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Networked E-Mails

penfold
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Networked E-Mails

Sorry of this is the wrong place to post.....
I have 3 PCs, 1 Desktop and 2 laptops, one of the laptops runs Linux. I keep misplacing E-Mails, as I download to various systems. I wondered if it was possible to download E-Mails to a network location, such as my NAS box, and then set up my E-Mail clients to download the mails from there, so as they are always in a central location. I realise I could set up an E-Mail server, but dont want to do this, as I dont have a spare PC. If this is not possible, can I move E-Mails to a network location, and access them from other PCs. Would Windows Home Server help at all??  Thanks for any advice.
PS Desktop runs Outlook 2003, both laptops thunderbird.
14 REPLIES 14
jelv
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Re: Networked E-Mails

Use IMAP which will keep all the copies on the Plusnet server, when you go into the mail client on any PC it will syncronise with the server. It will even take care of the sent items. Also when you are away from home without one of your laptops you will see everything in WebMail.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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chillypenguin
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Re: Networked E-Mails

Or if you are using POP3 set your e-mail clients to `leave the messages on the server` for (for example) 14 days. That way the e-mails should get downloaded to all of your PC's
jelv
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Re: Networked E-Mails

That doesn't do anything for sent items.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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chillypenguin
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Re: Networked E-Mails

Ture, does IMAP?
jelv
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Re: Networked E-Mails

Yes - it synchronises ALL folders (if you think about it you already knew it did it for the spam folder)
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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penfold
Aspiring Pro
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Registered: ‎01-08-2007

Re: Networked E-Mails

Thanks chaps, will try that. I assume Plusnet support IMAP, and i just tick the box in the E-Mail client rather than POP.
pierre_pierre
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Re: Networked E-Mails

and change mail.plu to IMAP.plu on incoming server
hadden
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Registered: ‎27-07-2007

Re: Networked E-Mails

The functionality that you requested is already in the capabilities of Thunderbird.
Thunderbird allows you specify the location of each account profile (including the mail folders) and that location can be a networked location.
So, if you nominate a shared network location as the profile location, you can configure all of your email clients to point to that shared location and so all email clients will see the same emails. Obviously that location should always be made available to all users.
I had a client who was using IMAP as described in the earlier postings. I forget the reason why, but I moved them to the shared location solution instead as it suited their situation better.
The shared location is selected using Tools / Account Settings / "Account" / Server Settings / Local Directory / Browse...
paulby
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Re: Networked E-Mails

PN support IMAP.
From this page:
Quote
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) Mail
IMAP allows you to read your mail, store it on the server and place your messages in folders on the server rather than downloading the messages to your computer first. IMAP email is available using the following servers:
Incoming (IMAP) Mail Server: imap.plus.net
Outgoing (SMTP) Mail Server: relay.plus.net
To set up your email software simply follow the instructions set out above, replacing the incoming mail server with imap.plus.net and selecting the type of mail account as IMAP rather than POP3. Further help on how to use IMAP mail will be available in your email software documentation.
So that you don’t use too much storage you should regularly 'spring clean' your email, saving your most important emails to your hard-drive to keep them safe. Do try to delete spam and non-vital email regularly.
7up
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Re: Networked E-Mails

Outlook express can do this. Just change the store folder to one on a network drive. Then all the OE clients will read and write to the same files.
Simple and effective. No need to keep installing different clients or restricting yourself to one ISP for IMAP purposes..
I've done this for years and it saves me a lot of hassle.
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rja66
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Re: Networked E-Mails

I have shared my desktop pc's OE store folder & pointed my laptop store folder to the same place. This prompted an import of all OE folders & emails onto the laptop. This is great, however new downloaded mail can only then be seen on the machine that is used to download it. How do i syncronise/refresh it so it can be seen on all machines?
7up
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Re: Networked E-Mails

I've strangely never had that problem... or at least never noticed it. What I did notice however is that newsgroup posts don't seem to like working on different OE's. That can be a bit of a pain so I'm still on the prowl for a better solution to that.
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rja66
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Re: Networked E-Mails

I have found a semi-acceptable solution to the problem by setting the laptop advanced setting to leave a copy of the email on the server. At least this way I am assured that ALL mail gets downloaded to the main (desktop) pc but can be read on the laptop if required. The downside is you can end up reading the same mail twice !!
jelv
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Registered: ‎10-04-2007

Re: Networked E-Mails

Have you switched to IMAP as we recommended? Surely leave on server is a POP3 option.
jelv (a.k.a Spoon Whittler)
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