Backing up your email messages from Outlook Express

I copied and pasted these instructions from a UK website I found. The original article can be found here. http://www.freebits.co.uk/backoutlook.html

1. Click on the TOOLS Menu and select OPTIONS.
2. Click the MAINTENANCE Tab and then click on Store Folder.
3. You now see the location of your Email Folder. Highlite the Folder Location and press CTRL+C to copy the location.
4. Click Cancel and then Cancel again to close all boxes.
5. Click the Windows Start button and the click Run. In the open box press CTRL+V to paste the mail location, then click OK.
6. You now have a window containing you e-mail database *.dbx files.
7. From the top Menu click EDIT click Select All.
8. On the top Menu again click COPY. Now close the window.
9. Open Windows Explorer, click FILE / NEW and then FOLDER.
10. Type a name for the folder and hit ENTER. Double click the Folder you just created to open it. From the EDIT Menu select PASTE. Close the window.

You have now completed a backup up of your email messages.

Install Windows XP On Dell Inspiron 1525 that originally had Windows Vista

I recently had a request from a user to install Windows XP on a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop. The system originally came with Windows Vista.

The problem: After formatting and running the XP installation, I came across this problem (look at the screen shot). The internal SATA hard drive does not have driver support built into Windows XP.

The solution:When a SATA hard drive is not recognized by the operating system during installation, usually you can specify third party drivers by pressing the F6 key during the initial setup. Unfortunately, these drivers are installed through a a 3.5 floppy drive. Of course with the floppy drive way outdated and not built into the Inspiron laptop, you must use the following procedure.

1. Reboot the computer and press F2 to get into the bios.
2. In the bios, you must disable Flash Cache Mode.
3. Now change the hard drive mode to ATA from AHCI.
4. You are done! You can now install Windows XP.

Note: You will have to download all the Windows XP drivers from the Dell website because there is no built in driver support for this particular laptop model.