Tips to optimize time for Microsoft Outlook Email Recovery

If you use Microsoft Outlook and have ever noticed messages missing. You can save yourself a great deal of time searching for them. The data you have lost has likely been corrupted and can not be saved without software for Outlook email recovery. This software will scan your entire hard drive, locate your outlook PST file and rebuild it. The PST file is a writable database and often it suffers from spillage. Other problems resulting in a need for Outlook email recovery are failed compression and unzipping of files, anti-virus scanning changing file headers and accidental deletion. 

Microsoft Outlook is a very powerful and flexible tool. It has many hidden options, unknown features, and shortcuts that go unused and undiscovered by the majority of people. These are tips that will make Microsoft Outlook more productive and even easier to use.

Here are some simple tips to optimize time in Microsoft Outlook and increase efficiency.

1. Open a Outlook folder from the Windows without launching Microsoft Outlook

Create a shortcut of the Outlook folder that you use frequently on the desktop. To do that, simply drag the folder from the outlook to the desktop and hold the CTRL key before you release the mouse.
 
2. Launch outlook to any desired folder

By default, when you launch Microsoft Outlook, it opens up into the Inbox folder. You can change this default setting. To modify this, click the Tools menu, select Options, select Other, and in the Advanced Options box, specify the folder you want opened.

3. Advanced Find

If your Inbox grows huge in size, use the Advanced Find dialog box to narrow down your searches and save time. For Advanced Find, hit Ctrl+Shift+F.

4. AutoArchive emails in Inbox

Dragging and dropping individual emails from your inbox into the archive folder is a very tedious job. You can use the AutoArchive feature in Outlook to do the work automatically. To activate this feature, right-click the folder, click Properties and then click the AutoArchive tab.

5. Set Appointments

To schedule an appointment with one of your contacts, open the contact folder and click on the contact. Then drag the contact to the calendar folder. Fill in the date and time of this appointment.

6. Spell Check for all outgoing messages

Microsoft Outlook includes an option for spell check for all the outgoing messages. Just click on the Tools menu, click on Options, and select Always check spelling before sending.

7. Manage Junk E-Mail

Microsoft Outlook features a built in spam filter for unwanted emails. Open your Inbox by clicking on Inbox on the Outlook bar and click on the Organize button on the Standard toolbar. Click on Junk E-Mail. You can set the color for junk message or else move them to another folder.

8. Two Window workspace

If you need to work on calendar and Inbox all day you will require two separate Windows. To do so, display one of these windows and then right-click on the other. From the context menu, select Open in New Window. Use Alt+Tab to switch between windows.

9. Email Recovery

If you have accidentally deleted emails (using Shift+Del) or lost your Outlook emails due to any reason like hard drive crash, virus attack etc… try PST Repair Software to recover them easily.

Data Backup – Email Archives

Enterprises and individuals rely largely on emails to store all their personal, financial, business, and family information. All this hangs around in the inbox or email folders, ready to be accessed at any time. If the inbox is corrupted, or the webmail account is hacked, or any number of worst-case scenarios arises, you could find that precious data is gone forever.

All your email archives (Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook) are stored on the hard drives. If a computer crashes, a virus attacks, or any program messes up the information on the hard drive, then all the important email information is lost. Don’t let that happen to you. To make sure you don’t lose all this in case of a hard disk crash or some other disaster, you can create backup copies of your emails.

All your mails, contacts, calendars, and almost every other detail you use are in Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.  Email programs seem quite simple, but in terms of structure, folders, and information, they are quite complex. Each email program stores data in different places on your hard drive. Besides the messages in your inbox and your personal address book, your email program also keeps track of the folders you use to sort your mails, your email profile and much more. To do a thorough backup you will need to backup a variety of folders and files, but backing up your mail data is still easy.

The simplest way to backup information in you email program is to use a Backup Program/Software.  A lot depends on which email client you are using. The easiest way to transfer your email messages, address book, accounts and other information is with the help of a third-party utility that can back it up at one end and then restore it all with the minimum of fuss.

The other way to backup your emails is to simply copy them to another folder on your computer or an alternate drive. Below are the steps explaining how you can backup emails from Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook.

Steps to backup emails in Outlook Express:

1. Create a folder on your hard drive, something like “OEbackup”.
2. Now, find the special location of the email folders on you hard drive.
3. To do that, from the Outlook Express menu bar, click on Tools-> Options-> Maintenance tab-> Store Folder.
4. When you click the Store Folder button, a window will pop-up with the path for the emails and email folders on the hard drive.
5. Copy it and paste the same into the Run dialogue box (Start->Run) and click OK.
6. This will show all of the items in Outlook Express Store Location.
7. Outlook Express folders end with the three letters DBX, simply copy them and paste it into the OEbackup folder first created.
8. You can also copy the files and folders to another storage media like a pen drive, external hard drive etc…

Steps to backup emails in Microsoft Outlook:

The Personal Folder file (.pst / PST) is the place where Outlook stores its data. Personal Folder file contains all of your Outlook folders, including the Inbox, Calendar, and Contacts. You may have a single .pst file, and you may also have an additional .pst file that you use to archive messages Below are the simple steps to backup your PST files. By backing up these PST files you will be backing up all your Outlook information.

1. Firstly, you need to find the location of your data files.
2. From Microsoft Outlook menu bar click File->Data File Management->Data Files.
3. Highlight the Personal Folders and click on the “Open Folder…” icon. Clicking on this icon will automatically launch Windows Explorer and take you to the location where this data file is stored.
4. Within the folder you will find an outlook.pst file. Copy this file to another safe location on the hard drive or to another storage media like a zip disk, CDROM, external hard drive etc.
5. You will need to completely exit Outlook prior to copying these files.
6. In case of any damage to the original outlook mails you can easily, import the .pst files from the backup.

Tips for an Effective Email

Email is an essential tool for collaboration and communication. In simple terms, Email is simply communicating with the written word. When you send a mail, you are representing yourself, your business unit and your company, to a wide range of internal and external recipients. So, it is very important that an email is being understood, for providing a positive impression and more importantly for business; credible and professional.

Email is now a mainstream business communication platform. Here are some tips for writing/drafting an effective email. Follow these simple steps to make accurate, timely and positive impressions on the reader of the mail. 

1. Subject line: The subject line should be clear and specific. It is the subject that determines whether the email will be read or not. It should encourage the reader to open and read the email. It is very essential to compose a meaningful subject line. An informative subject line saves the recipient’s time and ensures your emails are prioritized by the reader. Do not use all caps or all small case, it can lend to the impression you may be spammer. Try to keep it short and self explanatory.
2. Addressing: Always use the person’s name in the salutation. It’s pretty common to use a person’s first name, even when contacting someone for the first time, but use your own judgment regarding when it’s appropriate to be formal or informal.
3. Have a great opening: First impressions are important. Your first one or two sentences dictate whether your message gets read or deleted. Make your opening words count. Use short sentences and simple words.
4. To the point: Avoid long paragraphs. Keep sentences short. Use bullets for lists. Use subtitles to break up long emails. Use strong active verbs. Avoid jargon and acronyms. Your chances of getting a quick response will vastly improve when you keep your emails brief.
5. Highlight actions and key points: Underlining, highlighting or bold to help people concentrate on the key points is a very good practice. You can also highlight action items and important dates that are important.
6. Respect privacy in group emails: When you are sending mails to a group, try to maintain the privacy of the recipient. Use BCC field when emailing a group of contacts who do not personally know each other. Use CC field when there are few individuals/organizations involved in a discussion.
7. Formatting: Formatting an email is very necessary to be sure that 90% of the people you’re emailing your message to, can see it properly. There are several important points to be considered while formatting an email. 1. Line length, this is considered to be the most important element when formatting. It’s the main cause of the silly looking email. 2. Make sure your paragraphs are short, maybe around five or six lines, anything longer will take up too much space and the reader will most likely find it very difficult to read. 3. Use fixed width fonts to display emails.
8. Attachments: E-mail is primarily a text based system. However there are times it is essential to receive or send other types of information (e.g. programs, pictures, word documents, spreadsheets etc). E-mail is like sending a letter and an attachment is like sending a package by UPS. When you send an attachment make sure the file you are sending is in a format that can be read by the person on the other end. Never send large attachments. If the files are very large, compress them to make it smaller.
9. Down Edit Your Replies:  when you hit reply for a received mail, the email is attached with the previous email information which may be no longer important. Removing parts of the previous email that no longer apply to your response including email headers and signature files removes the mess. In addition, by making the effort to reply point by point keeps the conversation on track.
10. Signatures: Signatures can be almost anything: funny, interesting, quotations, stock quotes, programs, empty space, your address, ASCII art… but they should always also be brief.  Keep your signature files to not more than 5-6 lines. Limit your signature to your Web site link, company name, and slogan/offer or phone number. Include a link to your site (if you have any) where the recipient can get all your contact information from A-Z.
11. Take a second look: Re-read your emails before you send them. Always check for spelling and grammar, so that the email can be easily understood by the recipient.

Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook is a part of Microsoft Office suite that allows the users to connect to a Microsoft Exchange server and access a mailbox. Outlook is designed to operate as an independent personal information manager, as an Internet mail client, or in conjunction with the Microsoft Exchange Server for group scheduling, email, and task management. It manages emails, calendars, contacts, tasks, to-do lists, and documents or files on the hard drive. Outlook helps you communicate through email, phone support, and group scheduling capabilities. Outlook also helps to share information by means of public folders, forms, and Internet connectivity.

MS Outlook allows:

•  Creating, editing, sending, and receiving mail.
•  Adding/deleting addresses in the personal address list.
•  Creating and using folders to save mail.
•  Adding/sending/receiving/viewing/saving attachments.
•  Distribution lists.
•  Moving, deleting, recovering mail messages.
•  Out of Office Assistant.
•  Auto-signature.
•  Maintain personal calendar.
•  Print Contacts as a Booklet.
•  Set Reminders.

Versions of Microsoft Outlook

1. Outlook for MS-DOS which comes bundled with Exchange server 5.5
2. Outlook for Windows 3.x which comes bundled with Exchange server 5.5
3. Outlook for Macintosh which comes bundled with Exchange server 5.5
4. Outlook 97 which comes bundled with Exchange server 5.5
5. Outlook 98
6. Outlook 2000 which comes bundled with Exchange server 5.5
7. Outlook 2002 included in Office XP
8. Office Outlook 2003 which comes bundled with Exchange server 2003
9. Office Outlook 2007

Outlook 98 and Outlook 2000 could be installed in one of two configurations:

1. Internet Mail Only or IMO mode: A lighter application mode with specific emphasis on POP3 accounts and IMAP accounts and including a lightweight Fax application.
2. Corporate Workgroup or CW mode: A full MAPI client with specific emphasis on Microsoft Exchange accounts.

To conclude, Microsoft Outlook is one of the primary office productivity tools in use in business. There are plenty of software programs on the market that are designed to help manage appointments and daily activities, but the most power scheduling software programs available is Microsoft Outlook.

Outlook Express

Outlook Express is an email client that comes bundled with Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher, and facilitates home users to access their emails. It is the successor of Microsoft Internet Mail and News, an early e-mail client add-on for Internet Explorer 3.0.  Built on open Internet standards, Outlook Express is designed for use with any Internet standard system, for example, Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), and Internet Mail Access Protocol (IMAP).

Almost every businessperson, employee or individual around the world begin their day with Outlook Express. They reach their workstations, sign into their account and download their emails.

The .dbx and .mbx files are used by Outlook Express for storing files. All files in Outlook Express Folder list are stored on our hard drive with the same file name but with the extension of .dbx for e.g. inbox.dbx. Together these are saved on a folder named as store folder which is located deep within Documents and Settings folder. It is a hidden folder.

Outlook Express has an automatic maintenance feature that is enabled by default. It is designed to wait until Outlook Express has been idle for several minutes, and then begin to compact your mail and news folders in the background. Well, these automatic settings can be changed under Tools| Options| Maintenance.

Outlook Express supports HTML e-mail and scripts. As a result, emails are commonly infected with viruses. Moreover, Outlook Express does not include a useful spam filter. But there are many third party tools and plug-ins that make up for that.

 Versions of Outlook Express

1. Outlook Express 4.0, which was included in Windows 98.
2. Outlook Express 5.0, which was included in Windows 98 Second Edition (SE).
3. Outlook Express 5.0 was included in Windows 2000.
4. Outlook Express 5.5 was included in Windows Me.
5. Outlook Express 6.0 was included in Windows XP.
6. Outlook Express 6.0 SP2 was included in Windows XP Service Pack 2.

Outlook Express is a clean, fast, simple and pretty secure email client. But, everything doesn’t go as planned. The outlook express fails. Outlook Express is prone to a number of problems which can corrupt its files database, especially when the database increases in size due to increasing number of stored emails and during database compaction. This has led to a thriving market for programs that can backup, restore and recover corrupted files.

Email Challenges

Email is undisputedly the most important business application for most organizations. E-mail providers are updating or rolling out new e-mail clients that provide users with more security and useful features. Users are checking messages not just on traditional desktops, but also laptops and Web-enabled devices, such as phones and PDAs. Email faces many ongoing challenges, the most important being “Email Security”.

Several email challenges/problems are:

1. Readability: In real, most emails are straight text. That is they are very easily readable by anyone coming into contact with the message. This hinders the privacy aspect of a confidential email. Many solutions include a component of encryption either using PKI (public key infrastructure) or something more proprietary. Alternatively, many software packages are available for this, which can interface with common email clients. This solution controls who can read a message.
2. Route of email: Email messages are sent using the “Internet.” This means that messages are typically routed through many servers and make stops along the way. Thus, email is available on all the servers along the way. This is one the greatest disadvantage for maintaining email security.
3. Control over message forwarding: Email has the capacity of being instantly transmitted. This further complicates the control over email. This feature of being easily forwarded and distributed hinders the security of the content or the email itself.
4. Spam: Spam is receiving bulk unwanted, unsolicited emails. These are emails you did not ask for and from senders you do not know. As more people use email, marketers are increasingly using email messages to pitch their products and services. Email spam is very annoying and some popular methods for filtering and refusing spam include e-mail filtering based on the content of the mail, DNS-based blackhole lists (DNSBL), greylisting, spamtraps, enforcing technical requirements, and checksumming systems to detect bulk email.
5. Email Virus/worms: There are-mail viruses that have been flying around the Internet. Email virus as the name indicates are the viruses that spread vial email. They are also called as “Computer Worms”. They easily enter your inbox or your computer as an attachment. When you download such attachment your computer gets affected by virus destroying all your important data. Scanner programs offer protection against computer worms and email viruses. Email filter is another solution to this problem. “Email Filter”, filters malicious content and attachments using customized controls and settings. It conceals your mail servers and gateways from the threat of anonymous connections.

Importance of Email

In today’s electronic world, email is critical to any business being competitive. In most cases it now forms the backbone of most organization’s day-to-day activities. Companies of all sizes require email solutions to function effectively. In other words, every firm’s or individual’s job is increasingly reliant on the availability of email. According to a study, “Microsoft Exchange and Outlook Analysis, 2005-2009,” the worldwide email market will grow from 1.2 billion mailboxes in 2005 to 1.8 billion mailboxes in 2009.

Message sending through post has been taking through Emails as it is much faster and accurate way of sending and receiving information. Today’s customers and clients expect to be able to correspond via email. If you are not utilizing email to its potential in your business, you could be losing business. You may miss out the opportunity to market the business and make important business relationships, all via email.

You can access your email inbox even while you are away. The ability to do business or take care of important matters while you are on vacation or at a conference thousands of miles away from your business is critical these days.

Email can be a very powerful marketing tool, too. It is valued by many online users as a timely, easy, inexpensive and convenient way to get information from advertisers and marketers. Email Marketing (the promotion of products or services through the use of email lists) has become one of the most lucrative frontiers today. Email allows small businesses to make a real connection with their target audience and compete with larger businesses.

Below are some of the major reasons why emails are most widely used:

1. Email is FREE.
2. Email is fast.
3. Email generates an immediate response.
4. Email is targeted.
5. Email is proactive.
6. Email expands your reach.
7. Email allows you to foster long lasting relationships.
8. Email will grow your organization.