Outlook Express concerns

John Ranes II CPF GCF

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OK Guys.....I'm hoping someone might have a clue as to where this problem lies......

I use Outlook Express to gather messages from our server (Remote - offsite / Web Design Company), and have been doing this for 3 years.

Outlook Express will gather mail for six mailboxes. I have OE loaded on three different computers and each will download mail at different times. I have updated each to version 6.0. The problem is this.....

About once a month....now more like once a day, when I hit send/receive, OE attempts to gather all the mail from the main mailbox even though it already had. It does not do this to the main mailbox. This means that when it runs this "glitch", I download the same 300 pieces of mail on each computer. :-(

Two of the computers are set to "LEAVE A COPY OF MESSAGE ON SERVER". The primary computer is set to "REMOVE FROM SERVER AFTER X DAYS"

Is this a problem with my Server? My settings on Outlook Express? or Outlook Express?

Does anyone else gather mail to more than one PC?

Anyone else experienced a similar problem?

Regards,

John
 
I've had this problem before (I do just as you but with 14 different email accounts at 4 locations), and had to set them all the same.

Leave mail on server for 7 days is what mine are set to.

Mike
 
I do the same thing but my setting on my main computer to remove from server once obtained.
The only proglem is that if I retrieved it from the main computer first I can't pick it up on any other computer after.
My brother is a tech guy for an insurance company so I will send it to him and see if he can come up with a different answer.
 
Originally posted by Mike-L@GTP:
I've had this problem before (I do just as you but with 14 different email accounts at 4 locations), and had to set them all the same.....
Mike.....and this solved the problem?

I guess I have 6 email accounts, but create dozens of folders to sort......just curious Mike....why 14 email accounts?

John
 
John,

It's amazing... I am having the same problem... it seems to be how my DSL accounts are set and Outlook Express is just the vehicle... but I had so much mail that I was getting warnings for the fact that I had too much and I would have mail rejected because of the storage...

I reset it but also cannot retrieve mail on the other computer now... unless I reset it to save on server and then delete after 'x' days..

You learn something new everyday!!

Thanks for the "techie" knowledge!!

Roz

PS I have 12 between my dsl (new) and aol (older and to be cancelled)... but aol has gotten so much better...
 
Hmmm.. I had that problem myself a long time ago but haven't seen it in a while.

Try this link: Same mail messages continue to be downloaded from POP3 account

I guess I have 6 email accounts, but create dozens of folders to sort......just curious Mike....why 14 email accounts?
Mail accounts are like candy these days. I only have 8 myself..
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Steve: That's an interesting link about the file possibly being damaged. It makes sense. It doesn't cost anything to zap the file, just in case. I could never figure out WHY setting them the same worked, but it always did for me.

Believe me, I don't like having so many email accounts.
The amount of spam is insane. Some of my clients require it so I'll know within 5 minutes if they are having email server problems - and so the employees will have an easy address to remember for questions (their own domain).

Be sure to let us know if the above ideas work

Have a GREAT weekend!
Mike
 
Originally posted by WizSteve:
Hmmm.. I had that problem myself a long time ago but haven't seen it in a while.

Try this link: Same mail messages continue to be downloaded from POP3 account...
Well Steve, I thought your link would be the key, but here's what my external IT guy had to say about it..... (I emailed him first, before I deleted ANY files on ANY computer)...instinct.

"John, I just did a test, under my outlook express I located & renamed the file indicated
"Pop3uidl.dbx" and then loaded up outlook express, what happens? well because the file keeps track of what email has/hasn't been downloaded from the mail server, if you rename or delete it, it will cause outlook express to recreate a new file on loading, it then begins to re-download all the mail on the server. in my case it actually downloaded the inbox as well as another mail folder i have called processed mail.

will this acutally fix your problem? don't really know, I do know if you choose to do it, it will cause you to go through all your mail and get rid of duplicates just like you do now. The try question is if the file is damaged/corrupt by
recreating it, will it fix the problem for the future? don't know, all i know is that I just had to go throught 600+ messages and cleanup my inbox & sub-folders."


I do know this Mike, since I took your suggestion and changed all three computers to the same mail settings (7 days), I've not had the problem......it's only been 3 days, so if I can go a week or ten days, we'll know this "fix" works!


John
 
Don't sound the cavalry yet. Let's see if you're ok for a month


Steve's idea was also good, but like mentioned it will download them one last time (the last 7 days worth or whatever you have the max defined to)

Mike
 
The try question is if the file is damaged/corrupt by recreating it, will it fix the problem for the future? don't know, all i know is that I just had to go throught 600+ messages and cleanup my inbox & sub-folders."
*gulp* wow, either that guy is reeaaaally busy, or he needs to start archiving his mail..


I searched a bit more last night, and all I found were lots and lots of utilities for sale for Outlook Express to remove duplicate emails, which leads me to believe that it's more than just a casual problem. I also can't think of a good reason why Mike's solution should work, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. :rolleyes:
 
Maybe it's something at the server level which gets confused when a different amount of days are specified for the purge...

[ 03-10-2004, 07:06 PM: Message edited by: Mike-L@GTP ]
 
Originally posted by WizSteve:
.......I also can't think of a good reason why Mike's solution should work, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. :rolleyes:
Well Steve....it didn't work. I set all three computers to the same settings about 9 days ago, and they've twice now attempted to download mail a second time.....again, not ALL mailboxes, just the two largest.

So now I've followed the advise on your LINK and deleted (replaced) the one file "Pop3uidl.dbx" on all three computers (And yes, 800 pieces of mail to be deleted later)....we are ready to run with this for awhile and see if it works.....

.......keeping my fingers crossed.
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John
 
I hope it works.

800 emails is a lot. How many days do you have it set to?
 
I agree, 800 is extreme for a POP3 account... unless you have a very liberal ISP (AOL?) with a large storage allocation for email, one of those boxes probably should be set to remove messages from the server.

I used to have a setup like that a few years ago, but I found I always ran in to problems where a box would accidentally "reset" and start permanently downloading emails for a while until I noticed it a week later. It was easier for me to setup a computer just to store message from all my email accounts, and then just remotely log into that box if I'm not at home.
 
Originally posted by WizSteve:
I agree, 800 is extreme for a POP3 account... unless you have a very liberal ISP (AOL?) with a large storage allocation for email..........
Steve,

Indeed the 800 pieces of mail is just 7 days of accumulation (ie Junk), for 6 mailboxes, so that's only 19 pieces of mail per mailbox/day.

I'm thinking of changing the settings to 4-5 days so when the system "hick-ups", the task of deleting junk mail is minimal.

The server is maintained offsite by my web host company, and storage is not an issue.

..........still keeping my fingers crossed!
thumbsup.gif
So far, so good!

Mike, I've not investigated SPAM filtering software, for fear of filtering out serious inquiries or orders to our site. Perhaps I should post that as another discussion, if anyone has had success with filtering?

John
 
Most ISP's offer this now as part of their package. It'll split the known spammers and legit mail into two boxes.

I'm in the process of moving my (7) domains over to a new hosting company this week, and the new company includes this feature as part of the package. With the amount of spam out there lately, it's almost a necessity.

Mike
 
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