Use the ”find” button in your email program
I’m embarrassed to tell you that I’ve only just learnt to use this cool feature. Recently a client asked me about the best way to find errant emails lurking in her email folders. Like me, she used named folders but every now and then one would get away and then spend ridiculous amounts of time scrolling through her folders – Inbox, Sent and even Deleted, if she hadn’t emptied her Trash Can for a while. As she described her dilemma, I realised that every now and then I did the same thing, even though I’m pretty organised! (Memory is great but even the best ones fail sometimes and occasionally that swift ”click and drag” drops the bundle into the wrong box. It happened to me today!)
Well, here’s the solution for Outlook Express and Outlook at least – I’m pretty sure it’s the same in most other mail programs. Look along your Toolbar and you”ll see a ”Find” button. This will let you search for any words located in your emails or even headers. Outlook Express also immediately gives you detailed options while in Outlook you can choose the Advanced button to make it easier. If you need to, use your Help button for more detailed instructions.
Don’t open .exe files – ever
I belong to a voluntary business organisation that, like most groups these days, sends agendas and minutes via email. A few weeks ago I received mail from the National Secretary, a most reliable lady, in the form of an attachment. Expecting a Word document (which I’ll always open), I was surprised when asked whether I wanted to open an .exe file. Alarm bells rang.
I’ve been stung before with these files when a ”worm” – a type of computer virus – infected my system about 18 months ago. It came as an .exe file and now I won’t open anything in that format. I’ve since found out that this particular organisation has had major computer problems. That .exe file was a worm. It doesn’t matter who has sent it to you, send it back and ask for the information as a Word file.
I have an unusual cautionary tale to tell you. I recently sent my ezine out to approximately 2,000 people. To my utter surprise, I had no returns and no ”out of office” auto-responses. If you’ve ever sent mail to a group of more than about 50 people, you’ll know there are always returns!
It turns out that the Internet service provider (ISP) I was using had decided to block messages that had the name of a certain virus in the body of the message – without telling anyone! I’ll try again but to be on the safe side, I’ll split the name. It must be pretty vicious if a major national ISP takes those steps. I would have liked to be told though. I wasted quite a bit of time but then again, they were looking after everyone’s interests.
Sharing your ”best tips”
If you have any useful time saving or technology tips you’d like to share, send them down the line. We love receiving your contributions. We can’t always use them immediately but they go on file and we’ll always give you credit as the source. Some will go into future books and if we use your contributions in a book you’ll not only get credit but also a free copy when it’s published.
Also, very soon now our website will be revamped and one of the features will be a discussion board where you’ll be able to post questions and contributions.
