Inbox

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

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"How do you automatically start a program when Windows starts?" asks Christine, who wants Outlook to start when she turns her computer on.

No problem, Christine. Just put a shortcut to Outlook in the Start menu's "Startup" folder. Right click your Outlook shortcut on the desktop. Select Copy. Then click Start/Settings/Taskbar and Start menu/Advanced/Programs/Startup. Now right click in that folder and click Paste. Then OK/OK/OK. Outlook will now start with Windows.

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Windows Update pages fail for Bob. The site seems to think he needs to install "visual basic scripting support" (a component of Internet Explorer). Furthermore, his Add/Remove Programs does not list Internet Explorer to allow a repair.

There's an easy way to reinstall IE if the update site won't work, Bob. Go to www.microsoft.com/ie/, where the latest version of Internet Explorer can be found for you to download and install manually. Version 6 is the current version and it contains those missing files.

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"How do I set up a reply to people who send e-mail to me, informing them I am away overseas?" asks David L.

I suspect you don't want to leave your computer on while away, David, so this has to be done through your internet provider - in this case, ihug. Chief executive Nick Wood says ihug will be implementing a "travel package" with auto-reply e-mail features in a few weeks.

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David W would like to get text to wrap around inserted photos in Outlook Express Mail.

Outlook doesn't provide the facility. But it has been designed to allow pasting of html (hypertext markup language) and formatting from other programs like MS Word or web page editors. Just create a three-cell table in a document using the left and right boxes for words and the centre box for the picture. Copy from that program and paste it into your e-mail message.

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