Jerry's Tips # 11
Most recent edit was done 08/10/00
To check spelling in email messages
Outlook Express uses the spelling checker provided with all Microsoft Office 95 or Office 97 programs— Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint. If you do not have one of these programs installed, the Spelling command is not available.
 | In the New Message window, click the Tools menu, and then click Spelling. |
| To check spelling in an individual message, click
the Tools menu in a new message window, and then click Spelling.
|
Need to store lots of data about customers?
Microsoft Access contains options to custom design your database or use templates that contain commonly used reports, queries and other features.
ScanDisk takes forever to run
Deactivate the screen saver and close all programs before running ScanDisk. ScanDisk should only take a few moments to check the main drive on your computer. When ScanDisk finishes, then reactivate the screen saver.
Computer Maintenance
Run ScanDisk two or three times a week to help keep your harddrive tuned up. Defrag your harddrive (C:) about once a week; more often if you are saving a lot of files or deleting a lot of files to or from the harddrive. Look under System Tools to find these programs.
Missing New Mail Notification
Use the Tips Search Engine and read all tips about setting sound options in email and Win95. If you make all the settings mentioned in the tips and still do not have sound from arriving email, then try going to My Computer icon, Control Panel, Sounds, scroll down to New Mail Notification, Chimes.wav should be visible in the Name box and a picture of a speaker in the preview window. Next click the arrow to the right side of the preview window – you should hear a chimes sound – if not, then you don’t have all your sound speakers plugged in correctly, turned on, or other settings from Tips Search are not done. If you do hear the chimes sound through the main speakers, then your next step is to change the sound to a different sound and then later back to the chimes.wav which is usually the preferred sound.
To select other sounds click the down arrow in the Name box, select another sound and test by clicking on the right arrow next to the preview box. Once you have selected a different sound then click OK to accept the new settings.
Reopen email and send yourself a test email. If you hear the new sound you selected when the email comes in then you can keep the new sound or go back through the above steps to select the chimes.wav or other sound you would like to have. If you need to browse for sounds click the browse button while at the sound properties page. Browse should take you into a folder, such as Media, which contains a collection of sound files. Any small sound files may be used if they end with the extension name of .wav
If you install Microsoft Plus, you will have lots of sounds to choose from in the themes provided by the Microsoft software.
You say your Disconnect Box doesn't come up when you exit the browser? I don't have a tech answer for what happened to your disconnect box. All I do when that happens, is to double click on the connected indicator icon (two computers linked together) on the task bar and then choose disconnect.
If your task bar keeps popping up and down and you don't like it to do that then click start, settings, taskbar, take the checkmark off the autohide option.
Can't find your task bar? Well try try the following.
Point the mouse pointer to the side of the screen and try dragging to the left or right. Watch for the cursor to change to a double arrow before you try to drag the task bar. If you can't find the task bar then bring your computer in to Bryan's and we will find it for you.
Need to change Start Page or Home Page?
When you click the Home Page button on your browser, and it doesn't find Enet's home page, then on your browser page, click View, Options, Navigation, and set Start Page address to http://www.eastland.net , click Apply, click OK.
Check Mail Button
Well, so you've lost your "Check Mail" button. Is there any way to get it back? Yes, probably. Go to your view options in your Internet Explorer program. This will open a dialogue box with many folder tabs on it. At the bottom, "Toolbar Options", make sure all buttons are clicked on and if they are, which they should be, uncheck all of them and hit apply. Now, check them by clicking each box and hit apply and OK. This should fix your problem. If it doesn’t, you may just need to use the mouse and pull down the button bar or toolbar which also sometimes get pushed up. Thanks, Bryan
Spelling Checker in Email
While you are at your Internet Mail window, click on Mail, Options, check as many items as you like, click OK. Now, compose your email letter. Click on Mail, click on Check Spelling. You won't ever have to worry about cuorrrect spelling again will you? Smile. If you check the "Check before sending" you won't be able to sent mail without the spelling checker asking you if you want to check the spelling. Personally, I like to choose when to have the spelling checker used. If you set it to check everything it will aggravate you by reminding you each time you click on send mail.
How do you check a exe file that is attached to an email to see if it contains a virus? Create a new folder on your drive called temp or work. Highlight the email title and double click. You will see the attached file icon at the bottom of the email. Highlight the icon of the attached exe file, right click, select Save As, save file to a directory or folder you created. Do not open the file yet. Use your virus checker to check the folder you saved the file to. If it doesn't contain a virus then move the file where you want it or just open it where it is.
Want to print email attachments? If so, then highlight the email title and double click. You will see the attached file or files at the bottom of the email. Highlight the icon of the document you want to save, then right click and select Save As; type in the location you want the file saved to.
If you would like to check your return address to see if it is correct, then send yourself an email. When the email comes back to you then click on Reply to Author. If you address looks like @eastland.net , then you need to go to tech tips and learn how to fix it. Search for return email address using our Tips Search Engine.
User describes his problem as .... 11/08/97
Customer R.B. says, "I am able to get my email but nothing else comes up on the screen. I also can't get the Chat Room to take my password". The customer was advised by enet tech to run Scan Disk and Defrag his drive. Customer reported that Scan Disk did find several errors to repair and required him one and one half hours to run the scan. His screen saver kept interrupting the scan. He kept moving his mouse to keep the screen saver from butting in and finally completed the scan and the defragmenting of the hard drive. The Microsoft Internet Explorer ran just fine after the scan and defrag.; chat room also accepted password OK.
This event reminds us to do the following when we have a problem:
(1) go to My Computer Icon, Control Panel, Display, Screen Saver and select "none", select OK. This will stop the interruptions of the screen saver to the scan, etc.
(2) run Scan Disk with the setting of "repair errors"
(3) defragment the drive
These three steps may not solve all problems, but are a good place to start.
To use spelling checker on email .... 11/06/97
Click new message, compose your message and hit f7 key to check spelling, if that doesn't work, then while you are still looking at your new message screen, click mail, click check spelling. If it is grayed out it isn't going to work! Then you will have to reinstall the software. Be aware that it will install over old email, and give you new empty folders with no archive of previous mail. So save the old email folders to a floppy and later you can use Explorer to put them back into place. Another way to save the old folders is to rename them and then install the software. Delete the new folders and then rename the folder you want back to the original names.
What about long distance charges to other sites on the World Wide Web?
No matter how many times we talk about this, I know it seems impossible that we can be online in Egypt or anywhere else in the world and not have to pay long distance charges. How is this possible? Well, it's true that you as a customer do not have to pay any long distance charges unless you move out of our local access area and dial into Eastland Internet from outside the area. As long as you dial from within our local access area, you can visit, view and email to sites anywhere on the Internet of the World Wide Web. It doesn't mean that someone doesn't have to pay for this service, however. Eastland Internet has to pay for an access line from Eastland to another IP (Internet Provider) in Fort Worth, which in turn is connected to other providers, to other providers, to other providers and PCs and other computers all over the world are connected to the same network of lines and providers. You and your computer are at the end of the world of networking of the Internet service. Eastland Internet by paying certain fees has made it possible for it's customers to have a direct connection to the World Wide Web. The moment you touch the search button and/or email to someone outside this local access you are using lines that branch out into the depths of the web and are connected, in a sense, to all other users online in the world. The bottom line is, our online time does cost Eastland Internet, but customers only pay a set monthly fee for access to local and World Wide Web usage. Since someone does have to pay the bill, it means we can use but not abuse our time online.
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