Published articles
The following 82 articles by Diane Poremsky have been published in ZATZ magazines.

Rules are not anti-spam filters
Contributing editor Diane Poremsky can't understand why people are so fixated on using rules to delete spam. It's time consuming to keep the rules updated and, because spammers keep changing their addresses (often using fake addresses from legitimate domains) and use creative spelling for their products, it's often a futile effort. You just can't win at this game using rules like this, but you can waste a lot of time trying. In this helpful article, Diane shows you how you should rethink your spam-fighting strategy. [OutlookPower Magazine, September 2005]

Understanding the autocomplete cache
Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky thinks one of the great things about TechEd is that it gives me a chance to pick up great ideas for future columns, both from attending sessions and talking to attendees in the Ask the Expert areas. In this piece, she addresses one attendee's problem with the autocomplete, or nickname cache. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2005]

Using an IMAP server's Sent folder
As anyone who has ever used Outlook with an IMAP account knows, Outlook doesn't handle IMAP accounts well. In this Outlook Power Tip, Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky shows you how to use Rules to copy a sent message to the IMAP Sent folder. [OutlookPower Magazine, April 2005]

Using Outlook's After Sending rules
Outlook's Rules Wizard has a neat but often overlooked option to act on messages after they're sent. These rules run as the message leaves your Outbox and provide a variety of options. In this Outlook Power Tip, Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky tells us how to set up those rules and use them to our advantage. [OutlookPower Magazine, March 2005]

Understanding Outlook 2003's search folders
A search folder is a virtual folder that holds pointers to messages stored in other folders. Any action you take on a message in a search folder will apply that action to the actual message in its folder. In this Outlook Power Tip, Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky shows you the ins and outs of search folders and what purpose they serve. [OutlookPower Magazine, March 2005]

What is Microsoft Office Outlook Live?
By now, you've probably heard the term MOOL, but you're still not quite sure what it is, or if it's something you'd want. In this Outlook Power Tip, Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky tells you just what MOOL is, and whether or not it's for you and your organization. [OutlookPower Magazine, January 2005]

Outlook 2000 bug: January 1, 2005
One of Outlook's cool features is the ability to publish the calendar as a Web page by means of the Web page wizard. However, if you try this with a date after January 1, 2005 in Outlook 2000, you'll have a problem. Read and Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky will fill you in on this little glitch. [OutlookPower Magazine, December 2004]

Using FireFox as your default browser
With the many security vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer that have come to light recently, security experts are recommending that users switch to a different browser. As a result, many users have switched to Firefox, only to discover it didn't work well with Outlook. This Powertip from Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky will help you get them playing nice together. [OutlookPower Magazine, November 2004]

Help, my email won't send!
The Microsoft newsgroups are seeing a growing number of complaints that Outlook 2003 won't send email, with a few people reporting problems with Outlook 2002 as well. This problem is linked to Outlook add-ins that use the .Net Framework. Read on and Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky will tell you how to diagnose which add-in is causing the problem and how to remedy it. [OutlookPower Magazine, November 2004]

Using Business Contact Manager with Exchange, revisited
A couple of weeks ago, David lamented that BCM (Business Contact Manager) won't work with Exchange server accounts in your profile unless you use Small Business Server 2003. That's the official word out of Redmond, but logic says if it works with SBS (Small Business Server), it must work with any Exchange account. This article points to a very useful resource with the necessary steps. [OutlookPower Magazine, August 2004]

Forcing Outlook 2003 to create Unicode PSTs
The new Unicode format for Outlook personal store files has a number of advantages. However, there are instances where the Unicode format may not be the default and a registry hack can convince Outlook 2003 to create a Unicode PST anyway. This article tells you how. [OutlookPower Magazine, August 2004]

The Deleted Items folder is not a filing cabinet
Are you guilding of using your Deleted Items folder as a filing cabinet? If so, you might be in for something of a rude awakening. This article by Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky shows why. [OutlookPower Magazine, August 2004]

Backing up Business Contact Manager
You've been using the new BCM (Business Contact Manager) with Outlook 2003 for several months and, by now, you have a huge database built up. You know you need to back it up and BCM includes a simple to use backup (and restore) routine you can access using the File, Business Database menu, but how do you recover the database if you forget to back it up or don't back it up often enough and your computer crashes? This article explains what to do. [OutlookPower Magazine, July 2004]

Using Outlook and 'Exchange over the Internet'
Many users have problems enabling Outlook 2003 to talk to an Exchange server using RPC over HTTP. In this week's tip, we give you some great resources to make it work. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2004]

Using rules to filter attachments
A common request from Outlook users is how to use rules to filter out messages with attachments. This can be an added protection against viruses and other dangerous files that might arrive in your inbox. This week's tip tells you how. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2004]

Cleaning up your mailbox
It's easy for a mailbox to grow to an uncontrollable size when you use NewsGator to pull RSS feeds, get a lot of unsolicted email, or just get a ton of mail. Fortunately, it's also easy to automatically delete old messages from specific folders using AutoArchive or, for Exchange server mailboxes, Mailbox Manager. This article will show you how. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2004]

My seven favorite myths about Outlook
Anything that has wide use or notoriety eventually develops a degree of mythos attached to it. Myths, urban legends, and rumors often abound. Given that Outlook is one of the most widely used computer applications worldwide, there's no shortage of myths surrounding the product and its behavior. In this article, our Outlook guru Diane Poremsky outlines seven of her favorite myths. [OutlookPower Magazine, May 2004]

Are you missing email?
"My email is disappearing" is a simple question frequently posed to Outlook and Exchange support groups. There are several causes for this phenomenon. The most common causes are filtered views, rules on the client, or an improperly configured Exchange account. Less common is an anti-spam or content manager scanner removing suspect messages. For details, read this important article. [OutlookPower Magazine, May 2004]

Everyone's favorite request: newsgroup support in Outlook
After years of requests from Outlook users for newsgroup support in Outlook (that's Outlook, not Outlook Express) and years of Microsoft ignoring the requests, three companies recently took matters into their own hands and released NNTP (Network News Transport Protocol) add-ins for Outlook. This article discusses them all. [OutlookPower Magazine, May 2004]

The Exchange 2003 Intelligent Message Filter
Microsoft recently announced the availability of the Intelligent Message Filter for Exchange 2003, due out later this year. The announcement indicated that it's going to be available exclusively to customers enrolled in SA (Software Assurance), one complimentary license for the Intelligent Messaging Filter for each Exchange server enrolled in SA. Is it worth joining SA just to get this add-on? Read this article to find out. [OutlookPower Magazine, March 2004]

Understanding Office XP Service Pack 3 and an important warning
Early last week Microsoft released Office XP Service Pack 3 along with security bulletin MS04-009. The exploit described in the security bulletin affects only Outlook 2002 SP2, so updating to SP3 takes care of one worry but may create more problems. [OutlookPower Magazine, March 2004]

Changing SMTP servers on the fly
Many ISPs require that users route all outbound mail through their mail servers (that is, the ISP's servers, rather than, say, your company's own mail server). If you happen to use several different ISPs, you'll to change the SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol) account each time you change how you connect to the Internet. If you find this tedious, we have an easier way. [OutlookPower Magazine, March 2004]

Understanding Search Folders
One of Outlook 2003's best-loved new features is Search Folders. These are virtual folders containing pointers to messages stored in other folders. They use the same filter options as advanced find and automatic formatting, and are great for managing messages, but there are a few things to keep in mind when you use them. Read this tip to find out what you need to know. [OutlookPower Magazine, March 2004]

Another month, another virus
Another month, another virus. This time it's the fast moving MyDoom (a.k.a. MiMail.R) that's driving everyone bonkers. You'd think by now people would learn, and for the most part, users are better at recognizing an infected message on their own. This important article will give you some useful tips for configuring your anti-virus program to be more effective. [OutlookPower Magazine, February 2004]

Importing custom data into Outlook
This week a reader has a question about importing data into Outlook's forms. [OutlookPower Magazine, February 2004]

Is it Service Pack time already?
In this week's helpful tip, Diane Poremsky asks for suggestions for "feature fixes" for Outlook 2003 and points you to some of her favorite RSS feeds. [OutlookPower Magazine, January 2004]

Readers share their Outlook 2003 SP1 wishlist
In her last column, Diane asked you what you wanted fixed in Outlook 2003 SP1. This week, she shares some of your answers, as well as some tips for how you can work around some of these annoyances right now. [OutlookPower Magazine, January 2004]

Outlook 2003's calendar
In our continuing introduction to Outlook 2003, this week's column covers some interesting new Calendar features. [OutlookPower Magazine, December 2003]

Customizing Outlook Today
This week, we look at two recent problems affecting users of older versions of Outlook: the inability to customize Outlook Today and the loss of the MSNBC Personal Update add-in which replaced Outlook Today with local news, weather and stock quotes. [OutlookPower Magazine, December 2003]

Important Outlook 2003 updates you may need to install
Two updates were released within the last week for Outlook 2003 -- an update to the spam filter and one for SBS (Small Business Server) 2003 users that allows BCM (Business Contact Manager) to work with the SBS Exchange server account. At this time, the fix is only for SBS2003, not standalone Exchange server users, although we hope that a similar patch for Exchange will be released very soon. [OutlookPower Magazine, December 2003]

Understanding how Outlook displays names and email addresses
Is there a way to always show only the display names in the To or Cc fields in an email message (not the full email addresses)? Read this helpful tip to learn the answer. [OutlookPower Magazine, November 2003]

Blocking Web content in Outlook 2003
Last week we introduced you to the exciting, new Outlook interface. This week we introduce you to one of the most important (though controversial) new features: blocked Web content. This feature protects your privacy by blocking Web bugs. [OutlookPower Magazine, November 2003]

Junk your spam in Outlook 2003
.SUMMARY [OutlookPower Magazine, November 2003]

Mapping Outlook
One useful but often forgotten feature of Outlook's Contacts is the ability to map the contact's address using MapPoint on CD or through a Web site if MapPoint is not installed. [OutlookPower Magazine, October 2003]

Office System 2003 has arrived
The day we've all been waiting for has finally arrived -- Office System 2003 is officially available at your local retailers. The kick off is a launch party in New York City, and our own intrepid Contributing Editor, Diane Poremsky is present at the festivities. Bill Gates and Jeff Raikes, Vice President in Microsoft's Productivity and Business Services Group, are the keynote speakers and many members of the Office development team are here as well. Read this article for the latest scoop! [OutlookPower Magazine, October 2003]

Navigating Outlook 2003
This week begins our first look at the recently released Outlook 2003. While many of you may have had a few week's access to it through MSDN or through work, for many of you, the release of the retail version last week is your first chance to use it. Read this tip to learn more. [OutlookPower Magazine, October 2003]

Using symbols in your messages and documents
This week's column is about using symbols and isn't just for Outlook. You can use symbols with all Office programs and some Windows programs. [OutlookPower Magazine, September 2003]

Mail-merging labels and a trick for searching OutlookPower
This week, we answer a reader's question about mail-merging labels into Microsoft Word and help him learn how to search the OutlookPower Web site. [OutlookPower Magazine, September 2003]

How to search for all overdue items
A reader asks how to create a search that will find all overdue items. Diane Poremsky, our intrepid Outlook guru, shows the way. [OutlookPower Magazine, August 2003]

An exciting week with SoBig, Blaster, and a new Office
The past couple of weeks were really exciting for users and administrators. Users get the fun stuff (i.e., Office 2003) while admins gets the dirty work: cleaning up after viruses and securing the network. [OutlookPower Magazine, August 2003]

Sending links to Web pages
As Outlook users on Windows XP have discovered, it's difficult to use Internet Explorer's File->Send->Link by Email to send links to Web pages, as Microsoft removed the text link added to the message body, leaving just the URL attachment. In this week's tip, Diane Poremsky will show you where to find solutions to fix this problem. [OutlookPower Magazine, July 2003]

Use Mail Merge to customize form letters
You can personalize documents distributed to a group of correspondents, from your annual Christmas letter and messages announcing the birth of a child to "cold call" letters to clients using Outlook's Mail Merge. Diane Poremsky will show you how. [OutlookPower Magazine, July 2003]

Creating a sub-domain can save the day
This week's column is for Exchange administrators. Diane Poremsky experienced every administrator's nightmare: the email server is thousands of miles away and goes offline. She discovered there was a problem with the co-location provider and needed to set up a mail server quickly. In this week's tip, she shares a neat trick her administrator used while she was configuring the server and restoring email addresses. [OutlookPower Magazine, July 2003]

TechEd trip report: more Outlook and Exchange news
Want to know the latest about the upcoming releases of Exchange 2003 and Outlook 2003? Diane Poremsky was at the TechEd conference held recently in Dallas and gives you all the latest scoop. Plus, read this article and you'll learn where you can download a free copy of Exchange 2003 Release Candidate 1. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2003]

Save time with the Places Bar
Newer versions of Office and Windows include a feature on the File->Open menu found on many applications, a column of shortcuts known as the Places Bar. Diane Poremsky will show you how you can add more places to the default list to should save you time when saving attachments. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2003]

Office 2003 beta 2 refresh is out
The beta 2 refresh for Office 2003 is now available on the Office update site, and in this week's PowerTip, Diane Poremsky discusses the installation procedure. She also talks about a unique quirk in the new reading pane in Outlook. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2003]

Meeting requests for everyone
One of the reasons many of us use Outlook is for the Calendar. While many of the Calandar features work best for Exchange server users, all Outlook users can reap the benefits of the Calendar. One feature often overlooked by standalone and home users is Meeting Requests. Diane Poremsky will show you how they can be used by anyone. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2003]

Missing your contacts?
A common problem many Outlook users face when they reformat or move to a new computer is that the contacts folder appears empty when they click the To button on a message form. Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky has a possible solution. [OutlookPower Magazine, May 2003]

Now you see it, now you don't
Sometimes an apparent bug isn't a bug at all. Diane Poremsky discusses a recent bug report about missing email that turned out to be something quite simple. [OutlookPower Magazine, May 2003]

How to store your Outlook server mail away from the server
If you need to free up some space on your network server, storing away your email is an excellent idea. This week's tip offers some easy steps to follow to help keep your mailbox size under control. [OutlookPower Magazine, May 2003]

More ways to find your lost Outlook items
Last week's column was about using Find and Advanced Find to help you find Outlook items. This week, you'll learn how to use Views and a new feature coming in Outlook 2003, Search Folders, to find the items you need. [OutlookPower Magazine, April 2003]

Understanding realtime black lists
Is your mail being blocked by a realtime black list? Are you using an ISP that is blocked? This important tip explains realtime black lists, why some administrators think they're helpful, and why they could be more trouble than might be first apparent. [OutlookPower Magazine, April 2003]

Finding Contacts by the letter
Outlook's Find function has more tricks up its sleeve than you might imagine. Diane Poremsky has a tip on how to look up your contacts, even when the correct spelling may escape you. [OutlookPower Magazine, April 2003]

Adding a date stamp to the notes field
Do you think there are some features that are lacking from Outlook's default forms? Many people would like the ability add a date stamp to the notes field and Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky is going to show you how easy it is to do. [OutlookPower Magazine, March 2003]

Finding your lost Outlook items
If you've been using Outlook for a while, chances are that you've used Find, Advanced Find, and Views to help you find items in your folders quickly. This week, Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky has a few tips to get the most out of these features. [OutlookPower Magazine, March 2003]

Are you really safe from viruses?
After recent virus alerts, it's time to remind you to protect your system from viruses. Here are a few simple rules to keep your system safe. [OutlookPower Magazine, February 2003]

Outlook with a view
Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky lets you know how you can use Outlook to keep track of your busy schedule. If you've ever overlooked an appointment, message or task because it was lost in a folder, this tip is for you. [OutlookPower Magazine, February 2003]

Get your preview copy of Exchange Titanium
If you're an Exchange administrator, this is you're lucky week. The public preview of Exchange Titanium server (beta 2) was released and Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky takes a look at some new features. [OutlookPower Magazine, January 2003]

Outlook's stickynotes: did you know?
Did you kinow that there are all sorts of things you can do with Outlook's Notes? Read on to find what fun things you can do with Notes and how. [OutlookPower Magazine, January 2003]

Using Exchange Server to block spam
Happy New Year everyone! We're kicking off the new year with a tip that'll help stop the plague that's been cursing all of us: spam. Read Diane Poremsky's great tip to learn how you can modify your Exchange Server to help you slam spam. [OutlookPower Magazine, January 2003]

Adding 2003 holidays to your Outlook calendar
Holidays in Outlook 2000 and earlier versions end with this year. If you want next year's holidays in Outlook, look no further. We have the answers for you in this week's tip. [OutlookPower Magazine, December 2002]

Calendar and date tricks for the holiday season
It's the holiday season and that means lots of parties and events to remember. Here are some of Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky's favorite tips that will make it easier for you to create new Outlook items. [OutlookPower Magazine, December 2002]

Outlook 11 and new mobility features
More and more people are looking for ways to access corporate email away from the office. In this tip, Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky tells you how the next version of Outlook will make it easier to get your email when you're out of the office. [OutlookPower Magazine, November 2002]

What's new in Outlook 2000 SP3
Microsoft recently released Office 2000's Service Pack 3. There are almost 100 fixes for Outlook and Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky gives you the rundown on the most important ones. [OutlookPower Magazine, November 2002]

The future of Outlook
Microsoft introduced the next versions of Outlook and Exchange at the Microsoft Exchange Conference. Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky tells you why she's excited by the possibilites the new versions of Outlook and Exchange hold. [OutlookPower Magazine, October 2002]

Using HTML stationery
It's fun to take advantage of the ability to use HTML to send pretty looking emails. This week, Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky shows you how to create your own pretty email using stationery. [OutlookPower Magazine, October 2002]

What's new with Exchange Titanium
Can't wait for the latest details surrounding Exchange Titanium? Wait no more. Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky covers some of the new features you'll find in Exchange Titanium. [OutlookPower Magazine, October 2002]

Three Outlook calendar tips
One of the most commonly used features in Outlook is the calendar. Of course, it's not going to meet everyone's needs. Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky examines the most common complaints and ideas to work around them. [OutlookPower Magazine, September 2002]

Managing recipient list limits
Spam can take on many forms, even coming from someone inside your organization. Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky shows how network engineers can manage recipient lists to prevent headaches. [OutlookPower Magazine, September 2002]

Outlook and 0ffice XP's Service Pack 2
Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky takes a look at Office XP Service Pack 2. Find out what Outlook bug fixes are included in this update. [OutlookPower Magazine, September 2002]

Using distribution lists
Do you send email messages to the same group of people? Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky offers an easy way to send your messages quickly. [OutlookPower Magazine, August 2002]

Does Outlook still support MS Mail?
You just bought some new computers with Office XP installed. You find that you can't set them up to use MS Mail because Outlook 2002 doesn't support MS Mail. Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky let you know how you can get those MS Mail capapbilities back. [OutlookPower Magazine, August 2002]

Where'd my POP3 information go?
A common problem with all versions of Outlook is the loss of POP3 server information. Users complain that they correct the server entries but something keeps changing the entries back. This week's tip shows you how you can fix the problem. [OutlookPower Magazine, August 2002]

Tips for managing contacts in Outlook
Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky shows you how you can use export your contact imformation from Outlook to Word or Excel. For those who use Outlook as a contact manager, this tip is for you. [OutlookPower Magazine, July 2002]

Folder expansion and extra line breaks: what's changed in 2002?
There's a feature found only in Outlook 2002 that lets you remove extra line breaks. Read on to learn how you can put this new feature to use. [OutlookPower Magazine, July 2002]

Questions answered on Outlook Web Access
A reader asks how can you automate the login to Outlook Web Access and set up Calendars in Outlook Web Access. Read on for Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky's answers. [OutlookPower Magazine, July 2002]

Extending Outlook with third party utilities
Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky shows you how you can extend the capabilites of Outlook, even if you don't write code. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2002]

Controlling out of office replies
Following her recent column on using Out of Office replies, Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky answers a reader's question about sending autoreplies only to people within an organization. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2002]

Managing vacation time replies
Going on vaction soon? Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky shows you how you can create autoreplies whether you're using Exchange server or Outlook as a stand-alone application so you can enjoy your vacation. [OutlookPower Magazine, June 2002]

Tips for using Outlook's calendar
Are you lucky enough to have Outlook 2002? Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky shares a couple of cool features in Outlook 2002 as well as some old tricks for all Outlook users. [OutlookPower Magazine, May 2002]

Remind me later
You receive a ton of email every day. You just don't have time to deal with it all. How can you keep track of all of your unanswered mail? Read on to see how you can use reminders to keep on top of your email. [OutlookPower Magazine, May 2002]

Tips to protect yourself from Klez and other email viruses
With the Klez worm making the rounds this week, Contributing Editor Diane Poremsky talks about how to protect yourself from viruses and what to do if you're unlucky enough to become infected. [OutlookPower Magazine, May 2002]