General tips and instructions:

http://www.sandrak.nl/doghouse/examples/Star8.html

In that case you don't need to do anything.
If you can't see the picture however, you will need to download this zip file: MetaDLL.zip

Unzip and put the 2 DLL files in  C:\WINDOWS|System , or in case you have Windows XP, in C:\WINDOWS|System32

After having done that, you need to install them.
To do this, go to Start>Run and type     regsvr32.exe dxtmeta2.dll            in the box that appear. (Copy and paste works too) Then click OK.
Repeat this for the second file, but now type        regsvr32.exe dxtmsft3.dll           and click ok again.
Now you should be able to view all stationery made with Meta filters.

Recently Windows XP automatically installed a new update on your computer.

This update (KB911567) changes the use of EML files.

The stationery now opens in Outlook Express as a sent message.
Of course you can remove the unneccesary stuf at the top and in the address line.
However, if you want things to work as before, look here for a solution:

http://www.insideoe.com/

The stationery is in EML format, zipped for easy download. Unzip and save to a folder of your choice.
To use the stationery, just double click on the file and the stationery will open in Outlook Express.
It will look a bit strange, but that’s normal in edit mode.
Just double click in the text box and replace the ‘Your text here’ with your own text.

You can check if everything works by clicking on preview in your bottom status bar.
If you do not see this bar with Edit, Source and Preview go to ‘View’ and click on ‘Source edit’.
By clicking on ‘Edit’ you can edit and send your E-mail.

NB: To use the stationery in Outlook Express 6, you have to change your settings:
Open outlook Express 6 and go to Tools>Options>Security Tab.
Here you change the option 'restricted zone' to 'internet zone' and click OK.

Note that this stationery will not work in Incredimail or some other mail programs.
It was designed for use in Outlook Express.

When browsing thought the folder with your Stationery files, you sometimes only see little white envelopes in thumbnail view.
This happens especially after installing Servicepack 1 for Outlook Express in Windows XP.
So you either have to click each envelop or recognize them by their file name.
To be able to see the thumbnails again instead of just the white envelop, you can download and install the following little program:

EML ThumbnailFix.reg

Left click and choose 'Open'.
Disregard any warnings and click 'Yes' (add to registry)

Instructions for HTML files

Unzip the file in to your stationery folder.
In most cases you will find it here: C > Program files > Common files > Microsoft shared >Stationery.
Now open Outlook Express and click on the little arrow next to ‘New Message’.
Click on the arrow that says ‘browse’ and browse to your stationery folder. Click on the file of your choice and click ‘ok’.
You will not see any pictures.
You can check if everything works by clicking on preview in your bottom status bar.
If you do not see this bar with Edit, Source and Preview go to ‘View’ and click on ‘Source edit’.
By clicking on ‘Edit’ you can edit and send your E-mail.

NB: To use the stationery in Outlook Express 6, you have to change your settings:
Open outlook Express 6 and go to Tools>Options>SecurityTab.
Here you change the option 'restricted zone' to 'internet zone' and click OK.

Adding music to the stationery

My stationery has no music, because I feel that music is very much a matter of personal taste.
Of course you can add music yourself.
Here's how you do that:

• Click on Format > Background.
• Click on Sound. You get a screen named Background sound.
• Click on browse and browse to the folder where you keep your midi files.
• Select the midi that you want to use.
• Clik on Open.
• Set the number of times the music should repeat.
• Click on OK

Remember that you should only use Midi files. Wav's or MP3's are much to big.
Also, even with midi's, you should avoid file sizes over 25 KB.

On my Links Page are some links to websites that offer free midi files for download.
You can also do a Google search for midi's. If you find one you like, just right click on the
file and choose 'Save target as' to save it to your pc.

Close window to return to stationeries