So you'll also appreciate that Windows Mail and Outlook Express highlight strings, tags, arguments and more in the HTML source code of a message if you edit it directly. Unfortunately, the highlighting is not perfect, and it can sometimes stumble or lag, showing the wrong colors in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you find that more confusing than helpful, you can turn source highlighting off in Windows Mail or Outlook Express. Of course, you can turn it back on just as swiftly.
Source Code Highlighting in Windows Mail or Outlook Express's Mail Source Editor
To turn source code highlighting on or off in Windows Mail or Outlook Express:
- Exit Windows Mail or Outlook Express.
- Go to your Windows Mail or Outlook Express settings in the Windows registry.
- If no Show Source Edit Color key exists (it would be displayed in the right pane while the left pane displays ...\Windows Mail (or ...\Outlook Express\5.0) as open):
- Select Edit | New | DWORD (32-bit) Value (or Edit | New | DWord) from the menu.
- Type "Show Source Edit Color.
- Hit Enter.
- Double-click the Show Source Edit Color key.
- Type
- "0" to disable and
- "1" to enable
- Click OK.
ATI Hydravision May Break Outlook Express HTML Source Code Coloring
If you find the source editor in your Outlook Express does not respond to the registry changes above and never shows any colors, ATI Hydravision may be the culprit. Apparently, it can interfere with the HTML source editor's ability to colorize code.
To fix this issue, try upgrading to a newer version of Hydravision, if available, or disable or uninstall it.
