how to send email using outlook ?

Write an E-Mail Message, Send It Now

E-mail addresses must be letter-perfect in order for your mail to reach the intended destination, and Outlook Express is rich with options for addressing messages accurately. You type a few letters of the person's name in the To or CC (for carbon copy) lines, and then Outlook Express automatically supplies the full address from your address book.

1.	Click the Create Mail button. Create Mail button
2.	In the To box, type the first few letters of your recipient's name as shown below. When Outlook Express proposes the name you want, press the Enter key. If the name isn't in your address book, type the complete e-mail address. Capitalization doesn't matter, and there should be no spaces in the address.
3.	Repeat step 2 for each person you want to send the message to, separating names with a comma or semi-colon.
4.	To send copies of your e-mail, follow steps 2 and 3 above in the CC box as shown below for each person who will get a copy. To and CC fields on a new mail message
5.	Type a brief subject for your message as shown below. Outlook Express will remind you if you forget this.
6.	Click in the message area, and type your message as shown below.
7.	Click Send as shown below. If Outlook Express asks for confirmation of any name, click the correct name in the Check Names box, and click OK. E-mail message subject and body, and Send button

Protect the privacy of your recipients' e-mail addresses. The polite way to send e-mail to a large group of people—a change of e-mail address, a joke, and so on—is to put the recipients' names in the BCC (blind carbon copy) line. Names and e-mail addresses in the BCC line are invisible to everyone who receives your message; when a recipient opens the message, only the sender's name appears (in the To line). If the BCC line isn't visible, on the View menu, click All Headers. Then follow the instructions in step 2 above to add names to the BCC line.

Write an E-Mail Message, Send It Later

You can compose e-mail while your computer is disconnected from the Internet.

•	Follow the steps in the Write an E-Mail Message, Send It Now section above. When you click Send, Outlook Express lets you know that it's storing your message in the Outbox—it's in the Folder list—and then sends it automatically when you go online.

Save your e-mail. Outlook Express also automatically saves messages as you write them, so if your computer shuts down unexpectedly, your messages will be waiting for you in the Drafts folder. But for extra safety, it's not a bad idea—particularly for an important message—to save your e-mail message as you write. To do this, click Save, on the File menu.

Send an E-Mail Message in a Hurry

If Outlook Express doesn't send your e-mail messages as fast as you'd like, you can take matters into your own hands to speed them on their way.

•	Click the Send/Recv button. Outlook Express immediately sends all messages in the Outbox (and retrieves any messages from the Internet service provider). Send/Recv button on Outlook Express toolbar

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Attach a File to an E-Mail Message

It's easy to attach files to e-mail—a picture of the new baby, the paper you're coauthoring, your tax file for the accountant, or a favorite song. It's rather like paper-clipping something to a letter.

1.	In your message, click the Attach button. Attach button on e-mail toolbar
2.	Browse until you find the file you want to attach as shown below.
3.	Click the file, and then click Attach as shown below. If you want to enclose more than one file, repeat steps 1 through 3. Attachment box
4.	Finish the message if you haven't already, and click the Send button. Attach field showing attached document
5.	The attachments show up (!) here in the message.

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How can I install Windows XP Pro on my computer?

Step #1: Plan your installation

When you run the Windows XP Professional Setup program, you must provide information about how to install and configure the operating system. Thorough planning can make your installation of Windows XP Professional more efficient by helping you to avoid potential problems during installation. An understanding of the configuration options will also help to ensure that you have properly configured your system.

I won't go into that part right now but here are some of the most important things you should take into consideration when planning for your XP installation:

* Check System Requirements
* Check Hardware and Software Compatibility
* Determine Disk Partitioning Options
* Choose the Appropriate File System: FAT, FAT32, NTFS
* Decide on a Workgroup or Domain Installation
* Complete a Pre-Installation Checklist

After you made sure you can go on, start the installation process.
Step #2: Beginning the installation process

You can install Windows XP in several methods - all are valid and good, it all depends upon your needs and your limitations.

* Manual installations usually come in 3 flavors:
* Boot from CD - No existing partition is required.
* Boot from the 6 Setup Boot Disks, then insert the CD - No existing partition is required (see the Create Setup Boot Disks for Windows XP page).
* Boot from an MS-DOS startup floppy, go to the command prompt, create a 4GB FAT32 partition with FDISK, reboot, format the C partition you've created, then go to the CD drive, go into the I386 folder, and run the WINNT.EXE command.
* Run an already installed OS, such as Windows NT 4.0 Server. From within NT 4.0 go to the I386 folder in the W2K installation CD and run the WINNT32.EXE command.
* If you want to upgrade a desktop OS such as Windows 98 into Windows 2000 Professional you can follow the same procedure as above (You cannot upgrade Windows 98 into W2K Server).

There are other non-manual installation methods, such as using an unattended file along with a uniqueness database file, using Sysprep, using RIS or even running unattended installations from within the CD itself, but we won't go into that right now.

It doesn't matter how you run the setup process, but the moment it runs - all setup methods look alike.
Step #3: The text-based portion of the Setup program

The setup process begins loading a blue-looking text screen (not GUI). In that phase you will be asked to accept the EULA and choose a partition on which to install XP, and if that partition is new, you'll be asked to format it by using either FAT, FAT32 or NTFS.

1. Start the computer from the CD.

1. You can press F6 if you need to install additional SCSI adapters or other mass-storage devices. If you do you will be asked to supply a floppy disk with the drivers and you CANNOT browse it (or a CD for that matter). Make sure you have one handy.

1. If you want, you can press F2 to run the ASR sequence. For that you need a good backup created by the Windows XP backup program, and the ASR floppy disk. If you plan to install a new copy of XP - don't do anything.

1. Setup will load all the needed files and drivers.

1. Select To Setup Windows XP Professional Now. If you want, and if you have a previous installation of XP, you can try to fix it by pressing R. If not, just press ENTER.

1. Read and accept the licensing agreement and press F8 if you accept it.

1. Select or create the partition on which you will install Windows XP Professional. Depending upon your existing disk configuration choose one of the following:

* If the hard disk is unpartitioned, you can create and size the partition on which you will install Windows XP Professional.

* If the hard disk is already partitioned, but has enough unpartitioned disk space, you can create an additional partition in the unpartitioned space.
* If the hard disk already has a partition that is large enough, you can install Windows XP Professional on that partition. If the partition has an existing operating system, you will overwrite that operating system if you accept the default installation path. However, files other than the operating system files, such as program files and data files, will not be overwritten.
* If the hard disk has an existing partition, you can delete it to create more unpartitioned space for the new partition. Deleting an existing partition erases all data on that partition.

If you select a new partition during Setup, create and size only the partition on which you will install Windows XP Professional. After installation, use Disk Management to partition the remaining space on the hard disk.

1. Select a file system for the installation partition. After you create the partition on which you will install Windows XP Professional, you can use Setup to select the file system with which to format the partition. Windows XP Professional supports the NTFS file system in addition to the file allocation table (FAT) and FAT32 file systems. Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000, and Windows NT are the only Microsoft operating systems that you can use to gain access to data on a local hard disk that is formatted with NTFS. If you plan to gain access to files that are on a local Windows XP Professional partition with the Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98 operating systems, you should format the partition with a FAT or FAT32 file system. We will use NTFS.

1. Setup will then begin copying necessary files from the installation point (CD, local I386 or network share).
2. Note: If you began the installation process from an MS-DOS floppy, make sure you have and run SMARTDRV from the floppy, otherwise the copying process will probably last more than an hour, perhaps even more. With SMARTDRV (or if setup was run by booting from CD) the copying will probably last a few minutes, no more than 5 max.

1. The computer will restart in graphical mode, and the installation will continue.

Step #4: The GUI-based portion of the Setup program

The setup process reboots and loads a GUI mode phase.

It will then begin to load device drivers based upon what it finds on your computer. You don't need to do anything at this stage.

1. Click Customize to change regional settings, if necessary.

* Current System Locale - Affects how programs display dates, times, currency, and numbers. Choose the locale that matches your location, for example, French (Canada).
* Current Keyboard Layout - Accommodates the special characters and symbols used in different languages. Your keyboard layout determines which characters appear when you press keys on the keyboard.

If you don't need to make any changes just press Next.

If you do need to make changes press Customize and add your System Locale etc.

Note for Hebrew users: Unlike W2K, it is SAFE and it is OK for you to install Hebrew language support at this phase.
To install Hebrew support:

After pressing Customize go to the Languages tab and select the "Install files for complex script and right-to-left languages".

A warning message will appear. Press Ok.

Warning: You must now press Apply!!!

Setup will copy the necessary files from the installation point.

You can now go to the Regional Options tab and select Israel in the Location drop-down list, and Hebrew in the Standards and Formats drop-down list. Click Ok.

1. Type your name and organization.

1. Type the product key.

1. Type the computer name and a password for the local Administrator account. The local Administrator account resides in the SAM of the computer, not in Active Directory. If you will be installing in a domain, you need either a pre-assigned computer name for which a domain account has been created, or the right to create a computer account within the domain.

1. Select the date, time, and time zone settings.

1. Setup will now install the networking components.

After a few seconds you will receive the Networking Settings window. BTW, if you have a NIC that is not in the HCL (see the What's the HCL? page) and XP cannot detect it, or if you don't have a NIC at all, setup will skip this step and you will immediately go to the final phase of the setup process.

Press Next to accept the Typical settings option if you have one of the following situations:

* You have a functional DHCP on your network.
* You have a computer running Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).
* You're in a workgroup environment and do not plan to have any other servers or Active Directory at all, and all other workgroup members are configured in the same manner.

Otherwise select Custom Settings and press Next to customize your network settings.

1. One thing you CAN do (you don't have to do it, it's your call - read more about it on the Increase Internet Connection Speed in Windows XP page) is to uninstall the Qos Packet Scheduler. Click it and press the Uninstall button. If you want to keep it you can simply remove the mark from the QoS check-box. In anyway you can later install or uninstall it if you want.

Keep the TCP/IP, Client for Microsoft Networks and the File and Print Sharing options selected.

1. Highlight the TCP/IP selection and press Properties.

In the General tab enter the required information. You must specify the IP address of the computer, and if you don't know what the Subnet Mask entry should be - you can simply place your mouse pointer over the empty area in the Subnet Mask box and click it. The OS will automatically select the value it thinks is good for the IP address you provided.

If you don't know what these values mean, or if you don't know what to write in them, press cancel and select the Typical Settings option. You can easily change these values later.

1. In the Workgroup or Domain window enter the name of your workgroup or domain.

* A workgroup is a small group of computers on a network that enables users to work together and does not support centralized administration.
* A domain is a logical grouping of computers on a network that has a central security database for storing security information. Centralized security and administration are important for computers in a domain because they enable an administrator to easily manage computers that are geographically distant from each other. A domain is administered as a unit with common rules and procedures. Each domain has a unique name, and each computer within a domain has a unique name.

If you're a stand-alone computer, or if you don't know what to enter, or if you don't have the sufficient rights to join a domain - leave the default entry selected and press Next.

If you want to join a domain (NT 4.0 domain of W2K/2003 Active Directory domain) enter the domain's name in the "Yes, make this computer a member of the following domain" box.

To successfully join a domain you need the following:

* The person performing the installation must have a user account in Active Directory. This account does not need to be the domain Administrator account.

and

* The computer must have an existing computer account in the Active Directory database of the domain that the computer is joining, and the computer must be named exactly as its domain account is named.

or

* The person performing the installation must have appropriate permission to create a domain account for the computer during installation.

Also, you need to have connectivity to the domain's domain controllers (only to the PDC if on an NT 4.0 domain) and a fully functional DNS server (only in AD domains). Read the Joining a Domain in Windows XP Pro and Requirements when Joining a Domain pages for more on this issue.

Enter the Active Directory domain name (in the form of xxx.yyy, for example: DPETRI.NET) or the NetBIOS name of the NT 4.0 domain (in the form of xxx, for example: DPETRI). Press Next.

Note: If you provide a wrong domain name or do not have the correct connectivity to the domain's DNS server you will get an error message.

A username/password window will appear. Enter the name and password of the domain's administrator (or your own if you're the administrator on the target domain).

Note: Providing a wrong username or password will cause this phase to fail.

1. Next the setup process will finish copying files and configuring the setup. You do not need to do anything.

1. After the copying and configuring phase is finished, if XP finds that you have a badly configured screen resolution it will advise you to change it and ask you if you see the new settings right.

BTW, the minimum supported screen resolution in XP is 800X600.

1. Setup finishes and boots Windows XP.

1. A Welcome screen is the first thing you see. The computer checks your Internet connectivity (required for the mandatory Activation and voluntary Registration processes).

You will be asked to register your copy of XP. You can decline if you want.

1. XP will ask you for the default username that will log onto this computer. You can enter as many as 5 users, but you can create more after the installation is finished.

BTW, the Administrator is not shown as a valid logon option (read more about it on the Add the Administrator's Account to the Welcome Screen in XP Pro page).

1. That's it! you're done!

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How to Format a Hard Drive With Windows XP

If you want to format a hard drive while using or installing Windows XP, you've come to the right place. This can be very useful for clearing everything off a secondary drive or when installing a fresh copy of Windows. Formatting a computer hard drive is simple and can help eliminate viruses, storage issues and other hard-to-resolve problems.
Instructions

Preparation

1. When you format a computer hard drive you will lose everything that is on the drive. Therefore, it is very important to back up anything you might want later. Additionally, if you are going to be formatting and installing XP you need to make sure you have the discs for any applications or third party hardware you use since you will need to re-install your programs and drivers after re-installing Windows.

2. Take a moment to think of anything that you have on the computer that you wouldn't want to lose. Generally, you probably want everything in your My Documents folder, and you also want to save things like your favorites or bookmarks from your Web browser. Remember that each user on the computer has his or her own My Documents folder, Desktop items and Favorites/Bookmarks.
3. Save everything to a CD, DVD or a hard drive that you won't be formatting.
Formatting a Secondary Hard Drive
4. Right-Click on the "My Computer" icon either on your desktop or in the Start Menu and select "Manage."
5. A new window titled "Computer Management" comes up. Select "Storage" from the left hand side by clicking it once, then select "Disk Management(local)" from the right side by double-clicking it.
6. Now in the lower part of the main frame (right side) of the window you should see a nice visual of all your hard drives. Each line is a different drive. Each box on a line (with a colored bar at the top and a size displayed in MB or GB) is a partition on the drive. Partitions are separations of space on a drive. Unless you are doing something specific that requires multiple partitions, you only want one partition per drive.
7. First you must delete any existing partitions on the drive you are going to format. Do this by right-clicking on the partition's box and selecting "Delete Partition..." Since you already know that you will be deleting everything on the drive, and have already backed everything up, you can safely say yes to any warning the computer presents you with.
8. If there are multiple partitions make sure you have saved everything off them since they might each have different drive letters (i.e. "D:" or "F:"). Then repeat the above step for each of them. If you only want to format one partition that is OK and you can continue to the next step without deleting the other partitions.
9. The box for the drive to be formatted should now have a black bar at the top of it and should say "Unallocated" under its size (see picture). Right click on it and select "New Partition..." The New Partition Wizard comes up.
10. In the New Partition Wizard click next. On the next page make sure "Primary Partition" is selected and click next. Now make the size equal to the maximum (it should already be set to it), and click next again. On the next page the computer will automatically choose the first available drive letter for the new drive. However, if you like you can choose another drive letter from the drop-down menu, and then click next.
11. Finally the New Partition Wizard asks if you would like to format the new partition and if so what format. Choose "NTFS" as it is faster and more secure. Leave the "Allocation unit size" as "Default." In the "Volume label" field enter whatever name you want the drive to have. Simple is better. Avoid using spaces. Lastly, if the drive is brand new and has never been used before check the "Perform a quick format" box. If the drive has been used before leave this box unchecked. Leave the "Enable file and folder compression" box unchecked and click next. Then on the next page click finish.
12. The wizard will now spend a little while formatting the drive. On old or large drives this may take a while. Do not close the "Computer Management" window until it finishes. You will know it is done when the word under the size of the drive changes from "Formatting" to "Healthy" and the name and drive letter you chose for the new drive show up. After it is finished you can proceed to use your newly formatted drive.
Formatting and Installing from the Windows XP CD
13. This section explains how to reformat a drive from the Windows XP installation CD. This can be used when installing a fresh copy of Windows onto a computer. Here it is especially important to backup all of your important information because upon formatting you will lose EVERYTHING that used to be on the drive. This includes all applications and device drivers, so you must back up everything you can.
14.

Insert your Windows XP installation disc into your CD drive (Home or Pro--it does not matter).
15.

Now as you computer boots a little more it will say "Press any key to boot from CD.." press a key to do so.
16.

The CD will load up a blue screen and then spend a while loading files it needs. When it is finished it will list a few options, mainly "Press ENTER to set up Windows XP." Press Enter or Return.
17.

Now you will be at a screen to select where to install Windows to. This is where you can delete old partitions and format drives. The box in the bottom half of the screen shows all your drives and the partitions that exist on them. Use the Up and Down arrow keys to highlight your "C:" partition and press the 'D' key (if all that shows up is "Unpartitioned space" and you have no C: or D: partitions, skip this step). On the next screen press the 'L' key to finalize deleting the partition.
18.

Now you are back on the screen to choose where to install Windows. The box on the lower half of the screen should no longer show a partition but simply have an entry "Unpartitioned space xxxxxMB." Select this with the arrow keys and press the 'C' key to create a partition on the drive. The next screen tells you the minimum and maximum sizes the partition can be and lets you pick the size. The default size is the maximum, but double check that the number entered is the maximum and hit enter.
19.

Now you will again be back at the choose where to install Windows screen. But this time you will have a partition that looks something like this "C: Partition1 [New (Raw)]xxxxxxMB." Highlight this entry and press enter.
20.

The next screen lets you choose which file system to format the drive with. Choose NTFS as it is faster and more secure. If the drive is brand new and has never been used before then use one of the options that ends in "(Quick)." Or, choose one of the lower down options. Use the arrow keys to select the proper one and press Enter or Return.
21.


From here you are all set and the installation of Windows will proceed starting with a format of your drive. This will take a while (over half an hour) so you can take a little break.

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