| June 6, 2003
Two Great Software Tools and Two Cool Tips!
What's in this issue
Well, graduation is over and summer is finally getting here. My son
graduated from High School this year and have we ever been busy! But
things have settled down around the Maurer house and I've finally found
time to get this newsletter out. Sorry for the delay!
In this issue, I will tell you about two great software tools that
I've found recently, DBXtract and SlimBrowser. One tool is
for Outlook Express users, and the other is a general browsing tool with
some unique features.
I would also like to give you two tips, one for cleaning up your
"Start" menu, and the other is about saving only the text
on web pages into a Word document. Hope you enjoy this issue!
Steve
Two Fantastic Tools
DBXtract
Eureka, I have found one of the best tools for Outlook Express
users that I have ever seen! Many of you have read my tutorial on Saving
Outlook Express Email to Disk in Bulk. While the technique works
great, there is one problem...emails with identical subject lines will not
save correctly. There are some work-arounds for that problem, but they can
be lengthy and rather cumbersome. Well, here is a program that will make
the task much easier.
Outlook Express emails are kept in DBX files, which are the
mailboxes. For instance, your inbox will be named "inbox.dbx",
you might have "drafts.dbx", and other mailboxes (without the
quotes, of course). DBXtract will extract the messages from the dbx file
(hey, that's where the name came from!) and allow you to store them in
another folder on your hard drive. You could probably send them right to a
storage media, like a floppy disk or Zip Drive.
I would still filter my mail into separate folders first, but
identical email subject lines are not a problem. DBXtract will take
identical email subjects and append a number to them automatically. For
instance, if you had four emails, each with the subject line
"Howdy", then DBXtract would rename them: Howdy.eml; Howdy(1).eml;
Howdy(2).eml and Howdy(3).eml. You can also specify a particular file name
for the set of emails. Since all the emails extracted will have the same
file name, the number is again appended to the file name.
DBXtract works with one DBX file at a time, and with one
identity at a time (if you have multiple identities in OE). Check out more
on this great free program in the Cool Links section.
SlimBrowser
Here is another great program I came across recently. SlimBrowser
is a browser that is based on the Internet Explorer program. You must have
IE installed on your browser. SlimBrowser has a lot of fantastic features.
For instance, if you often open links in a new window, like I do, you will
find the tabbed interface very useful. Instead of a new window that you
will have to move or resize, SlimBrowser adds a tab for the new page. You
can click back and forth by using the tabs. You can close all the pages
with one click, or close all but the currently active one.
SlimBrowser allows you to save the open windows in
"Groups" or add them as you come across them. It is similar to
the "Favorites" folder, but with some better management features
(Favorites still is available, though).
The program also has a pop-up blocker built in to it, so you can
get rid of those pesky ads jumping up on your screen. There are a lot of
other options an features in SlimBrowser...you'll just have to visit the
Flash Peak site and see for yourself. Check out the Cool Links section for
the site address.
Two Cool Tips
The first tip is about cleaning up your start menu. If you are
like me, you have hundreds of programs on your computer and each and every
one is on the Start>Programs menu (or at least it seems that way)! When
I click on "Start" then go to "Programs", the list is
so long that it take FOREVER to scroll down to the one I want. I could
just delete the shortcuts to the programs I don't use often, but then I
would have to re-create them if I needed them later. Here is a much better
way to clean up that long list.
First, click on "Start" then "Programs" and
then scroll over to the program shortcut you would like to hide.
Right-click on the shortcut and then click on "Properties" on
the pop up menu. On the dialog box you then get, check "Hidden"
at the bottom of the box. When you click "Apply" the shortcut
will disappear. It is not deleted, just hidden. Do this for all the ones
you want to hide.
To get the shortcut back, go into Windows Explorer and find the
"Start Menu" folder. (The easiest way to do this is to
right-click on the "Start" button and choose
"Explore". This will open up right to the Start Menu in Windows
Explorer.) Choose the shortcut you want to show again in the start menu
and right-click on it. You will get the properties dialog box. Click on
the "General tab", uncheck the "hidden" check box, and
the shortcut will be visible again.
Tip Number Two is about saving only the text from a web page
into a Word document. For example, you might want to save the fantastic
information from one of my online tutorials for future use, but not want
the pictures included (although I can't imagine why!). To do that,
highlight the area where the information is, including the graphics,
right-click somewhere in the highlighted area, and choose copy. Open a new
Word document. Now you could just paste into the document, but this time
choose "Paste Special" from the "Edit" drop down menu.
In the dialog box you get, choose "Unformatted text". Your
selection will be pasted without pictures or picture placeholders. You
will have just the text.
In the next newsletter, I will discuss how to save the entire web page
to your computer. There are 4 options in Internet Explorer and each one
will give you a different result. But PLEASE remember this...web pages, as
well as other documents and graphics, belong to the publisher of the
website or document. If you intend to use them for anything other
than personal use, be sure to contact the owner for permission. Don't try
to pass them off as your own creation, that is copyright infringement.
Most webmasters, like myself, will give you permission to use their
information within certain guidelines and restrictions. If you would like
to reprint one of my articles, tutorials, or other information, contact me
at steve@maurer.net and I'll get
with you.
See you next time,
Steve
Quote-ables
A house is no home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as
well as the body.
Sarah Margaret Fuller, author (1810-1850)
Cool Links
Find online tutorials at The
Classroom on my website.
For the SlimBrowser go to Flash
Peak
To download the DBXtract program, click on this link: DBXtract
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