How to set up sharing of an e-mail account?

[WJB05]

We have two computers sharing a single internet connection by direct connection at home. Also, we can share files on both computers. Question: How can I configure both computers to share a single e-mail account. We would like to see the same inbox, etc. on both computers. Can this be done with Outlook Express? Thanks!

 

[ojai00]

Have you tried just configuring Outlook/Outlook Express to use the same mail account on both computers?

 

[WJB05]

I haven't tried this yet. Will both computers see all messages received\sent, etc? Thanks.

 

[Garion]

Yes, this works like a champ. There is, however, one trick - By default, Outlook Express deletes a message once it's retrieved it.

On one computer, go into the setup of the e-mail account and look in the Advanced tab. Set it leave messages on the server for a few days before deleteing them.

On the second computer, go into the same setup and tell it not to delete messages.

That way, the messages are saved at your ISP for a few days, long enough for both computers to download them.

- G

 

[flippinfleck]

That will work fine for retrieving email, but it does not cover the other issue... having both computers show the same stuff in the outbox/sent items folders as well. You might be able to get outlook to grab the .pst file across the network, but not likely. I remember a while ago I was looking into this. Needless to say, I have my main email client and a secondary. Neither has the same sent items, but they both get the same mail.

 

[WJB05]

Thanks for the tipe. I have not had time to try this yet, but it sounds like it will work. The sent items issue is not so important as they will be saved on one computer or the other. Thanks!😀

 

[WJB05]

This works! I set up e-mail on both computers and in Tools\Internet Accounts\Mail\Advanced\Delivery checked the "Leave a copy of message on server" box. Thanks!😀

 

[cipher00]

You may find your ISP becomes annoyed if you leave too many messages on or for too long. This seems to vary by provider, however. Your mileage may vary.

 

[WJB05]

Thanks for the advice. . . I hope to appease my ISP by setting my messages to self-destruct after five (5) days!😉

 

[Confused]

This how i would set it up:

On one of the computers, go into Outlook Express (OE from now on), and go to Tools -> Options -> Maintainance -> Store Folder, and choose a folder on your hard drive, and share it on the network, and give it a name such as "OE".

Then, on the other computer you wish to use the mailboxes on, go to the same place, and enter in there "\\yourcomputername\OE" (without the quotes), then both will use the same folders

Hope this helps

ConfusedBW

 

[Garion]

Actually, Outlook Express won't let two different instances of itself connect to the same message database at the same time. Good idea, but it doesn't work.

- G

 

[Confused]

Would that not even work if you do not run them at the same time...?

I have copied the files when upgrading to WinXP and OE6, from Win2k and OE5, and they both used the database files, from two different versions of OE, just not at the same time.

WJB05, if my suggestion does work, so long as you only access it from one computer at a time, is this a reasonable idea?

ConfusedBW

 

[Garion]

Yes, it will indeed work if you only run one computer at a time. But, for most of us, that's really not an option. IF you've got two PC's, you probably want to have them both active at once. I don't know about you, but my wife would kill me if she had to wait until I logged off and she could start e-mail on her computer.

It's really just the sent items that get whacked - I just sync them ever month or so by copying the new ones into a PST then importing it on the other computer. Not a big deal, in general.

- G

 

[reicherb]

Do what Garion says. It works, and is the best solution that I know.

 

[WJB05]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. I am using Garion's method now and it works great. I will give ConfusedBW's method a spin later and report to this thread. 😉

 

[Brian23]

Another thing you can do is get a hotmail acount and set it up in Outlook on both PCs. Hotmail stores everything on the internet so you don't have to worry about which PC has what emails.