Q: The last Windows 10 upgrade wiped out one of my favorite features in my Outlook 2010 e-mail program. Before the upgrade, I could select several pictures to e-mail and have Outlook automatically resize the images to fit the storage capacity of an e-mail. After the upgrade, the resizing option quit working. That means I can't e-mail multiple photos because their file sizes are too large to fit in an Outlook e-mail. How can I get this feature back?
Bob Schmiechen, Waukesha, Wis.
A: Microsoft no longer provides tech support for Office 2010, which contains Outlook 2010 (see tinyurl.com/yaqt2xee). So there's no easy fix for an incompatibility between the latest Windows 10 update and Outlook 2010.
You could buy a newer version of Office that probably would work better with Windows 10. But I suggest that you abandon Outlook and send your photos via a different e-mail system that doesn't require you to downsize your pictures (which lowers their resolution, or sharpness.)
The reason Outlook 2010 downsized your photos was that each e-mail was limited to 20 megabytes worth of attachments, an amount that's easily exceeded if you try to send several of today's digital photos, which typically range from 2 to 7 megabytes each. Here are some free online e-mail systems with higher size limits for attachments:
Google's Gmail (tinyurl.com/q5qo5hb): The maximum attachment size per e-mail is 25 megabytes. But files as large as 10 gigabytes can be sent if they are first uploaded to Google Drive, an online storage service, then attached to the e-mail as links. (See tinyurl.com/mq622ww and tinyurl.com/y9wkrkoj).
Yahoo Mail (tinyurl.com/yb89q2xn): The maximum attachment size per e-mail is 25 megabytes. But up to 150 megabytes worth of attachments can be added to a single e-mail if the files are first uploaded to Dropbox, an online storage service, then attached to the e-mail as links. (See tinyurl.com/y7hj2x9y).
Microsoft's Outlook.com (tinyurl.com/y9rj7c3a): The maximum attachment size per e-mail is 10 gigabytes. All large files are automatically uploaded to Microsoft's OneDrive online storage service, then attached to the e-mail as links (see tinyurl.com/y7coml6r). Note that Outlook.com is an online e-mail system that's unrelated to the PC-based Outlook program.
Q: I keep getting a pop-up box in the middle of my Windows 10 PC screen. Like the Windows Task Manager, it shows a list of the programs I have open, but it also shows some other data. The more windows I open, the bigger the box gets. Sometimes I have to close the box 20 or 30 times before it stays closed. What's wrong?
Don Carvajal, River Ridge, La.
A: The box may be an internal Windows 10 problem, or a virus.
Assuming it's a Windows issue, you can (see tinyurl.com/yb5tqya5) download a new video card driver (the driver is software that controls the screen), use Windows commands to repair damage to the operating system or fix a "lock screen app" that controls access to the screen. If those things don't work, it may be a computer virus. Run the free version of Malwarebytes (see tinyurl.com/jsdacdk) to get rid of it.
E-mail tech questions to steve.j.alexander@gmail.com. Include name, city and telephone number.
