COMPUTING FOR THE BEWILDERED By Bill Hayles Hello, again. This article appears out of sequence - it's the one that should have appeared on 28th February. Sorry for the mix-up. THE INTERNET - Part 4 OUTLOOK EXPRESS =============== Outlook Express is a multi-purpose mail, news and directory service client that comes as part of most Microsoft operating systems. There is a lot wrong with OE; very few experienced mail and news enthusiasts employ it. It fails to comply with many accepted standards, especially those for mailing lists and news groups. It is a virus spreader's dream (although recent versions have undoubtedly tightened up their act). I try to persuade my students to use alternatives, and I am not going to spend much time on it. However, it is the most commonly used client, simply because it's part of the Microsoft Windows package, and for this reason we must assume it to be the client used on most people's computers. SETTING UP AN ACCOUNT ===================== Start Outlook Express. Click on "Tools" then "Accounts" Click on "Mail", then "Add", then "Mail" First insert your name, as you want it to appear in outgoing e-mail messages, then click next. Now check "I have an existing e-mail address I'd like to use", and enter the e-mail address (your "public" address that was given when you obtained your ISP account (my.name@wanadoo.es, for example) Click next. Unless you have a most unusual account, your incoming mail server will be POP3., and your outgoing mail server SMTP. Enter the addresses of these servers, i.e. pop.wanadoo.es and smtp.wanadoo.es.These details will have been given to you by your ISP when you signed up for your account. Click next. Now enter the user name and password given you to access your e-mail. Depending on your ISP, these may be different from the user name and password needed to connect to the Internet (your socket). You will now get a "congratulations" message. When you click "Finish", your new account should have been added. SENDING AND RECEIVING YOUR E-MAIL ================================= Connect your socket ("log on"). Start Outlook Express and click on "Tools", "Send and Receive", "Send and receive all" (there are other ways to do it). If everything has been configured correctly, any e-mails waiting for you at your ISP should now be downloaded onto your computer for later perusal, and any outgoing messages sent. HOW TO READ E-MAIL =================== Outlook Express is very insecure. We'll discuss this later. E-Mails received in plain text are safe, but anything written in HTML or with an attachment could contain a virus, even if it is from someone you know well. Take what precautions you can. You will receive junk e-mail (Spam). Most is harmless, if irritating, but it is best to delete unsolicited mail without reading it. That way it cannot harm you. If you want to open an attachment (and very often you will), check its extension first. Above all, invest in antivirus software. HOW TO COMPOSE AND REPLY TO AN E-MAIL ==================================== Unless you have a special reason not too, you should always send your e-mail using plain text. Since attachments are what cause a lot of the virus problems with OE, it is polite to explain in your e-mail exactly what the attachment is, and invite the recipient to check with you first if they're not sure. There are accepted ways to reply to an e-mail. Of course, between friends it doesn't matter, but in public forums, and in business or other formal correspondence, it is courtesy to use the correct form. There are two golden rules. DO NOT TOP POST! When replying, do not put your reply at the top of the e-mail and quote the whole original message underneath. This is the way Outlook Express does it by default, but even Microsoft, in their documentation, agree it is wrong SNIP IRRELEVANT MATERIAL Put your reply underneath the part of the original message to which it refers, and delete (i.e. Don't include) any parts of the original that are unnecessary. In other words, don't be a bandwidth hog. Even though I don't agree with it 100%, a good discourse on e-mail quoting is given at http://www.firstbite.co.nz/training/easemail/emquot.html Finally, as an example of how it should be done, here are an original message and reply (although I'm not sure how they will format in the columns of the paper) Note the use of the quote symbol (>) Original Hi, Bill Can you make it to the Oasis Centre on 26th May to give another of your sleep inducing talks? Is your laptop available, and will you need the projector? -- Regards Clive Reply Hi, Clive On 22nd May 2001 at 12:13 +0200 you said: > Can you make it to the Oasis Centre on 26th May to give another of > your sleep inducing talks? Sure. Make sure everybody has comfortable beds this time. >Is your laptop available Henrietta is free > will you need the projector? If anybody wants to see what I'm doing, then yes please! -- Hasta sabado Bill bill@billnot.com