Archiving
your email.
The
AutoArchive default
for Outlook is set
on the Tools >
Options > Other tab.
Clicking the
AutoArchive...
button will bring up
the following
dialog:
Set
the autoarchive
period you wish, and
define a path in the
My Documents area (I
suggest creating a
folder called "My
Email Archive") to
save the archive
file.
Note that the archive
period shown above may be far too
short for you. You
might want to run the
archiving feature every
30 days and clean out
things older than 6
months, rather than the
settings shown above.
Note also that the path
to the archive file is
not the default one.
It is a path to a folder
within the My Documents
structure called "My
Email Archive."
That way it will get
backed up when the rest
of your My Documents are
backed up, and it is
also easier to find.
The actual archive file
is a ".pst" file, a
personal store file,
which can be opened and
compressed from within
Outlook.
It is also important, if
you want to make
reference to the archive
frequently, to check the
box "Show archive folder
in the folder list,"
though it is easy to
find and open/close if
need be. This just
makes it easier.
Please also note that
the button titled "Apply
these settings to all
folders now" actually
only applies the
settings to folders
where custom archive
settings already
exist--overriding those
settings.
You
can archive any
folder any time you
want by selecting
the folder and
choosing File >
Archive...
though this will
become unnecessary
once you establish
the habit of
regularly archiving.
Most
people keep far too
many emails around,
which in a large
organization like
Palomar college
chokes the Exchange
server and makes for
storage and backup
headaches for the IS
staff.
Archiving your email
moves it off the
Exchange server onto
your hard drive.
Of course, it is
important that you
back up your hard
drive regularly, but
I can testify from
personal experience
that it really
doesn't matter if
you lose all that
old email...
Backing
up your Rules.
When
you get a new
computer, the last
thing you think
about are the
client-side email
rules you spent so
long developing.
It is simple to
export your rules
and import them
again on the new
computer. You
just have to
remember to do it.
Here's how:
Choose Tools >
Rules and Alerts...
Click
the Options button
Click
the Export Rules
button
Define a file
location for the
rules and click
Save.
The
rules will be saved
as a *.rwz file.
They can be imported
to another computer
using the same
program areas.
Mailbox Cleanup.
Outlook provides a
handy tool for
cleaning up the
space taken up by
your account on the
Exchange server.
It is located on the
tools menu.
Choose Tools >
Mailbox Cleanup...
You will see the
following dialog:
The
find items older
than x days should
not be too relevant
after you have
established a good
autoarchiving
procedure, but if
this is the first
time you have tried
to cleanup your
mailbox, it may be
of interest.
Be careful, the
AutoArchive button
on this screen
immediately starts
the autoarchive
procedure. It
does NOT bring up
additional dialog
boxes (as indicated
by the absence of
ellipses on the
button). Note
that there is also a
handy way to empty
the deleted item
basket here too.
Remember, you can
always create
exceptions to the
general autoarchive
rules
