InBox

By DON McALLISTER

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

Q. "All of a sudden my Outlook version 2002 has become frustratingly slow. Email previews and folders take five or so seconds to appear," complains Matt, who has cleaned out directories but the problem gets worse.

A. Are you running MSN Messenger, Matt? Go to Outlook/Tools/Options/Other and remove the tick from: "Enable instant messaging in Outlook". If this doesn't work, try using Start/All Programs/Windows Update to check for and download the latest Microsoft updates and patches.

In the past, some of the urgent updates have caused slowdowns, but they have been superseded by improved versions.

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Q. Internet provider delivery failures, or "virus-found" auto responses.

A. Wayne is one of many readers complaining of bounced emails returning to their address. It's especially confusing as they know they were not the original sender.

Yes, Wayne, the internet mail providers are well aware of the bedlam their false "Mail delivery error" responses are producing. They are now paying the price with huge volumes of misdirected email hitting their servers. Mail server failures are becoming common for most providers - a sure symptom of that extra load.

Until the claimed source email address is checked against the source Internet Protocol address (four lots of three numbers) before sending out these responses, the problem will continue to plague us all.

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Q. Fred has always used the Outlook Express preview panel to protect against viruses, but was recently mortified to hear that this system actually provides no protection.

A. It's definitely not the way to protect against viruses, Fred. Preview is only a user convenience window - it actually opens the content just the same as if you clicked on the email.

A reputable virus scanner such as Norton, McAffee or PC-cillin is a definite must (or try AVG Anti-virus, a well-respected free alternative).


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