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Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I download the latest updates to Post-it® Software Notes? You can download the latest updates from our website. Go to http://www.3M.com/psnotes

Can I install the program on more than one computer? Yes, you may install the Lite version on as many computers as you please.

How much text can I fit in a note? A note can hold about 32,000 characters regardless of font size, style, etc.

How large of a picture can I add to a note?

You can add any size picture to the note. However, any image information beyond 350 pixels from the left edge will be cropped from the note.

Can I remove the Notepad from the desktop? Yes, from the Preferences window. Right-click on the taskbar Notepad and choose Preferences... from the menu. If you choose Taskbar notification only it will hide the desktop Notepad.

How can I make the program not start up automatically when I start Windows? Remove the Post-it® Software Notes Lite shortcut from your StartUp folder. (Right-click the Start button and select Explore. Open the Programs folder, then open the StartUp folder.) Remember that notes will not alert you about alarms and you will not receive subscription notes if the application is not running.

How do I save my notes? Notes are saved automatically--you don't have to do anything. (Notes can also be manually or automatically saved to a backup file in the Standard or Office version of Post-it® Software Notes.)

Can I attach notes to documents? Yes, you can embed notes into any document that accepts OLE objects. Embedding a note means that it stays with the document when the document is printed, and it displays whenever the document is open. You can also send a document with an embedded note, and your note can be read even by someone who doesn't have Post-it® Software Notes installed.

Can I change the default font and settings for new notes? No, this is not available in the Lite edition. You can create note templates in the Standard and Office Editions.

I have lots of notes on my desktop--how can I make them take up less desktop space? There are two ways to clear up your desktop of notes: you can Minimize or Hide your notes. Minimize a note by double-clicking the Note button at the top left corner of the note. You can also select the Minimize option from the Top-of-Note right-click menu. Click the minimized note to restore it. Right-click it to see options: Restore, Always on top, Trash.

Hide all of your notes in one command by selecting the Hide All Desktop Notes option from the Notepad right-click menu, and restore them either by clicking on the Notepad icon (as if for a new note) or by selecting Restore Desktop Notes from the Notepad right-click menu.

With a purchased version of Post-it® Software Notes you can organize your notes in Memoboards and display them only when you want to see them.

Can I organize my desktop notes? Yes. Click on the Notepad button or right-click the Notepad icon on the Taskbar and choose the Cascade Desktop Notes menu item. You can organize your notes either alphabetically (by the first letter in the note) or by the modification date of the note. Other ways of cascading notes are available in the Standard and Office Editions of Post-it® Software Notes.

When I use a note near the bottom of my screen, the bottom of the note can auto-grow below the screen. How can I resize it smaller without having to move the note up? Double-click the move area (top area) of the note a couple of times. (The first time will size the note to fit the text, the second time will make the note about one line high.)

How do I uninstall Post-it® Software Notes? First exit the application from the Notepad button menu. Then go to the Windows Add/Remove Programs control panel. Select Post-it® Software Notes Lite and click the Add/Remove button.

I can't find the answer to my question. Who can I ask? You can go to our website at http://www.3M.com/psnotes or send us an email at: psnotes@3M.com for further assistance.

Questions about Note Subscriptions

How do I check that my subscription is working? Go to the Subscription Notes tab on the Preferences menu. Select the site that you are curious about and click on the Subscription Info button. The Check for notes now button will attempt to get you a note; if the server is not available, you will get an error message.

How do I unsubscribe from a subscription website? There are two ways. One way is to go to the Subscription Notes tab on the Preferences menu. There, select the site you would like to remove, and click on the Remove Site button. You can also unsubscribe directly from a received Subscription Note: Select the Unsubscribe item from the Send note to > hierarchical menu on the note menu.

How do I receive subscription notes when I access the Internet through a proxy server? If you use a proxy server for Internet access, you must enter the address and port of the server in the Subscription Notes tab of Preferences. Verify that you are correctly configured by clicking on the Test Settings button. Consult with your network administrator for the correct settings. (If your default browser is Internet Explorer, select "Always use proxy settings from Internet Explorer". In most cases this will provide the correct settings.)

General Questions about Sending and Receiving Notes

What’s the difference between my Personal List and my Favorites group? You create a Personal List of computers or people to send to, so that you don’t have to type their email address every time you want to send a note. Your Favorites group is for the small number of people to whom you send notes often. The Favorites list appears directly on the Send to... note menu item. It is not necessary to create either a Personal List or a Favorites Group.

How do I set up my Personal List? You set up your Personal List by first selecting Send Note To > Others... on a note. Then click on the Edit Personal List button at the bottom. Type in the email address and then click on the >>> button to add that name to your Personal List.

How do I set up my Favorites Group? You assign names to Favorites while editing names in your Personal List. First, select Send Note To > Others... Then click on the Edit Personal List button. Select a name from the Personal List on the right (to add a name to the Personal List, see the previous question about setting up your Personal List). Then click on the Add to Favorites button. Now that name should appear in the Send Note To > Favorites > menu

Questions about Sending and Receiving Notes via Internet Mail

How do I set up my Internet Mail preferences? You’ll need to find out what your email SMTP and POP3 servers are named, and enter those names in your Preferences, on the Internet Mail tab. The SMTP server is used to route the email (or Post-it® Software Notes) you send, and the POP3 server is used to deliver any email (or Post-it® Software Notes) that you receive.

The Internet Mail tab of Preferences is divided into two sections, one about Sending notes via Internet Mail and the other about Receiving notes via Internet Mail.

Sending Internet Mail. Type in the name of the SMTP Server your email account uses (this is the server that directs your outgoing email—the email that you are sending). Sometimes it is the same as your incoming mail server. You may be able to find the name of this server in your email application (look in Preferences, Tools, or Accounts) or ask your email administrator.

Type in your Return Address, that is, the email address associated with your SMTP Server. This is how you will be identified by the recipient’s email service.

You can enter a title that will always appear as the “Subject” line in the email message. (e.g., "Post-it® Notes Mail Message ").

Receiving Internet Mail. In order to receive notes that are sent to you via Internet Mail, you will need to enter the name of the POP3 Server your email service uses (this is the server that routes incoming messages to you). Sometimes it is the same as your outgoing mail server. You may be able to find the name of this server in the preferences of your email program, or ask your email administrator. Your POP3 User name is usually the part of your email address before the @ sign, and your POP3 Password is the password you use to access your email at that address.

The Polling Interval sets the frequency at which the software will check to see if you have any incoming Post-it® Software Notes.

What are "SMTP" and "POP3"? SMTP stands for “Simple Mail Transfer Protocol”, and is a set of rules generally used for sending email messages between servers on the Internet. POP3 stands for “Post Office Protocol 3”, and is a set of rules that allows users to save messages in a server mailbox and download them periodically from the server. In other words, users typically use a program (like Outlook Express or Eudora) that uses SMTP for sending email and POP3 for receiving email from the mail server(s). For a user, the server used for SMTP may or may not be the same as the server used for POP3. This will vary between email service providers.

I use Hotmail for my email service. Can I send and receive Post-it® Software Notes? Hotmail is not currently compatible with SMTP/POP3 email programs. That means that you cannot send or receive desktop notes, but you can receive them from others as HTML-formatted notes in your Hotmail Inbox. You will also receive the note as a .jpg attachment.

I use AOL for my email service. Can I send and receive Post-it® Software Notes? AOL is not currently compatible with SMTP/POP3 email programs. That means that you cannot send or receive desktop notes, but you can receive them from others. A picture of the note will appear as an attachment to the email.

I use Yahoo for my email service. Can I send and receive Post-it® Software Notes? Yahoo can be configured to use SMTP/POP3 access, so you can send and receive notes on your desktop. Go to your Yahoo Mail Options, and look for the section on “POP Access & Forwarding” in Mail Management. Choose to have “Web and POP access”.

You will also receive notes in your Yahoo email inbox; both the text of the note and a .jpg attachment of the note as a graphic. If you access your Yahoo mail via an email client program (e.g., Eudora, Outlook), the note will appear as a graphic in the body of the email.

Why do I receive notes both on my desktop and in my email inbox? When someone sends you a Post-it® Software Note via Internet Mail, the note itself is sent to your email address. While Post-it® Software Notes will check your inbox periodically for received notes, it will not delete them from the POP3 mail server. Therefore, when your email program downloads your messages from the server, you will receive these Post-it® Software Notes as a standard email, as well. You may delete these email messages as you would any other email message.

Why do I get notes in my email account but not on my desktop? First, you must be sure you are running a version of Post-it® Software Notes - Lite that is version 2.1.1.1050 or higher. Then you must verify that you have the proper POP3 settings under the Internet Mail tab in Preferences.

Because of the default settings in most email programs, when you download your email messages from a POP3 mail server, the email program will immediately delete the messages off of the server once they have been downloaded. If this occurs before Post-it® Software Notes has an opportunity to scan the server for any incoming notes, it will be unable to download them and display them on the desktop. To avoid this, you can set your email program to allow messages to remain on the server for 1 day (or more) after being read. This will allow more than adequate time for Post-it® Software Notes to find the notes and place them on your desktop.

Why am I getting an error when I send a note through Internet Mail? First, make sure that you are connected to the Internet when you try to send your note. Second, make sure your settings are correct for sending notes via Internet Mail, in Preferences (that is, make sure you have entered the correct address for your email service’s SMTP server). Third, make sure that you have entered a return address on the Internet Mail tab in Preferences, and that it matches the SMTP server you have entered. Some email services require a return address that uses their own SMTP server as a way to reduce unsolicited email (junk mail, or “spam”) for their customers.

You can try to send yourself an email through your usual email application to verify that your email server is running. If you don’t know your SMTP server address, you may be able to find it in your email application (e.g., Eudora, Outlook). Look for the properties of your email account (for example, in Tools, Accounts, Options), or contact your email service provider.

What happens if the person I'm sending a note to does not have PSN, or doesn’t have a POP3 server?

Because you are sending the notes via Internet Mail, the note will arrive as text in the person’s email inbox. Depending upon the kind of email service and software the recipient uses, the note may also appear as an attachment (complete with the graphics and rich text formatting), or as an HTML-formatted note.