Using the Outlook Express E-mail Program

What are the main sections of the Inbox?

The main default sections of the Inbox are labeled with red titles in the following graphic:

Folder List pane—The left-most column lists the folders on your local system (i.e., your desktop computer) and the folders

Message List pane—The upper-right section lists the

Preview pane—The lower-right section lists the contents of the e-mail message you have selected to read.

inbox window

How to send an e-mail message

  1. Click the New Mail button. The New Message composition dialog box will appear. (Similar to the one shown below.)

    test message

  2. In the To field, type the e-mail address of each correspondent.
    • If you are sending the message to more than one correspondent, separate the addresses with a comma.
    • If you choose not to configure Outlook Express to use the University's LDAP server, you must use the "fully-qualified" e-mail address: Trainf@udel.edu in this example.
  3. In the Subject field, type a subject for your message.
  4. Type your message in the message text area.
  5. Click the Send button.

How to read incoming e-mail messages

  1. Click the Send/Recv button.
  2. Click the Inbox folder in the folder list pane.
  3. To view the message in the preview pane, click the message in the message list pane. In the following example, the message with the Subject of "test message" was selected. The text of the message appears in the preview pane (shown below).

    outbox image

    NOTE
    To view an e-mail message in a separate window (i.e., not the preview pane), double-click the message in the message list pane.

How to forward an e-mail message

  1. Select the message (in the message list pane) you want to forward.
  2. Click the Forward button.
  3. Type the e-mail address of your correspondent in the To field.
  4. Type your message in the message text area.
  5. Click the Send button.

How to save an e-mail message

  1. To save a message, drag the header of a message from the Message List pane to the icon in the Folders List for the folder in which you wish to save the message.

    email window

    Alternatively, you could click on the message header, press CTRL-SHIFT-V, then click the name of the folder in the Move dialog box as shown below.

    email window

  2. To save a message in a new folder, follow these steps:
    1. Click the message header.
    2. Press the CTRL-SHIFT-V key sequence.
    3. In the Move dialog box, click New Folder.

      email window

    4. Type the name of the new folder in the New Folder dialog box. (See example below.)

      new folder window

    5. Click OK.
    6. Click OK to close the Move dialog box.

How to determine the size of an e-mail message

To determine the size of a message, highlight the message header, and choose Properties from the File menu.

properties

The message size is listed on the General tab (as shown below).

general tab

How to delete an e-mail message

  1. Select the message (in the message list pane) you want to delete.
  2. Click the Delete button.

How to use the address book

The address book allows you to save e-mail addresses, mail addresses, telephone numbers, etc. in a central location. You can also use the address book to create mailing lists for a group of correspondents. The following instructions explain how to open the address book and create an entry for one correspondent.
  1. On the main Outlook Express screen, click Addresses.
  2. In the Address Book dialog box (shown below), click the New button.

    address book window

  3. From the New drop-down menu, select New Contact.
  4. In the Properties dialog box, type the first name and last name of your correspondent. Also type his or her full e-mail address. The following graphic is an example:

    properties window

  5. Click Add.
  6. Click OK.
    NOTE
    To create a mailing list, click the New button and select New Group. Then type a name for the group and type the e-mail addresses for all of the correspondents in this group.

How to view a folder

To view a folder, follow these steps:
  1. From the menu bar, click Tools.
  2. Click IMAP Folders. A dialog box labeled Show/Hide IMAP folders will appear.
  3. Confirm that the tab labeled All is in front.
  4. Scroll down the list of folders until you find the folder you want to view.
  5. Click the folder you want to view.
  6. Click the Show button located on the right-side of the dialog box. The folder should now have an icon next to it.
  7. Click OK and you should be able to see the folder listed in your folder list.

How to backup e-mail messages

 Before you can back up your local e-mail and other information, you must know where these items are saved. Your e-mail file(s) can be saved in the following two locations: your local drive (the hard drive of your desktop computer) or on the remote e-mail server (mail.udel.edu).

The folders listed under Local Folders contain the e-mail messages saved on your desktop computer. You must personally back up the messages in these folders. You should back up all messages you consider to be important. And you should create a regular schedule to back up the files. If your messages are critical, you may need to back them up daily.

The folders listed under mail or mail.udel.edu contain messages that are saved on the University's central e-mail server. These messages are automatically backed up by the central e-mail server.

Where to find your e-mail files

Within Outlook Express, your data (e-mail messages) are saved in folders with a .dbx extension, for example, "Drafts.dbx". You can back up your Local Folder data by copying the .dbx folders to another location on your hard drive or to replaceable media.

IMPORTANT NOTE
If you are backing up your messages to a thumb drive or an external hard drive, connect the formatted media to begin the process.

To find the .dbx folders, use Windows' search function to search for them.

  1. Click Start.
  2. Select Find.
  3. Select Files or Folders.
  4. In the Find: All Files dialog box, type
.dbx
  1. Click Find Now. You will see a list of all your Outlook Express ".dbx" folders.
  2. Select the Local Folders you want to copy.
  3. Copy the folders to another location on your hard drive or to external media.

How to use the University's LDAP server with Outlook Express

Configuring Outlook Express to use the central LDAP server

  1. Open Outlook Express.
  2. Click the Tools button.
  3. Click Accounts.
  4. You should see a screen similar to the following:

    internet accounts window

    NOTE
    If you have an existing UD LDAP service configured in Outlook Express, remove it by clicking its name on the Directory Service tab and then clicking Remove. Then follow the directions below.

  5. Click Add.
  6. Click Directory Service.
  7. You should see a screen similar to the following:

    connection wizard

    In the Internet directory (LDAP) server field, type: 

    ldap.udel.edu
  8. Click Next. You should see a screen similar to the following:

    ldap service window

    Choose the Yes radio button to tell Outlook Express to check addresses using this directory service.

  9. Click Next.
  10. Click Finish.
  11. Double click the ldap.udel.edu directory service you have just created.
  12. Change the name of the Directory Service Account to: UD LDAP Service
  13. Click the Advanced tab at the top of the window.
  14. You should see a screen similar to the following:

    ldap properties window

  15. In the Search base field, type the following: o=udel.edu
  16. Click OK.
  17. Click Close.

Looking up addresses using the central LDAP server

  1. Open Outlook Express.
  2. Click Create.
  3. Click the To button next to where you normally type e-mail addresses.
  4. Click Find.
  5. Drop down the Look in box and choose UD LDAP Service.
  6. In the Name field, type as much information about the person you are trying to find as you know. For example, searching for "Doe" would find all users at the University of Delaware with a first or last name of "Doe". Searching for "John Doe" would return only "John Doe" matches at the University. Please note that "John Doe" and "Jonathan Doe" are different.
  7. Click the correct name and e-mail address and then click the To button.

If you require further assistance with the instructions or information on this page, contact the IT Support Center. If you have comments or suggestions about this Web page itself, contact the IT Communication Group.