[Jackpine]

Greetings,

Here is my situation: On my desktop computer, I have MS-outlook 2007. On my new laptop, I currently don't have any email software installed. What I would ideally like to do is to have MS-outlook 2007 installed on the desktop and laptop with the same email address, and have them both synchronized to each other.

Is that possible, and if so, I would greatly appreciate the instructions to set it up that way.

Thank you.

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Who is your email address provider? That is what this depends on. On both computers the email address needs to be setup to use IMAP. This doesn't directly sync the accounts on the computer but each computer will sync to the email server of your email address provider. Most email providers are IMAP capable, but some are not. Also, sometimes the amount of email that your email provider allows you to keep on their server is so small that this is not a practical solution.

[Trevorever]

Who is your email address provider? That is what this depends on. On both computers the email address needs to be setup to use IMAP. This doesn't directly sync the accounts on the computer but each computer will sync to the email server of your email address provider. Most email providers are IMAP capable, but some are not. Also, sometimes the amount of email that your email provider allows you to keep on their server is so small that this is not a practical solution.

[Jackpine]

My email address provider is Bell (Sympatico).

[Trevorever]

It looks like Bell does not officially support IMAP. You can try to set it up by following these instructions but on step 11 change Account Type to IMAP. However, mostly likely you do not have very much space on their server to keep your email. You can call them to check. Another option is to setup at Gmail account and have it receive all your email from your Bell email address and sync both computers with your gmail account.

[Jackpine]

Thanks. I will consider the options that you provided for me. Another option is to set up the same MS-outlook 2007 email account that is on my desktop, on to my laptop.

1. Is that technically possible to do without causing any issues with the email function?

2. I realize that if it is possible, outlook on each machine will not be in sync with each other. This will result in outlook in both machines not being automatically the same, but that is more of a pain in the neck issue rather than a performance/technical issue. Correct?

[Trevorever]

By default, when you set up a POP account in outlook, it will delete the messages from the server after it downloads them. Thus, another computer would not be able to download the old messages, just any new messages that has not been downloaded form the other computer. This is solved by selecting to not delete messages from the server. The problem with this is if you are not allowed much space for your email on the server, you will run out and you will have to login to the webmail to delete the messages. Another problem is that some servers will mark the message as read/downloaded and they will stay on the server, but the other computer will not download them, however, this is not always an issue. Sometimes email providers have a workaround where downloaded messages are only kept for a couple days (like 30), giving time for another computer to downloading them, but then deleting them periodically.

 

If you wanted to go with this option, your best bet would be to call Bell and see if they have implemented a workaround, and find out how much space you have to store messages.

[Jackpine]

OK, thanks.  I will contact Bell and see what they say.