Make sure your virus protection is configured to scan incoming email for any viruses. You may also want to set it to scan outgoing email as well in order to protect those you email.

#4 Learn your programs
Whether you are using Outlook or another email program, make sure you familiarize yourself with it before you begin using it. This will save you time when you set up your email instead of looking around to find out how to add contacts, change your font size or color, or any number of other things you may want to do. For example, there are some slight differences between Outlook and Outlook Express even though both are Microsoft programs.

#5 Think before you send attachments
Before you send any attachments, make sure you know the size specifications of your email program. This is also important for incoming attachments to assure that you don't lose any important pictures or other things that your children or grandchildren may be sending you.

#6 Keep copies of what you send
Email is not infallible, so if you send something that is important, make sure to keep a copy of it in case you need to resend it later. The same holds true for anything you wish to save that comes into your email program.

Remember that your program does not automatically save what you send, so you will need to configure your email to do that. In addition, if you want to keep a copy of downloaded mail on your server for a few days, you will need to configure your email program to tell the server to do that.

#7 Consider stationary
You might not know that you can use stationery in emaail just as you would if you were writing a letter. Outlook includes a selection or you can download it from various online sites. It's best to download stationary from Microsoft itself, because you never know what "payload" other download sites might sneak into the stationary files you're downloading.

#8 Get your server addresses
To use any email reader such as Outlook, you will need to contact your ISP to obtain the incoming and outgoing server addresses. Without those, you will not be able to send or receive mail from your server. These are not email addresses. Think of them as addresses of the local post office.

#9 Don't be a pack rat
In order to make sure your mailbox does not become inundated with old mail, you should clear your sent mail and incoming mail routinely. If you want to keep certain emails, save them to a file on your computer.

#10 Use a spelling checker
Keep in mind you can write email just like a letter. Feel free to usw your spell check feature if your spelling isn't the best.

The key to using email is to be safe and maintain good virus protection. Don't be afraid to ask questions of the younger ones because they surely know more than most adults when it comes to computers.

When I first became involved in the Internet in 1998, my two daughters at home were 16 and 13, and they are the ones who taught me how to surf and move around online. Now, nine years later, I have developed a sense of many things online and can get around quite well without the benefit of the kids -- for the most part.

I do occasionally enlist the help of my 22 year old. She is going to college to become a networking specialist, so she does know somewhat more than I do. If you fail to ask questions, you stand the risk of doing something that will crash your computer or allow a virus to enter your computer. Safe is best -- even if it means asking a ten year old.

[Don't forget the cookies. You won't believe what techies will do for cookies. -- Ed.]

Diane Poremsky is the president of CDOLive LLC and a Microsoft Outlook MVP. She's author of Teach Yourself Outlook 2003 in 24 Hours (Sam's, 2003) and coauthor of OneNote 2003 for Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide). For questions or suggestions for future columns, write her at outlook@cdolive.com.