pctoolbox.co.uk

Google have recently brought out a new tool in which you can sync the items on your Microsoft Office Outlook Calendar with your Google Mail Calendar.  It is a great application which is ideal for anyone who is always on the go!  You can schedule the application to sync the calendars as often as you want.  This means that any changes you make in your Outlook Calendar will be synced to your Google Mail Calendar!  Check out the images below to compare the calendars (click on the image to make it larger)…

It is pretty easy to set up.  There is a great tutorial on the Google Website which is worth ready whilst setting up the program!  For those who knew it the application is very similar to the SBS 2003 Server Setup.

So far we’ve been really impressed!

You may find that your AVG Anti-Spam isn’t catching some of your SPAM Emails.  There are two different ways to catch SPAM emails.  The below tutorial will show you both ways, starting off with HAM.  HAM training of Anti-Spam teaches AVG what emails you want.  The other method is SPAM training, this teaches AVG which emails you don’t want.  Both methods are pretty straightforward and we highly recommend you teach AVG to do it in both ways.  You may have to do this a few times but AVG catches on pretty quick!

Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s quick tip is the penultimate of the Shortcut Series.  Our category this week is Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Keys.  We think that it is worthwhile remembering a few of these shortcuts because they are bound to come in useful!  Please Note: Some shortcuts may not work in Outlook 2007.

Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Keys:

Alt + S – Send the email
Ctrl + C – Copy selected text
Ctrl + X – Cut selected text
Ctrl + P – Open print dialog box
Ctrl + K – Complete name/email typed in address bar
Ctrl + B – Bold highlighted selection
Ctrl + I – Italicize highlighted selection
Ctrl + U – Underline highlighted selection
Ctrl + R – Reply to an email
Ctrl + F – Forward an email
Ctrl + N – Create a new email
Ctrl + Shift + A – Create a new appointment to your calendar
Ctrl + Shift + O – Open the Outbox
Ctrl + Shift + I – Open the Inbox
Ctrl + Shift + K – Add a new task
Ctrl + Shift + C – Create a new contact

Next week is the last of the Quick Tip Shortcut Series.  The Shortcut topic will be Winkey Shortcuts

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts.  All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

You may find that your AVG Anti-Spam isn’t catching some of your SPAM Emails.  If this is the case you will need to train AVG.  You may have to do this a few times but AVG catches on pretty quick!

1. First of all open up your email program e.g. Microsoft Office 2007 (Although we are using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 for the example, the process is very similar in most email software.)  Now you must create a new folder.
   
2. Give the New Folder a name.  We suggest ‘TRAIN_SPAM’.  Then Click OK.
   
3. Drag into this new folder any Spam emails that AVG has missed.
4. Once you’ve put any missed spam in the folder you need to open up AVG.  Select ‘Tools’ and then ‘Advanced Settings’.
   
5. Click ‘Anti-Spam’, Settings and then ‘Train Anti-Spam’.  (Click on image to make bigger).
   
6. Select your Email Software from the list.  (Click on image to make bigger)
   
7. Now you will be asked for your profile name.  For most people there will be only one option because you will only have one profile.  But for those who have more make sure you select the right one, i.e. the one you will to train with.  You can make your selection via the drop down list.  Then Click OK.
   
8. Find the folder which you wish to train.  Then click ‘Next’.  (Click on image to make bigger)
   
9. Select All Messages (No Filtering) then Next.  (Click on image to make bigger)
   
10. Click Next.
11. Once the process is complete click ‘Finish’ and then ‘OK’.
12. Go back into Outlook or your email program and delete anything that was in the TRAIN_SPAM folder.

From now on the files like those that were in the TRAIN_SPAM folder should be sent automatically to your junk email folder. Sometimes they need to be trained a few times as there are variants of Spam so just repeat the steps above. Give it a go and let us know if you have any suggestions!

Probably a bit slow on the uptake here but I was setting up a hotmail address for someone at the weekend and I noticed that there are live.co.uk addresses as well as hotmail.co.uk!  Three fantastic reasons to consider this address potential!

1. live.co.uk – makes your email address nice and short for people to remember!
2. Unlike hotmail that has been around since time began (well…almost!) live.co.uk is relatively new and therefore there are many email addresses still available!
3. Uses the nice new Hotmail web email application which is very much like Outlook Web Access (for those familiar with remote Exchange administration).

Certainly worth checking out if you are in need of a new address! Visiti hotmail.co.uk to get yours!

With all the different Office packages available, we have put together a diagram which we think will help you to make the right decision of which version is best for you! Click on the image to make it viewable!

Please let us know if you have any thoughts!

Spam is a huge problem for everyone and while we will never get rid of all of it there are little things that help! So here are a few:

1. Never Respond to Spam, this tells the sender that your address is active.
2. Block Images: Spammers can tell if an image was displayed in an email so if possible turn off image display on your email client for suspect messages.
3. Don’t forward chain letters – it is just a way of collecting email addresses. For more information on this read here.
4. Don’t click links – much like the images, if you click the links it tells the spammer your address is active.
5. Never respond to an email requesting information – if a company like ebay or your bank requests for you to confirm your details then it is most probably a hoax. But if you want to be 100% sure then log-in to the respective site in your normal way (going direct to the site!) and then see if you have a message from them.

Well there we go, my top 5 quick tips on stopping or avoiding spam. I hope it helps