Windows XP [Electronic resources] : Visual Quickstart Guide, Second Edition نسخه متنی

The preceding method receives messages

and sends any messages in your Outbox. To

receive only, choose Tools > Send and Receive > Receive All, or click the small arrow on the Send/Recv button and choose Receive All (Figure 14.9 ).

If you've defined several email accounts, you don't have to check them

all. To turn off an account, choose Tools > Accounts > Mail tab; double-click the account's name; then uncheck Include This Account When Receiving Mail or Synchronizing. To check a disabled account occasionally, choose its name at the bottom of the Send/Recv menu (refer to

Figure 14.9 ).

To change the mail-retrieval interval, choose Tools > Options > General tab; then change the time period for Check for New Messages Every __ Minutes.

Organizing Your Messages

Use the Folders list (refer to Figure 14.1) to organize your messages. It contains the following folders initially (but you can create new ones):

Inbox holds mail that you've received.

Outbox holds mail that you've written but haven't sent.

Sent Items holds copies of messages that you've sent.

Deleted Items holds received mail that you've deleted.

Drafts holds mail that you're working on but aren't ready to send.

The Folders list acts like a normal Windows Explorer tree. Click a folder to see what's in it. Choose File > New > Folder (Ctrl+Shift+E) to create a new folder. Right-click a folder that you've created to rename or delete it. To file a message, drag it from the Message list to a folder icon, or right-click it and choose Move to Folder or Copy to Folder. To save a message in a Windows Explorer folder, choose File > Save As.

1.

Click Inbox (or another folder) in the Folders list.

2.

To view a message in the Preview pane, click the message in the Message list.

or

To view a message in a separate window, double-click the message in the Message list.

3.

To move back or forward through messages, press Ctrl+<, Ctrl+>, or (in preview mode) the up- or down-arrow key.

or

To view the next

unread message, press Ctrl+U.

To view all of a message's information, right-click it; then choose Properties.

To switch a message's read/unread status manually, right-click the message; then choose Mark As Unread or Mark As Read.

To read, send, and manage messages from any browser, anywhere, visit a POP3-access web site such as www.mail2web.com. Your ISP also may provide a web page that lets you manage your mail in a browser.

To hide read messages, choose View > Current View > Hide Read Messages.

The Message list behaves like Windows Explorer in Details view. Choose View > Columns to choose which columns to display. To resize a column, drag its heading's right edge left or right (or double-click the right edge to auto-size the column). To rearrange columns, drag the headings horizontally. To sort by a column, click its heading; click again to reverse sort order.

Outlook Express comes with a "very special" message,

Welcome to Outlook Express 6, from Microsoft. This message didn't arrive via the internet; read and delete it.

1.

Select a message; then click Delete on the toolbar (or press Delete). Deleted messages aren't erased but are placed in the Deleted Items folder.

2.

To remove

all deleted messages permanently, choose Edit > Empty Deleted Items Folder.

or

To remove a specific deleted message permanently, select it in the Deleted Items folder; then press Delete.

or

To delete messages automatically when you quit Outlook Express, choose Tools > Options > Maintenance tab > check Empty Messages from Deleted Items Folder on Exit.

3.

To rescue a deleted message, drag it from Deleted Items to another folder.

Stopping Spam

You can't, really.

Spam unsolicited commercial emailwill clog your Inbox eventually. Practicing safe email (posting disguised addresses in newsgroups, for example) only delays it. Spammers scour the web for email addresses, and nothing stops ISPs (yours or your recipients') from selling your address. Eventually, you'll end up on a spammer's listand soon thereafter, on hundreds of them.

Short of getting a new email address, the only effective way avoid spam is to use filters to redirect it to the trash. Applying individual message rules (described next) isn't effective, because the rules are hard to maintain, miss too much spam, and discard too much legitimate email identified as spam. Your ISP probably has a server-based spam filter that you can turn on. Otherwise, you can get your own spam killer. Try MailWasher (free; www.mailwasher.net) or xTerminator (free; www.artplus.hr/adapps/eng/xterminator). Experienced users should try POPFile (free; http://popfile.sourceforge.net/old_221) or SpamBayes (free; http://spambayes.sourceforge.net).

To learn more about spam, visit http://spam.abuse.net or the web sites listed at http://directory.google.com/top/computers/internet/abuse/spam.

1.

To reply to only the sender, select a message; then click Reply on the toolbar (or press Ctrl+R) (Figure 14.12 ).

or

To reply to everyone in the To and Cc lines (for group discussions), select a message; then click Reply All on the toolbar (or press Ctrl+Shift+R).

2.

Type a response to the message.

3.

Click Send on the toolbar (or press Alt+S).

1.

Select a message; then click Forward on the toolbar (or press Ctrl+F).

A new message opens, containing the original message's text.

2.

Type the email addresses of the recipients (see "Sending Email" earlier in this chapter).

3.

Edit the subject line or original message, or add your own comments, if you want.

4.

Click Send on the toolbar (or press Alt+S).