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eprog
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This post is from my blog, Outlook-How-To.com, which has many posts
about Outlook add-in reviews, tips and tricks.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Outlook is one of the most popular software in the world.
However, Outlook should be one of the most seriously being complained
software. The No.1 problem that people always complain is its speed.
It usually takes half a minute to launch and we can do NOTHING in that
period of time.
The huge .pst file that Outlook uses to store data is the main reason
for its slow speed. I believe most people regularly send and receive
attachments, Word and Excel files, Photo files and so on. Your
Outlook .pst file can quickly increase to 200MB. After months, a
single .pst file beyond 1GB is very common. So we should slim the .pst
file. The most effective method is to save and remove attachments from
emails.
First, find out the largest emails. Outlook 2007 has a very useful
feature, "Larger Than 100KB". You can find it under Search Folders in
your list of Outlook folders. All emails larger than 100KB will be
listed in that folder. By default, the larger email will be listed
first. Second, Check the emails and its attachments, save or remove
the attachments. If you need the attachment but not the email message,
save the attachment and delete the email. If you need the email
message but not the attachment, open the email and right-click the
attachment and choose Remove. The email will remain its message text
only.
What a trouble and time-consuming procedure! There are tools to make
it easy. Many third party solutions are created in the form of Outlook
add-ins. They check all your emails, save attachments to disk, replace
the attachments with shortcuts to stored attachment files. With the
shortcuts, you can open the attachments as you do normally. The
difference is that Outlook open the file from disk, rather than from
its .pst file. The advantage is your .pst file increases in a very
slow speed. This change dramatically speed up your Outlook.
A powerful Outlook attachment management add-in should have more
features than the basic functions mentioned above. Attachment files
can be saved in either local disks or network disks. Email messages
can be fully restored with attachments when it is forwarded to other
recipients. Attachment files can be renamed based on sender’s name,
sender’s address, email subject and so on. Saving and removing
attachment should have more flexibilities. For example, folders can be
specified for add-ins to manage attachment. Attachment file types and
size, sender and recipient, can be filterd by combinations of
criteria.
Though free add-ins for Outlook attachment management are available.
Commercial add-ins are recommended for the reasons of reliability and
compatibility. Technical support is another factor for choosing add-in
vendors.
This post is from my blog, Outlook-How-To.com, which has many posts
about Outlook add-in reviews, tips and tricks.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Outlook is one of the most popular software in the world.
However, Outlook should be one of the most seriously being complained
software. The No.1 problem that people always complain is its speed.
It usually takes half a minute to launch and we can do NOTHING in that
period of time.
The huge .pst file that Outlook uses to store data is the main reason
for its slow speed. I believe most people regularly send and receive
attachments, Word and Excel files, Photo files and so on. Your
Outlook .pst file can quickly increase to 200MB. After months, a
single .pst file beyond 1GB is very common. So we should slim the .pst
file. The most effective method is to save and remove attachments from
emails.
First, find out the largest emails. Outlook 2007 has a very useful
feature, "Larger Than 100KB". You can find it under Search Folders in
your list of Outlook folders. All emails larger than 100KB will be
listed in that folder. By default, the larger email will be listed
first. Second, Check the emails and its attachments, save or remove
the attachments. If you need the attachment but not the email message,
save the attachment and delete the email. If you need the email
message but not the attachment, open the email and right-click the
attachment and choose Remove. The email will remain its message text
only.
What a trouble and time-consuming procedure! There are tools to make
it easy. Many third party solutions are created in the form of Outlook
add-ins. They check all your emails, save attachments to disk, replace
the attachments with shortcuts to stored attachment files. With the
shortcuts, you can open the attachments as you do normally. The
difference is that Outlook open the file from disk, rather than from
its .pst file. The advantage is your .pst file increases in a very
slow speed. This change dramatically speed up your Outlook.
A powerful Outlook attachment management add-in should have more
features than the basic functions mentioned above. Attachment files
can be saved in either local disks or network disks. Email messages
can be fully restored with attachments when it is forwarded to other
recipients. Attachment files can be renamed based on sender’s name,
sender’s address, email subject and so on. Saving and removing
attachment should have more flexibilities. For example, folders can be
specified for add-ins to manage attachment. Attachment file types and
size, sender and recipient, can be filterd by combinations of
criteria.
Though free add-ins for Outlook attachment management are available.
Commercial add-ins are recommended for the reasons of reliability and
compatibility. Technical support is another factor for choosing add-in
vendors.