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Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

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Brew_24
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Registered: ‎19-05-2018

Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

I have been using Windows Live Mail for some time, blissfully unaware that Windows no longer support it. Following the recent Windows 10 April upgrade, the display is now corrupted (although I can still use the application.) I have tried to move to Mozilla Thunderbird, but after a successful install all attempts to move my email account have met with error upon error! Is there a straightforward way to do this?

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spraxyt
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

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Welcome to the Plusnet Community. Smiley

The information you need to set up Plusnet email using Thunderbird should be the same as you already use with Windows Live Mail. Plusnet provide guidance in their help page https://www.plus.net/help/email-guides/how-to-set-up-plusnet-email/.

Did you use POP3 or IMAP email collection with Windows Live Mail? Are you intending to use the same with Thunderbird?

Providing more specific help might be possible if you could expand on what error messages accompany your "error upon error" experiences. Huh

David
Brew_24
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

Thank you for your help David. After plenty of trail and error I've finally cracked it (IMAP) -  final error concerned incorrect outgoing server name. More fun to come when I attempt to follow TB instructions on transferring messages and contacts!

spraxyt
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

Glad to hear you got Thunderbird working. It can be troublesome because its guessed entries in most of the fields need to be overtyped with correct values. With IMAP messages held in folders on the server should automatically be picked up. However if Sent items were held locally in WLM moving those is trickier.

David
ColinBartram
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

Hi - I've recently joined the community, hoping for insight into pretty much the same needs. We have WLM under Windows10, with POP3. My first aim was to convert WLM to use IMAP so we could then go ahead with putting Aquamail on our phones and getting it all working together. I found no way to swap WLM over to using IMAP, and another forum suggested I wouldn't be successful in deleting my email account in WLM and redefining it.  Then I heard that MS have dropped support for WLM and it's likely to fall apart with any new W10 update: I've read people saying it's stopped working for them. So my brother who's much more switched on than me, said to use Thunderbird on the PC, and he's going to look into an import bolt-on that would enable T'bird to pick up my very extensive WLM folders. One question I was going to ask PlusNet support - what if I install Aquamail first on the phone, so we have the phone using IMAP and the PC still using POP3. Anybody got insights on that one?

 

Any help greatly received!

Jubby
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

Hi @ColinBartram,

I'm afraid the only way to change an email account in Windows Live Mail from POP3 to IMAP is to delete the mailbox and set it back up with the IMAP configuration.

A problem will occur when you set up IMAP configuration on phones. This is because Widows Live Mail will remove the mail from the server after a certain time frame (dependent on settings) and they will no longer appear on the phone.

Hope this helps.
 

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 Lewis G
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maranello
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012


@Jubby wrote:

 Windows Live Mail will remove the mail from the server after a certain time frame (dependent on settings) and they will no longer appear on the phone.

 

Really? What happens to the removed mail? What setting is the time frame dependant on?


 

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Jubby
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

Hi @maranello,

The removed mail will remain stored on the email client but not on our mail servers. In most or possibly all clients, there is usually a setting under the client properties phrased along the lines of 'leave a copy of messages on the server' which follows with a drop down box to input the amount of days.

It could be a possibility to increase this to the maximum allowed but this is only a short term remedy.

Thank you.

If this post resolved your issue please click the 'This fixed my problem' button
 Lewis G
 Infrastructure Operations Professional
ColinBartram
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

Hello Jubby and thanks for picking this one up. My WLM Advanced settings say  to leave a copy on server until deleted from Deleted folder. The option to remove after 'n' days is not checked. So maybe the mere 158 Inbox messages are all still there. They date back to 2015, ho ho.

 

I was scared about  deleting the POP3 account in WLM and creating a new one in case my folders got lost somehow. Also I saw on another forum (Microsoft?) that I would have  to adopt a different email address, and though I  thought that was weird, I wasn't willing to take the risk. If I know I could make the POP3/IMAP switch on WLM safely I'd probably get on with it.

 

BUT - WLM appears to be a dead end now, and we plan to move to Thunderbird very soon - just  need to track down the import utility so I can get my folders imported.  

 

Short term we might have IMAP Aquamail on the phones and POP3 WLM on the PC. Wonder how that would work?

 

What is performance like on the PlusNet Webmail these days?  That appears to be a fallback option for getting email while away from base.

 

Thanks for all the help.

 

 

ColinBartram
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

The number of days emails are left on the server is in WLM Main menu Accounts / Properties / Advanced tab. It looks like it defaults to 5 days. The checkbox is for 'Delete from server after 'n' days, so if that box is left unchecked then it looks like there is no time-driven removal from the server.  Hope that helps.

PS - the dialog starts with a checkbox to leave emails on the server.

maranello
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

Would I be right to assume that this option/setting has no effect for IMAP?

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ColinBartram
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

Sorry, dunno, I'm a novice on this stuff.  Expect the PlusNet expert will know.

spraxyt
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012


@maranello wrote:

Would I be right to assume that this option/setting has no effect for IMAP?


That's correct. "Leave a copy on the server" style settings affect only POP3 operations.

It might be worth mentioning that POP3 and IMAP access operate on the same INBOX, Because deleting a message using POP3 removes it from the server then it will also be deleted from the IMAP list.

However the converse might not be true. Deleting a message using IMAP does not necessarily remove it from INBOX - it just sets a "deleted" flag. POP3 access does not understand "deleted" flags so might still find it. The INBOX would have to be expunged/compacted (using IMAP) to remove it from the server.

This is potentially confusing, one of the reasons why mixing POP3 and IMAP access to a mailbox is discouraged. However having just one POP3 access device is generally workable providing one understands the implications.

David
ColinBartram
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

Making progress. Only problem now is that T'bird is unable to write to the Sent and Draft folders at PlusNet. 

 In wondered if its a port issue. In WLM my outgoing POP3 SMTP is on port 25.  SO far in Tbird I've allowed it to use its default 587.  Do I need to change that to 25?

ColinBartram
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Re: Migrating from Windows Live Mail 2012

Nope, nothing to do with Ports. What I needed to do in TB was to go to Account Settings / Folders and Copies and define the folder paths for it to use for Sent and Draft items. As in  account / inbox / sent  and account / inbox /draft.    Bingo, all working now.