PC Doctor September 12, 2011
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Dear PC Doctor,
My company started using Outlook Express for email. I need to back up the attachments I receive in emails to a thumb drive. However, sometimes Outlook Express marks them as being dangerous and won't let me download them. I know the files are alright since they're sent to me by my boss. Is there a way to make Outlook stop locking the attachments? Also, can you tell me how to put them on a thumb drive?
Will
Dear Will,
In Outlook Express, click on the Tools tab and then Options. Click on the Security tab and uncheck the box labeled “Do not allow attachments to be saved...” Instead, check the box for “Virus Protection”. Click OK to save and close the window. Now you should be able to download the attachments without any issues in the future! Just remember to be careful what you download.
Next, when downloading your attachments, save them to your desktop. Make sure your USB thumb drive is plugged into an USB port on your computer, click start, then Computer. Open up the thumb drive you're planning on using, fit the window on your desktop so you can see the icons of files that you downloaded from Outlook. Drag and drop the files onto your thumb drive. When you're done, click the back arrow to Computer. Right click the thumb drive and select “Eject”. Done! Feel free to unplug your thumb drive from the computer.
PC Doctor
Dear PC Doctor,
I'm not writing about computer trouble, but I think you might be able to help me out. I was given an audiobook on CD to listen to, but when I tried to play it in my car stereo, it says “ROM” and doesn't play. On the CD box, it says that it's an MP3 audiobook. Why doesn't the CD player in my car play the CD?
Andrea
Dear Andrea,
I do believe I can help you out, but it still won't solve your problem. It sounds like your car's stereo can't play MP3 CD's. MP3 CD's are different than ordinary CD's that you are used to playing in your car. MP3's are a type of digital sound file that most people use to play on their personal MP3 players. (An example of a MP3 player is an iPod.) Since they're much more compressed (space-saving) they can contain more data than an ordinary CD. Instead of only having 74 minutes of play on one CD, MP3 CD's can hold up to 16 hours of audio. Now, a whole audiobook can fit on one MP3 CD instead of many ordinary CD's. Sadly, many older car stereos don't have the capability of playing MP3 CD's. That is what your stereo is trying to tell you when it shows “ROM” instead of playing.
Besides containing much more on one disc, MP3 CD's are extremely handy when you want to rip the contents onto your computer. Instead of needing extra software to extract the tracks from an ordinary CD, you can simply drag and drop the MP3 files off the disc and onto your computer. Insert the MP3 CD into the drive of your computer, and go to “My Computer”. Once there, double-click on the icon for the MP3 CD. The contents of the disc will appear and you can copy them to somewhere safe on your computer. The files are already in the right format to transfer over to a MP3 player. If you have an MP3 player you'll be able to listen to your audiobooks on the go! I’m sorry not to have better news for listening in your car though.
PC Doctor
Until next time… happy computing!
