Using Outlook Express

The following is an abbreviated guide to using Outlook Express for Windows 95 or higher. For best results, you may want to print this document for future reference.

Outlook Express can be customized in many ways to suit the individual user. Included in this document are just a few tips and tricks to help you get started.

Topics Covered in this Document
Starting Outlook Express
Going directly to your Inbox when Outlook Express opens
Optimizing your account settings
Working Offline
Checking your mail automatically while browsing the Web
Customizing the layout of Outlook Express
Reading you mail
Managing your e-mail using folders
Deleted messages, where do they go?
Using the Address Book
Sending E-mail
Attaching Files to Messages
Customizing your messages
How to Setup Multiple E-mail Accounts with Outlook Express
Using Outlook Express to read newsgroups
Preventing children from accessing newsgroups with adult content
Accessing the newsgroups
Downloading a list of available newsgroups
Finding a topic that interest you
Subscribing to a newsgroups vs. viewing a newsgroup
Controlling the number of message headers downloaded
Retrieving and viewing posts
Replying to a newsgroup post
Posting to a newsgroup

Starting Outlook Express

Outlook Express is accessed by double-clicking the Outlook Express Icon on your desktop, or from within Internet Explorer, you may click the Mail button and choose Read Mail. If Outlook Express is shown in the Quick Launch Bar, you may also press the Outlook Express icon there.

Going directly to your Inbox when Outlook Express opens

To make Outlook Express open directly to your Inbox follow these steps:

Open Outlook Express
From the Tools menu, choose Options
Under General Settings check "When starting, go directly to my Inbox"
Click Apply, then OK to confirm your changes

Optimizing your account settings

Follow these steps to customize your e-mail account settings:

Open Outlook Express
From the Tools menu choose Accounts
Click the Mail tab
Highlight the account you wish to check and click Properties
Under Mail Account, you may enter any name you wish to identify your mail account with. For example: My Mail
Under User Information the information in the Name box is your display name. When recipients receive a message, this shows in the From box. This can be whatever you like. For example: John Doe
Organization may be left blank, or you may type a Company name
E-Mail Address will be your e-mail address. For example: yourusername@netease.net
Reply Address may be left blank unless you want replies forwarded to another address, such as sales@mydomain.com.
Click the Server tab. Verify that the following information is correct.
My incoming mail server is a POP3 server.
Incoming mail (POP3): mail.netease.net
Outgoing mail (SMTP): smtp.netease.net
E-mail username: yourusername (Do not include @netease.net)
Password: yourpassword
Remember password (Optional)
Click the Connection tab
Unless directed otherwise, options on this tab should be left unchecked.
Click Apply, then OK to close the Account Properties
Click Close to close the Account Options

Working Offline

Many user have the concept that they have to be connected to read and write e-mail. This is far from the truth. Here are a few tips for working offline in Outlook Express.
Note! The following steps will disconnect your computer anytime Outlook Express checks mail. These steps should only be followed if you are not planning on browsing the Internet.

Open Outlook Express
If Outlook Express prompts to connect, press Cancel
From the Tools Menu, choose Options
On the General Tab, un-check the option "Check for new messages every "X" minutes"
Click the Send tab
Uncheck "Send messages immediately" in the lower portion of this tab
Click the Dial Up tab
Check the option "Do not dial a connection"
Check the option "Hang up when finished sending, receiving or downloading"
Click Apply, then OK to confirm your changes

Outlook Express is now set up to work offline. Let's try it.

Make sure you are not connected to the Internet. If you are, disconnect now
Open Outlook Express and press Compose Message on the toolbar
In the TO box, enter a recipients address. If you do not know one, enter comments@netease.net
Tab to the SUBJ box and enter a subject. For example: Testing Offline Mail
Tab to the message body and type your message
Click the Send button on the toolbar
You may receive a prompt informing you the message has been placed in your Outbox and will be delivered the next time you choose Send & Receive
You may write as many messages as you like at this time. They will all go to the Outbox
When you are finished writing messages, and you wish to send them, press "Send and Receive" on your toolbar
Outlook Express will prompt to connect to the mail server. Insert your password if needed and press Connect
Outlook Express will dial the number, sign on, send any outgoing messages, retrieve any new messages, then disconnect. Unless you have a large number of messages, the whole process will take less than a minute.

Checking your mail automatically while browsing the Web

If you would like Outlook Express to check your mail periodically while you are browsing the Internet, follow these steps:

Connect to the Internet by double-clicking the Internet icon on your desktop
Once connected, click the Mail button on the toolbar of Internet Explorer. Choose Read Mail from the menu that pops up
When Outlook Express Opens, from the Tools menu, choose Options
Under General Settings put a checkmark in the option, "Check for new messages every "X" minutes." Adjust the interval to your liking.
Click Apply and OK to close the Options box
Minimize Outlook Express by clicking the dash on the far right of the title bar
Outlook Express will check for new messages at the interval you specified and place an envelope in your System Tray (Next to your clock on the Task Bar) when new messages arrive

Note: To maintain your offline work requirements, remember to go back and un-check this option before closing Outlook Express. If you forget, Outlook Express may prompt to connect each time you open it.

Customizing the layout of Outlook Express

Outlook Express allows you to customize the way your desktop appears within the program. To customize your settings, follow these steps:

From the View menu, choose Layout
Checking the Outlook bar will display the folders in HTML format down the left side of your screen
Checking the Folder List will display a general list on the left pane of your screen
Checking the Folder Bar will display the active folder in a pane near the top of your screen
Under Toolbar, you may choose where you would like your toolbar to display. (Left, Right, Bottom, or Top)
You can also choose whether you would like to display text on the tool bar buttons
Clicking Customize toolbar gives you the option of adding or removing functions on your toolbar. For instance if you want a print button on your tool bar.
The Preview Pane options allows you to choose how you would like message previews displayed
Make any changes you like then click Apply, then OK to confirm your changes

Reading you mail

Reading e-mail in Outlook Express is easy. When new messages arrive, the message headers will be displayed in the Header pane. This pane will show Who the message is from, the Subject, and the Date written. If you have the Preview pane turned on, clicking on the message header will display the contents of the message in it. To work with a message full screen, double-click the message header. The new message will appear in its own window which may be maximized for easier viewing. Whether you are viewing the message in full screen or in the Preview pane, you have the following options by clicking the appropriate buttons on your tool bar.

Reply to the author of the message
Forward message to another e-mail address
Print the Message. (Only available in full screen unless you have customized the toolbar in the above steps)
Delete the message

Additionally, you may right click on the message header and find other options.

Managing your e-mail using folders

If you use e-mail to correspond with business associates or organizations, such as a mailing list, you can organize your mail in folders so that your Inbox is not so cluttered and messages pertaining to a particular subject are found easily. For our example, we are going to create a folder for a mailing list we have subscribed to.

Open Outlook Express
On the Folder list on the left screen, click the Outlook Express folder at the top
From the File menu choose Folder, then New Folder
Type the name of your new folder. In our example we will type Mailing List
Repeat this procedure to create as many folders as needed
Once the new folders are created, you may now move messages from your Inbox to the appropriate folder by right-clicking the message header and choosing Move To. Select the folder you want to send the message to

Now, let's create a rule to automatically place messages from the mailing list into the Mailing List folder.

From the Tools menu choose Inbox Assistant
Click the Add button
In the From box type the exact e-mail address of the correspondent you are creating a rule for. In our example we type, "mailing-list@maildomain.com"
Under perform the following action, check the option, Move To
Click the Folder button and choose the folder you wish messages from this address to be routed to.
When you choose Send and Receive on your toolbar, message from this address will automatically be placed in the correct folder.

Note: When new messages arrive, Outlook Express will display the number of unread messages in each folder next to the folder icon. Clicking once on the folder will display the message headers and any new messages.

Deleted messages, where do they go?

When you delete a message it is sent to your Deleted Items folder. This folder is mute like the Recycle Bin in Windows 95. The messages will go to the Deleted Items folder until such time that you choose to empty it.

To automatically remove deleted messages from the Deleted Items folder, follow these steps:

From the Tools menu, choose Options
Under General Settings check the option "Empty messages from the Deleted Items folder on exit"
Click Apply, then OK to confirm your changes

When you close Outlook Express, messages in the Deleted Items folder will be removed permanently.

Next - Using the Address Book