Category: Microsoft Outlook

Software / Microsoft Outlook Category

Alternatives to Outlook

Takeaway: Alternative options for mail client’s that are not as costly as Outlook but offer the same features.

Outlook is one of the most widely used email clients in the business world. For smaller companies, there are email clients that provide cost-effective solutions. Other email clients offer a variety of features that are comparable to Outlook. The most significant means of communication in the office is email; communication will suffer if the email client does not work well with the organizations requirements.

Opera Mail

Opera Mail is free and offered for Windows, Mac and Linux. This e-mail client supports POP, IMAP (no Exchange support), newsgroups, RSS, and Atom feed. Opera mail has a fast and simple user interface, thread views, spam protection and allows you to browse websites.

Dreammail

Dreammail is free and offered for Windows XP/Vista/7. This e-mail client supports POP3, RSS, and ESMTP/Google/Yahoo. Dreammail has multiple accounts and multiple-users setup, templates, signature options, anti-spam, address book, message filtering and a web-mail tool.

iScribe

iScribe is free and offered for Windows and Linux. This e-mail client supports POP3 and IMAP, as well as international standards. iScribe has built-in baysian span filter, frequent updates and can be used from a portable drive.

Postbox

Postbox is $9.95 per license and offered for Windows and Mac. This e-mail client is best for Gmail but it also supports POP and IMAP. Postbox has native Gmail label support, fast access to your favorite accounts, social networking integration and you can add Dropbox services.

Evolution Mail

Evolution is free and offered for Linux (open source). This e-mail client supports POP, IMAP and Exchange. Evolution has calendar, tasks, contacts, memos, LDAP compatibility, folder search, encryption, multiple accounts, server support, default plugins, as well as, additional plugins.

Tips for Outlook Calendar

Takeaway: Tips to change defaults for Outlook Calendar.

Work Week View:

Default “Work Week” is Monday through Friday, 8AM to 5PM.

Select File tab.
Click Options button.
On the left side of the window, click Calendar button (3rd down).
Under Work Time Section, enter your Start and End time.
Check the days of your Work Week.
Select the First Day of week.
Select the First week of year.
Click OK.

Reminder Alerts:

After creating or accepting an appointment, a “Default Reminder” is automatically set to 15 minutes.

Select File tab.
Click Options button.
On the left side of the window, click Calendar button (3rd down).
Under Calendar Options Section, select your reminder times.
Click OK.

Calendar Time Slots:

Time slots for Calendar Appointments are defaulted to 30 minutes.

Select Calendar View.
Right-Click on Timeline.
Select the interval you prefer.
Outlook will automatically update.

5 minutes: Most space for details.
60 minutes: Least space for details

Surface vs Surface Pro

Surface RT

Surface RT was released on October 26, 2012. Running Windows RT Operating System on a Quad-Core NVIDIA Tegra 3 Processor. Storage options are 32 GB or 64 GB. According to recent news, only 16 GB available for the 32 GB hard drive and 46 GB available for 64 GB hard drive. Bundled with the Surface RT is Office Home & Student 2013 RT Preview.

Office Home & Student 2013 RT includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Surface RT does not support Outlook.

The price for the Surface RT is $499.00.

Surface Pro

Surface Pro was release on February 9, 2013. Running Windows 8 Pro Operating System on Dual-Core Intel i5 Processor. Storage options are 64 GB or 128 GB. According to recent news, only 23 GB available for the 64GB hard drive and 83 GB for the 128 GB hard drive. Bundled with the Surface Pro is Full Office Suite Preview.

Surface Pro is a Business tablet that includes a pen and the pen digitizer. The stylus helps make taking notes, drawing and marking up documents easy. The price for the Surface Pen is $29.99.

The price for the Surface Pro is $899.00.

Not included with the purchase of the Surface RT or the Surface Pro is a keyboard. Microsoft offers two options, Touch cover and Type Cover. The Touch Cover is a pressure-sensitive keyboard and tablet cover; available in Red, Black, Cyan, White and Magenta. The price of the Touch Cover is $119.99. The Type Cover is thin “classic” keyboard and tablet cover; only available in Black. The price of the Type Cover is $129.99.

Type Cover and Touch Cover

Tips for Troubleshooting Outlook

Takeaway: The most significant means of communication in the office is email. Even though Outlook is the most used mail client for businesses, it can develop problems. Using these ten tips will quickly resolve issues that can impact communication.

1. Scan PST file

When Outlook becomes troubling, you can use the Inbox Repair Tool provided by Microsoft. This tool will backup, scan and repair your Personal Folder files (.pst). The entire process could take more than a few minutes to complete.

2. Archive Data

Archiving your data will prevent common problems that large PST files create. Archived data will be moved to a different PST to alleviate the size and space of you primary PST. After an archive is done, running scanpst.exe will be a safe way to check the file.

3. Rename OST

Some problems can be resolved by simply renaming the OST file and allowing Outlook to create a new one. The OST file saves your e-mails, calendar entries, contacts and other items. Outlook will open like new after renaming an OST file.

4. Delete/Rebuild Profile

When deleting or rebuilding an Outlook Profile taking precaution is a necessary step; open Control Panel, select Mail option, select Show Profiles and then select Delete. For POP accounts, you must save the user’s data by exporting a data file from Outlook. For Exchange and IMAP accounts, you can delete and re-create the account.

5. Disable Add-Ons

Another simple fix is to disable add-ons. To check the speed of Outlook, use outlook.exe /safe command will allow you to open Outlook in Safe Mode (no-add-ons running). After testing the speed, you can disable add-ons that may be slowing your system down.

6. Disable Virus Scan

Popular Anti-Virus tools have a feature that will scan all e-mails to and from your system. Temporarily disabling this feature is a work-around but not a solution. Outlook will be defenseless when this feature is disabled.

7. Run in Safe-Mode

Another temporary fix is to open Outlook in Safe Mode. Use outlook.exe /safe command will allow you to open Outlook in Safe Mode (no-add-ons running). This is a work-around but not a temporary fix.

8. Resetnav

Users can arrange their navigation bar according to their needs which sometimes causes Outlook not to work properly. A fast way to rest the navigation bar is using outlook.exe /resetnavpane command.

9. Migrate PSTs

All user PST files should be stored on the C Drive of the user. If all users are accessing a shared drive for their PST files, it will slow down Outlook and possibly your network.

10. Adjust Permissions

To adjust user’s calendar permissions – open the calendar in Outlook, right-click the shared calendar, select Properties, and in the Permissions tab you can adjust user’s calendar permissions.

Tips to Troubleshoot Outlook

Microsoft Outlook can connectivity issue with Microsoft Exchange. Troubleshooting and fixing these issues can range from a simple reboot to creating a new mail profile.

Restart Outlook and/or Computer

Many connectivity problems with Outlook can be resolved by simply restarting Outlook and/or the Computer.

Restart Outlook.
After restarting Outlook, verify connectivity.
If there are still connectivity problems, restart Computer.
Once computer is up and running, verify connectivity in Outlook.

Offline Mode

Outlook 2010 and newer:

Click the Send/Receive tab.
Locate the Work Offline button.
Click the Offline button.

Outlook 2007 and older:

Click File Menu.
Uncheck the Offline box.

At the bottom of your Outlook Window there will be a “Trying to Connect” prompt. If Outlook is “Connected” the problem is solved.

Rebuild PST or OST File

OST File

Close Outlook.
Open the Control Panel.
Select Mail icon.
In the next window, click Data Files.
Locate your data file, select and click Open File Location.
Locate the data file using Windows Explorer.
Rename the file extension from .OST to .OLD.
Close these windows and open Outlook.

PST File

Search for scanpst.exe using Windows Explorer.
Double click scanpst.exe to run the application.
In the next window, click Browse.
Locate your .pst file.
Click Start.
Scanpst will scan the data file eight times.
If the scan finds errors, there will be a prompt to repair. For backup purposes, check the Make Backup Of Scanned File Before Repairing box.
Click Repair.
Close these windows and open Outlook.

Repair Software Install

Open Control Panel.
Click Programs and Features.
Scroll down and highlight the Microsoft Office installation.
Click Change.
Select Repair.
Click Continue.
Allow the repair to complete.
Reboot your computer.

Recreate Mail Profile

Open Control Panel.
Click Mail.
Select Show Profiles.
Click Add.
Name the new profile.
Follow the steps for the Outlook Account Setup Wizard.
Verify the new profile and set as the default or delete old profile.