How to remove embedded images from emails in MS Outlook

When you receive an email with an embedded image, the image will likely take up a lot of your email storage space. Unlike an attachment, you cannot easily remove the image to save the space unless you delete the whole message. The following is a tip on how to remove embedded images so that you can still keep the messages around for archiving purposes.

Prerequisite: You must have the Outlook Attachment Manager installed. The tip exploits a feature of the attachment manager tool. You do not need to set up Amazon S3 or Microsoft Windows Azure if you have not already. You can use the Network Drive option provided and specify either a local or network drive directory as the “ndpath”.

Step 1: Select the email message in the explorer view, so that the message is visible in the preview pane, as shown below:

Select a message in the outlook explorer view

Step 2: Click the Detach button on the OutlookCloud command bar to detach the attachments and embedded images (do not forget to enable “detach embedded images” in the Attachment Manager’s configuration options page). It should look like the following, where your attachments’ name will start with either AZ, S3, or ND prefix, depending on which Cloud option you used.

after detaching attachments

Step 3: Click the ReAttach button on the command bar. The embedded images should now show up as regular attachments on the list. You can see an image’s size and click on it to open and see the image. After you have decided which image to delete, go to next step.

Outlook explorer view after reattach

Step 4: Double click on the message in the explorer to open up an inspector for the message (it is important not to select a different message before double clicking on it). Right click on the attachment that you want to delete, which brings up a pop up menu, choose Remove.  Close the message and save the change when asked.

outlook inspector view

Forget GDrive, here comes MDrive, free 50GB storage

The rumor on GDrive, the free storage offering from Google, has to be the longest running rumor on the Internet. Blogs dating as far back as Mar. 2006 talked about the up and coming unlimited storage offering from Google. Recently, there is renewed talk again that it is coming this year. It baffles me why there is still a lot of enthusiasm after three long years of waiting. How can Google deliver now if it has not delivered in three years.

While the world is waiting, the storage market  has advanced dramatically. Storage with a programmable interface, such as Amazon S3, has emerged. S3 took a very different approach. Instead of giving you a full hard disk emulation, it provides a web services API interface. The web services API simplifies the implementation, so that it can not only be cheaply implemented, but can also be easily scaled. So, for measly $0.15/GB/month, you can have an unlimited, highly-scalable storage. The simple web services API turns out not to be limiting at all, and many interesting solutions can be and have been implemented on top.

The latest entrant to this market is Microsoft Windows Azure. It offers a web services API similar to that of Amazon S3 all for FREE (for now up to 50GB).  It cannot be mounted as a hard drive on your PC, but there are easy-to-use consoles for you to upload your files. For example, check out Azure Explorer. Since Azure is pretty new, you will likely see more easy-to-use tools to help you utilize the free storage. To get a free account, follow the Azure  getting started guide.

The added advantage of a web services API is that it enables programmable integration with other applications to make your experience seamless. For example, a Cloud email provider’s Outlook Attachment Manager product can automatically detach email attachments and store them in Cloud, or send large attachments through the Cloud. This not only frees up your email inbox, but also makes it hassle free to use email.

While we are still waiting for GDrive, do enjoy MDrive, complimentary of Microsoft.

Outlook Attachment Manager won BrotherSoft’s Editor’s pick award

We are pleased that our Cloud email solution has recently won the Editor’s pick award from BrotherSoft, and it is now featured on their front page. Use our software to reduce your Inbox size and send large attachments through the Cloud. Check out what you have been missing and try Outlook Attachment Manager for free.

How to send large files through Cloud directly from MS Outlook

Sending a large file attachment has always been a big hassle. Most email servers limit you up to 10MB. Even if you can send, it will annoy the hell out of your recipients because it eats up their precious Inbox space. There are work arounds. You can use FTP, or sharepoints, or you can use services on the web which allow you to upload the file there first. But all these solutions have drawbacks:

• Inconvenient: You have to upload file manually, you have to manage login/passwords.
• Costly: You probably have to pay a high monthly fee regardless you send or not.
• Insecure: The storage is shared with someone else. You never know who may have peeked at your data.

With Outlook Attachment Manager, you now can send large file attachments directly from your MS Outlook client, securely through your own storage account at Amazon S3. See the video demo on how to.

Getting started with Microsoft Windows Azure

Microsoft Azure was announced in PDC last October. It is currently under CTP (Community Technical Preview). During this period, you can use their service for free. Do not think that it is for developers only, as an end user, you can actually benefit from it right away. One registration gives you two free Storage accounts, each has  50GB storage and 20GB/day storage bandwidth. Using our Outlook Attachment Manager product, you can use that storage to store your email attachments, all for FREE. Our test indicates that Azure storage works really well.

For each registration, you also get 2000 VM hours. To leverage that, you unfortunately have to sharpen up your developer skills.

Check out the full step-by-step guide for signing up Windows Azure, and enjoy your free storage, complimentary of Microsoft.

Nielsen to Disable Employees’ ‘Reply to All’ E-mail Functionality

Nielsen, the TV rating company, wants to disable reply-all for all employees. As outrageous as it sounds, they do have a valid point. One of the reasons cited is to “free up server space”. When one sends an email to a mass mailing list, the same email is stored multiple times on the email server, eating us precious space. Since email storage costs a lot, it makes sense to cut down as much as possible, especially in this economical environment.

However, there is an alternative where you can not only reduce the email storage cost, but also avoid provoking your employees. Using the Outlook Attachment Manager, you can offload your email storage to Amazon S3 at an attractive price of $0.15/GB/month. Best of you, you do not have to worry about backup/Disaster Recovery/Record retention anymore — Cloud provider takes care of that.

Try Attachment Manager for free to see what you are missing.

Gartner says Email will lead the charge into mainstream Cloud adoption

So far Cloud has mostly been a SMB phenomena. Its usage in Enterprise is largest non-existent due to a number of reasons, such as security and privacy concerns. A recent Gartner report says Email will lead the charge into mainstream Cloud adoption. Highlights from the report include:

• The percentage of commercial mailboxes using a cloud-provisioned model will grow from 1 percent of enterprise seats in 2007 to 20 percent in 2012.
• By 2012, the cloud model will serve the largest firms (with more than 50,000 seats)

We could not agree with the report more. The Cloud economics are so compelling (at least an order of magnitude cheaper) that many CIOs are considering a Cloud approach, especially in this economic environment.

The decision is no longer a binary one, either full Cloud (e.g., Google App) or full in-house (MS Exchange). With our Outlook Attachment Management solution, CIOs can go for a hybrid model where the bulk of the storage is in the Cloud, yet key functionality remains in house. This also solves the security and privacy concern –  the number one concerns on CIO’s mind today — because you could store the email attachments in the Cloud in a compressed and encrypted form, so that, no one, no even your Cloud provider can see your sensitive data.

Try our Outlook Attachment Manager today for FREE!

How to send large files

Would not it be nice if we can send arbitrarily large files simply through our email? Unfortunately, most email servers limit you to a 10MB file. In addition, you recipients have a quota on their Inbox. When you send a large file, they will curse you for jamming up their Inbox.

What are some other options? Of course, you can use FTP. First, you have to set up an FTP account with someone, and pay a monthly fee, even if you only send large files occasionally. Then you create a  login and password for your recipients. Then you download an FTP client program and upload your files. Then you email your recipients the login and password. When your recipients receive it, they have to get an FTP client program too, then login, type the password, download the files and remember to correlate the download files with your email. Wow! That is a lot of work for both you and your recipients. There are other options than FTP, but they do not make life any easier for you.

We are happy to announce that there is now an easier way. Our Outlook Attachment Manager product allows you to send large files through the Cloud. You click “Insert File via Cloud” button, then browse and find your file, and you are done. The program automatically uploads the file to the Cloud and insert a link into your email. You recipients simply click the link to see your file. Best of all, you only pay for the actual Cloud storage at $0.15/GB-month (using Amazon S3). Try this for free and you will discover how easier it is.

Store Outlook email attachments in Cloud.

Are you running out of space in your Outlook Inbox? Are you fed up with archiving/backing up your PST file?

Our Outlook Attachment Manager product allows you to store all your attachments in the Cloud securely, and it could save you a lot of hassles. It is

• Reliable. No more worry about backup and archive. Cloud automatically replicates your data to provide high reliability.
• Secure. Your attachments can be encrypted and you hold on to the password, so that no one, not even your Cloud provider, can see your data.
• Cheap.  Amazon S3′ $0.15 pricing is significantly lower than your Exchange storage cost. It is even cheaper than Google Apps’ pricing of $50/year.
• Convenient. Send large attachments (up to 5GB using S3) directly from your email client.
• Polite: Send all attachments through the Cloud so that you do not jam up your recipient’s Inbox.
• Unlimited. Your CIO may give you a quota, Google Apps may set you a limit (25GB), but you can store as much as you want in Amazon S3.
• Accessible anywhere. Read you attachments even when you are on the plane.
• Hassle free. No need to copy over a big PST file when switching to a new PC.
• More efficient. Significantly reduce your Inbox size so that your Outlook is more efficient to startup, browse, search and index.

We are now listed in Amazon’s Solution Catalog (Attachment Manager solution).