PC & Laptop - sharing Outlook
Discussion
This is probably a really stoopid question, so apologies in advance!
I have a desktop and laptop. Desktop is 'hard-wired' into the broadband wireless router and the laptop connects through wireless.
I have folder sharing set up and all is working fine.
However, I want to be able to use Outlook on both machines to read and send emails.
I have my Hotmail account in Outlook along with a couple of POP3 accounts.
I tried setting up the laptop Outlook with the POP3 accounts and they worked fine on the laptop but seemed to stall the setup on the desktop, so I took them off the laptop again, restarted the desktop and all was fine again.
What do I need to do to be able to use them both without causing problems?
Thanks in advance.
I have a desktop and laptop. Desktop is 'hard-wired' into the broadband wireless router and the laptop connects through wireless.
I have folder sharing set up and all is working fine.
However, I want to be able to use Outlook on both machines to read and send emails.
I have my Hotmail account in Outlook along with a couple of POP3 accounts.
I tried setting up the laptop Outlook with the POP3 accounts and they worked fine on the laptop but seemed to stall the setup on the desktop, so I took them off the laptop again, restarted the desktop and all was fine again.
What do I need to do to be able to use them both without causing problems?
Thanks in advance.
pop3 mail clients dowload all the mail from the mailbox and then remove it from your isp server generally. If you use 2 PCs by time the other checks the mail has gone so you get some on 1 and some on the other PC. To get around this there is a setting in advanced account info "leave copy of mail on server" where yoou can set a time limit eg 7 days. This means that as long as both PC's check in within 7 days of a mail message ariving it wil be downloaded by both PCs.
Ther other problem you will get is if they are both on at the same time and both check the mailbox at the same moment. When a mail client checks it logs in which puts a temporary lock on the mailbox while the box is processed. This will generate an error if the other PC tries to login then.
Other than that you should be OK
Ther other problem you will get is if they are both on at the same time and both check the mailbox at the same moment. When a mail client checks it logs in which puts a temporary lock on the mailbox while the box is processed. This will generate an error if the other PC tries to login then.
Other than that you should be OK
Thanks for the replies chaps - I will look into it further!
Completely unrelated - but I occasionally have a problem with the laptop beeping at me and switching to battery power even when the lead is plugged in. It can sometimes repeatedly swap from battery to power and back several times, beeping each time.
My usual remedy for this is to give the lead a bit of a waggle where it plugs into the laptop and it usually sorts it. However I just did this and it wasn't stopping the beeping etc, so took it out and the end of the plug was really very very hot - ie. it burnt the skin off the palm of my hand!
Any ideas what may be causing this?
Completely unrelated - but I occasionally have a problem with the laptop beeping at me and switching to battery power even when the lead is plugged in. It can sometimes repeatedly swap from battery to power and back several times, beeping each time.
My usual remedy for this is to give the lead a bit of a waggle where it plugs into the laptop and it usually sorts it. However I just did this and it wasn't stopping the beeping etc, so took it out and the end of the plug was really very very hot - ie. it burnt the skin off the palm of my hand!
Any ideas what may be causing this?
smallend said:
Thanks for the replies chaps - I will look into it further!
Completely unrelated - but I occasionally have a problem with the laptop beeping at me and switching to battery power even when the lead is plugged in. It can sometimes repeatedly swap from battery to power and back several times, beeping each time.
My usual remedy for this is to give the lead a bit of a waggle where it plugs into the laptop and it usually sorts it. However I just did this and it wasn't stopping the beeping etc, so took it out and the end of the plug was really very very hot - ie. it burnt the skin off the palm of my hand!
Any ideas what may be causing this?
Without knowing what laptop you've got Its generally common for the power lead connection to start to pull away from the motherboard and need re-soldering, alternatively there could be something else just jammed in there? Exess heat in the connector sounds like a poor connection one way or another.
This may not work on two different computers. My main PC at home is running XP Professional with MS Office 2000. My wife and I have different login accounts but share the same Outlook PST file that is not on the same partition as the software. No matter who logs in all mail is downloaded and is viewable from both accounts. All the different email addresses had to be duplicated for each logon account but when you send an email it is sent from the correct one for that login.
Providing the desktop has the file shared and is on at the same time as the laptop it may work. You can always copy messages onto the laptop if needed "away from base".
Providing the desktop has the file shared and is on at the same time as the laptop it may work. You can always copy messages onto the laptop if needed "away from base".
Just been looking at some other options, such as PSTSync, and some other sync software.
Anyone had any experience of these?
I'm thinking that the IMAP option may not be right for me as the POP3 accounts I am using are on my clients servers, so I guess they would need to make changes on my behalf?
Anyone had any experience of these?
I'm thinking that the IMAP option may not be right for me as the POP3 accounts I am using are on my clients servers, so I guess they would need to make changes on my behalf?
Haven't used IMAP so I'll wait till Plotty suggests his soultion but you can put the PST file on a share and both machines can access it. The only downside is you can't both use Outlook at the same time as Aldi correctly points out. It does get round the issue of e-mails being distributed across two machines though.
Bit bodgy, but works.
Bit bodgy, but works.
IMAP allows you to use a standard mailbox like a webmail account so the messages stay on the server and are read by the client.
If this is a private mailbox (as opposed to a ISP based mailbox) then it may be the case that IMAP hasnt been setup by your client.
As they stay on the server any client can read the mails and the read flags also stay in step.
My setup is IMAP mailbox, read by a desktop, laptop and PDA
I may change it so that the desktop is a POP3 so if I read it on the laptop or PDA it stays on the server but when the desktop instance of Outlook runs it retrieves the mail and removes it from the server.
If this is a private mailbox (as opposed to a ISP based mailbox) then it may be the case that IMAP hasnt been setup by your client.
As they stay on the server any client can read the mails and the read flags also stay in step.
My setup is IMAP mailbox, read by a desktop, laptop and PDA
I may change it so that the desktop is a POP3 so if I read it on the laptop or PDA it stays on the server but when the desktop instance of Outlook runs it retrieves the mail and removes it from the server.
BliarOut said:
You can put the PST file on a share and both machines can access it. The only downside is you can't both use Outlook at the same time as Aldi correctly points out. It does get round the issue of e-mails being distributed across two machines though.
Bit bodgy, but works.
isn't there some cheapy mail server application you can buy now for this problem?
I'm sure i have seen it somewhere. I am in the process of setting up a low powerwed computer to run MS exchange and have a play around with that. From what i can gather the mail server will pull the mail from the isp and the mail will sit on the server waiting until a laptop or desktop requsts the mail. Mail is then sent to requesting laptop/desktop. With regards to mail going out, all mail needs to go through the server. because i will be using a domain with roaming profiles i should (in theroy) be able to see my sent and recieved emails on any computer and not have half on one and half on the other. Is this right?
I'm sure i have seen it somewhere. I am in the process of setting up a low powerwed computer to run MS exchange and have a play around with that. From what i can gather the mail server will pull the mail from the isp and the mail will sit on the server waiting until a laptop or desktop requsts the mail. Mail is then sent to requesting laptop/desktop. With regards to mail going out, all mail needs to go through the server. because i will be using a domain with roaming profiles i should (in theroy) be able to see my sent and recieved emails on any computer and not have half on one and half on the other. Is this right?
BliarOut said:
You can put the PST file on a share and both machines can access it. The only downside is you can't both use Outlook at the same time as Aldi correctly points out. It does get round the issue of e-mails being distributed across two machines though.
Bit bodgy, but works.
Why don't bl00dy Microsoft have something nice and simple to cover this?
There must be a huge amount of people that need to do this, but don't need to go to the extent of setting up Exchange.
BliarOut - how would your idea of sharing the PST work? If I'm off out and about with the laptop, then I won't be able to see the desktop and therefore won't be able to see the PST...
Am I being dim???
yes exchange will store your mail in a database and keep it there unless you attach to it with a pop3 client 
at which point it won't. You can use a outlook (not outlook express) to view your mail in the exchange sever or you can use outlook web access. This can be installed with exchange so that you goto http://yourserver/exchange and you get a web based outlook client in IE or firefox (IE has more features)
For the original poster
If you use the leave on server for x days option the chances of them logging in at the same time is slim unless you have your check for mail interval really low and even if it does generate the error you just hit send and receive again by which time the other one has probaly logged off.
>> Edited by malman on Thursday 1st June 17:59
>> Edited by malman on Thursday 1st June 17:59
at which point it won't. You can use a outlook (not outlook express) to view your mail in the exchange sever or you can use outlook web access. This can be installed with exchange so that you goto http://yourserver/exchange and you get a web based outlook client in IE or firefox (IE has more features) For the original poster
If you use the leave on server for x days option the chances of them logging in at the same time is slim unless you have your check for mail interval really low and even if it does generate the error you just hit send and receive again by which time the other one has probaly logged off.
>> Edited by malman on Thursday 1st June 17:59
>> Edited by malman on Thursday 1st June 17:59
I really don't like the idea of sharing the .PST file. I can imagine it is fine if you're on a LAN and have control over both machines, but if the laptop is mobile you'd have to VPN to get access to the .PST. Outlook isn't designed for operating over a VPN in that way so will likely be very slow.
Leaving messages on the POP server as previously suggested would work for incoming email as long as both machines checked email with the required period. However, it wouldn't work for recording outgoing email and doesn't help with emails being put into folders which wouldn't be reflected on the other Outlook machine.
I would echo Plotloss' suggestion of moving over to IMAP if possible - this is undoubtedly the best solution. If your current ISP doesn't support it can you change over or sign up for another email account that does? My company does actually offer IMAP accounts with optional workgroup (calendar, contacts, etc.) features but they're really intended for businesses and I'm not sure it would be the right solution for you. However, I'm happy to advise from a technical point of view where my knowledge permits.
Leaving messages on the POP server as previously suggested would work for incoming email as long as both machines checked email with the required period. However, it wouldn't work for recording outgoing email and doesn't help with emails being put into folders which wouldn't be reflected on the other Outlook machine.
I would echo Plotloss' suggestion of moving over to IMAP if possible - this is undoubtedly the best solution. If your current ISP doesn't support it can you change over or sign up for another email account that does? My company does actually offer IMAP accounts with optional workgroup (calendar, contacts, etc.) features but they're really intended for businesses and I'm not sure it would be the right solution for you. However, I'm happy to advise from a technical point of view where my knowledge permits.
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