Inbox

Compiled by MICHAEL FOREMAN

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

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Geoff thinks he has lost his contacts in Outlook Express: "A little while ago I accidentally hit the 'x' on the contacts box on the lefthand column. How do I get them back?"

Simple. In Outlook Express click on view/layout, check the entry for "contacts box" and click OK.

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Dorothy describes herself as an elderly newcomer to the computer world, who worries when something happens that she can't explain. "For instance, I opened up my address book the other day and found 10 strange e-mail addresses. Of course I deleted them immediately, but how did they get there?" Dorothy also mentions that she has received a lot of other "nuisance stuff" recently.

We are at a loss to explain the strange addresses in your e-mail program, Dorothy, but the e-mail you sent us appeared to have been affected by a computer virus of some kind. These are spread by e-mail and are usually contained in files that accompany messages known as attachments. When you open a virus-bearing attachment it will "infect" your PC, and may cause some of the symptoms that you described. Here are three precautions you should take to guard against viruses. Be very cautious about opening an attachment, especially when it has been sent from someone you don't know - you'll know when a message carries an attachment by the paperclip symbol that appears at its side. From the start menu, click on settings/control panel/internet options/security and set the security level to high. You should install an anti-virus package such as InnoculateIT, which is available for free download.

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Jim complains that many e-mail messages he receives appear with chevron symbols down the side of the page, as in the following example.

>>Subject: FW:

"What is the cause please and is there a cure?" he asks.

The chevron symbols show that a part of the message has been "quoted" from another e-mail message, for example in a reply or when a message has been forwarded. I agree that the chevrons can be annoying but it is up to the sender to decide whether they are included. Once you have received a message with chevrons I'm afraid there is little you can do, except perhaps to copy and paste it into a text processor program and replace the symbols with blanks. However, you may remove the chevrons from your outgoing messages. In Outlook Express, for example, go to tools/options/send/mail sending format/plain text settings and uncheck the box marked "indent outgoing messages with > when replying or forwarding."

Links:


InnoculateIT

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