I have a proper email account hosted by my webhost company, but have 2 computers - one in the house, the other in the workshop. Both run Outlook Express and check for email every 15 mins or so. Once email is downloaded, it gets wiped from the server.
So the problem is getting email from one to the other. I currently send it to the other computer via yahoo mail, but it's a pain. What I would really like is for mail downloaded to my home computer (in the evening, for example) doesn't get deleted it from the server, so when I fire up the main workshop one in the morning, I also receive the previous evenings email that was delivered to the home computer. Is this possible?
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You can setup Outlook Express to download but not delete the messages. That way you have it on both. There will also be an option to delete older messages from the server after a while. The assumption being you'll have by then downloaded to both computers.
You could if you wanted to have the workshop computer to download and remove emails but the other one only downloads. But then you won't have emails on both because when the workshop one gets new emails it will remove them from the server.
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I use two computers. The fixed PC uses Outlook and the laptop uses the ISPs webmail. So stuff is only downloaded when I fire up the fixed PC.
System works for me and I used to email myself as a means of getting stuff from one PC to the other. Don't need to now as the new wifi router has a memory stick with the location accessible to both computers.
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IIRC you have two options how to configure Outlook Express not to delete your emails from the server when you log in:
1. Set it to work in POP mode, but select the "do not delete from server" option. This does what it says on the tin, but sent emails are stored locally on the PC you send them from.
In this case, if you need to be able to refer back to a sent email from either PC, you need to cc or bcc yourself on it.
2. Set it to work in IMAP mode; Outlook Express will work just like a webmail client, i.e. all your messages in your inbox and sent items stay permanently on the server unless you transfer them to a Personal Folder on one of your PCs.
In this case, you need to watch out that you don't exceed your ISP's limit on your mailbox size. Its worth transferring old messages into a personal folder regularly, because it can be slower to access a large inbox/sent items folder over a domestic internet connection.
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>> You can setup Outlook Express to download but not delete the messages. That way you have it on both.
>> IIRC you have two options how to configure Outlook Express not to delete your emails from the server when you log in:
What both have said.
I have MS Outlook Express on my main desktop PC to download and delete emails from the server.
However, on my Laptop I have MS Outlook and have configured the settings to download emails but leave them on the server. Same for my iPhone.
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You could forward it to a web based email id eg Gmail and then access Gmail from either computer. You can then decide whether to leave it or delete it from the 'host'. You can configure Gmail to send from the host email id as well.
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IMAP is ok but it is a bit unreliable unless you're paying for top end hosting. The other issue with IMAP is storage. It is too easy to accidently delete the entire lot.
What I do is simply tell the server to keep the emails for ten days, that gives my office or home computer plenty of time to get the emails. The only issue with that is the sent and delete boxes don't synchronise.
There is software you can get which will fully synch it, buy you may as well just use IMAP but have a good backup system in place for your email if you're going down that road.
It depends how important your email is too, if I lost mine it will be annoying and will cause some minor issues but it would not be the end of the world. I am amazed how many people run their business of a single PST file!
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>>IMAP is ok but it is a bit unreliable unless you're paying for top end hosting. The other issue with IMAP is storage. It is too easy to accidently delete the entire lot.
If you're using the likes of gmail (or any of the big webmail providers), it's both free and bulletproof in operation. The only time I've ever seen unreliable IMAP is from the cheesy service offered by some ISPs. Using the ISPs service is always a huge mistake anyway, as changing ISP involves also changing email addresses. I have my own domain (for address permanence) with email directed to the webmail service of my choice (for flexibility).
It should be nigh-on impossible to delete everything on an IMAP server as a simple delete merely sends the affected folder or mails to the bin, from where they may be retrieved.
Yes, if you SHIFT-DEL in the likes of Outlook it will permanently delete on the server, but that takes a deliberate act.
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I stuck with mail clients for years, but now find gmail does what I need and causes fewer problems when using 4 different computers (2 shared) and a phone.
You can't easily be signed in to two google accounts so when using "her" machines I get over that by having my gmail account set up with access from hers. I can just open a new tab from her mail account with my account in it - sorry for the lumbering explanation.
I can also send from different addresses using gmail, including from my own domain.
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All done now thanks. Changed the settings on OE on one of the PC's, and it does exactly as I wanted.
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1 email account - 2 computers - rtj70
