O
obillo
I’m using Windows XP Home 2003 and Outlook 2003. My Outlook is, I believe,
unstable. It does things I haven’t asked it to do—makes ‘uncommanded
changes,’ all of them irritating. Examples:
A] Palatino is my default typeface, dark blue. Sometimes I’ll be typing a
new e-mail and it changes to black right in the middle.
B] My signature includes my phone number. When I want to add, say,
extension, moving just one space to the right of the phone number changes my
typeface to Times New Roman.
C] An e-mail I just typed suddenly switched into italics. That’s especially
strange is because the Italic/Bold/ Underline option had disappeared from the
toolbar.
D] Other toolbar grievances. Outlook has just changed mine as just noted.
Also, “clear formatting†gone, as is the window displaying typeface and size.
I now have toolbars I’m I haven’t seen before. No. 1 is OK (message title).
Under it is familiar No. 2:
File/Edit/View/Insert/Format/Tools/Table/Window/Help (though I’m not sure I
recognize “Tableâ€). No. 3 has a semi-familiar list: New E-mail/Open/Save but
also Permission(????)/Print/Print Preview(??) and other icons , like
Research, Format Painter, Insert Hyperlink and more I’m sure I’ve never seen
before. No. 4 is a complete mystery: Data Form/Manage Fields/Add New and
Delete Record/Sort Ascending or Descending/Insert Database/Update Field/Find
Record/Mail Merge Main Document. What are they? Where did they came from.
Toolbar No. 5: is familiar—Send/Insert File and other, though again I’m not
sure about Permission.
E] In DRAFTS I keep a fake e-mail in which I list invitations and
appointments. It’s titled AAAAAAAAAinvitations and, with Drafts set to
display items alphabetized by subject, it should always appear highlighted at
the top. Outlook used to do that but now always opens Drafts in the middle.
F] In message titles and names of folders, sometimes I get boldface,
sometimes not. I never know why.
G] In each new message, a little ruler used to appear at the top of the
message area. It, too, has disappeared.
And on top of all that, my Outlook is SLOW! It constantly hangs up or drags
its feet over the simplest of tasks. I want to write a new e-mail? Hourgless
symbol appears. I want to switch from one folder to another? Same thing.
Cut/paste from this mail to that? Same thing. This behavior is very
inconsistent--so much so that at times it seems as if Outlook just got up on
the wrong side of the bed. The hourglass itself is an annoyance. Let's say I
want to go from Inbox to Online I click and if the h'glass appears, I know
it's working. But then it'll disappear, leading me to think the job;'s
done--only it isn't. Other time, it won't appear, so I think I've
mis-clicked. So I click again--and then Internet windows. All in all, it's
damned frustrating.
I hasten to add that I’m a leave-well-enough-alone kind of guy. I don’t go
exploring toolbars and icons just to see what I can do, so I’m pretty sure
that I haven’t done anything to cause these changes.
unstable. It does things I haven’t asked it to do—makes ‘uncommanded
changes,’ all of them irritating. Examples:
A] Palatino is my default typeface, dark blue. Sometimes I’ll be typing a
new e-mail and it changes to black right in the middle.
B] My signature includes my phone number. When I want to add, say,
extension, moving just one space to the right of the phone number changes my
typeface to Times New Roman.
C] An e-mail I just typed suddenly switched into italics. That’s especially
strange is because the Italic/Bold/ Underline option had disappeared from the
toolbar.
D] Other toolbar grievances. Outlook has just changed mine as just noted.
Also, “clear formatting†gone, as is the window displaying typeface and size.
I now have toolbars I’m I haven’t seen before. No. 1 is OK (message title).
Under it is familiar No. 2:
File/Edit/View/Insert/Format/Tools/Table/Window/Help (though I’m not sure I
recognize “Tableâ€). No. 3 has a semi-familiar list: New E-mail/Open/Save but
also Permission(????)/Print/Print Preview(??) and other icons , like
Research, Format Painter, Insert Hyperlink and more I’m sure I’ve never seen
before. No. 4 is a complete mystery: Data Form/Manage Fields/Add New and
Delete Record/Sort Ascending or Descending/Insert Database/Update Field/Find
Record/Mail Merge Main Document. What are they? Where did they came from.
Toolbar No. 5: is familiar—Send/Insert File and other, though again I’m not
sure about Permission.
E] In DRAFTS I keep a fake e-mail in which I list invitations and
appointments. It’s titled AAAAAAAAAinvitations and, with Drafts set to
display items alphabetized by subject, it should always appear highlighted at
the top. Outlook used to do that but now always opens Drafts in the middle.
F] In message titles and names of folders, sometimes I get boldface,
sometimes not. I never know why.
G] In each new message, a little ruler used to appear at the top of the
message area. It, too, has disappeared.
And on top of all that, my Outlook is SLOW! It constantly hangs up or drags
its feet over the simplest of tasks. I want to write a new e-mail? Hourgless
symbol appears. I want to switch from one folder to another? Same thing.
Cut/paste from this mail to that? Same thing. This behavior is very
inconsistent--so much so that at times it seems as if Outlook just got up on
the wrong side of the bed. The hourglass itself is an annoyance. Let's say I
want to go from Inbox to Online I click and if the h'glass appears, I know
it's working. But then it'll disappear, leading me to think the job;'s
done--only it isn't. Other time, it won't appear, so I think I've
mis-clicked. So I click again--and then Internet windows. All in all, it's
damned frustrating.
I hasten to add that I’m a leave-well-enough-alone kind of guy. I don’t go
exploring toolbars and icons just to see what I can do, so I’m pretty sure
that I haven’t done anything to cause these changes.