Top Tips to Speed Up Outlook 2007



While Outlook 2007 offers many new features that do indeed offer real benefits it can come at a price - performance. On my Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM Outlook 2007 originally took a good 20 seconds to fire up from a fully booted PC and appeared to be constantly sluggish. So what can be done about it?

Tip 1: Delete attachments

A little-known feature in Outlook is the ability to keep an email but delete one or several attachment. Firstly, sort your inbox by file size (descending) and open a message (by double clicking so it opens in a new window) where you no longer wish to keep the attachment. Right click over the attachment and select Remove. Now save the email, repeat with all relevant emails in this mailbox and then repeat in any other mailboxes (including your sent items).

Tip 2: Split emails into Archives

Maybe you disabled the autoarchive facility when you first saw it because you didn't understand it? Archiving old emails into a separate file still allows you to access less frequently used material when required but keeps your system running faster as it does not have to trawl through all of this rendundant content regularly. Click File | New | Outlook Data File. Enter a name for the file - a new folder will now appear in the folder list on the left. You can add sub-folders to this by right clicking, which is useful if you want to create a similar hierarchy to your current inbox. Once done simply select multiple files in your main inbox and drag/drop them to the same inbox in your new archive folder. Repeat for all other folders (e.g. Sent Items and any others that you may have created). Close the new data file by right clicking over the title and selecting Close [Folder Name]. Now when Outlook loads it only loads you nice lightweight folder! Outlook 2007 is known to be far less tolerant of large PST data files than Outlook 2003. Aim to keep your main PST file under 500MB - the smaller the better.

Tip 3: Disable unessential Add-ins in Outlook 2007

Click on Tools, Trust Center and Add-Ins. Now select one of the various options from the dropdown menu at the bottom and uncheck any add-ins that you don't use (which for me was an Adobe Acrobat one and Gotomeeting.com). Restart Outlook and see if this makes a difference.

Tip 4: No need for fax? Ditch it!

If you do not send or receive faxes on your PC then uninstall the facility as this has been known to cause issues with Outlook 2007.From Control Panel select Add/Remove Programs, select Add/remove windows components and uncheck Fax Service.

Tip 5: Enable Outlook 2007 logging to see if anything is going wrong

Outlook has an error logging capability, which could be useful if something is going wrong. Click Tools, Options, Other, Advanced Options and then tick Enable Logging. Logs will be stored in C:\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local Settings\Temp\Outlook Logging\. Look for any errors, especially in OPMLog.log - perhaps relating to the checking of email on one or more of your POP3 accounts.

Read more: http://goo.gl/Ah9gr

Add a Signature to Outlook 2007



Open Microsoft outlook, it will either be a shortcut on your desktop or from the start menu. Double click the icon on the desktop or single click the All Programs, menu option.

Options in outlook

If outlook, shows outlook today for you as your start page, then go to your In-box. Once in your In-box we will want to now look at the menu items along the top select the Tools Menu then select options. See picture attached

Options Dialog Box

Once you have selected options a new dialog box will appear.

Mail Format Screen

Once you are in the outlook options dialog box, you will need to make another selection here select the option for Mail Format. Once you have selected mail format, you will then want to click on Signature s on the lower right hand side. See picture attached


Once you have selected signatures a new dialog box will open up, this dialog box is the signature box. Picture attached

Once in this window click on "new" it will ask you for a name for your signature in outlook 2007, for this purpose I will name this ehow. Once you have entered your name, you will see it in the upper left hand side.
Once your name is in, you can use the large box below to enter your information.

Read more: http://goo.gl/dlcli

How to Access MS Live Using Outlook 2007



The Microsoft Office Live Small Business account is a free email server, and it includes features that are similar to Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Office Live is a helpful tool if you don't have Outlook 2007 installed on your computer, or if you just want to use your email through a Web browser. However, you can also view Office Live information from your Outlook 2007 application, by synchronizing the two programs.

Instructions

Log in to your Microsoft Office Live Small Business account. Click the "More" option at the top of the page.

Select "Contact Manager." Choose the calendar, email or document that you wish to sync with Outlook 2007.

Click the arrow next to the "Actions" field in the top toolbar menu, then select "Connect to Outlook" from the shortcut menu.


Select "Yes" in the dialog box that appears. Input your Office Live email address and password, then press "Enter" on your keyboard.


Open Microsoft Outlook 2007 to access the synchronized Office Live data.


Read more: http://goo.gl/uaDCb

Merge Two Outlook 2007 Calendars



From receiving emails to alerting you of upcoming appointments, Outlook 2007 is more than just an email and calendar application. The program also lets you create "Task" lists of things you need to complete as well as access multiple email accounts so you can keep up with personal and business emails. You can even merge two Outlook 2007 calendars. This is ideal if you don't want to use two calendars or if you need to post personal items on a calendar that is geared for business appointments.

Instructions


Open Outlook 2007.


Click "File," "Import and Export." The "Import and Export Wizard" will open.


Click on "Export to a file." Click "Next." Select "Comma Separated Values (DOS)" from the "Export to a File" box. Click "Next."


Select the second calendar you want to merge with the main calendar from the list under the heading "Select folder to export from." Click "Next."


Write down the calendar's file name and location path on a piece of paper--you will need this information later. Click "Next."

Click "Finish."

Select a date range for your exported calendar. Click "OK."


Read more: http://goo.gl/qwnoo