Fire up your e-mail

In the electronic world, you get to keep the same address when you move to a new home. Here's the information you need to get Outlook Express up and running before messages start to pile up in your inbox.

1. On your old computer, start Outlook Express.
2. On the Tools menu, click Accounts.
3. On the General tab, locate your personal Display Name and E-mail Name.
4. On the Servers tab, find your Incoming Mail Server and Outgoing Mail Server.

Don't forget your Address Book
Who wants to re-create the Address Book by hand? Here's how to copy your old one:

1. On your old computer, start Outlook Express.
2. On the File menu, point to Export, and then click Address Book.
3. Choose Text File (Comma Separated Values) from the list, and then click Export.  Type a name for the file and then click the Browse button to select a floppy disk on which to save the file.
4. Click Next and then select the fields you want to export. Click Finish.
5. Insert the disk into your new computer and start Outlook Express.
6. On the File menu, point to Import, and then click Address Book.
7. Choose Text File (Comma Separated Values) from the list, and then click Import.
8. Click the Browse button to select the file on the floppy disk.
9. Click Next and then select the fields you want to import. Click Finish.

If you receive a message asking whether to replace an existing entry with the import entry, click Yes To All.

Move those e-mail messges
Transferring your Outlook Express e-mail messages is a bit trickier. You can copy individual messages to a floppy disk and then open them on your new computer. Here's how:

1. On your old computer, start Outlook Express.
2. Choose the message you want to copy, and then click Save As on the File menu.
3. Select a floppy disk on which to save the file.
4. Insert the floppy disk into your new computer.
5. Using My Computer or Windows Explorer, find the message file and double-click it.
6. On the File menu, click Copy To Folder, and then select the mail folder to which you want to copy the message.
   

Here's another trick for transferring messages: send messages to yourself from your old computer, then use Outlook Express on your new computer to receive them.

Rearrange the furniture