Q: A month or so ago I purchased the Microsoft “Office standard 2007″ and ran into a problem with Outlook.

I have used Outlook Express for a number of years and have 1,000-plus e-mail addresses. These addresses were entered using Outlook Express to get the address list in order of last names. When I tried to import these addresses to Outlook, it came out with the order of first names (Jim, Jim, Jim, John, John, John etc.) Since I did not wish to re-type all the addresses into the new system I gave up and went back to Express.

Your advice appeared in the Virginian Pilot 1/21/08 suggesting that the reader shift to Outlook for better security. I can not agree if someone has an extensive list of e-mail addresses. The only thing I did not try was to order my Outlook Express by first names and import that into Outlook. The ability to order the names in Outlook does not seem to exist. Even the means to enter the new names did not allow the data to be entered identifying first and last names.

iGirl: Thanks for the note. Outlook does allow for sorting of contacts by last name, it’s just somewhat difficult to find. Here’s how:

1. Open Microsoft Outlook.
2. On the Welcome screen, in the lower left-hand corner you’ll see a tab for “Contacts.” Click on this to open your contacts.
3. In the left pane you’ll see “Customize Current View.” Click on this to change the appearance of your contacts. Click on the image at right to see where this is on the screen.
4. A pop-up window will appear on your screen. Click on “Sort.”
5. Now another pop-up window will appear. The image at left (click to enlarge) shows the three things you’ll need to click to change the way contacts are sorted. First, click on the arrow below “Sort items by” and this will open up a menu. Now, choose “Last Name.” You can also choose to sort the contacts by company, country or many other fields. Make your selection, then click the “OK” button.
6. Not all of my contacts have a last name entered. If you’re like me, Outlook will display a pop-up window that says “The field ‘Last Name’ that you want to sort by is not shown in the view. Do you want to show it?” This is just a warning that not all of the contacts can be sorted by last name. Still, it’s a valuable way to view contacts so click “Yes.”
7. To finalize the view change click “OK” on the last pop-up window or the customization will not save.