Sharing emails between two computers

Most of the time I use my desktop to manage my emails. Next week I've got
to be away from home, and will be taking my laptop with me. I've installed
WLM onto both machines.

I would like to "mirror" all the emails in my desktop machine's WLM folders
(Inbox, Sent, Storage Folders, etc...) onto my laptop, so I can carry on
with my emails as usual while I'm away, and then "mirror" all the new ones
back to the desktop when I return. In other words, to seamlessly switch
between the desktop and the laptop with my emails intact.

To make it simpler I've set the storage folder to "Emails" under my
"Documents" folder, on both the desktop and the laptop.

The first thing I tried was simply to cut and paste the entire content of
the "Emails" folder from the desktop to the laptop. Unfortunately, WLM on
the laptop simply doesn't recognise these emails, showing the Inbox, Sent,
etc. folders as empty, even though I can see the files in the Documents |
Emails folder when using Windows Explorer.

Next I used "File | Import" on the laptop to see if it would import the
emails from the desktop. At least this half worked, but unfortunately the
whole lot went into an "Imported" folder under Storage Folders, rather than
directly into the Inbox, Sent, etc. folders.

As a last resort I could move them all to the appropriate folders, but I
wonder if there is a simpler way. (Incidentally, I don't use the "Windows
Live" features at all - I prefer to manage my emails off-line.)

Am I missing something really obvious? Can anyone suggest how to do it? Or
perhaps suggest an alternative approach? There must be loads of people with
this requirement.

Thanks in advance,

SteveT

As long as you don't delete any messages, your approach for new mails should be..
For pop3 accounts
- configure the laptop to leave messages on the server
For Live ID Http mail(Hotmail/Live/Msn.com)accounts
- all mail will appear in each version of WLM until deleted. Deletion will cause a resync with the server, thus updating the
remote storage and echoing on the other WLM machine when opened.

To transfer existing messages for both pop3 and http accounts
On the home WLM machine:
Create two new and blank folders(one named Accounts, the other named Messages or any abbreviation of same or folder name of
your choice)
Open WLM
File/Export/Accounts
Select and email account and export(use the browse option) the contents to the Accounts folder
Repeat for the any other email accounts
Once the accounts are exported do the same with the Messages, the method is slightly different
File/Export/Messages
Choose Microsoft Windows Live Mail, click next
Click Browse, and browse to the folder named Messages, Select the folder, click OK, Click Next
Select All Folders, click Next....the export will begin...do not interrupt

Copy the files to a jump drive(former is preferred... retains the files's write attribute vs the cd read only)
Copy the two folders to new machine desktop or folder of your choice.

Open WLM on the second machine, delete all accounts(you're going to import the accounts then the messages) - to delete -->
Tools/Accounts/Remove
Tools/Accounts/Import(note the slightly different path I.e. to import accounts the File menu is not used), browse to the
location you copied the two folders on the second machine and select an iaf file in the Accounts folder
Import each account using the respective iaf file, the account will be setup without messages
Now Import the messages
File/Import/Messages

Note: The default setting for pop3 accounts in WLM is to leave messages on server

When you return home, if WLM settings are left to leave messages on server(Tools/Accounts/Select and Account/Advanced tab) then
all messages left on the server will download to the home machine when WLM is used or told to Send/Receive all(manual or
automatic).

One final comment....depending on the quantity of messages involved during the trip, if your isp or email account limits storage
then asssess if you need to modify the leave on server settings or use the accounts web interface to clean out unnecessary
messages.

Good luck..


--
...winston
ms-mvp windows live mail


"Steve Thackery" <nobody@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:ORKS333kIHA.1164@xxxxxx

That is incredibly helpful. Thank you very much indeed for that response,
Winston. It achieves just what I want to do.

SteveT

Hey, great mystery. I did exactly as you said, step by step, and for some
reason the emails were still all imported into the "Storage Folders |
Imported" folder. Isn't that weird? I would have thought it should place
them in the appropriate accounts.

Still, it's no great sweat to drag them to where they should be.

Thanks for suggesting that I set my laptop to leave the emails on the server
while I'm away. It will certainly mean I don't have to reverse the whole
procedure when I get home again.

Thanks again,

SteveT

Hi, Winston.

Will Steve also need to add a step to synchronize his Sent Items between the
computers? Messages he sends from one won't show up on the other except as
they may be received back from the addressee, such as emails he sends to a
subscribed mailing list, or posts to a newsgroup.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

"...winston" <winstonmvp@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:76A1A807-FBD2-4817-9650-17638C79DCA3@xxxxxx

Quite normal..I've dragged and dropped too. Sorry, I should have added that information<g>. Glad you found the Imported Folder
location.


--
...winston
ms-mvp windows live mail


"Steve Thackery" <nobody@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:udESNfAlIHA.3780@xxxxxx
Hey, great mystery. I did exactly as you said, step by step, and for some
reason the emails were still all imported into the "Storage Folders |
Imported" folder. Isn't that weird? I would have thought it should place
them in the appropriate accounts.

Still, it's no great sweat to drag them to where they should be.

Thanks for suggesting that I set my laptop to leave the emails on the server
while I'm away. It will certainly mean I don't have to reverse the whole
procedure when I get home again.

Thanks again,

SteveT

RC,


For a Live ID(Hotmail/Live/Msn) email account it shouldn't be necessary.

For a pop3 email account or nntp newsgroup, I don't think the sync option will make sent messages visible between the machines
without manual intervention.

Only hypothesizing based on your question(I routinely drag 'save worthy' sent items to an external Explorer folder on a spare hard
drive then dump the WLM account's sent items) but I guess a repeat export(blank folder required) for the respective Sent folder,
import to the other machine then drag from the imported folder to the respective account 'Sent' folder might work.


--
...winston
ms-mvp windows live mail


"R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:ADF85B8B-62F5-4C8C-A5AA-71B96D6A5499@xxxxxx
Hi, Winston.

Will Steve also need to add a step to synchronize his Sent Items between the
computers? Messages he sends from one won't show up on the other except as
they may be received back from the addressee, such as emails he sends to a
subscribed mailing list, or posts to a newsgroup.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

"...winston" <winstonmvp@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:76A1A807-FBD2-4817-9650-17638C79DCA3@xxxxxx

Hi, Winston.

Thanks for jumping in. As you know, I don't use Hotmail or Live Mail at
all, so I don't know how those work. And I have only a single computer, so
I don't worry much about keeping two or more of them "in sync".

Perhaps I should have used a phrase other than "synchronize his Sent Items".
I didn't really mean WLM's sync operation. Just that if there are any Sent
Items on his laptop that do not get echoed back to his desktop, he will have
to deliberately save them somewhere and transfer them to the desktop; it
won't happen automatically. The only ones he will see on the other computer
will be the ones quoted by the recipient in a Reply to his outgoing message.
(This isn't so important for newsgroup posts since his posts will always be
received from the server the next time he logs on.)

Even if he has both computers set to leave messages on the server, that
saves only incoming messages, not outgoing Sent Items. If he wants emails
that are sent from the laptop to be saved on the desktop, then he must
explicitly preserve and transfer those; it won't happen automatically like
it will for received items.

This also applies to the Drafts folder, of course, since the other computer
will not receive those from the server. Any drafts that he wants to keep
will need to be explicitly copied to the other computer.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@xxxxxx
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

"...winston" <winstonmvp@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uMcNAzMlIHA.4076@xxxxxx

Yes..quite correct. Manual intervention is again required for sent(pop3 accounts).
- I can now report 'Export' works rather than just hypothesizing Lol..I had to send a message to have a sent item..both
pop3 accounts had none.
- Export the sent via the Export/Messages choosing single folder and selecting the account Sent, then import to the other pc.

--
...winston
ms-mvp windows live mail


"R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:085E2117-E2ED-4D43-B65E-D52D27D7DACA@xxxxxx
Hi, Winston.

Thanks for jumping in. As you know, I don't use Hotmail or Live Mail at
all, so I don't know how those work. And I have only a single computer, so
I don't worry much about keeping two or more of them "in sync".

Perhaps I should have used a phrase other than "synchronize his Sent Items".
I didn't really mean WLM's sync operation. Just that if there are any Sent
Items on his laptop that do not get echoed back to his desktop, he will have
to deliberately save them somewhere and transfer them to the desktop; it
won't happen automatically.

What I used to do, and still do to some extent. Use HTTP protocol to send
messages from the laptop or whichever you consider to be the "road"
computer. Keep sent items, drafts and some Inbox stuff on the server. Keep
all else, i.e. permanent copies, on the "home" computer. In other words,
working copies of messages stay on the server, until they are either deleted
or permanently downloaded to the "home" computer only. Most of my email
could be classified as "shopping", so once I receive an item and call it
good, I only need one permanent copy, plus of course periodic backups.

If you want access to all your messages on the road, the only real way to do
this is to keep them all on the server. Keep the master copy on the server,
and download copies if you need local access, but don't edit them unless you
plan to upload them to the original location again. I tried doing this for
a couple years, and it was more or less a disaster. I tried mirroring the
two computers, and it was worse.

Cheers,

Earle

"R. C. White" <rc@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:085E2117-E2ED-4D43-B65E-D52D27D7DACA@xxxxxx