Monday, August 30, 2004

Confirm Your E-Mail Has Been Received

Whenever you send an Email message, you can ask Outlook Express to request a "read receipt" for the message. A read receipt is a confirmation Email message that notifies you that the person to whom you sent your message has received and read the message. Requesting a read receipt allows you to confirm that the message was delivered properly, was opened on the recipient's computer, and what time this took place. Keep in mind that the recipient can choose whether or not to send a read receipt for the message.

Here's the way you do this! When composing a message click "Tools", then click "Request Read Receipt". A check mark will appear beside the Request Read Receipt option on the menu. When the recipient reads the contents of your Email, you may receive a confirmation message indicating the date and time the person read the message. P.S.: If you sent the message to more than one person, you will receive a separate confirmation message from each person who chose to send a confirmation. How cool is that?

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Sunday, August 15, 2004

Add A Backup Utility to Windows XP Home

For those folks out there preparing for the upcoming release of Windows XP Service Pack 2, you may want to back up your stuff before beginning this installation. Windows XP Professional has an excellent backup utility built into it but, alas, it is missing in Windows XP Home Edition. But, before you throw yourselves off a cliff in despair, I have good news! The backup utility is available for download and installation (thanks to: http://www.onecomputerguy.com/software/ntbackup.msi who has done all the work in providing this item) so I would recommend that, if you would like to have this utility in XP Home, you can. Download it from the aforementioned site and the utility will install. Now in XP Home, when you go to All Programs, Accessories, System Tools you will see a new entry called "Backup". Use it in good health!

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Thursday, August 12, 2004

E-Mail a Link or Webpage

You can E-mail a link to a webpage or the webpage itself to another person from the internet without having to open Outlook Express. When you E-mail the webpage the recipient will be able to view the whole webpage within the E-mail and when you E-mail a link the recipient will be able to use the link to open the page in their own web browser.

Here's how you can do it! E-Mail a Webpage: Find the page you want to E-mail to another person. Click on the little envelope at the top of your Internet Explorer browser (if you're using SlimBrowser click on the little arrow just to the right of the little envelope) and a drop-down menu appears. Click on "Send Page" to send a copy of the current webpage and Outlook Express will fill in the subject. Type the E-mail address of the recipient and click "Send" to send the message.

E-Mail a Webpage Link: Proceed as above except that when the drop-down menu appears click "Send a Link" instead. A window will appear showing a message stating that the webpage is attached. Again, Outlook Express will fill in the subject. The area labeled "Attach" will show the name and size of the attachment. Address and "Send" as before.

Couldn't be much simpler, could it?

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Sunday, August 08, 2004

Improve The Appearance of Text

In Windows XP you can use ClearType to smooth out the edges of fonts, making the text on your screen easier to read. This works best for flat-screen monitors. By default, Windows selects the standard smoothing method which usually is best for CRT desktop monitors.

Here's how you use ClearType: Right-click a blank area of your desktop and, on the menu that appears, click "Properties" and the Display Properties dialog box appears. Now click the "Appearance" tab and then scroll down and click the "Effects" tab to change the visual effects in Windows. When the Effects dialog box appears put a checkmark in the box beside "Use the following method to smooth the edges of screen fonts". Now go down to the area which shows the way you want Windows to smooth the edges of screen fonts and click "ClearType". Click "OK" to confirm the change and "OK" again to close the Display Properties dialog box. Simple, isn't it?

Get more info HERE

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