Hello There

I'm trying to increase the speed and functionality of Outlook 2002... I tun it on WIndows XP - I receive over 200 emails per day, so it's important that it will be working fast and as reliable as it gets.

Got any tips for me?

I just leave it running. When you exit outlook, I've found it doesn't free all of its memory, so if you keep opening/closing it, it keeps taking more and more memory... so just minimise it when you are not using it. It will help some.

- James

Uninstall.

Outlook Express is superior in my opinion (yes I know that may sound silly) I find it much better to use.

Actually that quite original - uninstalling and all - but i really like the calendar there - if you can recommend any good calendar software I'll go ahead and uninstall it..

Not sure off hand. I like to have a real calender on my wall

No but I like it when a window pops up :)

In my opinion, Outlook Express is a joke compared to Outlook. Try backing up your mail file in Outlook Express. Wait a minute, what mail file? There are tons of them as each folder you create becomes it's own file. Try finding them and remembering where they go should you have to reformat your system. Now, try backing up your mail file in Outlook. Easy, it's one simple to find .pst file. And, after reformatting your system (if necessary) you can put it anywhere and just point your profile to that file. Not so with Outlook Express.

With all the extra options and the setup process much cleaner than Outlook Express, I personally prefer Outlook.

As far as making it work better for you, try using the Rules Wizard. You can setup rules to move messages to specific folders as they come into your mailbox. That option is under 'Tools ... Rules Wizard'. I use it all the time and it helps to sort out all new messages to who they belong to.

My favorite software besides the one in outlook for calendar is to use Palm Desktop:

http://www.palm.com/software/desktop/

YOu don't have to have a palm and it has a nice address book feature in it. I have since switched to an Ipaq in work which synch's with Lotus notes but I still kept my palm desktop program since the phone numbers are so much easier to access.

The same applies to outlook and the addressbook. palm desktop really is a nice program and it has a memo pad, and to do list also. Not too bad if you ask me

Shawn

Originally posted by markblair
snip

Well I always had problems backing up Outlook too but hey :)

I do think that Outlook is better in an enviroment where you will be receiving a huge amount of mail and wish it to be sorted easily for you. That I do agree on.

However it is very simple to backup OE by a simple registry edit. You can point your OE files to wherever you want.

Originally posted by Lonny
Actually that quite original - uninstalling and all - but i really like the calendar there - if you can recommend any good calendar software I'll go ahead and uninstall it..

Windates (http://www.rockinsoftware.com/windates.htm)

Originally posted by The Laughing Cow


Well I always had problems backing up Outlook too but hey :)

I do think that Outlook is better in an enviroment where you will be receiving a huge amount of mail and wish it to be sorted easily for you. That I do agree on.
...


Outlook chokes around 16,000 mail messages per folder.

I use Calypso, which handles 33,000+ messages.

Try http://www.ritlabs.com/the_bat/ - the best mailing software

I have 40.000 emails in my folders and can easy find everything i want.

As for calendar - don't know ;)

Originally posted by H2
Try http://www.ritlabs.com/the_bat/ - the best mailing software

I have 40.000 emails in my folders and can easy find everything i want....


Funny, I just switched away from The Bat! email software. It was too quirky and buggy for my tastes.

For example, if The Bat! cannot connect to the POP3 server, it leaves a hung process around; and you cannot exit The Bat! without forceably killing the hung process via the Windows Task manager.

And then there are the bug in the IMAP implementation, and the bugs in the user interface, and the brain-dead POP3-SSL implementation....

Frankly, I fail to see what all the hype regarding The Bat! is all about. It is mediocre software.

I just converted from outlook 2002 to outlook express. I was getting to the point that I could not stand waiting for 1-2 minutes for Outlook to pop mail. I don't know why it is so darn slow. The same number of mailboxes pop in about 5-10 seconds in Outlook Express.

Originally posted by Mike the newbie
Outlook chokes around 16,000 mail messages per folder.

I use Calypso, which handles 33,000+ messages.

I don't believe the number of messages is the problem with Outlook. I could be wrong on that but I do know for a fact, after speaking with a Microsoft tech a couple of years back, that the .pst files used for Outlook are only meant to be 500MB in size max. Personally, I've seen .pst files corrupt after going over 100MB in size. I usually will create additional Personal Folders (.pst) when they reach 100MB and just organize them better. I will agree that Outlook Express is better for smaller use and for people that just don't want or need all the features of Outlook.

gagsplus, thanks for the Palm Desktop software information. It's always nice to have extra options for appointment software.

Originally posted by markblair


I don't believe the number of messages is the problem with Outlook. I could be wrong on that but I do know for a fact, after speaking with a Microsoft tech a couple of years back, that the .pst files used for Outlook are only meant to be 500MB in size max. Personally, I've seen .pst files corrupt after going over 100MB in size. ....


I didn't investigate where the actual problem was because Caylpso had no such problem. My goal was MTA testing, not Outlook troubleshooting. :D

I wonder if Outlook uses the jet database engine for the .pst file? The max file sizes you mention are very similar to the theoretical and practical maximums for jet database files.

Well, I've seen people that have .pst files well over 1GB in size. Sometimes they run fine but one thing people forget is that whenever a file is opened, any file, a temp file of the same size is created and running. So if you have mail.pst open and it is 800MB in size, there will be a 800MB temp file of mail.pst in the same directory. Once you close Outlook and that .pst file closes, the temp file disappears but it is still a space hog while open.

I've also seen people go over the recommended limits of .pst files and they end up losing half their e-mail.

Interesting, I didn't know outlook's pst file has such a limitation.

My outlook pst file is currently 55MB, should I be worried? What can I do to help?

Thanks,

Peter

Mine currently is at 228MB :( Yep, even though I shouldn't allow it to go over 100MB. I have a couple of others that are much smaller but I haven't gotten around to organizing everything. However, I do have an adequate backup in case it decides to stop working...

At least with microsoft you can be sure it is very secure (*agh*craxk*cough*choke*sputter*)!

Originally posted by The Laughing Cow

However it is very simple to backup OE by a simple registry edit. You can point your OE files to wherever you want.

I've tried searching for this reg key a few months months ago but never found it, could you please tell me where?

:)

Calypso ..

http://10xshooters.com/calypso-free/
Our web host account provides for a 3 gigabyte data transfer limit. During the month of February, we exceeded that limit by more than 2.2 gigabytes, for which we were charged $113.45. That's 86 percent of the cost of hosting this site for an entire year. Needless to say, this came as quite a shock.


is that $113.45 for 2.2 gigs overage? :eek:
they definitly need another host.

Originally posted by ckpeter
Interesting, I didn't know outlook's pst file has such a limitation.

My outlook pst file is currently 55MB, should I be worried? What can I do to help?

Thanks,

Peter

Funny, this topic is being discussed in another private forum I am in one guy had a 4.5gb pst file.

Here is a KB article from Microsoft about .pst files and corruption

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q266709&

Yup, You can find out how to do it here (http://www.wmhub.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1959) :)

Here is my tips (outlook 2002)...


### TIP 1 ###
If you get emails from the same people each day or maybe automated from your servers then you can color code them. Say for example you get emailed every time someone signs up for a service you offer, whenever you get this email you can display it with a color e.g. blue. Then as you have hundreds of emails in the list you can quickly scroll for all blue emails.

To set this up select Tools >> Organise, then click Using Colors. Follow onscreen instructions.

### TIP 2 ###
I personal own a web hosting company and get quite a few emails a day that need to be stored somewhere, a good way to do this is creating sub-directories inside your inbox. For example i have the following sub-dirs; New Signups, Backups Complete, Missed Payments, etc. Also since Outlook automatically puts these sub-dirs in alphbetical order I put a number at the start to order them the way i want (for total customisation).

This setup can be also enhanced by creating rules wizards. Rules can be setup to detect incoming emails by their subject, from address, to address, etc and then be modified accordingly. You can access Rules Wizards by Tools >> Rules Wizard and from there you can add new rules to move incoming emails into the newly created sub-dirs.

Originally posted by vSector
Here is my tips (outlook 2002)...


### TIP 1 ###
If you get emails from the same people each day or maybe automated from your servers then you can color code them. Say for example you get emailed every time someone signs up for a service you offer, whenever you get this email you can display it with a color e.g. blue. Then as you have hundreds of emails in the list you can quickly scroll for all blue emails.

To set this up select Tools >> Organise, then click Using Colors. Follow onscreen instructions.

### TIP 2 ###
I personal own a web hosting company and get quite a few emails a day that need to be stored somewhere, a good way to do this is creating sub-directories inside your inbox. For example i have the following sub-dirs; New Signups, Backups Complete, Missed Payments, etc. Also since Outlook automatically puts these sub-dirs in alphbetical order I put a number at the start to order them the way i want (for total customisation).

This setup can be also enhanced by creating rules wizards. Rules can be setup to detect incoming emails by their subject, from address, to address, etc and then be modified accordingly. You can access Rules Wizards by Tools >> Rules Wizard and from there you can add new rules to move incoming emails into the newly created sub-dirs.


Great tips... what else?

Don't talk to strangers :D