Whenever you receive new e-mail with Outlook 2003, a pop-up Desktop Alert near the right side of the Windows Taskbar appears, providing you with a brief synopsis of the e-mail and a quick opportunity to click the e-mail to read its contents. However, this Desktop Alert only appears for a few seconds, giving you very little time to click it to read the e-mail contents. If you'd rather this Desktop Alert appear for a longer duration:

1. Click "Tools", selecting "Options".

2. When the "Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "Preferences" tab.

3. Click the "E-Mail Options" button.

4. When the "E-Mail Options" dialog box appears, click "Advanced E-Mail Options".

5. When the "Advanced E-Mail Options" dialog appears, click "Desktop Alert Settings".

6. When the "Desktop Alert Settings" dialog appears, move the "Duration" slider to the right. As you move it, you should see underneath the slider the duration of time the Desktop Alert will appear on-screen. Choose your desired length, from 3 to 30 seconds.

7. Click the "Preview" button, if desired, to preview your settings.

8. Click "OK" on the four dialog boxes to close them.

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