Moving Emails: Perils and Possibilities

The context for this piece is the prospect of Windows XP coming to the end of its supported life in April 2014. I know that may seem some time away, but it seems to me that increasing numbers of people are currently considering moving away from XP to another Microsoft operating system, currently Windows 7, well in advance of the April 2014 cut-off date. (Windows 8 is about to arrive – but that’s another story!)

Windows XP came with a free email program (or “email client” as it is known) called Outlook Express. Some versions of Microsoft Office come with an email client called Outlook. Confused? You are not the only one. They are very different, and use very different file formats for emails.

Even more confusingly, Microsoft has decided to re-brand Hotmail, its very successful free email service, and call it –wait for it! – Outlook. Incredible!

To add to the confusion, Outlook Express (OE) is not available in Windows 7; it has been replaced by a choice of two free email clients: Windows Mail, and Windows Live Mail.

Even more confused? I don’t blame you.

The problems arise when moving emails from OE to a computer running Windows 7. OE seems to move to Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail quite easily. However, at this point, I do want to issue a word of caution: moving emails from one program to another, from one operating system to another, can be fraught.

Before you do it, always back up your emails, just in case. (If you do not know how to back up your emails, please put your question into Google; you will get good advice. Or engage the services of a computer engineer/technician.)

To transfer OE emails to Outlook means:

first moving OE emails and folders to Windows Live Mail;

then from Windows Live Mail to Outlook.

I hope you can appreciate that such a double transfer invites problems. Not always, but I’ve had them!

So, what’s to do? Here are my recommendations for how to proceed, and not only preserve your emails, but also your sanity!

1.    Tidy up your current emails. How many of us have dozens of emails in our Inbox? I am also constantly amazed that some people use their emails to store important documents and information. What is even more scary is the fact that while some people regularly back up their important documents, photos, music collections, etc., most people rarely back up their emails.

2.    Seriously consider using a different email client for each active email account (assuming you have more than one.) For example, I use Outlook for my business email, and Mozilla Thunderbird for my personal account.

3.    Seriously consider using webmail instead of an email client. Webmail means you go to a website to get your emails (e.g., Hotmail, Gmail). The advantages are that your emails are stored on a big computer somewhere that is going to be more secure, more maintained, and more backed up than yours. And you can access your emails from wherever in the world you can get an internet connection. If you change your computer, accessing your emails on your new PC is so much easier – you just load your web browser, go to your email website, log in with email address and password, and there they are! All major Internet Service Providers (e.g., BT, Virgin Media, Sky) provide a webmail service.

For some of us, the above recommendations represent major changes in how we deal with our emails. What I am recommending is some preparation for the time when emails have to move, and they will have to move if you use an email client when you change PC or upgrade to Windows 7 from XP.

If you ask me which one of the above is the most important recommendation, I’d say immediately that moving to webmail is the key piece of advice.

If any of the above make you go cold at the very thought of it, please consult a reputable computer technician/engineer. I happen to know one …!!

Independent Living and the Internet

Later this week I will be spending an hour or so with one of my customers called Mr Lancashire (not his real name). About three months ago, he decided to get broadband – his first experience of the internet. He now wants to learn how to shop online. Mr Lancashire is 86 years young.

At the moment, Mr and Mrs Lancashire rely on someone to do their supermarket shopping for them. That is fine, but it does leave them rather dependent. Mr Lancashire sees that using the internet for their weekly shop is a way of preserving his independence. They are going to keep using their friend to do some shopping, but should that arrangement come to an end, they know there is an alternative way to get fresh supplies.

My dealings with Mr Lancashire have set me thinking. I have left out an earlier part of the story. When he made his order for the internet (with a major Internet Service Provider), the ISP sent him the hub, cables and instructions, with the assumption that the customer will set it up by him- or herself. Mr Lancashire could not make sufficient sense of the instructions to do it for himself. So he contacted the provider, who wanted to charge him nearly £100.00. He politely said No thank you.

Instead, he contacted me. I serviced his computer, updated it ready for the internet, and installed security software. When I returned his PC, I connected his hub to the phone socket and then to his PC, checked that the internet was working, and set up his email – all for significantly less than his ISP was offering.

And my point is? There must be lots of people like Mr Lancashire, people who in their working lives never had contact with computers, and never saw a use for one in their leisure-time or in retirement. And yet it is dawning on some of them that the PC and the internet provide ways to stay in control, maintain one’s independence, and facilitate staying in one’s own home.

The internet-connected computer not only enables internet shopping, but also contact and communication with family and friends, via email, or visiting Facebook sites to see photos of what those young family members are up to! Hobbies and interests can be enhanced and stimulated by joining discussion forums or regularly visiting dedicated websites. Managing bank and savings accounts, paying bills, renewing TV licences – all that and much more can be done from the comfort of one’s computer desk and chair, in one’s own home.

Mr Lancashire is keen to take advantage of the opportunity – hurrah! But he is an “innocent abroad” at the moment, trying to learn a whole new set of skills, so that he can “read the screen” and “navigate around the world-wide web”. It’s all a bit daunting, and with the best will in the world at 86 that’s quite a challenge.

It seems to me that personal support is a key element in enabling older surfers to enjoy the benefits of an internet-connected PC. There’s a role for younger members of the family if they are nearby, and there are courses provided by the University of the Third Age and other similar organisations.

And then there are people like me. Yes, I run a business, so I charge for my services. But I am keen to provide support for those in a similar situation to Mr Lancashire. I also hope it helps that I am a silver-haired entrepreneur, well past the first flush of youth! I am local, with most of my customers in the South Manchester area. And I am willing to support local customers over the phone if necessary.

If you are able, please spread the word that TLC is branching out to support silver surfers as they use the technology to stay in charge of their lives. Set-up, support and tuition – those are the key features of the package I’m offering.