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Internet Tips: The Junk Mail Hater's Guide to Opting Out

Scott Spanbauer

OE: Log Out, Don't Just Exit

In the February issue, PC World gave Microsoft's Outlook Express 6 the Best Bet rating among e-mail clients ["Browsing and Beyond"]. However, I could not find any way to log off my identity after a given session--so when I close OE, anyone could open the program again and read all the e-mail in that account. Is there a better way to log off an identity than restarting Windows?

Anand Narayan, via the Internet

There are many reasons why I think Outlook Express is a good e-mail program, and an important one is its unique ability not only to manage multiple e-mail accounts, but also to allow multiple users (families, for example) to maintain individual, private in-boxes and address lists. The feature you are looking for is there, though it's easy to miss.

To log off an Outlook Express identity, choose File, Exit and Log Off Identity. You can also log off by selecting File, Switch Identities and clicking the Log Off Identity button (see FIGURE 2).

But don't allow your paranoia to subside completely. The strength of Outlook Express's log-on security depends greatly on which version of Windows you use, and on how your version of Windows is configured. If you're using Windows 95, 98, or Me, it's a trivial matter for knowledgeable snoops to view your in-box. So if you want to protect your e-mail and other files from the prying eyes of coworkers, curious teenagers, or the office janitor, you need the stronger log-on security, encryption, and file access controls that are offered by Windows XP Professional and Windows 2000 Professional.

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