By Peggy Pulliam, Secretary, Tampa PC Users Group
pegrance@yahoo.com

Before the meeting we had a Windows XP Q & A meeting. Some of the things brought up were very interesting to the group, and the people with questions got some answers. Some of the things that seem obvious to one person were a stumbling block for another. Like using Outlook Express for mail and not being able to get attachments. There is a setting you have to use in Tools | Options | Security where you uncheck “Do not allow attachments to be saved or opened...”. We were advised to keep those anti-virus applications up and running! We talked about protecting from popup ads with the free Google tool bar. Many other things were covered in the half hour we used. Did you know that TPCUG.org has a discussion group and you can ask questions there and get some direct help?

Our presentation started at 7:00. Kevan Sheridan, president of TPCUG, showed us how to use Outlook XP to organize, communicate and remember what goes on with our mail, calendar and contacts. Those of us who have been “using” Outlook found out that, as we’d expected, there is a lot more to be done to use it to its full potential. You can use a single click while you are in the “contacts” and you will get a map to the address of the contact. You can also click and send them a letter all addressed and just needing to be typed, envelope, too. You can add an extra time zone on your calendar and know what time you will be arriving in another part of the world in that time zone and what it would be in your own time zone. (So you can know just how jet-lagged you ought to be feeling.) You can add your email accounts and get them all from Outlook and still keep them separate, not have to go chasing around to separate web sites for your mail.

We learned a great deal, and I have since been experimenting with Outlook on my computer and have come up with some more questions and learned a few more things that make life easier. We will be having more of this type meeting, since it gets good group participation and we all enjoy the chance to ask or advise.

Thank you to Kevan and the rest of the group for keeping this going. See you at the next meeting. (And don’t forget there are Special Interest Group meetings for Access 1st Tuesday and Visual Basic 3rd Tuesday each month at the Kate Jackson Community Center in Hyde Park.) u