Jim Coates is on vacation for the holidays and will return to this space Jan. 5. To tide you over, we’re running an encore of Jim’s March 31 column.
Q. I run a small business and would like to e-mail my customers with sales and specials, but I want to be able to send a bulk mailing through Outlook Express without having each customer see the others’ e-mail addresses. I would like to be able to create a group distribution list for this. Is this possible? Kristi [email protected]
A. It surprises me to see how many small-business folks who write to this column make effective use of low-ball software like Outlook Express, included at no charge with the Microsoft Internet Explorer Web browser, that just about everybody uses.
Why shell out $100 for the industrial strength Outlook 2002 that is part of the $600 Office 2002 package when something cheaper will do?
Maybe that’s why Microsoft hid the feature you need in the default configuration of the New Message display in Outlook Express.
You need to use what is called a blind carbon copy, or bcc, to send a message to a group of addresses but have only the address of the target appear in the To: line. Outlook Express comes with only the Cc:, or carbon copy, option visible. That’s the one that shows everybody on the list.
All you need to do to add a bcc line is open a new message and then click on the View tool at the top. You will find an All Headers choice, and clicking it will add bcc just below cc, making your planned mass mailing possible. Just paste the long list of customer names in the bcc line, and then send the first message to yourself. All those on the list will get the note looking as though it were addressed to just them.
Let me add, Ms. I., that every time I have tried to help businesses with some aspect of mass mailings, I get thumped from a healthy number of readers who so hate getting spam that they think I am guilty of selling arms to the enemy. In other words, I’m sure you know that the line between a desired commercial pitch and a detested one can be mighty fine, thanks to the ever-growing waves of spam mongers.
Q. I’m using Windows 98, and I can’t seem to call up a table that associates file attributes with a particular program. What’s the secret? I need to know this because every program capable of dealing with sound, photographs or movies establishes itself as king dog for playing media.
Where do I find whatever program Windows has awarded king-dog status to and change it? Microsoft’s Windows Media Player doesn’t present any setups to alter in that regard. Roy Trumbull, El Cerrito, Calif.
More Top Picks Best Barber Stations
.A. This problem has hit the computing scene hard lately, particularly in offices, because Americans are rushing to their computers for news of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. They then get tricked into downloading multimedia players like Real Networks’ Real One or Apple’s QuickTime that try to establish themselves as the default player for all multimedia files subsequently played.
Trusting souls like yourself seem to miss the quiet screens that pop up during installation that allow one to reject the player changes, so they wind up hijacked by another program that seizes what you so aptly call king-dog status.
The reason that the Windows Media Player doesn’t pull the same stunt, I’d wager, is because Microsoft includes that software as the default when Windows first opens.
If you’re happy with the default but decide you want to use some service like the superb Real One to view certain files, watch for those warning boxes and remove the checks from every format except the ones needed for that one service.
Real Networks, for example, is the default for files with extensions such as .ra, .rm and .ram, while QuickTime is a must with files ending in .mov. Both programs also can show other files, play CDs and do most of the other stuff that Windows Media Player does.
Some people, myself included, think these programs do a great job for many types of multimedia defaulted to Windows. But nobody likes to be bushwhacked by a wannabe top dog.
So here’s the drill for restoring files to play in the Windows Media Player.
Highlight an icon for the file type, such as the blue Q for QuickTime, and give the mouse a right-click while pressing down Enter. You will get a pop-up box, with one choice for Open. Click on that and then pick Choose Program.
This displays a list of all or most of the possible files on the computer, and among them will be Windows Media Player with its orange and red circle around a black VCR-type play arrow. Select it and put a check in the box below for always opening that file type with the software.
Once again Bill Gates’ software will be top dog for that file type. Keep in mind that this can work both ways, allowing you to set various programs to open various multimedia files as you see fit.
Q. I have run into an irritating situation using Windows XP. I am using an HP 9795c computer and an HP 932c printer. The computer came with Windows ME and worked well. I upgraded to Windows XP Professional, and it mostly works but with a problem I need to solve. I used to be able to check the ink levels in the printer by going to the printer toolbox. I cannot do this with Windows XP.
The icon for the printer no longer shows up where it used to, and even when I find it by searching the All Programs list at the Start button, the toolbox doesn’t appear any longer.
Any suggestions on how I can find the ink-level function? Would it do any good to uninstall the printer and install again? Richard Burkholder @worldnet.aa.net.
A.. Chances are strong that you need to contact the Hewlett-Packard Co. and acquire the driver software for that well-known DeskJet printer designed to work with Windows XP rather than the ME version now on your machine.
This is no more than a Web site visit in most cases. Go to HP.com, click the choice at the top of the screen for support and then pick the download drivers option on the next page.
There you can enter in the name of your printer and follow the prompts to download the 7.6-megabyte file needed to run that printer in Windows XP.
As what I hope is a useful aside to other readers, HP makes free driver updates available for equipment currently in its product line, but if you need software for older items no longer in the catalog you’ll be required to pay to have a CD with the code mailed to you.
It usually costs about $10, and HP offers a large catalog of software for older items in its product line.
———-
Have a question for Jim Coates on small-business technology? Send an e-mail to [email protected] or via snail mail at the baiduhai, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago IL 60611. Questions can be answered only through this column.