Ask A Geek

Q: I’ve been reading up on different solutions to the French spellchecker in Outlook Express after loading Office 2007, such as downloading a dictionary from an outside source, or reloading OE 2003. Does anyone know how these solutions affect existing dictionaries? I do medical transcription and have a medical spellchecker loaded. I can’t lose that. Also, if I reload OE from Office 2003, will I have to start over to set up my identity and lose all the contacts and mail I have on there now?

Q: If I quick-save an e-mail attachment and then I delete the email, where will I find the attachment? I have looked in the temporary files and in program files for Outlook Express but I have had no luck in finding the e-mail or attachment. Any ideas?

Q: When I forward inline pictures from Outlook Express, there is a blank square at the other end. I have tried different recipients, and no one is receiving the pictures. I have checked the settings in Outlook, but I did not find anything that would prevent the sending of the pictures. I am using AVG antivirus with Windows XP, but there are no settings that I can find that would cause the problem.

Q: Is it safe to download the program Spell Checker for Outlook Express Freeware download and review from snapfiles.com?

Q: I have Windows XP Home Edition. My e-mail is Outlook Express and Spelling Check no longer works. I get a message to insert disk and I do not have a disk as this came on the computer. Apparently this was removed from the control panel by error. Can this be restored to the control panel without a disk? How?

Q: I am having problems with Outlook Express delete because the delete command is inconsistent. Sometimes it will send some email to recycle bin and others times not. Deleting from within the recycle bin is not a problem, but doing it from sent files or from inbox only works “hit or miss”. Restart works for a bit, then same problem occurs. I use Registry Patrol 3.0, and do thorough virus scans with Avast, along with keeping my cache files clean. If reinstalling Outlook Express is the fix, how do I do that?

Q: I have added email accounts to my Outlook Express in Microsoft Windows but I cannot receive messages into my inbox or even view them in this program. Is there a setup process I am missing?

A: First, make sure that your email provider allows you to use Outlook Express. For example, the free version of Yahoo! Mail does not allow users in the United States to read or send emails in Outlook Express. The free version of Windows Live Hotmail allows some email programs to read and send emails, but not Outlook Express. Workarounds for these restrictions are available on the internet. But I do not suggest using them for security reasons — you don’t want others to know your passwords. Programs like Google’s Gmail allow users to read and send emails using Outlook Express.

Entering your email address and password is not enough to give you access to your email account in Outlook Express. You must also enter server settings. Each email provider uses its own server settings. So I cannot give you any specific instructions. But you can take a look at the general overview from Microsoft called Setting Up Mail Servers in Outlook Express. To give you a better idea of what to expect, you might also want to look at the Gmail Help Center’s articles on POP for Outlook Express and IMAP for Outlook Express. POP and IMAP are the two most popular methods for sending and receiving emails in programs like Outlook Express. POP is easier to use and better supported than IMAP in most situations.

Also see other questions and answers related to Outlook Express on AskAGeek.com.

Q: I just purchased a new Dell Computer with Word 2007 but now my Outlook Express dictionary is in French with no way to switch to English. Is there a patch I can apply because I am disgusted and might removed this version and go back to 2003 version.

A: Your problem well documented online and is indeed caused by having one or more Office 2007 applications installed alongside Outlook Express. Uninstalling the 2007 version and installing Office 2003 is a possible solution. But there are ways to keep Office 2007 and fix Outlook Express.

Microsoft knows about this problem in Office 2007, but apparently does not care enough about its customers to create a real fix. My opinion is that Microsoft wants you to switch to Windows Vista, which replaces Outlook Express with a program called Windows Mail. See the Microsoft article entitled You no longer have spell checking capabilities in some languages in Outlook Express 6.0 after you install the 2007 Microsoft Office system for more information regarding your Outlook Express problem. While it may issue a patch sometime in the future, Microsoft is currently recommending that you install a third-party dictionary for Outlook Express. You can find such software on sites like softpedia.com. Another fix that has been suggested on forums and in articles is to install dictionaries from previous versions of Microsoft Office. Take a look at an article called Office 2007 and OE Spell Check for a detailed procedure. In short, you will do a “custom” installation of the older version, only installing the English “proofing tools”. Of course, Microsoft undoubtedly expects you to have a valid software license for the older copy of Office that you will be using. Another solution is for you to start using Outlook instead of Outlook Express.

Incidentally, there was also an issue with calculation Errors in Excel 2007 awhile back. To be fair, Microsoft did patch the Excel problem. Nevertheless, issues such as yours and the Excel 2007 fiasco are why I only use Microsoft products when absolutely necessary! I recommend that you replace Microsoft Office 2007 with a free program called OpenOffice, which is compatible with Word, PowerPoint and Excel files. You may also want to consider switching from Windows to another operating system, like Mac OS X or Linux.