Web site Publishing

[John Clemence]

Has anyone else experienced difficulties uploading websites from FrontPage 2003 (or any other version) while Outlook 2003 is running at the same time? I seem to find that I can up-load my websites if I close down outlook before opening front page but I'm not sure that this really is the answer - just a bit of a co-incidence. Windows xp, sp2 - no other firewall.

[John Simkin]

I don't use FrontPage but have experienced problems with other combinations of software programs. However, to solve the problem, I sometimes need to restart the computer.

[Graham Davies]

Significantly, Outlook is often referred to by computer buffs as "Look Out!". I never use it, as I have experienced too many problems with Outlook. I use Eudora for email and Dreamweaver for creating Web pages. No problems!

[Derek McMillan]

I use Mozilla for web browsling, composing and uploading web pages and for email and unsurprisingly it does not conflict with itself (It is also open source and works under Linux)

One of my pupils said he was impressed with Mozilla but worried that it would probably be too expensive for him to buy.

[David Richardson]

I use Dreamweaver for creating web sites and Safari for looking at them … but then again I'm lucky enough to be able to use a Mac!

[Marco Koene]

I do not use Frontpage that often anymore, our technicians designed a very easy to use php-based content managment system. That truly is very easy and I feel the way of the future. I used to use Outlook but not anymore, our technicians came up with an webbased alternative...

But when I used Frontpage and Outlook on a regular basis I expierenced all the problems mentioned above. All I can say is, praise to our technicians for circumventing outlook and frontpage!

[Caterina Gasparini]

I use Mozilla for email, Dreamweaver and Fireworks for web pages, but I happen to use Explorer for browsing more often than a few years ago (I started browsing with Netscape). I also experienced problems with Front Page before installing Macromedia software.

[John Clemence]

Thanks for all the replies - its quite reassuring to find that one is not alone! The work around does seem to be to shut down Outlook and then open Front Page - this seems to keep port 21 free for Front Page to use.

So why do I use Outlook (2003)? - simply because it is very good at dealing with spam in emails and I like the calendar and reminder systems. I tend to keep it running all the time on a second monitor so it was some time before I realised that it might be affecting what I was doing with Front Page - after all they are both from Office 2003 - you'd think that this sort of thing would have been sorted - - - wouldn't you? Well, I guess that's why many of you have taken different options!

Edited October 3, 2004 by John Clemence

[Graham Davies]

John writes:

So why do I use Outlook (2003)? - simply because it is very good at dealing with spam in emails ...

I think you'll find that most newer email systems have reasonable spam filters. Oultlook is the email software that is most frequently targeted by virus writers - because it is so widely used and because Microsoft has a habit of leaving each new version of Windows full of holes that allows this stuff through. If you don't keep patching your Windows system you are prone to such attacks - log in to http://www.windowsupdate.com and find out which Critical Updates and Service Packs you need in order to patch the holes and fix the bugs in your current version of Windows.

I use MailWasher Pro to filter spam before it hits the two different email systems that I use. So far, it's proved very effective. But both of my ISPs filter quite a lot of the stuff out before it reaches me.

[John Clemence]

It depends really what you mean by 'filtering'. Mail washer seems to me to add to ther problem by, if you set it thus, bouncing stuff back to the sender and just incraesing the amount of traffic on the NET. I gave this system some extensive trialling and found it to take up too much of my time.

Although I hold no particular brief for MS I have to say that since I started to use Outlook 2003 I've hardly seen any spam - that which I have seen is very easily added to the banned user list. The important thing is that this package actually knows about a huge number of the spammers and their techniques and it is updated regularly - updating is good practice and we should all be doing it.

[Graham Davies]

John writes:

It depends really what you mean by 'filtering'. Mail washer seems to me to add to ther problem by, if you set it thus, bouncing stuff back to the sender and just incraesing the amount of traffic on the NET. I gave this system some extensive trialling and found it to take up too much of my time.

You don't have to set MailWasher to bounce emails You just set it to delete the rubbish without bouncing it. The choice is yours. I usually view all subject lines and sender addresses, however, before I hit the "process mail" button. I am in business and it's just possible that a genuine enquiry from a customer might get zapped, so I can't afford not to see what's coming in. But I don't find MailWasher takes up time. When my email boxes were hit by a spam storm in July/August - 500-1000 per day -I simply set MailWasher to hide all incoming spam and viruses and to zap the lot automatically. No problem! No time wasted or lost.

[John Clemence]

It eventually crossed my tired mind that my up-loading problems actually started with SP2 - and that would naturally mean with the new firewall arrangements.

So I have been experimenting with the free version of ZoneAlarm - and this seems to have made life much easier. This also includes up-loading while OutLook is running! So my original theory may have been true but only while using the SP2 Firewall.

Now using ZoneAlarm 5.1 - you live and learn!