IT Tips - April 2012

It Tips – April 2012

                                                                             

The trees are budding and the birds are chirping. Stop gazing out the window and peer into this month’s IT Tip!

What’s Inside:

Tech Section

·         Email Threading in Outlook

·         Java Update (Windows 7 users)

Email Threading in Outlook

Do you find yourself struggling to find related parts of large email conversations? Have you ever wished that Outlook could group your emails by the subject so you can quickly see all of the correspondence you have had on a particular topic? Well I’m ready to show you how, for a nominal fee, of course...

Just kidding, it’s free, and very simple.

Here’s how:

Go to your Outlook Inbox.

Click on View at the top.

Mouse-over ‘Arrange by’ and then click on ‘Conversation’.

Your inbox will now be grouped by subject line so you can see entire conversations. It should look something like this:

There you have it: Email threading in Outlook.

Note: It’s not perfect so you may occasionally see some unrelated emails grouped. It basically looks for emails with the exact same subject-line and groups them.

I made this change and I hate it. How do I fix it now!?

Simply follow the steps again and choose ‘Date’ rather than ‘Conversation’ (‘Date’ is the default Outlook configuration).

You can also play around with the various ‘Arrange by’ categories and you may find something else you like.

Java Update

Windows 7 Users, does this look familiar?

It probably pops up every time you start up your computer. It’s annoying, isn’t it? Let’s fix it.

Java is required by certain websites and applications. In fact, you probably use it more than you think. It’s always a good idea to update Java, as the updates usually contain security patches and bug fixes. That means they can help to avoid crashes and malicious software.

There is one catch during the installation of the update so follow along carefully.

First, click on Yes when you see the User Account Control screen.

Next, we’ll go down to the Windows System Tray and double click on the Java update icon.

You will now see the Java installer window. Click the Install button.

Click Install again.

Java will now download the necessary files.

Here is the catch I mentioned earlier. Many companies have partners that will give them a little kick-back if they (shamelessly) try to get you to install their software. In this case, Ask has had Java bundle their toolbar with Java’s updates. Toolbars in general are not worth the performance loss and are a waste of space in my opinion. Be sure you uncheck the checkbox here:



Of course, it’s checked by default



Unchecked:

Now that you’ve unchecked the box click on Next and the Java update will begin to install.

When finished, the window will inform you that ‘You have successfully installed Java’ and give you the option to Close. Close the window and you’re done!

Have a great month, everyone!

-Keith

Please don’t hesitate to shoot me an email if you have a something that you think will make a good tip. You’ll get credit for the contribution on the blog and I might give you a high-five!