24 replies to this topic

[Peter1]

I have removed word and installed the entire office suite 3003 with 25 MS updates. At this point all is running well. I scan my data to fresh formatted flash drives so they can't taint anything. I have a specific question; I now need an email client. The last time things went well i downloaded Windows Live Mail and the problem occurred, but, I can't be sure that was the culprit. IT is a descent program. I can use OE,(outdated), WLM , Thunderbird or I notice there is now a MS Office Outlook 2003. Would that serve as an email client? If it was not for the need for an email client I would be fine at this point but I do need one. What would you recommend?

[Doug]

I use MS Office 2003 Outlook on my main machine. Works great with XP. If you eventually upgrade to Vista or Win7 then Windows Mail is also fine.

[Peter1]

Doug All is good now except that I am having trouble configuring Outlook for 2003. I have tried all the choices and when i press test, the email fails. I have a live Hotmail account and my isp is comcast.net. Do you have suggestions so the setup allows me to use it?

[Doug]

I'm not clear about whether or not Microsoft is still supporting connection to a Windows Live Hotmail account via Outlook.

There has been some discussion that Microsoft will only support the "paid" Windows Live Hotmail accounts via Outlook now.
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Back when they were supporting both free and paid live hotmail via Outlook, they provided a "Connector" protocol.
If it still works, consider yourself lucky and watch for any updates or changes that may be coming
Here's the Step-by-Step procedure:
http://office.micros...A010221823.aspx

[Peter1]

Doug I now have Word working again by uninstalling it then installing the entire Office Suite. For an email client I chose Thunderbird because the last time I used WLM , Word malfunctioned again. BUT, I gave Windows Live mail a try and everything seems to be working. I shall now make a backup image just in case. I did not get in involved with Outlook as it is above my level and I use my isp account or the Live Hotmail account for emailing. I needed something to reply those hyperlinks that surface when you are reading and want to send back i formation and especially when you want to "send to" a link or page to someone. It has been a long road and I thought for a while i would have to reformat and reinstall the o.s. as I have done before,from scratch. I was told reinstalling Word would not fix the problem but for those with similar issues it did it in this case. Thank you for all the communications as a lower level user feels a bit stranded when these unknown issues pop up.

[Doug]

OK then. Seems you've sorted this one out quite nicely. Good that you've taken an image backup! I hope more and more learn to do the same.

[Peter1]

Doug
I now have Word working again by installing it then installing the entire Office Suite.
For an email client I chose Thunderbird because the last time I used WLM , Word malfunctioned again.
Thunderbird again did not install properly so I threw the dice and went with Windows Live Mail for xp.
BUT, I gave Windows Live Mail a try and everything seems to be working.
I shall now make a backup image just in case.
I did not get in involved with Outlook as it is above my level and I use my isp account or the Live Hotmail account for emailing.
I needed something to reply those hyperlinks that surface when you are reading and want to send back i formation and especially when you want to "send to" a link or page to someone.
It has been a long road and I thought for a while i would have to reformat and reinstall the o.s. as I have done before,from scratch.
I was told reinstalling Word would not fix the problem but for those with similar issues it did it in this case.
Thank you for all the communications as a lower level user feels a bit stranded when these unknown issues pop up.

>>If you reread my message you will see some errors I am correcting especially regarding Thunderbird which I did not use. I am doing this so someone else won't get the wrong idea.
Sorry aboutth errors in a 'quick email'.

[Peter1]

Doug I had a follow up question for you. Under folders> view, if you check to show hidden file extensions then rename a file, a question comes up and says '"if you change this it will... I forgot the rest. Will this bring me right back to the macro issue again? I have left it so I cannot see the extensions so I hope the issue will not return. I ask this because I went to rename a file while the extensions were showing and when I clicked, this message came up. I said no and left it alone. This on my desktop, the one with out issues. I think i will leave all so the extensions are not visible but what do you think about my question?

[Doug]

For files "which you have created", you can change the filename part with no adverse effect.
For instance:
Scann0011.jpg
can be changed to:
Chris_Graduation 2006.jpg

You can "rename" the filename portion to better identify the content, without changing the file extension (.jpg)
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However, changing the file extension, even of files "which you have created", can cause problems

For instance:
If you change:
Chris_Graduation 2006.jpg
to
Chris_Graduation 2006.doc

The result will be a file that cannot be opened.
This is because .jpg files do not have the same structure and information in the file code, that is required to recognize and open a .doc type file.
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For files "which you have not created" such as windows system files and application files -- You should not change either the filename or the file extension.
I think you already know that, but it is worth being sure.

[Peter1]

I think keeping the extensions hidden is a good way to ensure that neither I nor another user changes a file extension that you so graphically portrayed. I wonder if I copy and paste from a web page or an article into a word document there will be any problems. I ask because I remember just before my problem, a person had sent me some information which I copy then pasted into a Word document. It was as though you copied this message into your pc's Word document which you created just for this article instead of typing it all out from memory -after all that is the purpose of copy/paste. I know so little about this that I am thinking if he had a certain extension that he used to copy and paste from, it could foul up the word file I create to paste it into. I think that is far fetched and I'd like to think copy and pasting obviously clear, simple, standard material is safe. I think it is ok to save a word documents as rtf ,for example, with no issues. Do you agree? After the scare I had I guess a bit of paranoia is setting in.