Tag: Microsoft Outlook Training
Are you an email hoarder?
Trust me, many of us are! It’s very hard for some folks to hit that “delete” key and further…”permanentely delete”! Why is it so hard to let go one of one small little email that probably has no use for you or your email program ever? For me, it’s not the content, but the person it came from. My personal email habits, on a level of 1-10 (1 being bad, 10 being excellent)…I am a 7 probably.
Here are a few rules I have (and I have 3 computers checking the same email accounts, so if you think you have it bad, try being me!)
- I empty my inbox nightly
- I keep folders under my inbox to file things I need for later
- I use “Rules” to keep certain emails organized when they come into my inbox (they go directly to the folder they belong)
- I delete almost everything that does not need filing
- Every 3 months or so, I take a copy of my deleted and sent items and move them to an PST file. I use a PST file as a storage so if I do need something, I can go find it.
- I don’t use Business Contact Manager to find folks, but rather my deleted and sent items for finding who I need as well, I use my LinkedIn directory. Nope, not the most “efficient”, but I’m not an organizer either, I fix computers! But I do know Outlook well!
If you are bombarded with email in your inbox and feel overwhelmed with how unorganized it is, we can help at Call That Girl with getting those 100’s or 1000’s of emails managed a bit better so you can be relieved of your email hoarding.
This is for all email service/programs too! Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook, MSN/Hotmail, etc!!
For Outlook users: We will create a PST and many rules, start running the rules and moving emails around to their proper homes. Then work on moving email to that PST file so you can figure out where your mail is after we are done.
Internet Explorer giving you glitches?
For a month or more lately I’ve seen Internet Explorer cause some slight problems for folks. It’s not really slowing them down, but glitching more or less. This is a 2 fold issue.
#1. ) Your windows updates are trying to install Internet Explorer 8 and it’s not finishing the installation.
2.) You did the update/install but never completed the wizard and are getting oddities with surfing. IE may ask you over and over to allow phising sites or do other “optimizing”.
I’ll just say, I am a fan of IE 8.0 so far, but those extra’s aren’t helpful and are only going to annoy the advanced user or non-technical user. Just upgrade and don’t use the “extry’s” (as my Grandma would say”.
How to fix?
Do the installation. Run IE again and go to “tools” and then “internet options” and the “advanced tab”. In that window click on the “restore advanced settings” and “reset” tabs. IE will finish the install/updates and then close the IE window. Then open it again and you should see an IE 8 wizard box pop up.
Do the wizard, but select all the “No” options. This is how folks are having problems with IE 8.0. They are not completing the wizard and getting all sorts of phantom issues with it. I have updated many folks now with the wizard and it’s now working great!
If you would like help with this issue, we can help you over the phone. This does not require a home visit.
Outlook Hotmail/MSN users, beware!
If you are an Outlook user that checks your email from Hotmail/MSN, you may be getting messages from Microsoft telling you to install the “Outlook Connector”. As of Sept 1, 2009….Microsoft will no longer allow you to use Outlook for checking/managing your email without the connector application.
Just a tip…I had a client over the weekend have a bad Outlook crash when trying to install this. I then decided it was time to install and I had a crash as well. I followed the instructions to a T, Outlook would not open at all after installing. I got 2 failure reports and had to repair my computer. Yep, Call That Girl couldn’t get it to work on the first attempt.
What are you to do now? Back up your Outlook PST before you do anything! You may have more than one…If you need help, feel free to call and set up an appointment for the back up.
Should you install the Outlook connector? If you feel confident that you have a back up, go for it. I only say this because it has the potential of loading up an old PST and putting your other email accounts at risk (like not being able to open ANY folders)
What if the install fails? Call That Girl knows how to get your Outlook working normal again, but it’s a bit tricky and again, we require all of your data is backed up before assisting.
How will this be fixed? We are working on this to make sure that we figure out a fix to help you folks.
Call That Girl!…and get it fixed fast!
Computer repair and services
Lisa Hendrickson
Cell 612-865-4475 https://callthatgirl.biz
Call That Girl’s guide to buying a laptop
I get many folks asking me what laptop they should buy, which one is the best, etc. All models of computers/laptops end up in my shop, so they all break at some point. My opinion? Follow these simple rules and you just bought the best laptop!
1.) Figure out a budget. Remember that with a new computer, you may need to buy new software. And for those that want help setting it up, we quote 2-3 hours to get everything installed and configured.
2.) Make sure you buy a laptop in person. Buying online gives you no sense of how the computer feels, weighs or views in bad/good/extra light. If you buy online, be sure to buy from a reputable company that you know you can return items too easily.
3.) If you go to a store (Microcenter still has Windows 7!), here are some tips!
- Keyboard. Play with the keys and make sure you can type ok and see the keys. Some laptops today have a awkward calculator on the keyboard now, making me “off center” so if you use your laptop keyboard like I do, the calculator makes it hard to work with.
- Weight. Pick up the laptop and make sure you can carry it without problems. Many folks end up buying 10 ton weight laptops and they are very hard to carry around.
- Screen. Check out the screen and make sure there is not too much glare. If you plan on working outside, many screens have too much glare and you can’t read the screen in natural light, even too much overhead light can be bothersome.
- Screen width. Many folks hate the wider screens. It is not an issue for me, but for those with the regular monitors, it’s quite a change. Test opening some stuff on the computer and make sure you like how it looks.
- Memory. Try to get 6-8 gigs of RAM if you can. I happen to have a decent Dell Latitude that only has 4 gigs, but it is not my main workhorse computer.
4.) Pricing
A good work laptop is approximately $500-$900. You will pay more for higher quality (SONY) and of course for a faster processor, solid state hard drive and more options (longer battery life, docking station, etc.)
Many folks also ask about the processors and hard drive space, etc…my answer is you’ll be ok probably if you can find a computer that fits your needs with the list I gave you. Those are much more important. Most computers today come with plenty of hard drive space.
Happy Thursday!
Lisa
How to get your email under control
Last night I was talking to a friend about email and how out control people let it get. I have a few concerns about email. My biggest is why it takes some people days to reply to a simple email. But then I thought about it and I do the same thing. I read it, but won’t reply right away. My biggest problem is that I have 5 ways to check my email and only one of them is where I actually “control” where the emails go. Aka…have folders to sort them in and run rules.
Here is my take on it…
Email Etiquette
Normally, when YOU email someone, you want something from them, have a question, need information or are sending them requested information. As the recipient receives the email, they read it but then mentally sort you into a “mental folder”…
Reply now! She’s important and I need her to communicate back right now!
Ah, I can reply later...This is not that important, but tomorrow I will have more time to reply properly.
oh crap, this again….This is far from important, but you should reply at in the next week or so.
the Dread….I seriously didn’t want this email and really…I don’t need to reply and I won’t. (((delete)))
Now what you should be doing is having folders set up and run some rules to organize all this email. I have about 50 folders for my Outlook in the office. I have rules running for many different topics. Example? All my Linkedin emails go to the “Linkedin” folder. I can see when I have new email and as Linkedin is important, my clients come first. I breeze the Linkedin folder as I see new items, but it’s usually not important.
What about the non-folder items? I read the email, then move each email to different folders.
“Stuff to do later” (which means I may get to it, maybe I won’t)
And then I have oodles of subcategories because not all these emails require a reply or did and I replied and it’s now in a folder for archiving.
My inbox is always clean when I leave the office at the end of the day.
Newsletter Etiquette
We all gets tons of “spam/junk”. What constitutes junk or spam? To me, getting a newsletter from someone I met at a networking event or via LinkedIn is not spam or junk. What is? Viagra and emails from Nigeria telling me I was willed $E100000. How do you handle the junk/spam from someone you know or met F2F or online? Here are my simple rules:
If they are giving information that has value, I keep it.
If they are pushing workshops or just info about themselves, I unsubscribe. I get way too much email a day and know who they are and how to contact them, so it’s just best to get off that list.
Yes, it may seem rude, but I have a huge database that I email a few times a month and see people unsubscribe to my newsletters and many are my clients. They aren’t interested in what I have to say about this and that, etc. I get it! I don’t care….so don’t think you are going to hurt someone’s feelings, business is business and email is alot of my workday.
Last tip! DO NOT have 100’s of unread email either! It only brings you down and you should clean that up and start fresh! I love helping clients clean up their emails….it feels refreshing for them and me. If you’re interested in having me help, I can do that remotely and over the phone.
Happy Wed!
★Email hackers are on the prowl again★
★Email hackers are on the prowl again★
I had one client this week get taken by the hackers and I received another email from someone questioning it. I did some research and found many folks on the internet having this same hack happen to them.
Change your internet email account password and here is why…
Please read this information
* Hackers are logging into your email accounts, sending spam to your contacts and then changing your password.
* These emails usually include a message about “you” being out of the country and losing your wallet and needing money sent to get you back to the US.
* They are wrote in choppy English, but it’s still wrote in a manner that appears personal.
* You are not notified until one of your contacts tells you about it
* You may or may not be able to log in and see the emails being sent as your password has been changed.
* You will have to notify hotmail, yahoo or gmail about the hack to get your account repaired so you can log in again.
* If you do not pass their account credentials to get it repaired, you will have to create a new account and start over and lose all of your contacts and personal information you have in the email folders/lists, etc. This is sometimes your bread and butter! I know many small business folks who are using hotmail for business and think of all the client information you keep on hotmail’s servers. Change your password today to a unique password for email only.
★What Happened and how to prevent it★
Someone got into your account. How did they do this? Do you recall a time lately when you had to fill in a web form or another website to create an account and possibly had to fill in a password? I’ll bet it’s the same password for your email. This is very common! Everyone uses one password for email, Myspace, Facebook, YOUR BANKING, etc…
The hackers are either getting access to those web form databases and/or are using fake forms to get your information and are by luck, gaining access to the account by the information those that gave them: the email and a password.
This is why you should change your email account password to something VERY unique and do not use it for any other sites on the net. I also recommend you back up your contacts asap…just in case. If you need help with this, feel free to Call That Girl for a phone support call and I can help you with this.
~Lisa
Call That Girl!…
…Computer Repair with flair!
Lisa Hendrickson
Office 612-746-0566
Cell 612-865-4475
www.callthatgirl.biz
http://www.linkedin.com/in/callthatgirl
“People may not remember exactly what you did, or what you said, …but they will always remember how you made them feel”
~Carrie Bradshaw