Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Dealing With The Outlook Cached Mode Error

You might already know about the offline and online modes in Outlook. But you probably don’t know the cached mode. This mode in Outlook refers to the situation where the email client creates a cache file for all the messages and data from your mail server. When you’re online, the mail client would be using this cache rather than directly accessing the online mail server.

This Outlook cache file would be periodically synchronised. In other words, the files and folders in your Outlook client would be synchronised with that in your mail account online. This way, your use of the Outlook mail client would be much smoother, without any loading delays. To use the cached mode in your version of Outlook, you may visit the Outlook tech support page online.

About the Outlook Cached mode error

One of the common Outlook cached mode errors reported by many users is the Outlook account not showing up online. Generally, the cached mode works when the Outlook mail client is connected online. However, due to some error in your application settings, this might be shown as working in the offline mode. You need to check these Outlook settings and make the relevant changes.

For this, go to the Tools menu in Microsoft Outlook. On the expanded Tools menu, select the Email Account option. Then, click on View or change existing email accounts. This would list the email accounts in the Outlook mail client. Click on the mail account that you are using, and press the change option.

Here, make sure that the Cached Exchange mode is activated. You would find a check mark next to the Cached Exchange mode option. If not, you need to put the check mark here and save these changes. Now, restart the Outlook application for these changes to take effect.

Check the internet status of your Outlook mail client – it must be working online. Go to the File option in your Outlook toolbar, and there make sure that the Work Offline option is not selected. If not, change this setting and restart Outlook once again. Your Outlook mail client would now be working in the cached mode online.

If you are still having the same problem – Outlook showing the offline status in cached mode -, then the Outlook application might be experiencing some registry errors. In such cases, you may need to contact Outlook tech support for a solution.

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Steps To Import Email Contacts To Email List Section In Outlook

Outlook email client provides you with options to move your email contacts to email list options and include them in an email invitation. The steps involved in this process are simple and almost similar to importing of email in Outlook. In this post, we will find out the steps involved in this process.

Steps Involved
  • Double click the shortcut icon for Outlook and launch the program.
  • Once the Outlook program opens, select the option File. File is the first option in the menu bar. Under File, choose Open.
  • Select the option Import and this will launch the window for Import and Export Wizard.
  • You will find numerous options in the window. Locate the option Export to a file in the list and choose the option Next.
  • In the next window, select the option Microsoft Excel 97-2003 and click the button Next.
  • Choose the option Contacts under the Personal Folders list in the next window and click Next.
  • You will find a field with the heading, Save exported file as, in the next window. You may choose the button Browse and then select a location in your hard disk to save the exported file.
  • Choose the option Finish in the next window to export the contacts list.
  • Next step is to arrange the contact list as you wish. You may move the columns and arrange the first name, last name, email addresses and other custom data as you wish.
  • You may remove the other columns that you do not use.
  • Next step is to save the rearranged file. The file should be saved in .CSV format.
  • Launch the saved file in a Notepad. Select the contents of the file and paste the contents to the Import box in email list collector.
Outlook also provides you with options to add the saved list to Address book. For this, follow the steps listed below.
  • Repeat the steps above and choose Address Book from the drop down box for Username.
  • Select the option Add a New List and enter a name for the list.
  • Choose the option Create New List and select the button I Agree with the terms of use.
  • Paste the list that you have just created and select Add Contacts.
  • Wait for the confirmation message.
We hope that the above steps have helped you to import email contacts in your Outlook program. For additional assistance on email in Outlook, you may contact our technical support team.

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Making A Call On Windows Live

The MSN Messenger is Microsoft’s instant messaging service, which lets users hold text and video chats. It is a present in Windows XP, while its successor the Windows Live Messenger is available in Windows Vista and Windows 7. Both applications have features that allow the user to make phone calls as well. All the user has to do is type in the phone number, and proceed to having a pleasant chat conversation with the person. The chat application is free to download and use but the voice call supported to be activated by registering for voice services. A small fee needs to be paid in order to activate this feature.

Instructions
  1. Start the MSN Messenger application or Windows Live Messenger.
  2. In your MSN Messenger window access the Actions menu and click in the Make a Phone Call option. This option may also appear as Call. In case you are unable to find the toolbar menus press the Alt key on your keyboard, and the toolbar menus will appear from hiding. In the Windows Live Messenger program this option will be labeled as simply Call a Phone.
  3. Now select the Get Started or Sign Up link to activate an account with the voice provider. This is just if you haven’t already set this feature up. Once you finish signing up for the voice provider, return back to the messenger window.
  4. Now in the Call box type in the phone number of the person that you wish to contact. Alternatively, you can also click on the phone pad buttons preset in the calling window, and proceed to select Call.
  5. Once you have finished disconnect the call by using the Hang Up option in MSN Messenger. In Windows Live Messenger, you can end the call by click End.
The call feature is one of the cool features that make Windows Live Messenger so popular. You no longer have to go all the way to your telephone to call someone. Just sit back click a few buttons and call a contact. The Windows Live messenger also allows video chat, audio chat and of course text chats for its users.

If you have any issues with Windows live messenger you can contact the Microsoft help line to get support from Microsoft’s expert technical support staff. Experts at Microsoft help line offer excellent advice for all your technical problems, and can find solutions quickly. Enjoy the Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft’s instant messaging service and connect with friends, family and colleagues.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Exporting An Address Book In Outlook

Outlook is a personal information manager from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office suite. Although Outlook is often used mainly as an email application, it comprises of certain features such as a calendar, task manager, contact manager, note taking, a journal, and web browsing, which collectively enable users to effectively manage and schedule tasks, important events and appointments in their day-to-day lives. Along with being a personal information manager, Outlook also serves as an efficient contact manager for the users, wherein they can store their contacts in Outlook Address Books. The technicians at Outlook help support provide assistance in troubleshooting and fixing the issues related to this email application.

Outlook is indeed a stand-alone application, which is compatible with other applications of the Microsoft Office suite such as Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Exchange. This means that being an Outlook user, you would be able to export the contact information from Address books in Microsoft Office, and save as a backup storage in the form of CSV (Comma Separated Value) files. Users can also import this information into another Microsoft application because, as mentioned earlier, Outlook is compatible with other Microsoft Office applications.

You can try the follow steps to export an Address Book in Microsoft Outlook before seeking assistance from the technicians at the Outlook help support.
  • First, you need to open the Microsoft Outlook application in your system, and then, select the address book you want to export. Now, you need to click on the File menu, and then select the Import and Export option.
  • Next, choose the Export to a File option, followed by the Next button. Now, select the Comma Separated Values (Windows) option from the File Type list. Now, click Next.
  • You need to go to the Export to a File dialog window, choose the Contacts folder, and then click on the Next button. Now, name the address book file into the Save Exported File As input field, and click Next.
  • Next, you need to verify the option Following Actions Will Be Performed displays Export Contacts From Folder: Contacts, and then click on the Finish button.
By following this set of simple instructions, you would be able to export an Address Book in Microsoft Outlook. For more information regarding the features of Outlook, please contact our technical support team.

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Windows XP Prone To Zero Day Attacks

Microsoft is fervently urging its Windows XP users to migrate to a newer OS, as it plans to end support for the decade old OS in the month of April. This move means that Microsoft will no longer be releasing any security patches or updates for its XP customers, leaving them vulnerable to zero day attacks. The lack of security updates gives hackers a golden opportunity to take advantage of helpless Windows XP users.

In an official blog post Microsoft stated, "But after April 8, 2014, organizations that continue to run Windows XP won’t have this advantage over attackers any longer. The very first month that Microsoft releases security updates for supported versions of Windows, attackers will reverse engineer those updates, find the vulnerabilities and test Windows XP to see if it shares those vulnerabilities. If it does, attackers will attempt to develop exploit code that can take advantage of those vulnerabilities on Windows XP. Since a security update will never become available for Windows XP to address these vulnerabilities, Windows XP will essentially have a 'zero day' vulnerability forever."

Most hackers are smart enough to reverse engineer past security updates, to look for a point of vulnerability in the updates. Once these are found, hackers can exploit operating systems that do not have the security update, making Windows XP vulnerable forever. End of support also means that Microsoft will no longer be liable to any issue faced by Windows XP users. Microsoft outlines that one of their biggest concerns is that, "One risk is that attackers will have the advantage over defenders who choose to run Windows XP because attackers will likely have more information about vulnerabilities in Windows XP than defenders."

This is very bad news for over millions of Windows XP users, who still rely on the decade old OS for most of their computing needs. Organizations face the biggest peril as the lack of Windows support will make almost all their information susceptible to attack, and private, sensitive information could become public news. Even worse is the fact that industry deployments typically take more than 4 months, which is way past the deadline date fixed by Microsoft. Organizations only have three options left: migrating to Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8. Windows 8 might not be on the top of the list, even though it performs better than Windows Vista and Windows 7. This due to fact that Windows 8 requires many hardware upgrades. Either way, once Windows support for XP crosses the deadline, millions of systems around the world face peril.