Readers share their knowledge, experience<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Remember three weeks ago I told you some of the
\nquestions that readers of this column had asked me and I had not
\nbeen able to answer? I was truly flattered when the number of
\nresponses I received far exceeded my expectations. I even
\nreceived an e-mail from a reader in the U.S. and another from
\nYogyakarta. I thank you all for sharing your knowledge and
\nexperience and hope this can help others solve their problems.<\/p>\n
I also deeply regret that, due to my hectic schedule over the
\npast few weeks, I was unable to even forward them to the people
\nwho had the problems. Some of them may have found the solution,
\nothers may be patiently waiting for theirs. Anyway, here is what
\nthey told us:<\/p>\n
Sticky Outlook<\/p>\n
First, regarding Microsoft Outlook that takes ages to load,
\ntwo readers, Mr. Hantoro and Mr. Indramin, suggested that the
\nproblem might be caused by a data file that had grown so big that
\nOutlook simply had to work hard to read it. Outlook, as Indramin
\nsaid, stores all the contents of Inbox, Trash, Sent items and
\nother folders in one single .PST file.<\/p>\n
If you have this problem in Outlook, what you need to do is
\narchive all those thousands of e-mail messages. Or, as Mr.
\nBungsuputra Linan from Yogyakarta suggested, you should first
\nbackup every single folder in your Outlook in a separate
\nsubdirectory (also called folder in Windows 9x), then reboot the
\nsystem. Before you run Outlook again, try to find the file named
\nOUTLOOK.PST and move it to a different folder on your hard disk.
\nThe idea is to force Outlook to create a new one, which is what
\nwill happen when you run this program.<\/p>\n
Mr. Linan said it solved his problem of sticky Outlook. He did
\nimport all of the old messages folder by folder, using the Import
\nfacility in Outlook. I do not use Outlook, so I cannot verify
\nthis will work, but it does make sense.<\/p>\n
For those of us who still use Outlook Express (OE), it's bad
\nluck, however, as there is no such command available to archive
\nour messages. Besides, the problem may lie somewhere else. I do
\nhave a huge collection of e-mail messages (I receive at least 60
\nevery day), and my Inbox alone contains more than 5,000 messages.
\nThis means that I would need a whole week to delete the ones that
\nI no longer need, and that free week is nowhere in sight.<\/p>\n
I did one small experiment to check whether it was really the
\nstored messages that got out of control that has caused the
\nproblem of my sticky OE. Similar to what Mr. Linan did, I
\nspecified another location for OE to store messages (Tools,
\nOptions, Maintenance, Store Folder and then Change). This should
\nhave given me a clean OE with no stored message whatsoever.
\nUnfortunately, it still took a lot of time to load.<\/p>\n
Do not attempt this experiment, though, if you have a lot of
\nmessage rules to filter incoming messages and route each of them
\nto appropriate folders, as you would have to fix each one of the
\nrules. Besides, you would run the risk of losing all your old e-
\nmail messages, some of which may still be needed.<\/p>\n
Windows Me<\/p>\n
Mr. Sanjaya Sugiarto sent a detailed e-mail with a lot of
\nimportant recommendations. Addressing Mr. Srinivasan's problem
\nwith his Windows Me, which refused to shut down properly, he
\nsuggested that we should install Windows Me from a clean slate
\n(we should not upgrade existing Windows). Keep in mind, too, that
\nMe requires 128 MB of RAM and a processor clock speed of 300 MHz.
\nThere may be problems with conflicting programs, he reminded, and
\nthe best thing to do is to check which programs are running in
\nthe background before you shut down. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del just once
\nto get the list of active programs.<\/p>\n
The same was suggested by Mr. Linan, who said that, in cases
\nlike this, we should try to isolate the program that might be
\npreventing Windows from closing down elegantly. Try to close one
\nmore program running in the background using Ctrl-Alt-Del just
\nbefore you shut down, and see what happens.<\/p>\n
Mr. Sugiarto also emphasized the need to scan and defragment
\nour hard disk regularly. The best way to do it, according to him,
\nis to run Windows in its Safe Mode. To enter this mode, reset the
\nPC and hold down Ctrl as Windows starts. When you see a menu,
\nchoose Safe Mode. Then run Scandisk and Disk Defragmenter that
\nyou can find under Accessories (Start, Programs, Accessories and
\nSystem Tools).<\/p>\n
Gauge your connection<\/p>\n
As to Ellen's question, why her sister always receives
\ntruncated messages from her brother who uses a PC at a Cybercafe
\nin Bali, a reader, Paul, wrote from the U.S. that the culprit may
\nhave been the format in which the messages are sent. Not all
\ndedicated e-mail devices can handle HTML files -- HTML being the
\nstandard for formatting text, graphics and photos on a Web page.
\nMr. Bungsuputra Linan also suggested the same.<\/p>\n
Most of us configured our Outlook Express to display messages
\nbased on the format they arrived in. So, if the sender sends a
\nmessage in plain text, OE will display it in OE. If it comes in
\nHTML format, OE will display it in HTML with all the layout and
\nformatting intact, and there will be no problem.<\/p>\n
However, when sending a message to devices such as PocketMail
\nand the PDAs, it would be a good idea to select the Plain Text
\nformat (in the New Mail dialog box, click on Format and then
\nPlain Text). This will increase the probability the message will
\nbe received properly.<\/p>\n
Now, here is a nifty free utility that is recommended by Bill
\nMachrome, the contributing editor of PC Magazine. Called
\nNetPerSec, it is like a speedometer for your Web connection. It
\nwill tell you the speed of your connection in bits per second --
\nboth downstream (from the ISP to your computer) and upstream
\n(from your computer to the ISP). You can download this free
\nutility from Ziff-Davis' site, www.zdnet.com\/downloads\/. If you
\nare still using Windows 95, however, you may need to install
\nWinsock 2.0 and Dial-up Connection upgrades, both of which are
\navailable at http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/windows95\/downloads.<\/p>\n
I found this utility quite useful when a Web page that I was
\ntrying to open seemed to freeze. By double clicking on the
\nNetPerSec icon inside the System Tray, I opened its main window
\nand saw the activities of the connection. If I did not see any
\nactivity, that would indicate that my Internet Explorer was not
\nreceiving any data and may be frozen. (zatni@cbn.net.id)<\/p>",
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