus alerts, and funny pictures to everyone in your address book? If you are, make sure the people you're sending them to really want to receive them. Then put all of those contacts in a single group so you can send a message to everyone just by typing in the group name. This won't hide their addresses though, and not everyone likes to have his or her e-mail address made public. If you'd like to hide those members' names, put the group on the Blind CC line and your own e-mail address in the To: line. (You can access the Blind CC line by clicking View, and then All Headers.) To create a group in Outlook Express and add people to it:
1. | On the Tools menu, click Address Book. |
2. | On the File menu, click New Group. |
3. | On the Group tab in the Properties dialog box, type a name for the new group. |
4. | Click Select Members, and in the Select Group Members dialog box, double-click the name of each person in your address book that you want to add to the group. Click OK when finished. Figure 1 shows an example of a group.  Figure 1 |
5. | In the Properties dialog box, click OK to close. |
The next time you want to send an e-mail message, simply type the group's name in the To: line. All of the contacts listed in the group will receive the message.
Organize E-Mail in Folders
Another way to personalize Outlook Express is to create folders to organize messages you want to keep. You can create folders for keeping receipts or software codes, funny jokes or pictures, or information that pertains to ongoing projects. As long as it comes by e-mail, it's easy to organize here.
To create a folder in Outlook Express and move e-mail messages into it:
1. | In the Folders pane, right-click Local Folders. |
2. | Click New Folder from the list. |
3. | In the Create Folder dialog box, type a name for the new folder. |
4. | In the Select the folder in which to create the new folder list, click the existing folder that the new folder will be placed in. To add a folder to the list of Local Folders, just click OK. |
5. | Select the e-mail messages to move to the new folder. The messages may be in the Inbox, Sent Items, Deleted Items, or another folder you've previously created. Drag the e-mail to the new folder. |
Now you can keep all of your e-mail organized easily. You can find other cool tips and tweaks at Inside Outlook Express.
Configure Message Rules and Block Spam
The more you use the Internet, the number of people, companies, and Web sites that know your e-mail address will increase. When you use your e-mail address to register for information or download software, make purchases, send greeting cards, or perform other online tasks, many Web sites share your address with other companies. As time passes, those companies will begin sending you junk e-mail, often called spam.
These unwanted e-mail messages can be dealt with in a number of ways, including deleting them as they arrive, purchasing third-part software, or downloading free spam filters from the Internet. In addition to these options, you can also configure Outlook Express with rules so that e-mail messages meeting specific criteria are deleted (or dealt with in some other manner) automatically.
To configure Outlook Express to automatically delete e-mail messages you consider spam:
1. | On the Tools menu, point to Message Rules, and then click Mail. |
2. | On the Mail Rules tab in the Message Rules dialog box, click New. |
3. | In the New Mail Rule dialog box, in the Conditions section, select the Where the message body contains specific words check box. |
4. | In the Actions section, select the Delete it check box, as shown in Figure 2.  Figure 2 |
5. | In the Rule Description section, click contains specific words. |
6. | In the Type Specific Words dialog box, under Type specific words or a phrase, and click Add, type words and phrases such as "Refinance Your Home Mortgage", "Pharmacy", "Free Prescription", "Limited Offer", and "It's Not A Diet". Click Add as each are added, and click OK when finished. |
7. | In the Name of Rule section, type a name for the rule and click OK. Click OK again to close the Message Rules dialog box. |
From now on, or until you disable the rule, any e-mail messages that contain these words or phrases in the message body will automatically be deleted. They won't appear in your Inbox.
You can also create message rules when an undesirable message is in Inbox. Just select the message, and on the Message menu click Create Rule from Message. Doing this opens the New Mail Rule dialog box with some of the information already filled in.
Advanced Outlook Express Tasks
Two of my favorite tweaks to Outlook Express are configuring multiple identities and moving the Store folder. Creating multiple identities allows users who share Outlook Express to maintain e-mail identities of their own, and it also allows a single user to have multiple identities. (I won't give away any secrets, but some online companies are really run by a single person who has multiple identities configured. The e-mail you get from the owner, the secretary, the support technician, the graphic artist, and Web designer are really all the same guy.)
To create a multiple identity and to switch between identities:
1. | On the File menu, point to Identities, and then click Add New Identity. |
2. | In the New Identity dialog box, type a name for the new identity, as shown in Figure 3.  Figure 3 |
3. | If a password is required, select the Require a password check box, and in the Enter Password dialog box, type and confirm the new password. Click OK and OK. |
4. | In the Identity Added dialog box, click Yes to switch to the new identity. Click Yes to keep the current Internet connect for the new Identity or click No to disconnect. |
5. | From Outlook Express, configure the new identity using the Internet Connection Wizard, create signatures, and personalize the application for the new identity. |
6. | To switch to the previous identity, click File, and then click Switch Identity. In the Switch Identities dialog box, select the identity to switch to, and click OK. |
Other procedures for advanced tasks that help you manage and maintain Outlook Express can be found on the Internet. Check the Related Links list for information on personalizing your e-mail experience.
Both Outlook and Outlook Express are excellent programs for e-mailing friends, family, and coworkers and for creating and maintaining a database of e-mail addresses, phone numbers, street addresses, and contact information. Both make excellent choices for users who want to organize e-mail, create folders, create message rules, and create signatures, and manage multiple e-mail addresses. Outlook Express is generally the better choice for casual and home users, but the program can also be effective for small business owners and end users of larger companies.
Outlook is the better choice if the user also needs access to a calendar, management software, meeting planning applications, and resource management. Outlook offers additional ways to organize contacts, track tasks, schedule daily appointments, keep notes, and plan meetings. Outlook is generally the better choice for users in larger companies, particularly those who want collaboration features.
Whichever application you decide to use, make sure to drop me a line on how you feel about both. I can always be reached at Joli_Ballew@hotmail.com.
Joli Ballew is a technology trainer and writer in the Dallas area. She hold several certifications including MCSE, A+, and MCDST. Joli has almost 20 books available, including Degunking Windows (Paraglyph Press), Hardcore Windows XP (McGraw-Hill), and Windows XP: Do Amazing Things (Microsoft Press). Joli is also a regular Microsoft Expert Zone columnist. Joli can be contacted at Joli_Ballew@hotmail.com.
