Outlook/Thunderbird conflict - help please?

Muppet81

I have always used Outlook for my e-mail.
I have started to do some voluntary charity work and the organiser has added Thunderbird to my PC so that I can use this for all my charity work e-mails.
I now find that when I am on the internet and looking at a website which has a contact us e-mail point, it is Thunderbird that it is defaulting to.
I am a bit unsure/terriefied about altering settings and wonder if anyone could give me idiot proof instructions for setting Outlook as the default for the internet contacts?
I have looked in my Control Panel but cannot see where i might be able to do this.
Thanks all

Tigsteroonie

Instructions will probably depend on which browser (Internet Explorer, FireFox etc) you are using to view the web.

Muppet81

Hi and thanks. Internet Explorer 8

EvilScotsman

Sounds like you just need to set Outlook as your default email client:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223877

Cheers

Tigsteroonie

I'm not a techie but, as nobody else has replied yet, I'll give it a go ...

(Edit. Someone else did respond whilst I was typing this out - and their link gives the same instructions!)

Start Internet Explorer.
Up on the top menu bar, click on Tools (it appears over to the rhs on mine)
At the bottom of that menu, click Internet Options. A dialog box should open.

Click on the Programs tab.

Second one down should be "Email", and hopefully you'll have the option to change the program listed against Email from Thunderbird to Outlook. Then OK to save.

Muppet81

I have done that but it is already set as Microsoft Outlook for the E-mail.

Tigsteroonie

Sorry but that's exhausted my tiny knowledge - perhaps someone more techie can help with why IE says it's doing one thing (opening Outlook) when it's actually doing another (opening Thunderbird). Best of luck!

tronator

Muppet81 wrote: »

I have always used Outlook for my e-mail.
I have started to do some voluntary charity work and the organiser has added Thunderbird to my PC so that I can use this for all my charity work e-mails.
I now find that when I am on the internet and looking at a website which has a contact us e-mail point, it is Thunderbird that it is defaulting to.
I am a bit unsure/terriefied about altering settings and wonder if anyone could give me idiot proof instructions for setting Outlook as the default for the internet contacts?
I have looked in my Control Panel but cannot see where i might be able to do this.
Thanks all

If you have to contact all these people for your charity work, then you should leave the settings as they are. The organiser of the charity had reasons to install Thunderbird so that your personal and charity emails don't get mixed up. If you contact people on behalf of the charity the charity email address should appear as the sender and sent email should appear in the Sent folder of the charity account.

Even if you would set up both accounts in Outlook, one address is always the primary one (at least in Outlook up to 2003). If you are in the secondary email account and write a new email, Outlook always uses the primary email address as sender by default, so you would need to change it manually from the drop down list and you easily forget to do so. Thunderbird handles multiple accounts much better.

Muppet81

Thanks. Help techies! This has exhausted by knowledge too.

Muppet81

I have just tried again to send an e-mail via a contact us e-mail on a website.

When the message box came up, it is using the new identity set up for me by the charity i.e. a different e-mail addres tot he one I use as my personal one and in Outlook.

I have gone to toold here and it has only the 1 identity i.e. my new one, showing. Scared to muck about and change these.

EvilScotsman

If IE8 is listing Outlook as your default mail client, what is listed in your program defaults?

XP: Click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Set Program Access and Defaults.

Vista:

Open Set Program Access and Computer Defaults by clicking Start, Default Programs, and then clicking Set program access and computer defaults

7: Start button, Default Programs