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Saving Private Space – Outlook PSTs

Day 04 - 120305 sunset Shamona Creek es 007
Day 04 – 120305 sunset Shamona Creek es 007

Last week, I spent the better part of the day backing-up all my files to make sure nothing would get lost, which should be common practice, for anyone looking to do an upgrade, or in my case a full rebuild my machine, moving from Windows XP to a brand-new install of Windows 7.

Why?

Well, XP has been my workhorse for several years now, but there are several applications, that are beginning to require Windows 7, namely Adobe Lightroom 4.

For the most part, the Rebuild of my main computer went quite well, and I can see a definite improvement in the general speed of my main desktop.

I also spent a fair amount of time prior to the upgrade, tracking down the various serial numbers which lay hidden in numerous e-mails that I have accumulated over the years.

There were a few applications that I have reservations about in my move to Windows 7 but after a day or two, my fears were alleviated.

Today, was my day to finally get back in touch with the real world, and tweak my Outlook 2007 for my new environment.

In my haste, trying to get back online last week, I inadvertently connected the wrong PST as my default, and this morning I paid for it.

After trying to do what one would think simple to clean-up of my mistake, I decided to go ahead and just create a brand-new PST.

What really amazed me, was that I was able to save approximately 600MBs of disk space just by copying the emails to the new PST, and that was after contacting the original PST!

So the moral of this quick story, or should I say rant, is that if you need to recuperate some disk space, one might take a look at copying your old emails to a new PST, but be forewarned it can take some time.

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How to(s)?

How to Add LinkedIn Icon to email signature

Requirements

  • Active Account on LinkedIn.com
  • Microsoft Outlook XP, 2003 and 2007
  • The ability to see file extensions in Windows Explorer
  • Administrator or Power User access to the User Profiles
  • Basic Knowledge of HTML and CSS

Notes

I have tried to use more advanced W3C CSS techniques (boxes with shadows, etc.), but Outlook 2003 does not render them correctly.

DISCLAIMER

One should always have a current backup of their system before trying any modifications to the Operating System or Applications.

Step by Step Details

1) Close Microsoft Outlook

It is HIGHLY recommended that you Close/Quit your active session of Outlook.

2) Locate Microsoft Outlook Signatures directory on the Local machine

This can be found at: “C:Documents and Settings%username%Application DataMicrosoftSignatures

%username%Is the name one uses to Login/Logon the local machine, WITHOUT the “%” signs.

3) Create desired BASE Signature file in HTML

Right click in the “Signatures” directory.

Select “New > Text Document“.

Rename the file to “LinkedIn-Icon.htm“.

The OS is going to ask you if you want to change the file type, click “Yes”

Open/Edit “LinkedIn-Icon.htm” with a Text Editor (like NotePad)

Right click the file; “Open With > Notepad”.

Copy the following basic HTML code into “LinkedIn-Icon.htm” and “Save“.

<!–DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN”>
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>MS Outlook eMail Signature</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content=”text/html; charset=windows-1252″>
<STYLE>
P.HorBar {FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Name {FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Address {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Phone {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.eMail {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.WebSite {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<P CLASS=HorBar ALIGN=left>_____________________________</P>Firstname Lastname<P CLASS=Address>123 Main Street</P>
<P CLASS=Address>City, State Zip</P>
<P CLASS=Phone>MAIN: (123) 456-7890</P>
<P CLASS=Phone>CELL: (123) 456-7890</P>
<P CLASS=eMail>eMail: <A HREF=”mailto:UserName@domain.com”>UserName@domain.com</A></P>
<P CLASS=WebSite><A HREF=”http://www.domain.com/”>http://www.domain.com/</A></P>
<BR>
<!– Insert LinkedIn Icon Code Here –>
</BODY>
</HTML>

When “Personalized”, the previous code should look like (with a White Background (Silver):

_____________________________
Firstname Lastname
123 Main Street
City, State Zip
MAIN: (123) 456-7890
CELL: (123) 456-7890
eMail: UserName@domain.com
Web: http://www.domain.com/

4) Add LinkedIn Icon code

Login/Logon to your LinkedIn profile.

Click the “My Profile” tab in the Top navigational area.

Near the top section of “Profile” page, you will see a section called “Promote your profile with customized buttons“, click on the link.

Link (Need to be Logged In): Promote your profile!

On the “Promote your public profile” page, select the icon you want to be on your signature.

HINT: Keep it fairly small (160×25)

You can either copy/save the code to the right of the icon to a local file (using NotePad), or leave the window open.

Note: This is the code to be added to the HTML signature file

At the end of the HTML Comment “<!– Insert LinkedIn Icon Code Here –>“, Add a “Line Break” by pressing either the “Enter” or “Return” key)

On the new line “Paste” the contents of the LinkedIn code.

Save” the current file.

The HTML code should look something like:

<!–DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN”>
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<TITLE>MS Outlook eMail Signature</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content=”text/html; charset=windows-1252″>
<STYLE>
P.HorBar {FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Name {FONT-SIZE: 10pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Address {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.Phone {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.eMail {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
P.WebSite {FONT-SIZE: 7.5pt; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0in 0.1in; FONT-FAMILY: “Arial”}
</STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<P CLASS=HorBar ALIGN=left>_____________________________</P>
Firstname Lastname

<P CLASS=Address>123 Main Street</P>
<P CLASS=Address>City, State Zip</P>
<P CLASS=Phone>MAIN: (123) 456-7890</P>
<P CLASS=Phone>CELL: (123) 456-7890</P>
<P CLASS=eMail>eMail: <A HREF=”mailto:UserName@domain.com”>UserName@domain.com</A></P>
<P CLASS=WebSite><A HREF=”http://www.domain.com/”>http://www.domain.com/</A></P>
<BR>
<!– Insert LinkedIn Icon Code Here –>

<IMG SRC=”http://www.linkedin.com/img/webpromo/btn_viewmy_160x25.gif” WIDTH=”160″ HEIGHT=”25″ BORDER=”0″ ALT=”View Your Account’s profile on LinkedIn”>
</BODY>
</HTML>

When “Personalized”, the previous code should look like:

_____________________________
Firstname Lastname
123 Main Street
City, State Zip
MAIN: (123) 456-7890
CELL: (123) 456-7890
eMail: UserName@domain.com
http://www.domain.com/View Your's profile on LinkedIn

5) Open Outlook to generate New Code (rtf and txt files)

Open the MS Outlook application

Go to the “Tools” menu and select “Options“.

In the “Options” window, select the “Mail Format” tab.

In the “Mail Format” pane, near the bottom in the “Signatures” section, click on the “Signatures…” button.

In the “Create Signature” window, select the “LinkedIn-Icon” file, and click the “Edit…” button.

Note: There is NO “.htm” extension visible.

In the “Edit Signature – [LinkedIn-Icon]” window, use the slider to verify your signature code.

Click the “OK” button in the “Edit Signature – [LinkedIn-Icon]” window.

Click the “OK” button in the “Create Signature” window.

Click the “OK” button in the “Options” window.

The above actions will have cause MS Outlook to create two additional files:
LinkedIn-Icon.rtf” and “LinkedIn-Icon.txt“.

To verify this, check:
C:Documents and Settings%username%Application DataMicrosoftSignatures

6) Edit txt signature file (Optional)

This is a completely Optional step, and mainly depends on your usage of Text based emails.

It is recommended that you completed this step for “Just-in-Case” situations.

With the “Signatures” directory open, “Right” click “LinkedIn-Icon.txt“, and select “Edit“.

C:Documents and Settings%username%Application DataMicrosoftSignatures

With the Text Editor open, you should see something like:

_____________________________
Firstname Lastname
123 Main Street
City, State Zip
MAIN: (123) 456-7890
CELL: (123) 456-7890
eMail: UserName@domain.com
http://www.domain.com/
View Your Account’s profile on LinkedIn

Remove the extra “Line Breaks” to shorten the signature.

_____________________________
Firstname Lastname
123 Main Street
City, State Zip
MAIN: (123) 456-7890
CELL: (123) 456-7890
eMail: UserName@domain.com
http://www.domain.com/
View Your Account’s profile on LinkedIn

And add your LinkedIn URL below the “View Your Account’s profile on LinkedIn” line.

You might also want to change the grammar of the line: i.e. “View my profile on LinkedIn.com”

_____________________________
Firstname Lastname
123 Main Street
City, State Zip
MAIN: (123) 456-7890
CELL: (123) 456-7890
eMail: UserName@domain.com
http://www.domain.com/
View my profile on LinkedIn.com

Save the changes, and exit/quit your Text Editor.

7) Test in MS Outlook

With MS Outlook open and active:

If you have made the “LinkedIn-Icon” signature your default, create a new email, and your LinkedIn signature should appear as you created it.

If you have another default signature, create a new email, and then “Right” click in the signature section.

A pop-up window should appear with signature selections.

Select “LinkedIn-Icon“, and your LinkedIn signature should appear as you created it.

§ § §
Version: 1.4
Page Created: October 17, 2007
Lasted Modified: September 20, 2009

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