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Communications Software

Email On Both the Desktop and the Laptop? 69

Posted by Cliff from the shared-inbox dept.
RapterOfParadox asks: "I recently purchased a new laptop and have everything configured except for my e-mail. I've always liked having a single location where I know my e-mail is safe, secure and gets backed up automatically. If I've needed access to new messages then I use webmail, since I close down the email client when I leave the house. I'm currently using Outlook XP for my desktop and was thinking about using the same for my laptop. My only issue is that I'm a little weary about using only my laptop for storing e-mail, since it's a lot more likely to fail. I've been thinking about just synchronizing my Outlook data directories at login, or even using IMAP. Has anyone seen/bought/built an e-mail client that will allow me to have my main e-mail client on my desktop and then update my laptop e-mail client when ever I'm in range, or through a personal IMAP Server?"
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Email On Both the Desktop and the Laptop? More

Email On Both the Desktop and the Laptop?

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  • Just use IMAP (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    It's not a big deal. I use IMAP at home, at work, and on my PDA. Everything works fine.

    • Re:Just use IMAP (Score:5, Interesting)

      by DeadSea ( 69598 ) * on Wednesday November 23, 2005 @07:59PM (#14104635) Homepage Journal
      Agreed. Just run IMAP on the server, leave all your mail on the server, and make sure the server gets backed up.

      • Re:Just use IMAP (Score:2, Informative)

        by vitamine73 ( 818599 )
        Exactly, and if you want double protection for some important messages, just forward them (just those or all!) to a gmail account. You can set up filters to redirect mails from certain persons, or on certain subjects, or just everything, automatically!

      • Agreed. Just run IMAP on the server, leave all your mail on the server, and make sure the server gets backed up.

        That's what I do with my personal e-mail, but what if the poster doesn't have control of the mail server? If your e-mail comes through an ISP and they don't offer IMAP, or you don't trust them to keep your e-mail (and for whatever reason can't change ISPs), then there might a reason to want to do this.

        One nice solution would be to run an IMAP server on the desktop machine, and use fetchmail [catb.org]

        • > That's what I do with my personal e-mail, but what if the
          > poster doesn't have control of the mail server?

          Roll your own. My pentium 233 is waaay overpowered as a mailserver/fileserver.

        • I was also thinking they could roll their own, but if they can't, what I do is set my POP clients to only delete mail after 3 days, and run it on both my laptop and desktop. Since my home computer is up 24/7, it always has a chance, and I just make sure to fire up my laptop once every 3 days at least (which isn't a problem as I use it for work too).
        • If you don't trust your ISP to store your email for privacy reasons, you have bigger problems than merely synchronising email between two machines. If you don't trust them for backup reasons, then just set one of the machines (or both) to download the full messages locally. Most default to just getting headers, but it's pretty trivial to get all the mail locally, to set up a filter which auto-copies mail to local folders, etc. But really, just doing periodic backups fo the imap stuff (copy everything to
        • I use a similar setup. You can run a Notes server as a IMAP server and I simply use fetchmail to pull some Notes db into an local server. Our spam filter runs like that, the people have a script in their mail template to dump any spams into a central mail file. This is setup as an IMAP mailbox (in Notes) and I use fetchmail to pull the contents of that mailbox and feed it to our postfix/spamassassin mail forwading edge machine. Works very well.

          Please tell me about that fetchnotes thingamajig, that might int

          • Please tell me about that fetchnotes thingamajig, that might interest me.

            It's just like fetchmail, except that it pulls mail from a Notes server via the Notes protocol. Then, of course, it delivers the mail to an SMTP server. I have a cron job that runs every minute and tests to see if I currently have access to the IBM network (by pinging an internal IP address) and if so runs fetchnotes, which delivers the e-mail to a postfix instance running on my laptop, which drops them in a Maildir in my home dir

    • Re:Just use IMAP (Score:2, Interesting)

      by syntax ( 2932 )
      Seriously, this is the correct answer. I use IMAP from every computer I use. It's not nearly as flakey as past history might lead you to believe, it supports SSL, and just works. As a bonus, most webmail clients use IMAP as their back ends (beats having to manage mail spools yourself), so if you log into your webmail you get to see the exact same messages as on your desktop and laptop. Almost any serious mail provider offers it, and most actively encourage its use.

      All the other hackish suggestions offer

      • I'm sorry but I have to disagree with that comment that most webmail servers use IMAP as a backend.

        Only a few of them do. It's much more difficult to create an IMAP based webmail application than it is to create a file based one. One of the biggest difficulties that I've run into so far is managing performance to it stays sane. There are a lot of things that IMAP servers do that filesystems don't and similarly a lot things that you have to account for in IMAP that you just don't have to worry about with

    • Re:Just use IMAP (Score:3, Informative)

      by booch ( 4157 )
      I'd recommend IMAPS (IMAP with SSL) for a secure connection between your client and server. And a webmail client that accesses the IMAPS server as well. Whether you should do it yourself or subscribe to a service depends on how much time you want to spend setting it up (assuming you have the skills to do so -- it's not trivial).
    • I have used nothing but a long stream of laptops since the mid 90's. Never owned a desktop until I bought one this fall. Originally I used Netscape for browsing and e-mail (v2.0 - v4), and later moved to Eudora (to avoid the perils of Outlook).

      With every new laptop purchase I transfer my mailboxes and data from Eudora to the new one. No problem there. My problem comes when I want to check e-mail across these two machines- Eudora obviously supports it, but I do not have IMAP available for my e-mail serve

  • Gmail and pop (Score:3, Interesting)

    by HughsOnFirst ( 174255 ) on Wednesday November 23, 2005 @07:59PM (#14104638)
    Get a Gmail account, redirect all your mail to it, and fetch it from Gmail with a pop client

    • I pop my mail to my desktop (download it there and back it up).

      I use a web based client on my laptop or while out of the office.

      I used to also pop but leave messages on the server from desktop at home and laptop. That works ok, but web clients are now pretty good.

      If you want all your mail with you, rsync your nsmail directory to your laptop.

    • Re:Gmail and pop (Score:2, Insightful)

      by rider_prider ( 698555 )
      This is what I do, it's just really easy, low maintenance and dependable. Also I am 100% sure google does a better job of uptime and backup than I will ever have time to do. Oh, and if I am really concerned about privacy, I encrypt, which is what I do regardless of whether the file I feel is sensitive is on my server or someone elses...
  • Call me simple, but I use outlook express and just copy off my .dbx files every once in a while. Any geek should be able to automate the copying of the files, and windows doesn't get all weird over the .dbx files like it does about open .pst files.

    Here's a trivial way to do it -

    Create a script that you call to open OE. The script first makes a directory that includes a time/datestamp, then copies the contents of your mail identity directory to that folder. Then it opens OE just like usual.

    Simple and effe

    • Wow, how over complicated. (Score:1, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Come on people! There is a protocol to take care of this, it exists in every major email program, and is offered by every major ISP. It's called IMAP, and does exactly what the poster requested, and doesn't require any more work than clicking a different protocol on a drop down menu.

      What's next on ask slashdot? "I want to transfer web pages over an encrypted connection!"
      Replies: Setup a cgi wrapper script to encrypt all traffic over `openssl`. Setup another daemon to manage public key exchange, and then w

    • Call me simple, but I use outlook express

      Not simple, just uninformed. A lot of things can corrupt those *.dbx files, enven something as simple as letting one of them grow above 2GB - and then someone with a clue has to spend a lot of time recovering your mail.

      Almost every other email program in existance uses a portable mail format - use one of those and not just the free add-on that came with MS Windows or the more complicated free add-on that came with MS Office.

  • IMAP Webmail (Score:5, Informative)

    by DrSkwid ( 118965 ) on Wednesday November 23, 2005 @08:04PM (#14104670) Journal
    http://fastmail.fm/ [fastmail.fm]

    I use it from my latop / desktop / web browser / Nokia 6600
    etc. etc.
    • I run my own IMAP server from my home server attached to a cable modem. The mail is stored on a RAID5 array and backed up nightly to a separate drive. I then run IMAP clients some saving a local copy, some not. I could setup a webmail server but personally I think a web browser is a horrible application for reading mail, an email client like Thunderbird is much better suited so I don't bother.

      I then have all my e-mail delivered to this computer. It may sound like more work than it's worth but I have all
      • my computers don't stay built for long enough for that.

        I don't see the point of 10 years of email, personally.

        A quota means I have to clear out.

        Web browser is no less rich, all you need is a tree control and a text area.

    • Yeah Fastmail. I've been using it for almost 2 years and I'm very happy with it. It has a huge amount of filtering archiving, personality, domains, etc. etc. features. The webmail client is great in its simplicity (no graphics at all). Running your own IMAP server is fine and I did that for years before that, but it's also too big a hassle (esp. the backups).

      OTOH, don't trust FM too much. Two weeks ago their main server (the big expensive one that housed most of their 'enhanced' clients) and it took them TH

  • one of the many solutions (Score:3, Informative)

    by Beatbyte ( 163694 ) on Wednesday November 23, 2005 @08:07PM (#14104686) Homepage
    leave a copy of the messages on the server and have both the workstation and laptop check them. set them to delete the messages after 7-10 days or whatever time period you think would be sufficient for both places to check the mail.

    • Ditto. (Score:2)

      by WoTG ( 610710 )
      I've recommended this type of setup for many people over the last few years. If your mail host also supports webmail, you get the added bonus of access via web.
  • May be overly simplistic, but how about you set your laptop to simply leave messages on the server? When on the road, you can read your new mail - but the message remains on your server so when you connect from home you can still see those same messages. This obviously wouldn't help with sent items, but at least gets you messages at both locations so you don't have to worry about losing data if it is only stored on one machine. For my work e-mail - I have my office machine leave messages on the server fo

  • Gmail/POP/IMAP (Score:2, Interesting)

    by ErisCalmsme ( 212887 )
    I use a combo of things to keep my mail in line. For my work and blog email I use IMAP since it's available. For my mailing lists I use gmail and pop it on my zaurus (running OpenBSD) via fetchmail, leaving messages on the server. This way gmail keeps a nice searchable archive for me, and thanks to procmail I have everything I decide to keep in folders on my zaurus. I can delete everything from my z if I want to and just keep items that are useful to me at the moment. I'm usually in a place where I can plug
  • If you are using POP there should be a box so that you don't delete your mail from the server after you download it. If you use IMAP this is the default. I don't see what the problem here is. You keep all your messages on the server and your client just checks to see what's there. Your computer be it laptop or desktop is not the place for e-mail to be stored, the server is. If your e-mail server is not backed up you have worse problems. If you're super worried, get gmail.

  • Imap is the way to go (Score:5, Informative)

    by CAPSLOCK2000 ( 27149 ) on Wednesday November 23, 2005 @08:22PM (#14104784) Homepage
    Your IMAP suggestion is the way to go.
    Here's the recipe:

    use fetchmail to get your mail from all the mail accounts you might have,
    use spamassassin to check your mail for spam,
    use clamav to check for virusses (if you are on Windows, like you are),
    use procmail to filter the mail to seperate folders,
    set up imap so you can read the mail from any mailclient without removing it from the server,
    install some kind of webmail so you can reach your mail from internet-kiosks and other places with browser-only access.
    Finally, BACK IT UP! Bacula is quite good.
    • Agreed. I just can't understand how or why anyone uses POP at all. It's an absolutely stupid idea, and completely defeats the purpose of email in my opinion.

      Now if only I could convince the higher-ups at work that IMAP is the way to go. I think with the viruses floating around this week I might have some leverage.
    • Almost exactly the setup I have at home.

      Fetchmail for the dozens of remote/old accounts I have
      Spamassassin as the milter
      No clamav, since I don't have any windoze machines that look at email
      Procmail to sort all the mailing lists, client email from personal, etc.
      Dovecot as the IMAP server. The alpha code was quite broken until recently, but they've started to fix the worst bugs and SSL support works again. External access is only IMAPS with preshared keys on my laptop and a couple of work machines. Internally
    • Yup, that's pretty much exactly how I had things in the past -

      fecthmail -> cyrus IMAP, backed up by bacula.
      I used Sieve for filtering though, and my email had already passed through spamassassin before the fetchmail stage.

      Now I've changed the setup a bit, since I've moved my mail server to my dedicated hosting machine, and run the MTA myself -

      I use postfix + spamassassin + amavis, which deliver to Cyrus IMAPd, filtering is done via Sieve again, and I use Squirrelmail for web access, which has an excellen
  • I know what the poster means, for a long time I did not have usefull mail on my laptop, I consider being able to view the mail I sent someone a crucial feature of email. Blame it on my isp, they dont offer an imap option. But recently when I was setting up a linux box for my website I installed an imap server for keeping my mail. For those that dont know imap differs from a pop server in that instead of the email client keeping all the mail on the client computer the imap server keeps the email on the serv
  • I have a similar setup with Office 2003.

    My desktop is the "home base" for all of my email, but I connect my laptop daily to sync my exchange mailbox. Then when I'm on the road my mailbox is cached on the laptop.

    I have a 500MB email quota, and backup older stuff to PST files on my desktop. Google Desktop makes that easy by storing a cache of the emails in its index.

  • Remote Desktop (Score:4, Informative)

    by jelevy01 ( 574941 ) on Wednesday November 23, 2005 @08:59PM (#14105010)
    Really easy, really simple. Just use remote desktop and connect back to your home machine. I have been doing this for years and works fantastic. Not to mention it's an easy way to bypass any corporate website blocking too..
  • I dunno, can it be done? Way to shoot for the moon!
  • Everyone is missing the most simple option, tell the client on the laptop never to delete messages on the server, so that way, even if you check your messages o nthe laptop durring the day you can still grab them on the desktop when you get home.
  • If it were me, I'd keep my mailbox on a USB drive and physically move it between each machine.

    Maybe I'm still stuck in the 56K mindset (avoid using bandwidth at all costs) though.

    • Re:USB thumb drive (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Nutria ( 679911 )
      If it were me, I'd keep my mailbox on a USB drive and physically move it between each machine.

      Now that's a clever idea.

      Better encrypt it, though, since those things get lost easy.
  • [*] Leave copy of mail on server.
    Delete after [ x ] days.

  • I prefer to just use IMAP and access it on the server. But if you really want to have it on the laptop without a net connection, look up the "cp" command under Unix. Yep, just copy the mail files to the laptop. Assumes you have control of the server, but that is a given in the question, so go to it!

  • Has anyone seen/bought/built an e-mail client that will allow me to have my main e-mail client on my desktop and then update my laptop e-mail client when ever I'm in range, or through a personal IMAP Server?"
    Jeez, how hard did you look? Any email client that supports both IMAP and "offline mode" will do that. I use Thunderbird, but I'm sure there are others.
    • The only problem I have with IMAP and T-bird on multiple machines is keeping the settings and filters in synch from one client to the next.
  • leave them on the server. My home machine grabs mail once a day( 1am ) and deletes it from the server. That way, when I am away from home, my lappy will catch the new mail, but my home machine will archive it. If by chance there the home machine catches an important message, its a trivial task to get at it.
    The only problem I could see with this scheme is organizing sent mail. I rarely use the home machine for anything other than file server and backup tasks so this isnt a problem for me.
  • You had used a web client, keep doing it if you need piece of mind that your mail is where you know it should be. If you had given more info about 'the' mail server and who hosts it, if you have any quotas to live with, I might have more to say....

  • I've been running IMAP for years and just finished writing my own variant of a webmail server in Perl. Just couldn't find what I wanted in PHP and this runs really fast.

    But IMAP works great. This isn't new. It's overdue.

  • When creating your email account in Outlook on your laptop configure it to leave messages on the server that way when your desktop goes to download the messages afterwards they are still housed on the server.

  • Obligatory off-topic spelling flame ;-) (Score:3, Funny)

    by Sheridan ( 11610 ) on Thursday November 24, 2005 @10:41AM (#14107465) Homepage
    My only issue is that I'm a little weary about using only my laptop for storing e-mail, since it's a lot more likely to fail.
    but why does "using only your laptop for storing e-mail" make you tired?

    Note that, in accordance with a long tradition of posts pointing out spelling errors, this post has not been previewed in the hope that it will then contain at least one spelling error.
    --
    I know what you're thinking, but I am not a nut-bag. -- Millroy the Magician

  • they are fun.. I'm running one now for less than two months

    outlook web access, remote desktop, outlook over http.. leave it at home, get it anywhere!

    (remote desktop alone works wonders as well-- no purchase beyond XP pro on home machine necassary)
  • Setup a local IMAP server at home. Have a local POP client collect your mail for you at the house, then VPN or SSH+port forward back home to read it.

    If you use windows, Mercury32 works great. If you use *nix, there are TONS of options.
  • Just a random note I will bury at the bottom of the page - your laptop doesn't have to be 'more likely to fail.'

    Assuming it survives the infant mortality period (first 30 days or so) there is going to be a single point of failure : hard drive. Granted the CPU fan could fail and smoke your CPU, but that is about as likely on a laptop as on a desktop - but I'm concentrating on the 'more likely' aspects.

    So your laptop is going to last until the hard drive fails. Want the laptop to last longer, figure out why
  • I switched from desktop email software (Outlook Express) to gmail for exactly this reason. Can access same inbox from work, home, mobile phone and laptop, and even internet cafe should I want to g
  • IMAP on your own server.

    POP3 clients that can "leave mail on server".

    Something like gmail (if you trust them to keep your mail safe and never disappear)

    A service like GoToMyPC.

    There's about a million ways to do what you're looking to do. It's almost too easy.
  • I currently use Courier-IMAP on my mailserver and offlineimap to synchronize my linux desktop machine with the imap server. I then use a version of pine I patched to work with Maildir instead of Mbox, and also have squirrelmail running on the mailserver for web based access. On my Windows machine, I use Outlook with IMAP and everything stays magically in sync. With offlineimap, I sync my inbox, sent-mail, and a few other commonly used folders every 5 minutes and the rest of them every hour. It works wel

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