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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
July 13,
2008
Q.
I recently bought a new computer with XP
installed. I use Outlook Express, but have
found that the spell checker is missing. Did
something not get installed and how do I get
the spell checker?
A.
Since over time, I have received several
emails about this, it is about time that I
addressed it. If you use Outlook Express and
you can't seem to find the option to use the
spellchecker for your e-mails, here's why.
There are
several things you can check to find out why
the spell checker isn't working.
1.) The
first thing you'll probably want to find out
what version of Outlook Express that you
have on your computer. Since it is a new
computer, I would suspect that this first
item is not your problem, but a check won't
hurt. If you have any version older than
Outlook Express 6, there is not a spell
check option. If you have Outlook Express 5,
5.01, 5.5 or anything even older than that,
Outlook Express cannot check the spelling
for you. You will probably get an error
saying something like "An occurred while the
spelling was being checked."
To find
out what version you have, open Outlook
Express and click on Help, then About
Microsoft Outlook Express. A dialog will
open the version will be displayed.
2.)
This next cause, probably the most common
isn't very well known. A lot of people
assume that a spell checker came with a new
version of Outlook Express, but that's not
the case. By default, when Outlook Express
is installed, there is no spell checker
included. There needs to be another
application that includes a spell checker
that Outlook Express is compatible with.
For
example, if you have a version of Microsoft
Word or most another familiar word processor
installed, the spell checker included with
it will work in Outlook Express. Another
program that works with Outlook Express is
Microsoft Works, but only versions 4 through
6. Anything older or newer than that doesn't
have compatibility with the Outlook Express
spell checker.
So, if
you don't have any of these compatible
programs on your computer, you won't have
the spell check option in Outlook Express.
However, all is not lost as there is a
standalone spell check program written
specially for use with Outlook Express. It
can be downloaded
HERE.
It is called "ABCSpell for Outlook Express".
It is free to try, and if you like it, it
will cost about $30 to keep.
3.) There
is another item that may cause the Outlook
Express spell checker to malfunction, but
this is probably not a major concern to
most. If you have Microsoft Visual Basic 6
or Microsoft Access 97 running on your
computer, the spell checker won't work. This
is only true if you have one of those
programs running at the exact same time that
you're trying to use the spellchecker. If
you have those programs closed out, you can
still access the spell checker and it should
work fine so long as the condition in 2)
above has been met.
4.) One
last thing that could cause the spell
checker to not work concerns the way it is
set up. If you meet all of the requirements
in 1) through 3) above and it still isn't
working, check this. Click on Tools, Options
then on the Spelling tab, make sure that
"Always check spelling before sending" is
checked.
This
spell check problem is not an issue with
Vista's Windows Mail. Windows Mail in Vista
replaces Outlook Express in XP. It installs
by default with its own spell checker.
Windows Mail also has much improved junk
mail (spam) detection filter and other
improvements.
It is
rumored that all free email programs from
Microsoft will soon be replaced with
"Windows Live Mail". It is available now,
and is capable of handling email from many
different accounts including Hotmail, AOL,
any POP or IMAP source, Yahoo, Gmail, and
others. You can read about and
download it and the other "Live" programs
HERE.
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