TipTalk: from Microsoft At Home & At Work : E-Mail Tips

Tips to help you work less and relax more in 2009

ahawblog — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 07:26:00 GMT

Certainly, today's always-on-and-available-anywhere technology can lead to addictive work habits. We've all seen examples of that among friends and family.

But having a cheap, convenient, 24/7 global reach through technology can also efficiently enable you to live the life you've always wanted. The choice is yours.

Here are some affordable tools and ideas that harness technology's power to save you time and money.

Use Voice-over-Internet protocol phone service (VoIP) to create a virtual office.
To maintain a professional phone line and still travel, take time off or live abroad, VoIP telephone services are a terrific help. You've probably heard about such affordable services, which, basically, use the Internet to send and receive calls. Usually, you pay only for Internet access and not for calls, much the way e-mail works.

There are dozens of VoIP providers to choose among. Try a Web search if you don't know one.
Use online services for office communications and banking.
If you host your company computers on external servers, you can access all e-mail, files, and financial information or transactions from any Internet café. (Of course, you do want to have privacy safeguards in place when working this way.)
Leverage the power of a professional Web site.
Setting up a Web site, more than any other technological helpmate, will shave considerable time and effort from your workdays.

With a professional site, you can more efficiently conduct business, fulfill orders, organize contacts, share documents with employees or contractors, and market your wares or services, even when you're out of the office or on the road.

For more about launching a site, see the Microsoft Office Live Small Business offerings. Once your site is up, you can bolster its effectiveness by keeping customers, stakeholders, or media up-to-date with an online media kit.
Use your site features to stay in touch with customers.
With so many marketing channels and consumer options these days, increasingly, it's the business that quickly responds to customer needs that gains a competitive advantage. You can use your Web site to "listen" and react to what your customers request.

For example:

Set up an online forum so customers can register and post comments to you and to each other.
Set up a survey that customers can take online. This can be a focus group type of survey (say, about a new product) or a customer satisfaction survey.
Set up a special e-mail address and ask customers for specific feedback or advice whenever you launch a new product, service, or special promotion.

To get more tips, read the full article by by Joanna L. Krotz.

Getting a new PC? Protect and purge files now

ahawblog — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 05:18:00 GMT

When you stop and think about it, your home computer holds a lot of information about you—credit card numbers, bank account details, passwords, medical information, Web sites you've visited, and those deep, dark secrets you share with your best friend via e-mail.

There naturally comes a time when you're ready for an upgrade, whether it be a bigger hard drive or an entirely new PC. But what should you do with the old one? And what about the information on it? You need to remove this information whether you donate it, sell it, or trash it. The following tips will get you started:

Tip #1: Why "delete" isn't enough

Many people think that clearing their history, deleting files and cookies, and emptying their computer's recycle bin is enough. Not so, according to IT specialist Tony Lum. He says that's like removing the table of contents in a book. The chapters (or your files, in this case) are still there, they're just harder to find.

What you've actually done is remove a particular file from the disk's index. The file itself still exists on your hard disk. For the average person it's harder to recover, but an experienced programmer (or hacker) could easily locate the file. Previous or temporary versions of the file might also be saved under different names.

You need to go one step further and overwrite your data. Lum recommends you back up everything you want to keep on your hard drive and then run hard-drive wiping software, which will overwrite your information with random ones and zeros. He also recommends you use a program that overwrites your data more than once. The more it's overwritten, the harder it is to recover.

Tip #2: Select software to wipe your hard drive clean

Is it impossible to retrieve your information afterward? Not 100 percent, but Lum says that unless the CIA is after you, you should be in the clear after using one of these disk-erasing tools that are available for download online:

Active KillDisk: This free hard-drive eraser overwrites data using zeros. You can upgrade to the professional version that conforms to the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) standards.
Softpedia/DP Wiper: IT consultant Daniel Gresser recommends freeware programs from Softpedia, like DP Wipter, which overwrites in from one to 35 passes and has DOD-compliant wiping.
WipeDrive: WipeDrive overwrites your data as many times as you like and runs a verification test.

"Always keep a record of where all important files are stored," says Gresser, who recommends deleting each file by dropping it into DP Wiper and selecting the type of wipe required.

Unless you take the hard drive out and keep it, to get a PC ready for sale, Gresser suggests that PC users delete the following using DP Wiper or a similar program:

Everything in My Documents folder.
All temporary Internet files.
All cookies.
All files relating to personal and financial matters that may have been stored in folders other than My Documents.
All e-mail: Outlook Express users need to search for and delete .dbx files and Outlook users need to search for and delete .pst files. This will send them to the recycle bin for secure deletion. Also, remember to remove all e-mail account settings and passwords.

Tip #3: Reinstall your operating system to overwrite files

Your operating system's installation CD should allow you to simultaneously reinstall and clear your hard drive. Lum says this should be enough to prevent the average person from obtaining personal information from your hard drive. However, he says he's managed to salvage data from computers using third-party software even after an operating system was reinstalled.

Read the full article by Alyson Munroe for more tips.

Claim victory over your e-mail

ahawblog — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 02:23:00 GMT

No doubt you've opened an e-mail and thought, "Hmmm, not sure what to do with this. I'll deal with it later!"—and promptly closed the message. If you do this over and over again, it doesn't take long to end up with several hundred (or thousand) messages in your Inbox.

Developing a new approach to processing your Inbox will help you to gain more control, improve your response time, and keep up with critical actions and due dates.

Tip #1: Set up a simple and effective e-mail reference system

The first step toward an organized Inbox is understanding the difference between reference information and action information.

•	Reference information is information that is not required to complete an action; it is information that you want to keep in case you need it later.
•	Action information is information you must have to complete an action.

Most people receive a considerable amount of reference information through e-mail. Sometimes as much as one-third of your e-mail is reference information. So it is essential to have a system that makes it easy to transfer messages from your Inbox into your e-mail reference system. An E-mail Reference System is a series of e-mail file folders where you store reference information to ensure you have easy access to it later. Learn more about setting up an E-mail Reference System. Once you take care of filing your reference information, you can use the next three steps to handle e-mail you have to do something with, your action information.

Find three more tips for claiming victory over your email at the full article on Microsoft At Work, here.

By Sally McGhee, Consultant and Productivity Expert

Get your Windows Live Hotmail mail in Outlook

ahawblog — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:25:00 GMT

If you haven’t tried Windows Live Hotmail, I suggest making the update, especially if you’re already using Hotmail. I’ve been using Hotmail for more than 6 years and really enjoy the new capabilities in the latest version, some of which include:

Using 2GB of storage
Listening to songs and voice mail messages using a built-in audio player. You can listen to MP3 and WAV files.
Detecting when a contact is online. A Windows Live Messenger window will pop up when you choose to chat.
Using an inline spelling checker, which underlines misspelled words and connects to a dictionary and thesaurus, just like in Microsoft Office Word.
Avoiding potentially dangerous messages. The security bar on top of incoming messages turns yellow or red according to the potential danger. Hotmail won't block senders from your contact list, but most messages won't show pictures or links until you allow them. I've found it to be a pretty straightforward buffer zone against phishing and other scams.

You can learn about other the Hotmail features at the Windows Live Hotmail site.

What I want to tell you about is the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector Beta, which is now available to download. With it, you can use Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 or Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to access and manage your Windows Live Hotmail accounts, including e-mail messages and contacts. I’ve used it a couple of days, and I’ve found it much easier to get mail from multiple accounts in one place.

So why is the Outlook Connector useful? The Outlook Connector gives you a better experience than Hotmail, at least in my opinion. It shows your folder structure, keeps track of read and unread messages, and shows you your contacts (and calendar for paid users). I use Outlook at work, so I'm much more comfortable with the user experience. If you’re already using Outlook, particularly with multiple e-mail accounts, the Outlook Connector is a great way to manage your accounts together with powerful tools.

--Jason Kozleski

Download an e-mail checklist

ahawblog — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:38:00 GMT

Regardless of why you send e-mail—be it to kick off a big project or to ask party guests to RSPV—you want people to read and act on your message. But in the rush of getting everything done at work and at home, it’s easy to leave out important details in the message. The result: We don’t always get the exact responses we want. It’s pretty deflating (and a waste of time) to get more questions than responses to your e-mail.

I downloaded an e-mail checklist a couple of months ago and keep it by my desk. It reminds me of some key elements to check before I send important e-mail. I look at it a couple times and week and I’ve found it to be really helpful. Try it and see what you think.

Download the e-mail checklist

Additional articles about composing good e-mail messages

--Jason Kozleski

Tips on avoiding junk e-mail (spam)

ahawblog — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 01:04:00 GMT

We got a message from a reader asking about how to avoid junk e-mail messages (spam) that are from senders with ordinary names and have ordinary subject headers—such as Hello, Microsoft Word, Just wanted to say hello, etc. The messages are usually computer generated and the subject matter is inappropriate or linking to inappropriate sites. The text, though, is worded so that it can pass security or spam filters.

Here are some good articles to help you start avoiding spam:

In addition, you can also take advantage of Microsoft SmartScreen integrated in all Microsoft e-mail platforms, including Microsoft Office Outlook 2007, MSN Hotmail, Windows Live Mail, and Windows Mail.

SmartScreen technology blocks more than 95% of the spam coming to your Inbox so that you get more of the e-mail you want to receive.

Safe Lists Only

The e-mail filters work great, but as good as it gets some spam—like the ones described by our reader—will occasionally get through. In those cases, I’ve found the best way to avoid spam is to allow only messages from Safe Lists. When you do that, only mail from people or domains that you have identified will be delivered to your Inbox. This could eliminate getting the type of computer-generated spam our reader described. It’s the strictest way to prevent spam, but it gives you the most control over the mail you receive.

Setting up your Safe Senders list can be a bit cumbersome, but once you do it’s worth it. When you meet someone or get involved in a new activity, you have to make sure you include the e-mail addresses to your Safe Senders list. For example, when my daughter started school we added her teacher's e-mail address so we could communicate with him online.

At Work

I can’t use a Safe List for my work address because I don’t want to block e-mail from potential clients or people from whom I have never received a message. So at work, I set the Junk E-mail Filter in Outlook on High. Learn how to use the Junk E-mail Filter in Outlook.

At Home

At home I use Windows Live Mail beta. There, I have my junk e-mail filter set to Exclusive, meaning I allow messages only from my contacts or allowed senders. It’s essentially the same thing as a Safe List. I’ve had my e-mail address for almost 10 years (it’s an old Hotmail address) and during that time I have unknowingly gotten on a lot of lists. If I don’t set the filter to Exclusive, I get a steady stream of embarrasing e-mail.

--Jason Kozleski

Read piles of e-mail in less time

ahawblog — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 00:12:00 GMT

I just returned from a couple weeks of vacation. The sun was great and the rest was even better. But like all vacations, it came to an end and I returned to work on Monday. Waiting for me were hundreds of e-mails. And with meetings and all the work I had to finish, I didn’t have a lot of time to read it. Instead of going through each message, I used a sorting technique in Outlook to save time.

Once I started reading all my e-mail, I realized that nearly all of it was part of conversations that included two or more e-mails. Instead of reading each e-mail, I sorted everything by conversation. Then, I just opened the most recent e-mail, read the entire conversation, and deleted the rest. I didn’t have to open or preview each e-mail and reduced my e-mail from hundreds to—well just over a hundred. I was through all my e-mail by noon.

I did worry that I may have inadvertently deleted a message that was part of long conversation but addressed just to me. Colleagues may take everyone except me off the To: and Cc: lines to make comments on what is being discussed. I may have, but I’ve found that most colleagues wait until I return to send me e-mails like that. I double-checked though, and it turns out I didn’t miss anything.

You can sort your e-mail by conversation in Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007—if you’re running it.

Outlook 2003

In Outlook 2003, click Arranged by and choose Conversation.

Outlook 2007

In Outlook 2007, right-click one of the fields you use to sort messages, point to Arrange by, and click Conversation.

If you have other tips for sorting your e-mail or ways to get though loads of e-mail in less time, let us know.

--Jason Kozleski

Tips for using the Junk E-mail filter

ahawblog — Mon, 19 Dec 2005 21:29:00 GMT

I've used the Junk E-mail Filter in Outlook 2003 for almost 3 years, and the amount of spam I've received in my Inbox has been close to nothing. It's a great tool, but like any tool it's not perfect. I still get fraudulent e-mail from time to time and I've had some messages from colleagues blocked. Over time, I've discovered some basic tips that have helped me use the filter more effectively. I hope these help you as well.

Check your Junk E-mail Filter folder regularly: The filter captures nearly all the bogus messages that come to my mailbox, but it also often captures messages I want. In addition to missing messages from colleagues outside of Microsoft, I've missed messages from my brother and a friend. I check my Junk E-mail Folder every morning to make sure I haven't missed anything.
Update the Junk E-mail Filter regularly: New updates to the filter are made available frequently. The updates refine and provide a more current definition of which e-mail messages should be considered spam. The further you can stay ahead of spammers, the better off you'll be. Learn how to update the junk e-mail filters.
Turn off links that might link to fraudulent sites: I'd like to think I can always identify a phishing, but when I'm busy it's possible to miss some. I find it best to set up the filter to turn off links that are in suspicious e-mails and go to the Junk E-mail folder. If the filter considers a message suspicious, the format of the message is changed to plain text and the links in the message are disabled. Learn more how to block or unblock links in suspicious phishing messages.
Set filters to High: You have four options for the spam protection you want—No Automatic Filtering, Low, High, and Safe Lists Only. By default the junk e-mail filter is set to low. Low works fine, but I like all the protection I can get and set it at high. It captures more spam and makes me feel more confident in the mail in my Inbox. Learn how to change the junk e-mail filter options.

Let me know if you've found tricks that help you get more of the mail you want, and less of the stuff you don't want.

—Jason Kozleski

Removing unwanted names from Outlook's "To..." line

ahawblog — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 21:48:00 GMT

Have you ever accidentally sent an e-mail to the wrong person because Outlook automatically inserted a name you didn’t want in the “To…” line of your message? If so, then this tip is for you.

Where do those names come from, anyway?
Outlook automatically keeps track of the addresses you enter in the To… CC…, and BCC… lines of your messages. When you begin a new message, Outlook will check the list of names it has stored and will give you a list to choose from, based on the letters you’ve entered. Figure 1 shows the list I get when I type in “j” then “a” in the “To…” line of my message.

Figure 1: List of name suggestions

Typing just “j” gave me a list of everyone whose name began with “j.” The more of the name I type, the more Outlook refines the list. If I typed in “jane” the list would begin with Jane Dow. The Outlook feature that does this for me is called AutoComplete.

This is great unless I happen to have sent mail to someone one time, but don’t need to have them permanently stored in the list. A great example might be if I’d ever sent mail to Bill Gates. (I don’t think I have, actually.) But if I did, and didn’t want to accidentally do it again, I could simply remove Bill from my automatic “To…” list.

Removing a name
When you see someone you’d like to remove from the list of names, just use the Down Arrow key on your keyboard to move down to the name. When you’ve got it selected, as I’ve got Jason McCue’s name selected here, just press the Delete key on your keyboard. Jason won’t show up in the list again in the future. (Sorry Jason….)

Figure 2: Use down arrow key to select name to delete

Now that you know how to remove names you don’t need from your Outlook e-mail list, how can you help make sure it gets read? Our “Review your e-mail before you send it” article is a great place to start.

Stop automatic name suggestions
If you’d rather turn AutoComplete off all together, you can do so by following these steps, illustrated in Figures 3-5 below:

1. In Outlook, on the Tools menu click Options. In the Options dialog box, in the Preferences tab, click E-Mail Options.
2. In the E-Mail Options dialog box, click Advanced E-mail Options.
3. In the Advanced E-mail options dialog box, in the When sending a message section, select or deselect the Suggest Names While. Completing To, Cc, And Bcc Fields option to turn AutoComplete on or off, respectively.

Figure 3: Select Outlook E-mail Options

Figure 4: Select Advanced E-Mail Options

Figure 5: Turn "Suggest names..." on or off

Other Office applications will also automatically finish entering information for you as well, if you have the feature enabled. For example, in Excel if you begin typing text in a cell and the first letters match the text you’ve already entered in another cell, Excel will supply the rest of the text for you. I did a search on “autocomplete” in Office Online, and the results are a great place to start learning about how the automated data entry features in Office can help you.

---Robbin Young