Add-in takes a new approach to spam control

Spam continues to be a problem for end users and administrators alike. Reducing spam helps users focus on their wanted messages and helps administrators manage mail storage space.

Although Outlook 2003 will add some new antispam features, a single solution isn't always the best approach. Using multiple antispam tools can help weed out unwanted messages. Cloudmark's SpamNet is one tool that can potentially help you get a handle on your users' messages.

The SpamNet Outlook add-in installs on the user's computer and works in conjunction with Outlook to check and process messages that SpamNet determines are spam. The add-in derives a unique signature for each message and compares that signature against the SpamNet central database. If the signature exists in the database, the add-in moves the message to the Spam folder. Users can easily unblock messages that they don't consider spam.

The benefit to the SpamNet approach is that all of SpamNet's users contribute to the spam database. This provides an adaptive approach to controlling spam, keeping pace with changes in the way spammers send messages.

If you prefer a centralized solution that offers the same benefit as SpamNet, consider Cloudmark Authority, a SpamNet gateway solution that blocks spam before it reaches users' mailboxes.

For details on these products, see Cloudmark's Web site.

Add Regional Holidays to Your Calendar

To add regional holidays to your Outlook calendar, select Options from the Tools menu, click the Preference tab, and select Calendar Options. Click the Add Holidays button, and click the box next to each country whose holidays you would like added to your calendar.

Add time management tools with PlanPlus

Outlook is a great tool for helping your users organize their schedules. However, even with the features Outlook offers, at least some of your users could use some additional time management tools. You might consider evaluating PlanPlus for Microsoft Outlook from FranklinCovey.

PlanPlus brings many of the schedule planning tools in the company's other planning systems to Microsoft Outlook users. For example, PlanPlus lets users prioritize task lists, quickly plan the upcoming week, and set a master task list to help them focus on major projects. The program also provides synchronization with Palm and Pocket PC handhelds to help users keep their handheld devices synced to Outlook.

In addition to custom Outlook views for managing schedules, tasks, and other items, PlanPlus also provides interactive coaching to help users become more effective in managing their workday. In addition, the program offers a feature called Weekly Compass that helps users better balance work, personal schedules, and priorities.

Finally, if you've struggled to set up Outlook to print to your users' FranklinCovey paper planning sheets, you'll be happy to learn that PlanPlus can print schedules in four FranklinCovey planning page sizes.

As support professionals, we sometimes focus almost exclusively on the technical aspects of helping users and exclude less technical issues such as effective time management. Improving user productivity might not have a direct impact on the number of support calls you have to field, but at the very least, less harried users might not be so stressed when they do call you for help.

To learn more about PlanPlus for Microsoft Outlook, check out the FranklinCovey Web site

AutoArchive messages into a PST

Show users how to reduce e-mail folder clutter by configuring Outlook to automatically archive messages into a personal folder (PST) file, and how to store an archive copy for safekeeping. Outlook's AutoArchive process can run silently or can prompt the user to allow or cancel the archive, giving the user the ability to control whether or when the archive operation takes place.

To begin AutoArchiving, first configure the archive settings for each mail folder, as well as the AutoArchive options. To set general options, choose Tools | Options, click Other, and click AutoArchive. In the AutoArchive dialog box, set the archive frequency, enable/disable archive prompting and other settings that control the archive process.

In Outlook 2002, if the user wants to be able to search the Archive folder for old messages, choose the Show Archive Folder In Folder List option, and the archive PST will appear under its own branch in the folder list. Also, on the Outlook 2002 AutoArchive dialog box, you can choose to either move the items to a PST file or permanently delete them. If you choose the former, you must specify the path to the PST, which can be stored locally or on a network share. If you choose the latter option, Outlook deletes the messages and does not create an archived copy.

In Outlook 2000, users have the option to delete items after archiving, but Outlook doesn't offer the ability to delete instead of archiving. However, you can configure this option individually for a folder through its AutoArchive properties. To do so, open the folder list and pin it open. Right-click a folder and choose Properties, then click the AutoArchive tab. You can configure the folder to use the default settings or set custom settings for each folder as needed. Click OK to save setting changes.

If you want to archive messages immediately, without waiting for the archive period to expire, choose File | Archive. You can choose to archive all folders according to their AutoArchive settings or archive only a selected folder and its subfolders.

Automatically add reply recipients to the Contacts folder

Outlook 2000 includes an option that automatically adds a recipient's address to the Contacts folder when you reply to a message. Many users appreciate this feature because it helps them maintain contact addresses without requiring them to manually enter the addresses into the Contacts folder. However, this capability is only available if you use Outlook 2000 in Internet Only mode; it's not included in Outlook 2000's Corporate/Workgroup mode or in Outlook 2002.

In Outlook 2000, you can use a custom rule action and a free download to automatically add reply addresses to your Personal Address Book. You can get the AddToPab.exe package from Microsoft's TechNet Web site, but it isn't compatible with Outlook 2002.

Other add-ons provide this capability for both Outlook 2000 and 2002. For example, ExLife and CaBook, both from ORNIC , give users the capability to automatically add reply addresses to a Contacts folder.

You could also create a custom script that copies the addresses from the outgoing message to the desired folder, and create a rule that fires that script for messages that fit the rule's conditions.

Back up your custom Outlook settings

Microsoft Outlook offers several convenient ways to organize and manage your e-mail. Many TechRepublic members, myself included, configure Outlook to sort incoming mail into various folders and place shortcuts to these folders on the Outlook toolbar for easy access. But what happens to these personal settings when you move to a new computer or need to recover from a system crash?

While a great deal of Outlook data (mail, rules, etc.) is usually stored on a server, your personal settings (folder properties, toolbar settings, and the like) are stored locally. If you move to a new workstation or have to reinstall Outlook, many of these settings are lost. While this isn't a major problem, it can be a frustrating experience. Imagine having to re-create an Outlook bar with 50 folder shortcuts. But despair no longer. There is an alternative. In this week's From The Technical Q&A column, a TechRepublic member finds out how to back up custom Outlook settings.

Cannot Start Outlook

OL2000: Error Message: "Cannot Start Outlook" on Windows NT Workstation

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Outlook 2000

IMPORTANT : This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

SYMPTOMS

When you attempt to start Outlook for the first time after installing Microsoft Office 2000, you receive the following error message even though you are logged on as the administrator, or as a member of the local Administrator group, on the Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Workstation computer:

Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Outlook could not be configured, because Administrator privileges are required for you to install some types of software on this computer. Before you can use Outlook, you must either log on to your computer as an Administrator and finish configuring Outlook, or ask your System Administrator to configure Outlook e-mail support for you."

CAUSE

You do not have sufficient permissions on the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook\Setup

RESOLUTION

Change the permissions on the registry key to Full Control.

MORE INFORMATION

WARNING : Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT or Windows 2000, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).

To set the permissions to Full Control, follow these steps:

Log on as the local administrator or member of the Administrator group.

On the Start menu, click Run . In the Open box, type Regedt32 to run the Registry Editor. Click OK . Regedt32.exe must be used, rather than Regedit.exe, to make Security changes.

On the Window menu, click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE on Local Machine .

Navigate to the following registry key:

Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook\Setup

On the Security menu, click Permissions .

Click the <computer name>\Administrators group, and on the Type of Access list, click to select Full Control (where <computer name> is the computer you are logged on to).

Click OK , and on the Registry menu, click Exit .

Restart Outlook. The first-run portion of Setup for Outlook will complete without further error.

Making this security change while logged in as administrator will also affect any user who is a member of the Administrator group.

Categorize Email

Outlook can help you assign categories automatically to your e-mail based on the identity of the recipient or the contents of the message. To set up a rule for assigning a category, from the Tools menu, choose Rules Wizard, then click the New button. To categorize your outgoing messages based on their recipients, choose Assign Categories To Sent Messages. To categorize messages received from others based on their content, choose Assign Categories Based On Content. Then step through the Wizard and select the types of messages to which the rule should apply.

Change Outlooks default directory

Here's a tip that you won't find in Outlook's Help files. Unlike all other Microsoft Office applications, you can't change Outlook's default directory of My Documents for Save As and Insert File operations. However, you can change this setting via the registry.

Caution
Using the Registry Editor incorrectly can cause data loss or even operating system failure. Be careful when directly editing the registry.

Open the Registry Editor by choosing Run from the Start menu and typing regedit. In the Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders. In the right pane, double-click on the value Personal to open it for editing.

Change the Value Data from C:\My Documents to your preferred directory. Exit the Registry Editor and restart Outlook. Your Save As and Insert File default settings should now be changed.

Note that if you apply any patches to Outlook or Microsoft Office, you may need to reset this value.

Changing the EMail Default Font

If you look at the formatting toolbar when you're writing e-mail, you'll see a style name that matches the name you entered in Word under Tools | Options | User Information. Your method changes the font for the Normal style, which has no effect on the style with your name attached.

To change the font for your e-mail, start a new e-mail message, move to the body of the message, and choose Tools | Options | General. Choose the E-mail Options button, the Personal Stationery tab, and then change the font settings for New Mail Messages and Replying or Forwarding Messages.

Color Code Incoming Mail

Color-coding e-mail messages automatically as they arrive in your Inbox can help alert you to messages from a VIPs (such as your employer, or important clients). To do this, click the Organize button on the standard toolbar, then select the Using Colors option. In the field next to Color Messages From, type in the desired name, select a color (red is the default), and click the Apply Color button.

Configure authentication for FTP free/busy servers

Microsoft Outlook can publish a user's free/busy information, but in some situations you might prefer to create your own free/busy server. For example, Microsoft's Office Internet Free/Busy Service requires users to have Microsoft Passports, which you might not want to use. Or, maybe you don't need to offer free/busy information to outside users, so you don't want the information published across the Internet.

Outlook can publish to a free/busy server using HTTP, FTP, or file URLs. If Outlook is configured to publish to an HTTP or file URL that requires authentication, Windows prompts the user for the authentication information. However, this is not the case for FTP servers.

Follow these steps in Outlook to configure the FTP site to enable Outlook to authenticate on the server:

1. In Outlook, go to File | Open | Outlook Data File.

2. In the Open Outlook Data File dialog box, select Add/Modify FTP Locations.

3. Enter the fully qualified domain name or IP address of the FTP server in the Name of FTP Site field.

4. Select the User option, and enter the user's name in the User field.

5. Select the Password field, and enter the password for the specified user account.

6. Click Add to add the server to the list.

7. Repeat these steps to add other servers if necessary. Click OK when you're finished.

8. Click Cancel to close the Open Outlook Data File dialog box.

To reenter the password, choose File | Open | Outlook Data File, select the FTP site from the Look In drop-down list, enter the password, and click OK. As above, click Cancel to close the Open Outlook Data File dialog box.

Configure fax delivery to a user's Inbox

Windows 2000's Microsoft Fax service offers a special advantage to Outlook users: The ability to deliver incoming faxes to a user's Inbox. Configuring the Fax service to deliver to a user's Inbox isn't very difficult, but it certainly is not intuitive. You must change the way the service logs on before you can configure its delivery behavior. You also must make the user's logon account a member of the local Administrators group.

To configure the Microsoft Fax service, follow these steps:

1. On the user's computer, log on as Administrator, open the Local Users And Computers console, and add the user's logon account to the local Administrators group.

2. From the Administrative Tools folder, open the Services console, double-click the Fax service, and click the Log On tab.

3. Select This Account and enter the user's account name, or click Browse to select the account. Enter and confirm the password in the two password fields, then click OK.

4. Use either local or group policy to grant the user's logon account the right to log on as a service.

5. Stop and restart the Fax service.

6. Go to Start | Programs | Accessories | Communications | Fax | Fax Service Management, click Devices, and double-click the fax modem.

7. Click the Received Faxes tab, select the Send To Local E-Mail Inbox option, and select the user's profile from the drop-down list. Click OK and close the Fax Service Management console.

Note: Windows XP's Fax service doesn't support the same capability. In order for your Windows XP users to receive faxes in their Inboxes, you'll have to turn to third-party fax solutions.

Configure Outlook 2002 macro security with policies

Macros can perform a broad range of tasks in Outlook, which makes them potentially dangerous. For example, a malicious macro could wipe out a user's entire mailbox or do other damage.

Outlook offers three levels of security to protect against malicious macros: High, Medium, and Low. You can set the security level in Outlook by choosing Tools | Macro | Security, selecting the desired level from the Security Level tab, and clicking OK. But using this method to set security levels for many users is time-consuming. In Outlook 2002, you can configure macro security through group or system policies.

You can control Office across the enterprise with several policy templates from the Microsoft Office Resource Kit. Before you can use these policies, you must first add them to your policy editor. Follow these steps to add policy templates to the Group Policy Editor and to configure security policy with them:

1. Run Gpedit.msc from the command line, or open the properties for an Organizational Unit in the Active Directory Users And Computers console, click the Group Policy tab, and edit or create a new policy object.

2. Expand either the Computer Configuration or User Configuration, depending on where you want to apply the policies.

3. Right-click the Administrative Templates container and choose Add/Remove Templates.

4. In the Add/Remove Templates dialog box, click Add and browse to the \%systemroot%\Inf folder on a computer where the Microsoft Office Resource Kit is installed.

5. Select the Outlk10.adm file. Open the template, then close the Add/Remove Templates dialog box.

6. Open the Microsoft Outlook 2002\Tools | Macro\Security policy branch.

7. In the right pane, double-click the Security Level policy, select Enabled from the property's policy sheet, and then select the desired security level from the drop-down list.

8. Click OK, set other policies as needed, and close the policy editor.

While you have the policy editor open, browse through the other available Outlook policies. In particular, browse the Microsoft Outlook 2002\Tools | Options\Security branch for other policies that control security-related features in Outlook.

Control message retrieval and delivery with send/receive groups

Outlook 2002 adds a new feature called send/receive groups that can control when and how Outlook sends and receives messages. Each send/receive group defines the accounts to check and the types of items Outlook synchronizes. Send/receive groups offer considerable flexibility for managing mail accounts. Understanding how these groups work will help you configure your users' e-mail systems to address certain potential problems, such as how to exclude large attachments.

To configure send/receive groups, choose Tools | Send/Receive Settings | Define Send/Receive Groups. By default, Outlook includes a group called All Accounts, which it uses to process all accounts. You can select this group and click Edit to modify it or create a new group.

When you create or modify a group, you specify which accounts should be processed for that group and which actions (send, receive, etc.) should be performed. For example, you might create a send/receive group called Personal that processes only the user's personal accounts and a second group called Work that processes work-related accounts.

When you click an account and enable it in the group, you can set several options. For example, you can configure a particular account to download headers only, download only items without attachments, only high-importance items, and so on. The options vary somewhat according to account type.

After you create the groups, you need to specify which ones should be processed automatically when the user clicks Send/Receive on the toolbar. In the Send/Receive Groups dialog box, select a group and then use the option Include This Group In Send/Receive to enable or disable the group. A user can click Tools | Send/Receive | <group name> to process a group manually.

Control program startup with switches

Like many applications, Outlook supports a variety of switches that control the way the program starts and functions. These startup switches can help you troubleshoot certain Outlook problems, and they also will help your users start Outlook with certain options or perform certain tasks when Outlook starts.

Support techs troubleshooting a problem can use a switch when starting Outlook from a command prompt. But this method isn't very practical for most users.

To help your users, you can create a shortcut on the users' desktops or other folders to help them start Outlook with various options. Just create the shortcut, specify the path to Outlook.exe as the executable, and add the switch at the end of the command string, outside of the quotes, like this example:

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office10\OUTLOOK.EXE" /folder

Here's a rundown of switches your users might find most useful (remind them, however, to preface the switch with a / character):

• a <filename>: Open a message for the attachment specified by <filename>.
• CheckClient: Check whether Outlook is the default application for e-mail, news, and contacts.
• CleanFreeBusy: Regenerate free/busy schedule data.
• CleanReminders: Regenerate reminders.
• CleanViews: Restore default Outlook views.
• Folder: Hide the Outlook Bar and folder list.
• NoPreview: Hide the preview pane and remove Preview Pane from the View menu.
• Profiles: Show the Choose Profile dialog box even when Outlook is configured to use a specific profile automatically.
• Profile <name>: Use the profile specified by <name>.
• ResetFolders: Restore missing default Outlook folders.
• ResetOutlookBar: Rebuild the Outlook Bar.

There are a handful of other switches you can use to control Outlook's startup and to perform troubleshooting and maintenance tasks. For a complete list, search the Outlook Help document using the keyword switch.

Control Sent Items behavior for individual messages

Most users like to have their outgoing messages archived in the Sent Items folder for future reference. Automatically archiving messages helps ensure that they're available for reference when needed. Users can choose Tools | Options | E-mail Options and enable the Save Copies Of Messages In Sent Items Folder option to have Outlook keep a copy of sent messages in the Sent Items folder. But, on occasion, a user may prefer not to keep a copy of a message.

For example, maybe the message concerns a private or sensitive matter and the user doesn't want a copy on his or her computer. Or, perhaps it's a message of minor consequence and the user simply doesn't want a copy further clogging an already-overstuffed Sent Items folder.

Regardless of whether the option to store sent messages in the Sent Items folder is enabled, users can override the setting for each message. Just start a message and click Options in the toolbar; under Delivery Options, select the Save Sent Message To option to save the message, or clear the option if you do not want to save the message. When you send the message, Outlook overrides the global setting with the one you've specified for the message.

Pass this tip along to your users to help them manage their resources more efficiently and to reduce support calls about bloated message stores or slow Outlook performance.

Copy a particular recipient on all outgoing messages

Your users might find it useful or necessary to copy a particular recipient on all outgoing messages. For example, a project leader might want a copy of all messages sent by each member of his or her staff.

Outlook's Rules Wizard can process outgoing messages, as well as incoming ones. Both Outlook 2000 and 2002 allow you to create a rule that automatically adds the recipient to every message's Cc field.

Follow these steps:

1. Choose Tools | Rules Wizard, click New (in Outlook 2002 also choose Start From A Blank Rule).

2. Choose Check Messages After Sending and click Next.

3. On the subsequent window, click Next without choosing any conditions.

4. Select Cc The Message To People Or Distribution List.

5. In the Rule Description box, click the underlined link and enter the Cc recipient's address.

6. Click Next, and set exceptions as needed.

7. Click Next, enter a filename, and click Finish.

Unfortunately, Outlook doesn't offer a Bcc action for the rule. If you need this action, Always BCC for Outlook is one third-party add-on that will supply it.

Copy outgoing messages to specific folders

The Sent Items folder offers a handy and automatic way to archive a copy of outgoing messages. But in some cases, users want to do more than just copy a message to Sent Items. For example, Exchange Server users might want to copy a message to a public folder so others in the organization can view it. Or users might want to send a copy of a message to a folder other than Sent Items.

Sending a copy of a message to a public folder requires a different approach from just sending a message to a public folder, since Outlook folders don't allow for e-mail addresses. Your users can choose one of two methods: Set the options for individual messages to copy to a folder, or route messages using rules.

To use the first method, start the message and click Options on the message form's toolbar. Select the Save Sent Message To option, click Browse, and select an Outlook folder. This option overrides the default Sent Items location. However, note that the user won't get two copies of the message. Outlook only creates the copy in the specified folder.

The second method requires that the user set up a rule for outgoing messages that fit certain conditions. For example, the user might want messages he or she sends to specific people to go into a folder other than Sent Items. Here's an example based on Outlook 2002:

1. In Outlook, choose Tools | Rules Wizard, and click New.

2. Choose Start From A Blank Rule, select Check Messages After Sending, and click Next.

3. Set the conditions as needed to filter the address, subject, or other information you want to fire the rule. Click Next.

4. Select the action Move A Copy To The Specified Folder, select the folder, and click Next.

5. Add any exceptions if needed, then click Finish.

To copy outgoing messages to specific folders, you could instead manually drag a copy of the message from the Sent Items folder to another folder, although this is a much less elegant solution.

Create a second calendar

Some Outlook users find that cramming both their business and personal schedules into one calendar isn't very convenient. This is particularly true for users who share a calendar with colleagues or publish their calendar as a Web page for others to see.

If your users prefer to keep their personal calendars private, teach them how to create multiple calendars.

Creating a second calendar is extremely easy. Go to File | New | Folder, and designate that the new folder will contain Calendar Items. You can then place this calendar as a subfolder of almost any other folder, although making it a subfolder of the main calendar is probably your best bet.

After creating a second calendar, there are probably a number of personal appointments on the existing calendar that you don't want to re-create. Here are two simple ways to move items from one folder to the other.

• Drag and drop the items. If there are a large number of items, create a table view of the "old" calendar, and set up a filter that displays only the appointments you want to move. Select those appointments, and then drag and drop them to the new calendar.
• Go to View | Folder List, right-click the calendar, select Copy Calendar, and select the new calendar as the destination folder. This will copy all of the items from the old calendar to the new one. (This means that you may end up with a lot more items than you actually want.)

Note: You won't receive any reminders from the items on the secondary calendar because Outlook reminders fire only from the primary (or default) folders and not from subfolders.

Create a shared contacts public folder

There are several ways you can enable your users to share their contacts and other Outlook items. If your users have Exchange Server mailboxes, they can share their contacts through public folders but still maintain security and control the actions other users can take regarding contacts.

You could create a public folder using the Exchange System Manager, but you might find it easier to use Outlook to create the folder and configure its permissions. To do so:

1. In Outlook, display the folder list and pin it open.

2. Open the Public Folders branch and select All Public Folders.

3. Choose File | Folder | New Folder or right-click All Public Folders and choose New Folder.

4. In the Create New Folder dialog box, enter a name for the folder, such as "Shared Contacts."

5. Select Contact Items from the Folder Contains drop-down list, choose where to place the folder, and then click OK to create the new folder.

6. Right-click on the folder you just created and choose Permissions.

7. Set permissions for users and groups in the property dialog box for the folder and click OK.

Using a shared public folder for contacts is a great way to give Exchange Server users the ability to easily share contacts. More than that, however, a shared public folder enables users to share other types of data, including a common calendar, messages, and more.

Create an unassigned copy of an assigned task

Exchange Server users can assign tasks to others and receive status updates as users work on and complete the tasks. However, the user who assigns the task can't be the one who works on the assigned task.

In some situations, it's helpful for users to keep a copy of an assigned task so they can work on it along with the assignee. To work on an assigned task, the user must create an unassigned copy in his or her own Tasks folder.

Follow these steps:

1. In the Tasks folder, open the assigned task.

2. On the Details tab, click Create Unassigned Copy.

3. Outlook displays a warning that you'll no longer receive updates for the assigned task. Click OK to create the copy.

Again, if you create an unassigned copy for yourself, you'll no longer receive updates for the assigned task. But in some situations, the ability to work on an assigned task outweighs this disadvantage.

Create and share custom journal entry types

 Outlook's Journal folder provides a place for users to keep track of a wide range of events, including phone calls, e-mail messages, documents, tasks, and even conversations around the water cooler.

Outlook provides a specific set of journal types that identify the event. When creating a new journal entry, choose the type from the Entry Type drop-down list. Not only does the entry type give you a means to help identify the journal entry, but it can also help organize the Journal folder because you can sort the folder by entry type.

Outlook doesn't provide a means within the Outlook interface to easily create custom journal entry types. However, you can create a custom entry type with a registry edit.

To create your own journal entry types, follow these steps:

1. Open the Registry Editor.

2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Outlook\Journaling.

3. Right-click Journaling, and choose New | Key.

4. Rename the new key with the entry type name, such as Doctor Visit.

5. Right-click the key, and choose New | String Value.

6. Rename the string value Description.

7. Double-click the Description, and set its value to the text you want to appear in the Entry Types drop-down list, such as Doctor Visit.

8. Close the Registry Editor.

Note: Remember that editing the registry is risky, so make sure you have a verified backup before you begin.

Create and share custom macro-based rules

Unlike many other Office applications, Outlook doesn't offer the ability to automate common tasks by recording and playing back macros. It does, however, give you the ability to write macros in Visual Basic. In Outlook 2002, you can execute a macro from a rule. Of course, actually writing the macro in Visual Basic requires some knowledge of VB syntax and programming techniques.

To start a macro, choose Tools | Macro | Macros, enter a name for the new macro in the Macros dialog box, and click Create. Outlook starts a new subroutine with the name you specify.

After you create the script in Outlook 2002, you can call the script from a rule. Open the Rules Wizard and start the new rule. On the wizard's What Do You Want To Do With The Message page, choose Run A Script. In the Rule Description box, click the underlined script link. Outlook displays a dialog box listing the available subroutines. Select the script and click OK, then complete the wizard to finish creating the rule.

You can share scripts with others, if needed. Choose Tools | Macro | Visual Basic Editor. In the editor, choose File | Export File. Specify a filename and path and click Save. Distribute the file to your users and have them open the Visual Basic Editor and choose File | Import File to import the macros from the file you provided.

Note: Rules that call scripts are client-side rules and can only fire when Outlook is running.

Create custom forms for Outlook items

In Outlook, custom form creation is one area that offers easy configuration without writing any code. You can create forms to add often-needed properties to message, contact, and other forms. For example, maybe you want to add the Importance and Sensitivity drop-down lists to the new message form, below the Subject field, in order to help users quickly access those properties for new messages.

Follow these steps to customize a form in Outlook:

1. Choose Tools | Forms | Design A Form. In the Design Form dialog box, open the Standard Forms Library, choose the type of form you want to create, and click Open.

2. Drag items from the Field Chooser dialog box to the form. Click an item to select it, and then use an item's border lines to resize it and make room for other controls.

3. Add additional fields to the other form pages as needed.

4. Click the All Fields tab, select a field category from the drop-down list, and predefine any form values as needed.

5. Click the Properties tab and set additional properties for the form, such as category, icons, etc.

6. Click the Actions tab and set options for the form's use (e.g., changing the prefix for the subject in a forwarded message).

7. Choose File | Save As and save the form to disk where users who need it can access it. Then, close the form.

Outlook Forms Administrator, a downloadable tool, enables you to use a custom form as the default form for all items of a specific type. Forms Administrator is included with the Office 2000 Resource Kit, and you can download it here.

Note: The tool works as is for Outlook 2000. However, to use Outlook Forms Administrator with Outlook 2002 you must export the changes to a .reg file, then edit the file in Notepad and change each instance of Office\9.0 in the key path to Office\10.0.

Create custom rules for the Out Of Office Assistant

In both Outlook 2000 and Outlook 2002, the Out Of Office Assistant lets users with Exchange Server mailboxes automatically generate replies to messages when they're away from their office.

In order to limit the number of messages that senders receive, the Office Assistant maintains a list of people to whom it has already sent an out-of-office reply so that subsequent messages from those people don't trigger another automatic reply. Exchange Server maintains the send-to list, which is deleted when you turn off the Office Assistant from within Outlook.

If you only specify to Outlook that you're out of the office and set the default message, all senders receive the out-of-office reply. However, you can add custom rules to further define the actions that Office Assistant takes when messages arrive.

Open the Office Assistant from the Tools menu and click Add Rule. Outlook presents an Edit Rule dialog box you can use to create additional rules for the Office Assistant to use when processing messages. When you specify rule conditions, be aware that Office Assistant uses logic that is slightly different from the Rules Wizard to determine if messages fit the search conditions.

For example, you can use semicolons in the Subject and Message Body fields to specify multiple conditions. Exchange Server treats these with OR logic, firing the rule if any of the specified words or phrases appear in the subject or body text. What's more, you can use partial- or full-word searches for the condition. Enclose the string in quotes if you want a full-word match, or omit the quotes for a partial-word match. For example, type the text cat; car; amble; to match cat, catapult, car, carpet, amble, and bramble.

Setting up custom Office Assistant rules can help you and your users handle messages more efficiently when the Office Assistant is in charge of message processing.

Create profiles with Profile Maker

Outlook profiles store the mail accounts and data store settings that enable users to connect to their mailboxes. Whether you're migrating to a new Exchange Server or just need to control users' Outlook profiles and other settings, keeping it all straight can be a chore. And as your network grows, so does the difficulty of managing all of those users. Automate some of these tasks and make your job easier.

Profile Maker, from AutoProf, is one management tool you should check out. Profile Maker gives you the ability to create and modify Outlook profiles and configure servers, PSTs, address book settings, and more. The tool enables you to set most Outlook settings that are configurable from Outlook's Options property sheet. It supports advanced Exchange Server options, such as additional mailboxes, and Profile Maker 7.5 includes support to ease organization-to-organization migration for Exchange Server users.

Profile Maker isn't limited specifically to Outlook. In addition to its Outlook-specific features, Profile Maker also lets you configure other user-environment settings. For example, the program's AutoDesktop feature lets you add shortcuts, network printers, service packs, and other items to the user's computer remotely.

Profile Maker functions as a standard MMC console, making it familiar to most administrators, so you won't need to learn a new management interface. The program runs on Windows XP, 2000, NT, and 9x.

Create templates for users to share

Microsoft Outlook templates let a user quickly and easily create Outlook items, such as e-mail-submitted expense reports, contacts for the same company or that are associated with the same project, or appointments and meetings with common characteristics. A template is a good solution any time a user needs to create repetitive items. Templates really become useful, however, when they are available for a group of users to share.

There's nothing magical about creating or sharing templates for Outlook items. You create an item (message, contact, etc.), fill in the common data, and then save the item to disk in a folder accessible to those who need to use it. Here are the four steps involved:

1. Create a folder to contain the templates and share the folder. Make sure to set permissions on the folder (either share or NTFS permissions) to allow the users to read the items but not make changes.

2. Open Outlook and start a new item (message, contact, etc.).

3. Fill in the data that is common to all instances where the template will be used, such as company name and address information for contacts at a particular organization, boilerplate text in a message, and so on.

4. Choose File | Save As and specify a name for the template. Choose an accessible location for it, choose Outlook Template from the Save As Type dialog box, and click Save.

When you share templates, users gain more than just the ability to save the time they would otherwise spend creating the new item. If everyone is using the same template for an expense report, for example, you can be relatively certain that everyone will provide the same type of information. Plus, you can incorporate changes very quickly by simply modifying the template.

Customize a view by tweaking columns

Outlook provides the tools users need to customize existing views and create new ones, and it offers considerable flexibility for organizing information in a folder. However, creating a custom view isn't very intuitive to the average user. Teach your users a new skill by showing them how to customize a view using a few easier methods.

Use column headers
The column headers in a view provide the easiest and most direct way to customize a view. A user can click a column header to sort by that column. Clicking the column again changes the sort order between ascending and descending.

Users can also right-click a column and choose Group By This Field to quickly create a grouped view based on the selected column. To ungroup the view, right-click the field, and choose Don't Group By This Field.

Or, right-click a column header, choose Group By Box, and drag any column header into the box to group by that header. To ungroup, drag the header back into the normal view; to hide the Group By Box, right-click a column header and again select Group By Box.

Change columns in a view
It's also easy to add or remove columns from a view. To remove a column, right-click the column header and choose Remove This Column. To add a column, right-click the column headers, select Field Chooser, and drag fields from the Field Chooser dialog box to the column header bar.

Adjust column formatting
Users can also easily adjust columns' formatting. For example, to set alignment, right-click a column, choose Alignment, and select Align Left, Align Right, or Center. To change other column properties (including the column name), right-click the column bar, and choose Format Columns. The resulting dialog box provides options that control various formatting properties.

Disposable Email Address

Every time you give your e-mail address to a Web site, you risk the chance that it will be sold to a rabid spam monger. You can reduce this risk by using disposable e-mail addresses (DEAs). Such addresses are generally provided by a paid service company that forwards mail from a DEA to your actual address. In general, you name the DEA so it can identify the recipient. If you start getting spam on a particular DEA, you know which recipient to blame, and you can terminate that DEA and report the abuse. We reviewed five such services in "Slam the Spam".

Depending on the way your e-mail is handled, you may be able to create your own DEAs without paying for the service. Many e-mail servers ignore certain additional characters in e-mail addresses and deliver the messages regardless. You can use this bit of information to your advantage.

The only way to find out whether this will work is to try it. Ask a friend to send you two e-mail messages using modified versions of your e-mail address. For one, insert a plus sign (+) and a word (with no spaces) before the @ sign. For the other, insert a word in parentheses. For example, if your address is nobody@nowhere.com, you could specify one address as nobody+monkey@nowhere.com and the other as nobody(monkey)@nowhere.com.

Once the messages are sent, check your e-mail. If either message reaches your in-box, it means you can create DEAs using the format that succeeded. When you place an order with www.whatever.com, insert +whatever or (whatever) in the e-mail address you submit. If you begin to get spam on that address, use your e-mail client's message rules to delete messages with that address in the To: field.

Sure, a human could extract your real address from this poor man's DEA at a glance, but spam mongers don't spend time looking at individual addresses. Of course, if you want a greater degree of separation from your DEAs, you can use one of the subscription services.