Configuring Outlook For Junk Email Messages

If the junk email messages are bothering you, you can protect yourself against these by configuring the junk mail in the Outlook program. For instance, it can be that you get junk mail all the time from the same contact with advertisements, or other junk mails. In the Outlook program, users have the option to block these email messages so that they will not arrive in your inbox. If you make use of such a configuration, you will not have to delete all these junk emails from the inbox everyday from the Outlook program. The tips from Omnitech guides that are posted below will help you to know more on configuring the Outlook program for junk email messages.

Instructions

• In the Outlook window, click on the Tools tab located in the menu bar. 
• Select Options. 
• Now you will have to click on the Junk Email button. 
• You will be able to see 4 tabs. These tabs are discussed below. 

Options

In this tab, you will be able to choose the level of junk email protection. You can choose 'No automatic filtering’ to 'Safe List Only' to configure what to do with the junk email messages in the Outlook program. You can find what each of the levels mean in the description of the levels.

Furthermore, you will be able to choose if the junk email has to be deleted permanently or whether these email messages have to be stored in some special folder.

Safe Senders

You will be able to add email addresses of domain names that are safe and never should be treated as junk emails. The email address that you think is safe can be added manually by selecting the Add button or you can import it from a file by choosing the Import from File button.

Safe Recipients

You will be able to configure the list of safe senders in the Safe Senders tab. Here you can configure it for the recipients instead of the senders.

Blocked Senders

You can add or remove senders that need to be blocked. Email messages from these senders will be deleted or will be moved to a special folder called as 'Junk E-mail' and they will not reach your Inbox.

These are the steps to configure the Outlook program for junk email messages. To know more, you can refer to the Omnitech guides posted in the official Omnitech support website.

Downloading Windows 8

Since the time it came out, and even for a long time before its release, Windows 8 garnered a lot of attention. Everyone was talking about the new Windows operating system, and there were ads wherever you looked. However, this did not exactly help the sales much, though there were many people trying to figure out, if and how a Windows 8 upgrade was doable in their case.

Here is a brief outlook on the over-hyped Windows 8 OS, to help you decide whether to download it or not.

Why do it, and why not?

By now, everyone knows that Windows 8 is not an all-in-all OS, and neither does it work equally well on all devices. Decide what kind of computing experience you want while using your machine, like if speed is the only reason you are leaning towards an upgrade, or there is some problem with installing applications on the OS you currently use.

If what you have now is Windows XP, then you should stick to it; you probably even want to. Unless you are using a Windows Vista or Windows 7 machine, an upgrade is not the answer for you. You could buy a new computer instead, which comes with Windows 8 installed. There is a high chance you can run Windows XP on it too. Just do not try running Windows 8 on a machine with under 1 GB RAM.

And if you did not know already, Windows 8.1 is not something new that you have to buy separately. Its part of the package you get when you do an upgrade.

Compatibility with Windows 8

It is easy enough to download Windows 8, but you need to know if your computer can handle it. Microsoft has a tool, which lets you find out exactly that, called the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant. It is available for download from the Microsoft website, and can be installed and run to check if your computer meets the requirements for Windows 8. It is mainly the hardware components that are checked, and you will get recommendations based on the test.

The main requirements for Windows 8 are as follows:

• 1 GB of RAM for 32-bit, or 2 GB RAM for 64-bit
• 20 GB of free hard disk space
• Graphics to make Direct X9 installable

You need to remember all this before making the leap to Windows 8. For more information on how to download and install Windows 8, check out other posts here.

Windows 8.1 Addressing Some Of Basic Windows 8 Issues

Windows 8 was by far the most anticipated operating systems developed by Microsoft. However, it did not leave up to its expectations at all. Windows 8 was considered a failure by many experts and users alike. There are varied reasons for its downfall though.

One of the main reasons was the revolutionary changes brought in with Windows 8. Windows 7 and Windows 8 have a few things in common when it comes to the user interface and inbuilt features. When Windows 7 was such a huge hit, Windows 8 should have been something like an improvement on Windows 7 rather than a drastically different operating system.

The whole modern, metro-ized, and advanced user interface was very new for most users. Some interface features were confusing and difficult to absorb. Besides that, some of the basic features in traditional Windows platforms were absent in Windows 8. This was another most disturbing thing in the new OS.

There is no Start button or a Start menu in Windows 8. People became used to accessing applications through the Start menu. The new avatar, Start Screen, though offers easy navigation to pinned applications, was a lot puzzling to adjust with quickly. This seriously annoyed users who performed Windows 8 upgrade.

Windows 8.1 was Microsoft’s attempt to resolve some of the glaring problems with Windows 8. Microsoft says that things are pretty much simplified with Windows 8.1 update, and it adds many new features in its predecessor OS. Unlike Windows 8 upgrade from previous versions, users can install the new update from Windows Store just as installing a Service Pack.

Windows 8.1 is very similar to Windows 8, retaining all the applications on the desktop. This way, users need to worry about reinstalling the applications again after upgrading to Windows 8.1. However, it brings along some changes to the OS, aimed to rectify the issues with Windows 8.

The omission of Start button was one of the biggest criticisms of experts and users alike. That is why the first thing Microsoft did with Windows 8.1 update was attaching a Start button on Windows 8 desktop. Another improvement noticed was in the gaming department, as Windows 8.1 supported high-end games like none of the operating systems ever did before.

However, no matter what the changes and new features added to Windows 8 are, the tiled-based interface still keeps users away from adopting it. Let us hope that Microsoft soon comes up with something, and regains its fame in the market, as it had some time ago.

Market Share Of Windows 7, XP And 8.1 Rises, Windows 8 Falls

Even though the Windows 8 operating system is approaching nearly two years after release, it seems that many of the computer users are reluctant to do the Windows 8 transfer. This operating system virtually has no hope of becoming as popular as an operating system that was released in the year 2001. Despite the fact that the Windows XP operating system is no longer supported, the market share of this OS stands at 25.31% as of previous month. That is an increase from 25.27 percent from May. In the mean time, the market share of Windows 8 desktop operating system is just 5.93%, which is a drop from 6.29% in the month of May.

Even though the Windows 8 operating system is three years old, Windows 7 is by far the most popular desktop OS in the world and it occupies over half of the pie with a market share of 50.55%. This is a rise from 50.6% in May. Good news for Microsoft is that the popularity of the Windows 8.1 operating system is rising, but not by much. The market share of Windows 8.1 rose from 6-35% to 6.61% in June. There are likely two main releases for Windows 8’s fall. The conventional Windows users were much dissatisfied with the Metro interface and the missing Start button in the Windows 8 operating system. This has made many of the users who have done the Windows 8 transfer dissatisfied.

Numerous complaints were posted in the Windows support forums regarding the missing Start button in Windows 8 and it seems that Microsoft has heeded the complaints of their users. To resolve the complaints in the Windows 8 OS, Microsoft released Windows 8.1 and apparently, the users like Windows 8.1. OEMs are mostly selling computers loaded with Windows 8.1 as opposed to the Windows 8 OS. Considering that Windows 8.1 is a free update for the current Windows 8 owners, it is only natural that Windows 8 users would be taking advantage of the freebie.

 Nevertheless, the usage numbers of both Windows 8.1 and Windows 8 are small and it seems that it will remain that way for the duration of their existence. If you wish to know more on the market shares of different operating systems from Microsoft, you can contact the Windows support number. 

Using The Charms Bar In Windows 8 OS

Many experts have declared the latest Microsoft OS, Windows 8, a failure. And shockingly, the recent sales figures indeed support their alleges. However, the ‘modern’ platform is not that bad an OS as many claim it to be. It just happens to be completely different from any of the older Windows operating systems, which we have used so far.

Microsoft took a bold decision to do away with the old desktop user interface, in favor of a new touch screen friendly UI. This led to the complete redesign of the Windows OS structure. If you upgrade to Windows 8, you will notice that there is no Start Menu or Task Bar in the new platform. Instead, you will see a tiled Start Screen for accessing apps in Win8, and a Charms bar to fill the gap of the traditional Task Bar.

Their functions are also somewhat different than it was in the previous versions. Charms bar is hidden in the right side of the OS main screen. You need to swipe to the right side of the screen or move the cursor towards that direction to bring out the Charms bar to the screen.

What options does the Charms Bar provide?

On the Charms bar, you will see a few options like Start, Search, Share, Devices, and Settings. Clicking on any of these options will open a new Window, where you can locate what you are looking for. For example, clicking on Start will take you to Start Screen.

In Windows 8, Start Screen essentially replaces old Start Menu, which shows you all the applications installed in your system as live tiles. Of course, the option Search in Charms bar is used for searching anything in the system, but in the latest Windows OS, Microsoft has upgraded the Search utility by integrating it with their Bing search engine, which allows you to expand the search to the internet.

The options Devices will take you to the page for accessing the options and settings for the different devices connected to your system. This is much like the Device Manager utility in the old Windows versions. The option Settings will take you to different OS options for WiFi, Language Settings, Power Options, Volume Control, etc. You can use the Share option to share anything with your friends online.

This was a short note on Win8 Charms bar. For more information about the latest Windows OS, contact our Windows tech support team today.

Steps To Tune Up Windows 7 OS

Even though Windows 7 is considered as a fast operating system, it might slow down after a few months of use. When you find that your operating system is no longer performing the way it used to, then there are certain things that you could do to improve its speed. In this post, we will take you through these methods in detail.

Increase the cores

According to the Windows help center, during the boot process, the computer uses one core. Now, if your processor is a dual core processor, the operating system is not making use of the other core. However, if you wish to experience a quicker boot, you may set multiple cores for booting. Follow the steps below to implement this.

• Press the Windows logo key and R together to open the Run window. In the Run window, enter msconfig and click OK.
• The above step opens the System Configuration Utility window. Select the tab Boot in the window and choose Advanced Options.
• Choose Number of processors and type the number of processors. Select OK and then choose Apply. Restart your PC. 

Remove unwanted fonts

You can find many TrueType fonts in the operating system. Even though you may not use them, they would use your system resources, which could in turn affect its performance. Therefore, it is advisable to remove the other fonts. In order to remove the unwanted fonts, open the Control Panel window and go to the folder Fonts. You may move the unused fonts to a different folder.

Disable search indexing

The function of search indexing is to give you quicker results while searching. However, if you do not use the search function frequently, it is a good strategy to disable this feature. In order to disable it, open the Run window and type services.msc. Click the button OK. From the Windows services, locate the service Windows Search. Right click it and choose the option Disable.

Speed up shutdown

You can decrease the shutdown speed by making changes to the registry. Open the Run window and enter regedit. Click the button OK and this will launch the Registry Editor. Go to the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control and right click the option WaitToKillServiceTimeOut. The default value is 12 seconds. You may change this and enter a lower number. Select OK and restart your PC.

With the above steps, you can improve the speed of your Windows 7 computer. For further assistance on Windows operating systems, you may contact the Windows help center or our technical support team. 

Email Templates In Outlook

Just as you see with other Microsoft Office applications, MS Outlook, the email client application also supports convenience-enhancing features like templates. In Outlook however, it is known as email templates.

With the help of this feature, you can design templates that contain boilerplate email message. Moreover, you can create a toolbar button in Outlook, allowing you to compose a new email message consisting of this boilerplate text. This way, all you need to do is add relevant information in the form and customize other content you wish to add for creating a brand new message.

It only requires that you understand the basic technique. Once you master it, you can easily create Outlook templates and use them on them on the toolbar. This Outlook help article will guide you in understanding this basic technique.

Steps to follow

• Launch a New Message window in Outlook the way you normally do. Then, enter or copy in the message or information that you would like to appear as the boilerplate text.
• In case the subject is the same for all your messages, you can add the subject name as well. Similarly, if you plan to send the same message to a particular group of people recurrently, you can include them in the To, Cc and Bcc fields.
• When everything is done, go to File menu and then click on Save As button.
• Give a name for this template in the pop-up dialogue box, and then select Outlook Template (*.oft) from the drop-down menu in the Save As box. Click OK and your email template will be ready for use.

Like any other software, even Microsoft Outlook is not foolproof. Even a software as efficient as Outlook can give too many error messages at times. This can happen for the newly created email template as well, even though you have constructed it carefully and patiently.

Therefore, to deal with such issues, Outlook offers an inbuilt recovery tool known as Advanced Outlook Repair. This is an excellent tool, that helps to fix Microsoft Outlook problems quickly, and this way you will not lose any important data. Advanced Outlook Repair utility not only fixes the issues, but also helps to recover messages in HTML format. It also recovers embedded objects such as Word documents and Excel Worksheets. This way it ensures that even the templates remain unaffected.

So, now you know to create a Outlook template, use it and ensure its recovery in case of issues. Make use of this awesome feature whenever you need it. For any assistance in the matter, feel free to contact Outlook help center.