Outlook 2000 in a Nutshell

Getting Help

Even advanced users need help with Outlook at times. The program is just too complex for anyone to fully grasp. Luckily, Outlook has been around long enough and enough people use it that if you have a question there is probably an answer. Like all things computerish, you just have to know where to look. In order of usefulness, here is a list of resources to turn to when Outlook leaves you stumped:

• A colleague who has experience with Outlook

• Internet web sites and Newsgroups (see the Preface for a list of useful web resources)

• Other publications like this one

• Outlook’s online helpless system

Unfortunately, Outlook’s online help is generally clueless. It (sometimes) gives cursory answers to basic queries and tells you how to modify program options, but is silent about why you might want to use a given feature or the consequences of changing setting A to B. It is usually unable to provide any information about common “How do I ...” questions, and often returns answers that are entirely unrelated to the question.

Note

It doesn’t hurt to ask “Clippit” or “The Dot” a question when you’re stuck—you never can tell what these annoying little creatures might come up with. And while the answers they provide may not go anywhere toward solving your problem, Microsoft’s Office Assistants are nonetheless entertaining.

The Office Assistant

The Office Assistant (OA) is actually the interface to Outlook’s online help system. Pressing F1 or selecting Help from the menu no longer opens a Help ...