Reasons To Upgrade To Windows 8

Windows 8 Operating System gives a good advantage to those who are upgrading existing computers or buying new ones. There are many new features in the OS that improves the performance of the OS. This OS ensures optimum performance of the computer and is cheaper. Some of the salient features, which will make you opt for Windows 8 upgrade are,

Faster Startup

When comparing two computers of the same configuration, running Windows 8 and Windows 7, the computer running on Windows 8 starts up twice as fast as Windows 7. When comparing with Apple’s latest desktop OS, Mac OS X Mountain Lion, Windows 8 starts up faster. It is evident that Microsoft has put in a lot of work to improve the performance in Windows 8.

New Apps

The new Windows 8 OS gives a new world of full-screen, web-connected, touch-friendly applications to explore. These new apps can also display relevant information on the Windows Start screen tiles. This is not possible in Windows 7 OS. The new Windows store which is like the Apple’s iTunes App Store makes installing and using these apps very easy.

SkyDrive Integration

The cloud service of Microsoft has improved considerably. This has become way more than online storage. You can access files and save files to an online storage space, which can be accessed from a web browser or apps that run not only on Windows OS, but also on MAC OS, iOS Windows phone and Android.

More Secure, Less Intrusive Updates

The networking and security analyst of PC Magazine, Fahmida Rashid considers Windows 8 the most secure version of Windows till date. This is due to the secure boot and other added features of the OS. As per the words of Sebastian Anthony of Extreme Tech, Windows 8 stops a computer from loading an OS that is not signed by the publisher.

World Class Touch Input

It is said that the touch screen input of Windows 8 is superior to that of the Apple iPad. You can all the tasks in Windows 8 by swiping the screen with your fingers. This makes a tablet easy to use by holding it by the sides.
These are the five main reasons that will tempt you to go for the Windows 8 upgrade. Upgrade to Windows 8 and experience the difference.

Configure Outlook Express To Access Microsoft Exchange Server Mailbox

The Outlook Web Access allows users to access their Microsoft Exchange Server mailbox from any computer using a web browser. You may use any web browser to access your Exchange server mailbox if you have an active internet connection.

Those who travel and require remote access will find Outlook Web Access really useful. With the help of Outlook Web Access, users can configure Outlook Express to retrieve email messages from the Exchange Server. The below mentioned Outlook Express Help guidelines will help you configure Outlook Express to retrieve email messages from the Exchange Server using Outlook Web Access.

Instructions for configuring Outlook with Web Access

• Close Microsoft Outlook application if it is open.
• Click the Start button and select Control Panel from the menu.
• From the Control Panel window, locate the Mail icon and double-click to open it. You have to add a new Outlook profile by clicking the Add button. You will get the option to provide a name for the newly created Outlook profile. Type a desired name into the text field of the dialog box.
• Next, you need to select the option Add a new email account and click on the Next button. Locate the list of email servers from the window and choose Microsoft Exchange Server as your mail server. Click on the Next button.
• Look for the place where you can enter the URL for the Exchange Server web access. Type the URL address there. You can see a text field labeled User Name where you need provide your Outlook account name. In order to verify whether you have entered the correct value, you may click the Check Name button.
• Now click on More Settings button. From the More Settings window, click on Security tab. Mark the checkbox for Encrypt Information.
• Now click on Connection tab. Mark the checkbox for the option labeled Connect to my Exchange mailbox using HTTP. Now click on OK button to confirm and save your settings. Close this window and click the Next button.
• Finally click on the Finish button to complete the configuration. 

You have now successfully configured your Outlook Express email client to retrieve messages from Exchange Server’s web access. It may be noted that Outlook Web Access has many versions with various feature sets.

You can go through the Outlook Express Help menu to get more information on how to configure and manage Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server.

Use Scanpst.exe To Repair Outlook Personal Storage Folder Issues

Microsoft Outlook automatically stores messages, contacts, appointments, tasks, notes, and journal entries in one of the following two locations:

• In a personal storage folder, also known as a .pst file, on your hard disk drive.
• In a mailbox that is located on the server. Your mailbox will be on a server if you use Outlook with Microsoft Exchange Server.

You can use a backup of your .pst file to restore or move your Outlook data if you experience a hardware failure or lose data unexpectedly.

Microsoft Outlook troubleshooting

In case you have problems opening the Personal storage folder file (.pst) or your Offline folder file (.ost), you can use the Outlook Inbox Repair tool to diagnose and repair the error. The Inbox Repair Tool scans only the .pst or .ost file, not your mailbox on the server running Microsoft Exchange.

Instructions

• Close Microsoft Outlook if it is open.
• Launch the Inbox Outlook Repair tool Scanpst.exe by going to drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12.
• In the scan box, enter the name of the .pst or .ost file that you want to check. Alternatively, you may click Browse to search for the file.
• If you want to specify the scan log options, click Options, and then click the option that you want.
• To begin the scanning, click Start.
• The scanning will locate the errors and once it is finished, you will be prompted to start the repair process to fix the errors.
• Inbox Repair tool will create a backup file during the repair process. If you want to change the name and location of this backup file, you can provide a desired file name and location to save the file.
• Now click Repair.
• Open Outlook by using the profile that contains the .pst file that you tried to repair.
• Now click on the Go menu and select Folder List.
• Under the Folder List, you will find the folder named Recovered Personal Folders that contains your default Outlook folders or a Lost and Found folder. Usually the recovered folders are empty, because this is a rebuilt .pst file. One problem that you may find is that the items that are missing from the Lost and Found folder cannot be repaired.
• Create a new .pst file, and drag the items in the Lost and Found folder into the new .pst file folder. When you have finished moving all the items, you can delete the Recovered Personal Folders file, including the Lost and Found folder, from your profile.

Using this Outlook repair tool, you should be able to fix the problem of your Outlook Personal Storage Folder. If this does not fix the issue, contact the Outlook Support team and get advanced assistance. 

How To Change The Administrator Password In Windows

The Windows operating system lets you add various User Accounts to your computer. This helps you grant different access permissions to different users. Users can have different computer configurations and user settings on the same computer. This feature comes handy, especially on computers, which are shared. The Administrator account on a computer has no restrictions for accessing the data and information.
It is possible to create more than one administrator account in a single computer. This feature helps you grant access to more than one administrator on the same computer. Sometimes, one might get into trouble if they forget the password of one of the administrator accounts. In such cases, you can log in to one of the other administrator accounts and change the password of the other. Following are the Windows Tech Support guidelines for resetting the administrator password in case you have forgotten it.
Instructions 

• Turn on your computer. When the login screen appears, enter the Username and Password for the user account that has Administrative rights. This is the default login option in most computers.
• Go to the Start menu located on your Windows taskbar and click on Run. This opens the Run dialog box. 
• Type control userpasswords2 into the text field and click the Ok button. This opens the User Accounts window. It contains a list of user accounts stored in your computer. You can modify the settings of these user accounts as required.
• Click the Users tab to see the list of user accounts. Choose the desired user account for which you need to change the password, and click on the Reset Password button.
• You will be prompted to enter a new password in the next dialog box. Enter a desired password in the text box labeled New Password. Enter the same password again in the confirmation text box. 
• Make sure that you enter a strong password that is also easy to remember. Try to create a password that includes a combination of letters, numbers and characters for more security.
• Click the OK button.
• Shut down your Windows computer and turn it on again. Enter the new password for the user account for which you changed the password. You should now be able to login using the new password. 

Take caution while sharing your password with unknown users or over the internet. For more assistance, contact the Windows Tech Support center.

Learn About Outlook 2013 Address Books

Microsoft Outlook lets you manage your different email tasks easily and efficiently. When it comes to email management, you will be required to keep much personal contact information and email addresses in your email application. Microsoft Outlook uses its Outlook Address Book to maintain this data.
Here in this section, we will discuss about the different Address Books being used in Outlook 2013. Microsoft Outlook 2013 uses several Address Books that are really part of the Microsoft Exchange Server. The Address Books have several separate, independent lists of names and e-mail addresses, which can be confusing. Microsoft has simplified the issue of dealing with Address Books in Outlook 2002 and later versions, but that does not help if you use Outlook on a large corporate network.

Microsoft Outlook 2013 Address Books

The Outlook Contacts list contains all kinds of personal information, whereas an Address Book focuses on just e-mail addresses. Microsoft Outlook makes use of its Address Book to deal with the nitty-gritty details of actually sending your message to people on your corporate e-mail system, especially if that system is the Microsoft Exchange Server. Here are the different Address Books that you use in Microsoft Outlook.
The Global Address list: If you are using Outlook on a corporate network, the Global Address list, which your system administrator maintains, normally has the names and e-mail addresses of everyone in your company. The Global Address list allows you to address an e-mail message to anybody in your company, without having to look up the e-mail address.
The Contacts Address Book: The Contacts Address Book is the e-mail addresses from the Contacts list. Outlook automatically populates the Contacts Address Book so you can easily add people to a message you are sending when you click the “To” button.
Additional Address Books: If you create folders for Outlook contacts, those folders also become separate Address Books. Your system administrator can create additional Address Books as well, and if you connect Outlook to services like LinkedIn, your LinkedIn contacts may appear as a separate Address Book, too.
Anyhow, you do not need to know what an Address Book is most of the time - you just type the name of the person you are e-mailing in the “To” box when you compose a message. Microsoft Outlook automatically checks the name for spelling and then pulls the corresponding email address and sends your message.
Go through the Outlook help menu, if you want to know more about the Outlook Address Book and its purposes.

Find Your Local IP Address In Windows 7

Your computer will have an IP address assigned when it joins an Ethernet network, so that the network can locate your computer easily. It allows you to communicate with other computers residing on the same network.
Majority of the computer users need not worry about their IP Address as the DHCP of their local Internet service provider does the job for them. However, for people such as system administrators, knowing the IP address is important. You can follow these Windows Tech Support guidelines to retrieve the IP address of your computer.
Instructions:

• One simple method to access your IP address is by navigating to the Windows Command Prompt interface. To open the Command Prompt, click the Start button, select All Programs and then click Accessories. Finally, select the Command Prompt option from the list.
• An alternative method to open the Command Prompt window is by clicking the Start button and then typing CMD into the Search box field found in the Start menu.
• You will receive a window with a prompt (C:\Users\username>) on your screen. Type ipconfig into the Command Prompt window and hit the Enter key, to run the command.
• You will receive a long list of information on your Command Prompt window out of which IP4 Address is your internal IP address that is used by your computer to communicate with your local network. The IP address of your computer is a numerical representation, which looks similar to 192.168.1.100. 
• So if you find it difficult to use the command line interface, you can switch to the Control Panel method. Open your Control Panel window, double click on the Network and Internet option and select the Network and Sharing Center. Then click on the Change adapter settings link located at the top left corner of the window.
• Select the type of network, which is either Wireless Network Connection or Local Area Connection by double clicking on the link.
• You will receive the Connection window on which you need to locate the Details button and click on it.
• The new window will list out the IP address information of your computer, out of which IP4 Address is your internal IP address that is used to communicate with your local network.

If you have any further doubts on this, contact the Windows tech support team and get more assistance. You can also find related topics on the Windows Help menu.

How To Reinstall Outlook 2002 On Windows XP, Vista And Windows 7

We all know that Outlook is invaluable as a desktop email client, doing away with the need to open the web browser, navigate to the mail address, and log in to it, whenever you want to check your mail.

Outlook Express is a version of Microsoft Outlook, which comes as part of a bundle of software called Microsoft Office. The components of Microsoft Office might sometimes need to be installed and reinstalled, owing to the corruption of files or program components. Outlook repair generally entails the re-installation of the program, and here is how you go about it properly.

Perform Outlook repair and reinstall in Windows XP

If you are a user of Windows XP and need to reinstall Outlook 2002, then you can try to repair the installation first. Navigate to the control panel of your computer and then double click on the Add or Remove Programs option.  Find the entry for Microsoft Outlook in the list, and then select change/remove. This will let you try a hand at repairing the previous installation of the program. If it does not work and you decide to reinstall, select the remove this program option and then put in the Microsoft Office 2002 disk to install a fresh copy of the program. Follow the instructions provided in the disk to complete the procedure successfully.

Perform Outlook repair and reinstall in Windows Vista

If you are a user of Windows Vista and need to reinstall Outlook, the installation of Office 2002's components can be repaired from the Programs and Features section. Search for the list for the Outlook entry. When you find the same, select Uninstall/Change. Click on the Change button to repair the previous installation of the component, or click on Uninstall to remove the leftover parts completely. Put in the Microsoft Office 2002 disk and install a fresh copy.

Perform Outlook repair and reinstall in Windows 7

If you use the Windows 7 operating system, you can repair the previous installation by doing the following steps. From the Start menu, access the Control Panel. Go to Programs, and then click Uninstall. From the list of installed programs displayed, find Outlook 2002 and choose either the Repair or the Uninstall option. If you choose the latter, insert the Office 2002 disk and follow the instructions on the screen, to complete the proper installation of the component.

If you have any difficulty in performing Outlook repair, or if you have any further doubts on the procedure, you can contact the Outlook support team and get more assistance.