Inbox

Compiled by MICHAEL FOREMAN

Welcome to Inbox, where we attempt to answer your internet questions.

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Outlook Express user Mike is one of several readers who have asked if one can pre-screen incoming e-mails: "Is it is possible to download urgent-looking e-mails first and then download large files, with attached photographs, for example, later?"

It depends on which e-mail protocol your internet service provider is using. The IMAP (internet message access protocol) e-mail protocol allows users to selectively download message headers, message content or e-mail attachments but it is not widely used. According to their websites, both Xtra and ihug will support IMAP in the future, but for the moment most internet providers seem to be sticking with the more commonly used POP (post office protocol), which delivers all your e-mail in one go.

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Libby and her neighbour and have been having trouble scanning documents: "We set the settings to A4 size, scan and save to the default file. But when we go to retrieve it the page is huge - so huge that when we print preview it, it is now 8 pages. How can I scan and save it all to a normal size to use mainly for e-mail attachment purposes?"

You'll need to play around with the setting on your scanner software, Libby. For a start, you should look at the "resolution" setting. This setting, expressed as a number of dots per inch (dpi), dictates how detailed the image will be. The maximum resolution that can be displayed on a PC screen is 72 dpi, so if your scanner is set for 200 or 300 dpi, reducing it to 72 dpi will result in much smaller file sizes for e-mail attachments. Next, look for a zoom or resize feature that will allow you to reduce or enlarge a document, usually by entering a percentage figure. From the sound of it, your scanner is now set for 100 per cent, so try reducing the horizontal and vertical measurements to 30 or 25 per cent or even less.

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Ever since Carol installed an internet telephony software product called iphone from www.eboom.com, every e-mail message she sends with Outlook Express contains an advert for eboom at the end. How should she get rid of it?

The program has altered your signature file and, judging by a search on eboom at the www.google.com search engine, you are not alone. Fortunately, the unwanted advertisement is easy to remove. Go to tools/options/signatures and delete it from the signature text.

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E-mail send/receive order continued: Thanks to Ken for suggesting an easier way for John to retrieve incoming e-mails before sending out messages.

"Go to 'file' and click 'save', which will put the outgoing message into the draft folder. Click send/receive to get incoming e-mails - it will ignore any messages in the draft folder. Now bring up the draft folder, go to 'file' and click 'send'."

Links:


IMAP

eboom

Google


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