Microsoft Outlook is driving me bananas!!!

I’ve recently changed my computer and have Windows 7 installed, together with the latest version of Microsoft Outlook.  Windows 7 is OK (I was a Vista fan and there’s not too much difference).  But Microsoft Outlook is driving me bananas.  Although I have the junk mail filter turned off, it insists on shoving stuff into the junk folder.  This doesn't stop junk turning up in my inbox - well, I don't mind that - after all, how long does it take to click 'delete'?  But what I do object to is the legitimate emails that regularly turn up in the junk folder.

There's a company that sends me a daily email - I've requested it and I always read it, but it always goes into the junk folder.  And before you say 'why don't you add it to your white list?', I have - countless times.  It makes no difference at all.  This despite the statement that 'email from addresses or domain names on your safe senders list will never be treated as junk mail'.  Oh really?

And what on earth is it that makes the software categorise something as junk?  Today emails from Facebook and Paypal were treated as junk.  But the icing on the cake was when an email that I sent myself as a memo (from my own address to my own address) was treated as junk!

Perhaps if I turned on the junk filter, it would start shoving everything into the junk folder and then at least all my new emails would be in the same place.  Hmm . . . it's worth a try!