IT Queries: Computer problems answered

Not able to send using Reply and Forward with broadband BigPond on Outlook emails. We just get a standard reject email.

We have emailed bigpond re this issue several times and though they said they would address the issue in a general email they have not come back to us.

The reason is your email is setup to use the Optus Broadband connection. When you’re connecting through Bigpond, the Optus servers reject the attempt to go through system as they don’t know who you are.

To fix this, you have to set up Outlook Express to use the Bigpond servers.

To do this, open Outlook Express, click  Tools, Accounts, highlight Bigpond and click the Properties button.

In the properties, the servers should both be set to mail.bigpond.com, the account name should be your Bigpond email address and the password your Bigpond password. Remember my password should be ticked and nothing else should be ticked.

Click okay and close then Outlook Express should be fine.

Up-graded my PC including a new hard drive and installed Windows XP Pro and applications on it including Office.  Where should I look for the address book and how do I open it?

On Windows XP and earlier systems, Outlook Express uses the Windows Address Book. This is usually hidden deep in the user profile in a hidden folder.

First, you’ll have to change your computer settings to so you can see your hidden folders. Once you have set this, you’ll have to find the address book file which is usually hidden in c:\documents and settings\yourname\application data\microsoft\address book and finishes in the name .wab.

Keep in mind when you are importing off an old hard drive, the drive letter will not be c:

To import the old address book into the new book, open your new address book by clicking the address icon at the top of the Outlook Express screen.

In the adress book click the File menu, select import and Address Book (WAB) then navigate to the old address book locations. Highlight the address book and click Open. The wizard will then run you through the process.

Up-graded my PC including a new hard drive and installed Windows XP Pro and applications on it including Office.  The old hard drive is also in the case and while old data files on it are accessible by most applications, I can’t get the new Outlook Express to bring up my old Outlook Express files.  I can find the old email message files but can’t open them, even after copying them to the current Outlook Express folder.  I’ve not been able to find the old address book file.

Where should I look for the address book and how do I open it and my old message files?

To recover your old Outlook Express files, use the Import tool in Outlook Express, click the File menu, Import and select Messages.

Select Outlook Express 6 and click Next. In the import from OE 6 dialog box, click the Import Mail from OE 6 directory. Then select the folder containing the old Outlook Express files.

We’ll answer the Address Book question in our next IT Queries post.

For the past 3 weeks whenever I forward an email that has a GIP file on the front page it wont go. The error Number is 0x800CCC0F.

If the said email is auto forwarded thorugh the Message Rules then no problem… only when I manually forward the email that it wont go.

I have been in touch with and spent many hours with  my ISP (IINET), same with my modem maker and also with Microsoft.  Final advice is to delete OExp and use another mail program.

This problem happened at the same time on my PC, My laptop and my husbands laptop. I use Outlook express 6 and Int Explor. V7 on my laptop.  My husband has Int Expl V7 and Windows Web mail on his laptop.

None of these computer can now send Gif files if they are on the front page. (Attachments are OK)
I have bought and changed to a new modem.. Dlink. I removed my antivirus for 4 days (AVG) I haveswitched off firewalls.  I have spent hours fiddling with settings.

The only things that all computers have in common is that we use IINET yet they say that there is no way they can have anything to do with this problem.

The other thing that all computers have in common is that about 3 – 4 weeks ago we did a Registry cleanup … using the free CCleaner.  Have spoken to a computer wiz and he assures me that that could not have caused this.

I am not totally convinced that the Reg Cleaner hasnt caused a problem but I just dont know.

Hope you can help.

The 0x800CCC0F error message means something is interrupting the connection with your mail server.

Microsoft have a number of Outlook Express troubleshooting tips on their website including disabling firewalls and checking your mail server settings. It sounds like you’ve already covered those with your ISP.

It sounds like this could be an MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) problem. The Internet works on breaking down information into little parcels and the MTU is the biggest packet your computer will send.

The easiest way to reduce the MTU on a Windows machine is to use the free DrTCP program from DSL Reports. There are detailed instructions on using DrTCP on the DSLReports website.

A trap with DrTCP is you need to select the correct network adaptor that you are using to access the net. Once you’ve chosen the right connection, you’ll need to reduce the MaxMTU to a lower setting, say 1450. 

Reboot your computer and check that everything works, as you may find changing the setting could affect other applications.

Changing settings like this can cause problems and is best done by a qualified computer technician so you may want to contact your local computer tech to help you.

Is it possible to read an incoming e-mail in Outlook Express without opening it? (I used to be able to do this with Eudora). At the moment if I place the cursor over an incoming mail and click once, the text appears in the window below, but the envelope icon opens to denote that it has been read. If I double click, the e-mail opens in full.

Outlook Express’ default setting is to mark an email as read if you preview it for more than a few seconds. 

To fix this, click Tools, Options and click the Read tab.

Take the tick off first option, Mark message read after displaying for x seconds, click Okay and the problem will be fixed.

Recently I had a new hard drive installed and ever since I keep getting the following message when sending a bcc in Outlook Express.

An unknown error has occurred. Subject ‘test’, Account: ‘mail.gotalk.net.au‘, Server: ‘mail.gotalk.net.au‘, Protocol: SMTP, Server Response: ’550 5.7.1 undisclosed-recipients is not my name’, Port: 25, Secure(SSL): No, Server Error: 550, Error Number: 0x800CCC69.

I have tried re-installing OE to no avail, I have trawled more “error” websites that I care to mention and still the error persists and done dozens of things suggested to fix it, all to no avail.

Any suggestions would be most gratefully received.  Thanks.

There’s a number of problems it could be.

First, check your outbox. There may be a damaged email trying to get out.

Next, have a look at who you are putting in the BCC field. It could be one of those email addresses is damaged.

Finally, double check your email settings with your Internet provider. The settings for GoTalk are available on their website.

When I open my incoming emails from Outlook Express, any photo or image has been removed from it’s box and I’m left with a cross which doesn”t open when I click on it. Also if a link or web address is included in an email, I can’t click on this to open. Hope you can help this computer novice.

The problem is Outlook Express’ security settings. You can fix this by opening Outlook Express, click the Tools menu then Options.

In the Outlook Express settings box, click the Security tab and take the tick off the setting that reads Block Images and other external content in HTML email.

Be warned though that older versions of Windows are prone to viruses with this setting to turned off so it’s essential you keep your computer up to date with security updates.

OS Windows XP. My outlook express last week suddenly removed/hid? my e-mails from 28 Aug 08 and any incoming e-mails are counted ie., the number in the inbox increases but are either deleted or hidden?? Ones previous to 28/8/08 are still in the inbox. I have checked all the folders under the inbox & there are many, no new mail in them.  I think the total e-mails amounted to near 3,700 before this happened.  What have I done to make this happen or change the settings, in any case how do I fix it please?

Unfortunately your inbox has been damaged. This is an ongoing problem with Outlook Express.

A simple fix is to rename the inbox.

To do this first create a new mail box and copy all the old inbox emails into the new one.

Then find the mail store by opening Outlook Express clicking tools, then Options followed by the Store Folders option.

Copy the store folders location and close Outlook Express.

Click Start, then Run and paste the store folders location into the run box. Click Okay and the store folder will open.

Rename the inbox.dbx to inbox.old.

Restart and Outlook Express and a new inbox will be created.

I have bought a new computer – Dell inspiron with Vista home basic already installed. I could not get the email up and running (my fault), so i put microsoft office 2003 as i knew how to set up this email. now i am learning how to use Vista i do no need 2003 office. HOWEVER i cannot find 2007 email program.

I do not want to uninstall outlook 2003 until i find outlook 2007. Cannot uninstall individual programs in office either, so i asuming I can’t re-install just 2007 outlook.

The program you are looking for is Windows Mail, this is Vista’s successor to Outlook Express, the email program that was part of earlier versions of Windows. You’ll find this by clicking the Start Button and selecting All Programs.

A more important question is exactly what are you looking for. Windows Mail is a very different program to Outlook 2003 or 2007.

If you want to run Outlook with its calendar and scheduling features then you’ll need to install Office 2003 or 2007. Likewise if you want to use other Microsoft Office tools like Word and Excel.

I am having a problem with outlook express 6. I might check my email 10 to 15 times a day but after the 3,4 or 5 time it freezes up and won’t open. I have to reboot the computer to get to open again. Can you help?It sounds like some of your mail folders are getting too big. Outlook Express has a nasty habit of acting erratically when its folders get too big, unlike Outlook which simply stops.The first thing you should try is to clean out any unnecessary files in your inbox. If you have a lot of old emails in the inbox then creating new mail folders, say 2007, 2006, 2005, etc, and moving the emails into the appropriate folder might help the problem.