Tips & Tricks

Finding people or businesses on the Internet

Want to find people or businesses online in a jiffy? Try Directory Services, the powerful built-in search tools of Outlook Express. Here you have access to several popular Internet directory services, and you can add other services from your Internet service provider. Because they use different methods for collecting data, try more than one service and compare the findings.

Here's how to get to them:

1. In the Address Book, click the Find People button on the toolbar. Or, in Windows, click the Start button, point to Find, and then click People.
2. In either case, type as much information as you can into the search boxes, and then click Find Now.

Can't get the result you're looking for? If your search is too broad, the number of matches might exceed the server's limits. Try to narrow your search by specifying more information. It's also possible that the amount of time that the Address Book has allocated to the search may be too low. Here's how to increase the allocation:

1. On the Tools menu in Outlook Express, click Accounts.
2. On the Directory Service tab, click a service, and then click Properties.
3. Click the Advanced tab.
4. In the Search area, drag the slider to increase the amount of time that the Address Book will search the service.
5. In Maximum number of matches to return , type a greater number, up to 9999.