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Eudora Pro

Steve Bass

Improve Eudora Performance

Are your In, Out, and Trash mailboxes filled to the brim? If so, your system is taking a big performance hit: An open, overflowing Eudora mailbox gobbles memory faster than a geek downloading porno GIFs. But you can cut through the clutter by creating some new mailboxes and transferring messages to them. Then keep open mailboxes to a minimum: Don't forget, the more mailboxes you have open, the more memory Eudora needs.

Deep-Six the Splash

Tired of watching Eudora's "splash" logo screen? Get rid of it. Close Eudora and use Win 95's Notepad to open your Eudora.ini file (you'll find it in the same directory as your Eudora.exe file--usually C:\Program Files\Eudora Pro. Under the [Settings] section, add a line with NoSplashScreen=1 (or if the line exists, change the zero to 1). Save your Eudora.ini file and restart Eudora. While you're fiddling with the Eudora's .ini file, you can also stifle the headers and footers when you print messages. Just add PrintHeaders=0 to the [Settings] section.

Shift Gears on Your Keystrokes

Eudora offers you plenty of extra options via the Shift key. For example, if you hold down Shift while clicking the New Message icon you can select from the Personalities and Stationery options. Ditto for replying to and forwarding e-mail. When you're ready to queue a message for delivery, press Shift while you click the Send icon, and Eudora will give you the option of sending the message immediately, the next time your queued messages are sent, at some other time you specify, or not at all.

Remind Me? Remind You...

Want an e-mail reminder of your spouse's birthday--or the due date for a report? Eudora's built-in personal secretary will send you one. Create a message and address it to yourself, but when you're ready to queue it, hold down Shift while clicking the Send button. Set the Send message delivery date for an appropriate time in the future. The message will sit patiently in your out-box until the specified day arrives.

Make Room for the Message

Does a lengthy list of attachments or addresses crowd your screen when you create a new message? After you finish filling in the header information, just press F7 or double-click the divider between the message and header areas. The header will disappear, giving you a bigger screen area for typing in the message. Press F7 or double-click the divider again to bring the header back.

Fill In the Blanks

Can't remember exactly how to spell the name of someone in your address book? In the To field, type the first letter or two of the recipient's name, hold down Ctrl, and type a comma. Eudora will do its best to finish the name for you. Another way to make it easier on yourself is to add addresses you use regularly to the Recipient List. Press Ctrl­L or select Tools, Address Book to open the Address Book, right click a name and select Add to Recipient List. When you create a new message, right-click the To field and choose from the recipient list.

Here's What You Said

When you quote a previous message in a subsequent e-mail, it's helpful to note who the source was. Open your eudora.ini file, and add the line, ReplyAttribution= Here's what you said.. to the end of the [Settings] section. Or get fancy and say, At %1, %2, your nimble fingers typed.. Restart Eudora. The variable %1 will fill in the date of message being replied to, and %2 will fill in the sender of message

You can also put a special character in front of the quoted part of the message (the right angle bracket (>) is the most commonly used). It's easy: In the [Settings] section of your eudora.ini file, add ReplyPrefix= , and add the character after the equal sign (without a space).