Problems with Web links can occasionally be an issue with the type of browser being used, but more often it’s associated to the way the email program interacts with the browser. One solution might be to download the latest version of your preferred browser, whether it’s Firefox (www .mozilla.com), Internet Explorer, Opera (www.opera.com), or any of the other browser options. Some users don’t keep their browsers up-to-date, and settings that are revamped in Outlook Express can conflict with older versions. Because OE is a Microsoft product, it might be prudent to utilize the company’s newly refreshed IE 7 browser, which you can download at www.microsoft.com/windows/ie. The Web site will guide you through the downloading process. After the installation, make sure that IE is the default browser so that when Web links appear in an email, it will use IE to open them. To do that, select Control Panel from the Start menu, double click Internet Options, and click the Programs tab. In the Default Web Browser section, make sure the Tell Me If Internet Explorer Is Not The Default Web Browser box is checked and click OK. The next time IE is opened, it will ask to be the default browser. Click Yes. Sources Of Help For many general questions, including those related to security, storage, or message routing, answers may be found by accessing OE’s Help function, which can be accessed by pressing F1 or by clicking Contents And Index in the Help menu. You can access Help files by using the Content, Index, and Search tabs. The Contents tab is organized by subject, and the Index tab contains an alphabetical list of subjects. If you are unsure where to start, use the Search SOFTWARE Email If you use Internet Explorer as your browser, setting it as your default browser in Internet Properties will help to ensure that links within your emails will open properly. Reference Series / Fix Your Own PC 155 tab to help you narrow down topics that might be helpful. Another choice if problems keep occurring with Outlook Express is to consider buying repair and recovery utilities, available though the Microsoft site and developed by companies such as ScanDBX (www.scandbx.com), DataNumen (www.datanumen.com), Recovery ToolBox (www.oemailre covery.com), and Accurate Solution (www.accuratesolution.net). The ScanDBX tool, for example, is designed to repair damaged OE files and installations, while DataNumen’s Advanced Outlook Express Repair is geared toward file recovery.
Web Mail In addition to Outlook Express, many users opt to have Web-based accounts as well, either as a supplement to OE, or as their sole email. Providers such as Hotmail or Yahoo! sometimes act as a “junk mailbox” for users who want to limit the amount of spam and e-newsletters that are delivered to their primary accounts. Much more simplified than a fullfeatured application such as Outlook Express, Web mail tends to be fairly stripped down and straightforward. Users can employ tools to limit junk mail, set a different reply-to address for messages, create custom filters that send incoming messages to specific folders, and get alerts on a mobile device whenever there’s a new message. For Hotmail, settings can be tweaked, and troubleshooting can be done by selecting Options from the upper-right corner of the Web page. That will bring up a page with a number of features to access, and the one usually most helpful when there are email difficulties is Mail Display Settings, located under the Mail tab.
Another helpful section can be accessed through the Help link in the lower-right corner of the screen. Click Common Problems With POP Accounts to access subsequent screens to help you identify what the difficulty might be, such as trying to access an MSN email account from behind a corporate firewall. Yahoo! is currently testing a beta version of its forthcoming Webmail, which looks more like Outlook Express than previous iterations. In terms of its current mail application, however, it resembles Hotmail, including having its Options link at the top-right corner of the page. But Yahoo! trumps its online competitor in terms of having more complete troubleshooting information in its Help section, including the opportunity to contact customer care directly. Other email programs, such as Google’s Gmail (www.gmail.com) and Apple’s Mac Mail (www.apple.com), also put their troubleshooting tips into a section called Help and give tips on creating different mail settings as well as fixing any problems that crop up. In general, whether using Outlook Express, a subscription service such as Mac Mail, an account from a local ISP such as Comcast (www.comcast.com), or just a vanilla Web-based app such as Yahoo!, email can be a boon for communication, and in some ways, it doesn’t matter which software you pick.
After all, a message is the same whether sent through Hotmail or Outlook Express. But tapping into the troubleshooting power folded into every application will definitely make sure those messages don’t get lost in the digital ether.
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