Common Problems

Common Problems

Can't open attachments

If you cannot open an email attachments, the cause is most often a result of the Security options in Outlook Express have been set too high.

To correct this problem, open OE, then from the Tool's menu, choose Options.
When the Options page sets up, choose the Security page tab.

If there is a checkmark beside the "Do not allow ...." statement, remove it.
Then choose the OK button.

Common Mistakes

Losing your task bar
One of the most common problems are encountered using the mouse. It is unforgiving, it will not argue with you. When you point, click and release the action will happen, whether you want it to or not. There are generally two things that happen with the task bar.

The task bar disappears or grows in size
When the tip of your mouse touches the border of the taskbar, it will turn into a sizing arrow

If you click the left mouse button and pull down, the task bar will disappear. If you push up the mouse, the task bar will grow in size. To correct the problem, point to the border again, turn the mouse indicator into a sizing arrow and drag in the appropriate direction to restore the taskbar.

The task bar's location is different
If you point to any vacant part of the taskbar, hold your left mouse button and drag, the taskbar will move either to the left, right or top of your screen. This may sound like a difficult thing to do, but a lot of people do with without realizing it. Mice are very sensitive.

To rectify this situation, repeat the process, point to a vacant part of the toolbar, hold the left mouse button and drag back to the bottom of the screen.

Losing your work
Opening the same program twice.
Often, people think they have lost their work, where, in fact, they have only misplaced it by either opening a second program or the same program twice. With older programs especially, a novice often makes this common mistake and thinks they have lost their work.

When we open more than one program we are multi tasking, (the ability to open programs more than once in a session) This feature is convenient when you want to compare documents. Although multitasking is an integral part computing, it does take some getting use to.

Try to get into the habit of checking the taskbar to see what programs are open before you panic.

In this example, there are 4 programs open:
     1 session of FrontPage,
     1 session of PhotoPaint and
     2 sessions of Word. The user is working in the first session of Word.

If the program does crash, many have auto backup features. Take a look under the Tool menu option of your program. There you should find one of the following Options, Settings or Preferences. Visit that area to see if you can figure out what the program's backup capabilities are.

If an auto backup was created, the file(s) that were opened when the program crashed will be on screen the next time you open the program.

A final note about crashes:

If you feel your computer crashes excessively, try running some of the maintenance, or, utility programs. Often, just a little tidying up will correct a lot of problems. You can find some Built in ones from Microsoft under your Start, Programs, Accessories, System tools menu. Please choose this link for more on this subject.

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