5 Problems and Solutions # Outlook Tips

5 Problems and Solutions # Outlook Tips

The following are solutions to five common problems, however serious, Microsoft Outlook. How to do if your file emails get too big, because you seem to be sending spam to your friends, how to read messages on more than one computer and how to backup and restore your Outlook data and to show convincing the program to show information about your contacts that you really want to see.

The tips were tested in Outlook 2007 and 2010, but with a little creativity can also be adapted to earlier versions.

One. Your data are gone!

The Outlook data file (called  Outlook.pst ) stores a lot of information, including your emails, contacts and calendar appointments. If anything destroy or corrupt this file, you will have problems.And how the program handles it a shape, your regular routine backup (you do have one, right?) May not be protecting this data.

The first step is to find the file and make sure that you are backing him. In 2007 Outloook select the menu  Tools / Account Settings  to open the  Account Settings . In the 2010 version is the way the menu  File , then  Info  /  Account Settings  and Account Settings  again (yes, it's redundant).

Click on the tab  Data Files . Select the item corresponding to your mailbox in the list and click the  Open Folder  (version 2007) or  Local File Open  (in 2010). A Windows Explorer window will appear, showing the folder where Outlook stores its data.

To make a backup, close Outlook but keep the window open Explorer and copy the entire contents of the folder to an external hard drive. Better yet, note the path to the folder and make sure that your backup utility also is copying her.

In possession of a backup, here's how to do when the worst happens and you lose your data:

»  Reinstall Outlook and follow the setup wizard. This will create a new data file, but empty. "  With the program open, open the  Import and Export Wizard . In Outlook 2007 select the menu  File and  Import and Export . In the 2010 version click on the tab  File  and  Open / Import . "  In the wizard, select  Import from another program or file  and click  Next . »  When the wizard asks the file type, select  Personal Folder File (. pst)  in Outlook 2007, or  Outlook Data File (. pst)  in Outlook 2010. "  On the next page of the wizard, click  Browse  and find the backup of your Outlook folder. Select the data file, called  Outlook  or  Outlook.pst »  Proceed through the wizard, selecting the options  Personal Folders , tick  Include subfolders  and click  Finish  to begin importing the files.

2nd. Your data file was too big

If Outlook is dragging, and it's probably time to put the data in a file system. By default Outlook 2007 can handle a file of up to 20 GB, and 50 GB up to Outlook 2010. These limits can be increased but, frankly, you will perform better if you lower the file size.

Find the data file (following the previous tip) and check its size (click it with the right mouse button and select Properties from the menu ...). Do this again to monitor changes in size as they follow the suggestions below:

Let's start the compressed file. In Outlook 2007, click the File menu and File Management Data ...Select your mailbox, click Settings, and click Compact Now. In Outlook 2010, click the File tab, Info, Account Settings, and Account Settings again. Click the Data Files tab in the window that appears. Select the file corresponding to your mailbox, click Settings, Advanced tab, Settings button in Outlook Data Files and click Compact Now.

If the reduction in file size is not enough, try to archive old messages and appointments, which will move them to another file. Pst (default archive.pst). In Outlook 2007, click on the Tools menu and then Options. Click the Other tab and the AutoArchive button. In Outlook 2010, click the File tab and click Options. Now click Advanced Settings button to AutoArchive. There you will find several options to file.

You can also archive old items immediately instead of waiting for the next time this happens automatically. In Outlook 2007 select File / Archive. In 2010 click the File tab and then on Info.Click the Tools Clean, and then click Save.

Outlook has more tools to help with organization. In the 2007 version click the Tools menu and then Mailbox Cleanup to find them. In Outlook 2010, click the File menu, and information on the Cleanup Tools button, and then click Mailbox Cleanup.

After doing everything possible to archive and purge your data, Outlook.pst will continue with the same size but have a considerable amount of empty space. Compress it again to reap the fruits of your housecleaning.

3rd. Es you 're spamming your friends

Your contacts can be receiving unwanted messages that appear to be coming from you. Do not worry: it's probably not you who is sending spam or your Outlook. Remember that the program and your e-mail are separate things, and you only use one to access the other.

More likely is that some spammer has caught your account "borrowed" for sending messages. To get it back under control, try changing your password (and use a strong password). If that is the reason and you can change the password, then the problem is solved.

But if you can not log in or change the password, the account probably was invaded, and you should contact your email provider on how to retrieve it. GMail, Hotmail and Yahoo have a step-by-step of what is needed for this.

A hijacked account is not the only possibility. A PC infected with malware and access your e-mail can become part of a "botnet" to send spam. To know if your computer has been infected, scan with a security utility different from his usual antivirus. The  Anti-Malware Free  Malwarebytes from the  SuperAntiSpyware Free Edition  and  AVG Rescue CD  generally do a good job.

If your computer is not the culprit, a friend can be. Especially if he and people getting spam coming from "you" know. Malware can forge sender addresses on outgoing messages, and usually chooses a random address in the contact list of the infected PC. If friends are complaining that belong to the same social group, suggest that they also check their PCs for malware.

4th. Messages do not appear work PC at home

If you have Outlook installed on two computers and try to download messages from the same account on both, you will probably have problems. Messages that you download in a place probably will not be available in another.

There are a variety of solutions for this, but the simplest is to change the way Outlook accesses your posts. If you use the POP3 protocol (the default in Outlook) the program will download new messages and delete them from the mailbox on the server. You can tell Outlook not to delete the messages, but that causes its own problems.

The best solution is to change the form of access to messages and use the IMAP protocol, which synchronizes messages on a server with those in Outlook. Once your mailbox is the same no matter which computer (or smartphone) you access it.

Unfortunately you can not change an existing account and modify the protocol, you need to create a new account, which is done in the window  Account Settings : In Outlook 2007 select the menu Tools / Account Settings . In 2010 menu click  File on  information in  your Account Settings and again in  Account Settings .

Click on the tab  E-mail  and the button  New . On the first page of the wizard choose  Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP, or HTTP , then click  Next  and select the next item in  the Manually configure server settings or additional server types . When you get to the part that asks Server Information , enter IMAP in  the Account Type . Ask other information (such as the names of the incoming and outgoing servers) to your provider.

Of course, this tip only works if your email server supports the IMAP protocol. Again, check with your provider to find out.

5th. These contacts are not what I wanted.

Do you look at your contacts, but can not find the information you need. Yes, you can see names and phone numbers, but can not access data as the city where a person lives without extra effort.

Here's how to change the way Outlook displays the contact information. The instructions are completely different in Outlook 2007 and 2010.

Outlook 2007

In panel  Contacts  on the left side, under  Current View , select the mode that suits you. Then click on the link  Customize View  (last item in the list of modes). In the window that appears, click the  fields  to choose which fields you want to be displayed or not, and in what order.

Outlook 2010

Click on the tab  display  the toolbar, and then click  Change View  (the leftmost icon). Choose the display mode that suits you. Click  Display Settings  and in the window that appears (called Advanced Display Settings ) click on  Columns . In the window Show Columns  choose which fields you want to display, and in what order.

One more thing

Some people are confused about what they are using Outlook. Perhaps you've heard that it can be used to manage tasks and appointments, but can not find these features in your program.

The answer is easy: you are probably using Outlook Express, another e-mail program from Microsoft. Outlook we talked about in this article is part of Microsoft Office and handles contacts, email, calendars and more. Outlook Express only handles email.