Microsoft KB Archive/246353

= OLEXP: Outlook Express 5.01 and 5.5 Readme.txt File =

Article ID: 246353

Article Last Modified on 1/25/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 2
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01 Service Pack 1
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.5
 * Microsoft Outlook Express 5.01

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This article was previously published under Q246353



For information about the differences between Microsoft Outlook Express and Microsoft Outlook e-mail clients, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

257824 OL2000: Differences Between Outlook and Outlook Express



SUMMARY
This article contains a copy of the Readme.txt file included with Outlook Express 5.01



MORE INFORMATION
   --- Readme for Microsoft Outlook(TM) Express Version 5.01 & 5.5 February 2000 ---

(c) Copyright Microsoft Corporation, 2000

Thank you for using Outlook Express!

This document provides complementary or late-breaking information to supplement online Help in Outlook Express. Outlook Express 5.01 and 5.5 ships with Internet Explorer and Internet Tools.

- How to View This Document - To view the Readme file on the screen in Windows Notepad, maximize the Notepad window. To print the Readme file, open it in Notepad or another word processor, and then click Print on the File menu.

CONTENTS

1. MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS

2. NEW FEATURES IN THIS RELEASE

3. KNOWN ISSUES IN THIS RELEASE

4. TROUBLESHOOTING

5. TIPS AND TRICKS

6. SUPPORT FOR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS

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==================== Part 1: MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS

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====================

Outlook Express is an Internet standards based e-mail client and news reader. To read e-mail with Outlook Express, you must be using a mail system that uses SMTP and POP3, IMAP, or HTTP protocols. If you don't know whether your e-mail system supports Outlook Express, contact your administrator or your Internet service provider and ask if they support POP3, IMAP, or HTTP mail clients.

You can use Outlook Express to read newsgroups, or discussion groups, such as the Usenet, by using NNTP-based news servers. Contact your Internet service provider (ISP) or network administrator for the name of the news server that you should use. Outlook Express can also be used to receive support for a variety of Microsoft products on the news server msnews.microsoft.com.

Outlook Express also includes Windows Address Book, which provides rich contact management capabilities, including the ability to create groups of contacts and folders to help you organize your e-mail and personal addresses. The Windows Address Book also provides access to Internet directories that use LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). Internet directories are an easy way to find e-mail or street addresses. A number of popular Internet directories are pre-configured for easy access.

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======================= Part 2: NEW FEATURES IN THIS RELEASE

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=======================

New features in Outlook Express 5.01:

- Read receipts. You can now request a receipt verifying that a message has been displayed on the recipient's computer. However, the recipient must support returning receipts in order for you to receive one.

- Improved international support. Among many international improvements, Outlook Express 5.01 can handle reading and saving files containing a large variety of  international characters in their file names.

- Secure mail (S/MIME) enhancements. Outlook Express 5.01 includes support for the S/MIME version 3 specification and other secure mail enhancements. The new features include support for CMS formatted messages, the ability to request and return secure receipts, the ability to send and process security labels, and the ability to send separate signing and encryption certificates.

- Integration with the MSN Messenger Service. Online contacts are displayed with a special icon in the contacts area of Outlook Express 5.01. You must have the MSN Messenger Service installed to use this feature.

- New stationery. A dozen contemporary stationery designs are included in this version of Outlook Express.

New features in Outlook Express 5.0:

- Identities for multiple users. With the Identity Manager, you can create profiles for different Outlook Express users. These profiles are shared by  applications such as Outlook Express and Windows Address Book.

- Support for Hotmail accounts. Outlook Express can now read and manage your Hotmail Inbox and folders, as well as synchronize your Hotmail contacts with the contacts in your Windows Address Book.

- Offline support and message synchronization. You can download News and IMAP folders for viewing offline. Actions performed offline (such as sending messages and moving  messages within an IMAP account) will be performed when you go   back online.

- Contacts pane. The contacts in your Windows Address Book are now visible in  the main Outlook Express window.

- Enhanced message rules. Outlook Express includes enhanced rules support for more criteria and actions, including the ability to block message senders with a single click or specify rules for newsgroups.

- Multiple signatures. You can create an unlimited number of signatures, and each signature can be associated with one or more mail or news accounts.

- Easier to use secure mail (S/MIME). Outlook Express automatically finds and associates digital certificates installed on your computer with your mail accounts and automatically adds digital certificates that others send you to the Windows Address Book.

- Phone dialer integration. It's easy to place a telephone call to a contact in the Windows Address Book using the phone dialer installed on your computer.

- IMAP drafts and sent items. Outlook Express can store in-progress messages in a server- based Drafts folder and store copies of sent messages in a  Sent Items folder on the IMAP server.

- IMAP folder manager. You can customize which IMAP folders are visible or hidden (subscribed or unsubscribed) in the folder list.

- Advanced Internet directory search. You can now perform searches against Internet directory (LDAP) servers with additional criteria and logical operators.

- Watch conversation and ignore conversation. You can designate a news or mail conversation as "watched" so  that you can see when new messages arrive on that topic. You can also designate a conversation as "ignored" so that you will not see future messages on that topic.

- HTML source editing. You can easily edit the source of an HTML message to include advanced HTML tags.

- Customizable message filters. You can customize which messages are hidden or shown based on  more than a dozen criteria.

- Stationery wizard. It's now even easier to customize HTML stationery, including setting up margins, fonts, background images, and colors.

- Improved connection management. Outlook Express can share connection settings with Internet Explorer 5 and above, and it detects when you have disconnected your phone or have disconnected from a LAN. When a connection is  needed, Outlook Express will now connect automatically or   prompt you.

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======================= Part 3: KNOWN ISSUES IN THIS RELEASE

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=======================

- The frequency that HTTP mail accounts are checked for new messages is determined by the HTTP mail server, not by the options set inside Outlook Express. If you want to check for mail on your HTTP mail account more frequently, you can press the Send/Receive button on the toolbar.

- If you were using the PGP plug-in to Outlook Express 4, you must uninstall it before installing this version of Outlook Express. If you installed Outlook Express before uninstalling the PGP plug-in, this version of Outlook Express will not start.

To fix this problem, uninstall this version of Outlook Express, uninstall the PGP plug-in by using Add/Remove Programs in  Windows Control Panel, and then install Outlook Express 5.01 or 5.5.

- Windows Address Book version 5.01 and 5.5 files cannot be  opened in previous versions of the Windows Address Book.

- With certain versions of the McAfee VirusScan program running, Outlook Express may not shut down properly. To fix this problem, upgrade to McAfee VirusScan 4.0.3 or later.

- Your e-mail display name can only contain characters from the default system locale, which is set in Regional Settings in  Windows Control Panel. E-mail display names, folder names, and contacts not in the system default locale may not be displayed correctly.

- If messages from a previous version of Outlook Express were not upgraded automatically, you can important the messages manually. To do so, carry out the following steps:

1. Click File, and then click Import. 2. Click Messages, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

- When you uninstall this version of Outlook Express, the messages you have received will remain in the Outlook Express message files. If you were previously running Outlook Express 4 or  Internet Mail and News, only the messages you received in those programs will be there after uninstall.

To get your messages from this version of Outlook Express into Outlook Express 4, carry out the following steps:

1. In Outlook Express 4, click File, and then click Import. 2. Click Messages, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

- S/MIME version 3 features are available in Outlook Express only if your operating system (such as Windows 2000) contains updated security files.

- To activate support for security labels, a security policy module must be installed on your computer. Please contact your system administrator to find out if they support security policy modules.

- Junk mail filtering is not available in this version of Outlook Express.

- In order to print a mail message in this version of Outlook Express, the message must be displayed either in the preview pane or in a separate window.

- The Identity Manager provides an easy way to group user settings and change users across applications, but it does not provide security for messages, application settings, and digital certificates. If you need stronger security, you should use Windows logon profiles to manage user settings.

- If you install Outlook 98 after installing Outlook Express 5.01, the shortcut to the Microsoft Outlook Newsreader may not work. To fix this problem, carry out the following steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Programs. 2. Right-click Microsoft Outlook Newsreader, and then click Properties. 3. In the Target box, type the following (exactly as below): "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\msimn.exe" /outnews

- Under certain circumstances, Outlook 98 in Corporate Workgroup mode may stop functioning after this version of Outlook Express is installed. To fix this problem, reinstall Outlook 98.

- When you import contacts into Microsoft Phone, the contacts show up in Phone but not in the Windows Address Book. To work around this problem, carry out the following steps:

1. In Outlook Express, click the File menu, and then click Import. 2. Run through the import process again.

The contacts will then show up in the Address Book.

- In order for Outlook Express to work on a dual-boot computer, you must install the same version of Outlook Express on both operating systems.

- You cannot use Outlook Express to access your e-mail account with any of the following services: MS Mail, cc:Mail, CompuServe, America Online (AOL), or Microsoft Exchange Server earlier than version 5.

- You will not be able to see embedded objects or images sent from people using Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Exchange, or  Windows Messaging. File attachments work fine, however.

- If you used Internet News for reading newsgroups, any messages in your Posted Items folder will be moved into the Sent Items folder when you upgrade to Outlook Express.

- Outlook Express shows subscribed IMAP folders only in the folder list. It no longer shows all your folders (subscribed  and unsubscribed).

- The View filter "Show Replies to my Messages" only shows message conversations for which you were the author of the original post. Replies to your replies will not be visible.

- Message Rules are not available for IMAP accounts.

- If the option is set to encrypt all outgoing messages, any rules with the action "Forward" in them will not be executed.

- If you receive messages that does not have proper character set encoding information, you can read them by selecting the proper encoding from the View Encoding menu.

- HTTP mail accounts do not support folder names that contain a forward slash ("/"). If a folder name on an HTTP account contains this character, use a Web browser such as Internet Explorer to access your account and rename the folder. You can gain access to Hotmail accounts at http://www.hotmail.com/.

- You cannot configure Hotmail features such as Message Rules or  the Inbox Protector using this version of Outlook Express. To  configure these features, use a Web browser such as Internet Explorer. You can gain access to Hotmail accounts at  http://www.hotmail.com/

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========== Part 4: TROUBLESHOOTING

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==========

- If you are unable to send or receive mail, check your computer to make sure of the following:

- The TCP/IP protocol is installed on your computer. - All cables are properly connected to your computer, modem, or LAN. - You have a PPP or SLIP account with your Internet service provider. - Your Internet service provider or LAN server supports POP3 or IMAP and SMTP. - Your modem communication parameters (baud rate and type of     protocol) are set correctly.

- If you are unable to read or post news, make sure that you use an account name and password for a news server only if  it requires them. If you use an account name and password and they are not required, you will not be able to connect to the news server.

- If you run into a problem, try the Troubleshooting section in  online Help:

1. On the Help menu, click Contents and Index. 2. On the Contents tab, click "Troubleshooting." 3. Click "If you have trouble using Outlook Express."

- Frequently Asked Questions and popular help topics on Outlook Express are available on the Microsoft Web site at: http://support.microsoft.com/support/ie/outlookexpress/win32/

- To access the Microsoft peer product support newsgroups, carry out the following steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts. 2. On the News tab, click Add, and then click News. 3. Follow the instructions on your screen. 4. When you are prompted for a server name, type msnews.microsoft.com

If that name isn't found by your Internet service provider, you can type 131.107.3.27 instead.

You do not need to log on to this news server.

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========== Part 5: TIPS AND TRICKS

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==========

- To send a message to someone whose address is stored in the Windows Address Book, double-click the name of the contact in the Contacts area.

- To edit the source of an HTML message you are writing, on the View menu, click Source Edit. Three tabs will appear at the bottom of the Window. Click the Source tab to see and change the HTML.

- To change the New Mail Notification sound, carry out the following steps:

1. In Windows Control Panel, open Sounds and Multimedia properties. If you do not see the Sounds and Multimedia icon, click View All Control Panel Options. 2. In the Sound Events list, click New Mail Notification. 3. In the Name list, choose a sound.

- To look up a person's e-mail address when sending mail, use the Check Names command, available on the Tools menu or on the New Message toolbar. When the associated address is found, the name is underlined.

- To send a mail message in Plain Text only (no HTML formatting):

- On the Format menu, click Plain Text.

To make Plain Text the default setting for new messages, replies, and forwarded messages:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Send tab. 2. Under Mail Sending Format, click Plain Text.

By default news messages are sent in Plain Text, but you can also change this setting under News Sending Format.

- To customize the toolbar, right-click it and use the menu commands to select the settings you want.

- You can resize the preview pane or the message list by dragging the divider between them.

- You can change how the preview pane splits, or turn it off entirely, by carrying out the following steps:

1. Click the View menu, and then click Layout. 2. Change the options you want.

- To view the e-mail address of someone who has sent you a  message, double-click the message to open it, and then double-click the author's name in the From field. You can also add this person to your Address Book by right-clicking the name, and then clicking Add To Address Book.

- To view responses to a particular message in a newsgroup, click the plus sign (+) next to the message. The responses appear indented below it.

- In mail, you can leave a copy of your messages on the server. To set this option, carry out the following steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts. 2. Select the mail account you want to modify, and then click Properties. 3. Click the Advanced tab, and then select the Leave A Copy Of     Messages On Server check box.

- You can search for newsgroups that contain specific words in  their names. To do this, carry out the following steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Newsgroups. 2. In the Display Newsgroups Which Contain box, type the words separated by a space.

You can also search newsgroup descriptions. If you cannot see the descriptions, carry out the following steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Accounts. 2. Click the news account you want to modify, click Properties, and then click the Advanced tab. 3. Select the Use Newsgroup Descriptions check box. 4. Click the Tools menu again, and then click Newsgroups. 5. In the Newsgroups window, click Reset List.

- To reorder columns, you can drag and drop column headings. You can resize columns by dragging the right edge of the column header.

- To hang up, carry out the following steps:

1. Click the File menu, and then click Work Offline. 2. When asked if you want to hang up, click Yes.

- To make Outlook Express connect and check mail at regular intervals, carry out the following steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab. 2. Make sure the Send And Receive Messages Every X Minutes check box is selected. 3. Change the setting "If my computer is not connected at     this time" to "Always Connect" or "Connect if Work Offline      is not checked."

- If any of your mail or news accounts requires you to use a  specific ISP connection, select the option to "Always connect   to this account using," and then click the appropriate account. This option is available on the Connection tab in the Properties of each account. This option is used primarily by people who use multiple connections, such as LAN and a dial-up connection or  two dial-up connections.

- To check for new messages at startup, carry out the following steps:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab. 2. Select the Send And Receive Messages Every X Minutes check box. 3. Make sure that each account you want to check has the option to "Include this account in Send and Receive All" enabled. This option is available on the Connection tab in the Properties of each account.

Note that the option "At Start up, ask me if I would like to  connect" only initiates a connection. It does not check for mail. - The Dial-up Connection option "At Start up, ask me if I would  like to connect" will always prompt you to dial a modem at   startup even if a LAN connection exists. If you primarily use LAN, turn off this option.

- To disable the "Connect automatically" behavior for any of your dial-up accounts, click Cancel while connecting to the account. The Dial-up Connection window appears. Clear the Connect Automatically check box.

- If you are running Outlook Express on Windows NT and you need to add support for a different language, carry out the following steps:

1. In Windows Control Panel, open Keyboard properties. If you do not see the Keyboard icon, click View All Control Panel Options. 2. Click Add, and then follow the instructions on your screen.

This installs the appropriate NLS (National Language Support) files. You do not have to use the associated keyboard layout.

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================================ Part 6: SUPPORT FOR MICROSOFT OUTLOOK EXPRESS

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For the latest information about Outlook Express, see our Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/oe/. You may find that your questions can be answered there.

A newsgroup is dedicated to the discussion of Microsoft Outlook Express and provides peer support:

-news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie5.outlookexpress

To read it, follow the procedure outlined in the Troubleshooting section above.

This site is the best place to go if you are experiencing a problem, as someone else who experienced the same problem might already have posted the solution.

For advanced support issues, go to http://support.microsoft.com/support.

Keywords: kbinfo kbreadme KB246353

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