Greetings! Welcome to Vol. 2, No. 14 of Exchange Messaging Outlook, an occasional newsletter about Microsoft Exchange, Windows Messaging and Microsoft Outlook, both for users of Windows 95 and NT 4.0 and for organizations using Microsoft Exchange Server.
Today's highlights:
Regular features:
Know before you goThis issue of EMO is being written and mailed from the U.K., due to an unfortunate slip on the ice by a family member resulting in a quick trip from Moscow to London for treatment. Not long ago, alerting the rest of the family and keeping in touch during the hospital stay would have meant hours in international phone calls. Now those calls are mainly local ones to dial in and get and send e-mail.
But it raises the interesting issue -- are you prepared to travel on an hour's notice? Regular travelers know the drill, but those of you who don't fly around so often might want to ask yourselves these questions:
If you have an account with one of the global providers, such as IBM Net or SpryNet, you should be able to dial in when you reach your destination. If not, perhaps a friend or colleague can provide access through their account. Big cities are likely to have a few Internet cafes or libraries where you can get online. I was able to send a couple of essential e-mail messages by dropping by the hospital's information technology office. In a pinch, you can always check the newsstands for computer magazines with America Online disks.
In a bold move to regain momentum lost to problems with the original release of Outlook, Microsoft has announced that Outlook 98 will be distributed on the Internet free for 90 days after its release late this month. That's free to everyone -- not just current users of Outlook, Office 97 and Exchange Server.
During the 90-day giveaway, users in the U.S. and Canada also will be able to order a copy of Outlook on CD for a small fee.
After the introductory period, Outlook will remain a free upgrade for Outlook, Office 97 and Exchange Server users. For more details on the announcement, see http://www.microsoft.com/corpinfo/press/1998/Mar98/OUTOffpr.htm.
Look for complete coverage of Outlook 98 at the Slipstick Systems Exchange Center once it's released. In the meantime, check http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol98.htm for links to the design guide and other references.
Disconnecting Personal Folders
Under some circumstances (exactly when remains mysterious), you may see two sets of Personal Folders in the Folder List, but only one under the services for the profile. Fellow MVP Vince Averello provides a method for getting rid of the phantom folders. It involves editing the Windows Registry, so make a backup first. Then try this:
Navigate the registry to this point:
(for Win 95) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\<your profile name>
(for Win NT) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem\Profiles\<your profile name>
You'll see a treeful of keys with long hexadecimal value names. Look for a section that references the PST file you want to remove from the folder tree. Export that section (for safety) and then delete it.
Another relatively rare, but bothersome problem is a corrupted Outlook view.
While the Views.dat file contains information on views of folders and files on your hard drive, views of Outlook folders themselves are contained in a hidden folder in your Exchange Server mailbox or Personal Folders file. To fix a corrupted view, start Outlook with the /CleanViews switch. In other words, use this command:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Outlook.exe" /CleanViews
substituting the actual path to Outlook.exe if it's different on your system.
For more information on the switches you can use when you start Outlook, press F1 and ask the Office Assistant for information on "control what happens when you start Outlook" and see the MSKB article OL97: Additional Command Line Switches for Microsoft Outlook (http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q156/9/82.asp). All these different switches are also listed in my book, The Microsoft Outlook E-mail and Fax Guide.
Using a message flag to get attention
Did you know that you can put a message flag on outgoing Outlook messages? If you set Follow-up By to the current date/time, when the recipient gets the message, it will turn red to show that it's overdue. You might get slightly different results if you and the recipient are in different time zones, but it's definitely an attention-getter.
Another attention-getter: Impel Documents
I've been asked a number of times whether there's an add-on that will play a sound or display a document when a message is received. A new application, Impel Documents, promises to do just that. This is the first of several programs from Impel Software (http://www.impelsoftware.com) that use e-mail technology to "push" content. Forthcoming applications will be used to distribute software or run utilities on another computer.
LookOut
Synchronizes Microsoft Outlook with a Newton MessagePad or Emate. Version 1.1 is in beta.
http://www.writeonwares.com/Bill Power
Creates invoices and bills from Outlook entries. A Plus! version is available to support Exchange Server public folders.
http://www.studio848.com/billpow.htmMailWatcher
Mail notification utility for Microsoft Exchange Server users. Works without the need to run the Outlook or Exchange client.
http://www.dcs.com/Products/MailWatcher/MWmain.htmText Picker
Utility for pulling address and other information from Outlook, Exchange, Internet Explorer and Netscape Communication. Shareware. Registration gets you a free Email Address Extract program.
http://www.a1soft.com/tpicker.htmFaxware Global Address Book
Very affordable address book for sharing Internet addresses. This initial version does not have direct import capability, but you can open the FXWGabDB.gab source database in Microsoft Access to import other address lists. Requires Windows Messaging, Exchange Server client or Microsoft Outlook.
http://www.dencom.co.nz/gab/gab.htmMapRoom
Tool for migrating from Sierra Solutions' MailRoom to Outlook or Exchange.
http://www.maclean.com/maproom.htmlAutoSign
Custom action to generate random signatures for Microsoft Outlook, based on Rules Wizard or Inbox Assistant rules, with signatures kept in Notes folders, updated to support Outlook 98 HTML mail format and improve support for Exchange Server/Outlook 98 users.
http://www.saber.net./~dketChilton Preview
Update to popular preview for Microsoft Outlook provides better attachment support that may help cc:Mail users and fixes a rare bug.
http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/gallery.htm#previewExpress Mail for Windows Messaging
Update to alternative Internet mail MAPI transport to add LDAP support and other enhancements.
http://www.opensoft.com/Shark!mail
MAPI client alternative to Exchange and Outlook, updated with speed enhancements and multitasking so you can work with messages while sending and receiving. Also includes new mail notification for the Windows taskbar, support for external attachment viewer and bug fixes.
http://www.lanshark.com/
Search the Slipstick Systems Exchange Center at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/search.htm.
Get the answers from the Microsoft Exchange, Windows Messaging and Microsoft Outlook FAQs at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/faqs.htm.
The Microsoft Outlook FAQ has a Table of Contents at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/outlfaq.htm to help you find answers faster. New and updated items are at the bottom of the page.
Ask new questions and provide other feedback for the Slipstick Systems Exchange Center FAQs at http://www.slipstick.com/exchange/faqfdbk.htm.
ISSN 1523-7990
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