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I use Microsoft Outlook 2003 for email and frequently receive email replies that are replies to replies etc and all the messages from start to finish are shown. How do I get to print only the most recent reply without including all the previous ones?

I had to borrow my husband’s laptop which has Microsoft Outlook 2003 installed on it to make sure that the steps for selective printing in Microsoft Outlook 2003 are the same as they are in other e-mail clients such as Windows Live Mail. Indeed they are! So, this solution should be fairly universal to other users who want to print only the most recent message for printing.

The Print Dialog Box

Whether you’re using Microsoft Outlook 2003, Outlook Express, or Windows Live Mail, the Print dialog box is nearly identical consisting of a General tab and an Options tab. Normally, you’d go to File > Print, use the Control + P key combination, or click on the printer icon in order to bring up the Print dialog box. From there, you’d click Print and your printer would print the current document, in this case an e-mail message. However, this isn’t a normal situation, so let’s slow down.

Selecting Text

First, open the e-mail that you will be printing. Scroll through the message until you find the most recent reply and use your mouse to highlight the text that you want to print. Once the text is highlighted, then use the File > Print command to open the Print dialog box. In the General tab, look for the Page Range area where you will find: All, Selection, Current Page, and Pages. Since you want to selectively print the highlighted text, choose Selection. Click the Print button and your e-mail will print the e-mail with only the text that you selected.

What about the Headers?

I was a little concerned about the header information and whether or not it would be printed. The header information contains the To, From, CC, BCC, Date, and Subject lines. In most cases, you would want this information to print along with your selected text. No worries, it did. By using the Selection option, you are able to selectively choose the text to print while also printing the header information which helps identify and timestamp the message.

I have Windows XP and I want to send and receive emails through Outlook Express. Outlook Express doesn’t appear on my programs list although I can access it through the Help & Solutions. Also, I can send emails but not receive them. My ISP is Tiscali. Can you help?

Yes, we can help. First, let’s solve the problem with the missing Outlook Express shortcut and then we’ll look at setting up Outlook Express to receive your messages.

Missing Outlook Express Shortcut

If your icon for Outlook Express is no longer showing up when you click the Start button, the easiest way to get it back is to use the “Pin to Start Menu” option. This puts an icon for Outlook Express at the top of the list, making it unnecessary to click All Programs in order to find your e-mail. Now, if Outlook Express is located in the list when you click All Programs, this is really easy. You’d simply click All Programs, right-click Outlook Express, and choose Pin to Start Menu. However, it sounds like Outlook Express is not listed here either.

In this case, we will need to go directly to the source and create the shortcut from the actual Outlook Express executable file. To do this, right-click the Start button and choose Explore. Now, let’s find the Outlook Express executable. It is named msimn.exe. Type this file name into the Search bar. When it appears in the list, right-click it and choose Pin to Start Menu. Now, a shortcut will appear near the top of your Start Menu.

If you want one-click access to launch Outlook Express, send it to the Quick Launch area which is the area directly next to the Start button. Do this by right-clicking msimn.exe and choosing Add to QuickLaunch.

Receiving E-mail in Outlook Express

Now, let’s see if your incoming e-mail settings are set properly for receiving e-mail from your ISP. First, to Tools and click on Accounts. Click the Mail tab and highlight your account in the list. Choose Properties and click the Servers tab. Make sure that the incoming server is set as POP3. Also, make sure that the check box next to “Log on using Secure Password Authentication (SPA)” is empty.

According to Tiscali, the incoming and outgoing e-mail servers are as follows:

• Incoming (POP3): pop.tiscali.com.uk
• Outgoing (SMTP): smtp.tiscali.com.uk

Make sure that the server information is typed correctly. A missing period or a typo in the incoming server field could be behind Outlook Express’s failure to receive e-mail messages.

E-mail Backlogs

Another common issue with e-mail receive errors is when a single, large (or corrupt) e-mail is unable to come through. When this happens, no messages can come through until that message is out of the way. Since Tiscali has Web-based mail, head to the Tiscali Web site and log in. Click the My Mail icon and look to see if you have any messages in your inbox. Which message is the oldest? That’s likely the one causing the logjam, especially if it has a large attachment. Try deleting this message. Now, go back into Outlook Express and see if the other messages arrive.

I keep a lot of mail in my inbox of Outlook Express. Just out of the blue, a huge amount from May 07 to June 09 has just disappeared. I haven’t deleted it in error, it has just disappeared. Can it be retrieved?

Outlook Express Folders and Identities

The first thing to check is that you are signed onto your computer as yourself, not another user. For example, if you are signed onto the computer using the guest account or another user’s account, Outlook Express will display the contents of that user’s Outlook Express folder - not yours.

Okay, so you’re signed into Windows as you, so that’s not the problem. Next, let’s make sure that you are using the correct “identity.” Many users use Outlook Express with different identities to keep work and personal e-mails separate. If you are accidently looking at the wrong identity, then switch back to your standard identity and see if your Inbox is as it should be.

Outlook Express Views

Before we move onto recovering emails, let’s also make sure that the View hasn’t been set to display only unread messages. Go to the View menu and look for the option that says, “Show all messages.”

Disappearing Inboxes

Once we are sure that the messages are indeed gone, let’s see if we can get to the bottom of the missing Outlook Express Inbox. An older Microsoft Knowledge Base article (321505) discusses a known conflict with McAfee corrupting Outlook Express’s Inbox. While it’s doubtful that you’re using a three-year-old version of McAfee, if you are, take a look for further instructions.

Disappearing Folders

Next, is the entire Inbox folder missing or just its contents? If the entire folder is missing, then it’s likely that the folders.dbx file is damaged. In this case, you’ll need to rename the folder and allow Outlook Express to rebuild it. This is easy. First, go to Tools> Options > Maintenance > Store Folder to find the storage location of this file. Write this down and close Outlook Express. Right-click Start, choose Explore, and navigate to this path. Find the folders.dbx file and right-click it. Choose Rename. Rename the file to folders.old. Press the Enter key and confirm that the name change took place. Restart Outlook Express and it will rebuild the file. Your folders and their contents should reappear.

Corrupt Outlook Express Inbox

Just as with the disappearing folders, renaming the inbox.dbx file often solves the problem. Use the same procedure as above, only this time rename the inbox.dbx file to inbox.old. Restart Outlook Express and see what happens. If that doesn’t work, go back and change the file name back to inbox.dbx.

E-mail Recovery Tool

The next option is to use a data recovery tool to recover the lost emails. Not any tool will do. You need one specifically capable of recovering .dbx files. ParetoLogic’s Data Recovery Pro version is one such product. What’s nice about this one is that a free data recovery scanner is available, allowing you to scan your system before you buy. That way, you can see if the emails are recoverable or not before paying for the software.

I keep getting a “not responding” message when I try to open Outlook Express. My computer takes forever to open a lot of the windows. I also get the “not responding” message sometimes when I try to log on to the Internet. Ideas?

Not Responding Messages

Both Outlook Express and Internet Explorer require large amounts of system resources and are often running all the time. When your computer generates a “not responding” message, it usually indicates that there’s not enough memory available or that a process is taking longer than expected.

Outlook Express Not Responding Error

Outlook Express comes with a “compacting” tool that can repair damage and solve miscellaneous errors such as the “not responding” error. The more you use Outlook Express, the larger and less organized its database becomes. Compacting this database makes Outlook Express run more efficiently.

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To compact Outlook Express, make sure it is offline so that new messages do not disrupt the process. You may need to do this in Safe Mode in order to get Outlook Express to open. If Outlook Express opens, go to File > Folder > Compact all folders. This takes quite a few minutes to complete. Do not run any other programs during this process. You may need to repeat this several times, especially if additional errors are generated. Try at least three times, even going so far as to reboot in between attempts.

If Outlook Express will not open at all, try disabling any anti-spam tools that you might have in your antivirus software package. These can sometimes interfere with Outlook Express loading. Other potential problems involve having an overloaded Inbox or Sent Items folder. Move messages from these folders into local folders. You’ll find that Outlook Express runs much more efficiently when these folders are not overloaded. In addition, you should empty your Deleted Items folder every few days.

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If you have your original Windows installation disc, you can run the System File Checker utility to check your operating system for damaged or missing files. If Outlook Express is damaged, this utility will replace its damaged files with clean copies from the disc. To run it, insert the disc and go to Start > Run. Type in cmd and click the OK button. Next, type in sfc /scannow and then press the Enter key.

Let the process run and follow any directions given. You’ll need to reboot the computer once the process is complete.

Internet Explorer Not Responding Error

The System File Checker may also solve your Internet Explorer not responding issue. Both Outlook Express and Internet Explorer have been revamped recently, so you may want to upgrade to the latest versions. This too, may solve your problems. Outlook Express has been replaced by Windows Live Mail and Internet Explorer is now in its eighth version, Internet Explorer 8.0.

General Not Responding Errors

Since your computer is generating not responding errors in several programs, it may have too many programs running at once. While you can limit what programs you open yourself, if your computer is running programs that you don’t know about (like spyware and viruses), then you’re obviously not aware that they are running and therefore can’t limit them. That’s where a good antivirus/antispyware program is a must. If you don’t have such a program, we can’t stress the importance of investing in one pronto! If you do currently have a program, update it and run a full system scan.

Next, let’s limit the programs that are loading each time you start Windows. You’ll do this by going to Start > Run and typing in msconfig. Press Enter and click the Startup Items tab. Remove marks by programs that you recognize and don’t need running at all times such as Acrobat Reader. Search the Internet for programs and processes that you don’t recognize before disabling those.

I am wondering if there is a way, other than leaving a copy on the server, to have an email show up on the same Outlook account on two different computers. It just seems odd that you can have it show up on your computer and phone simultaneously, but not two computers…

You’re right, you can set your server to leave the emails on for X amount of days before deletion, and that is the easiest way to do it. If you don’t want to go that route, there are a few ways to accomplish this - like most things, some are easy and may cost money, another is free, but is more cumbersome.

Third-Party Synchronization Software

Although I haven’t tried it myself, I’ve heard good things about a Web-based synchronization freeware tool called Plaxo that is said to sync all Outlook data including contacts, calendar, tasks and notes. I would make this the first stop on your quest, as it promises to be cost-effective and easy to use, while it does what you are looking for.

If that doesn’t work for you and you don’t mind spending some money, the easiest way to go is with some third-party software. There are many companies all over the web that offer this kind of program - two to try are Syncing.net and SynchPST, both of which come with a free trial so you can see how they work before you purchase the program.

Manually Sync the Computers

You can do this by creating a different PST (personal storage table) file for each computer and use the features of Microsoft’s Sync Toy so that the files will sync in only one direction - from the primary computer to the secondary computer. We’re going to walk you through this as if the desktop was the primary computer and the laptop was the secondary computer.

For the desktop, create a PST called desktop on the desktop and a PST called laptop on the laptop. You will then use Sync Toy to echo the files from the primary to the secondary computer. This will only sync the emails, not the address book, etc. The files will get bigger over time, so you will have to compartmentalize them by month or year, depending on how big they get.

One of these methods should work for you, and you should be able to access Outlook from more than one location.