Windows Mail - Rules?

[Eric]

I set up Windows Mail to access my AOL mail, but I can't get it to work like
AOL software. Is there a way to create a mail rule to automatically move
mail to an Old Mail folder after it's been read? I like that AOL
automatically cleans out my InBox, but Windows Mail just leaves them there.

 

[Peter Foldes]

Eric

Do you know what " Proprietary " means

 

[Eric]

I know the meaning of the word but I don't know your point. Does Windows
Mail have an option to set up rules to move email messages for you or not?

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Windows Mail has a rules feature, but they act automatically only on
incoming messages, and only on POP (not IMAP) accounts. You can
invoke a rule manually for a one-shot operation on any folder, but
there is no way to differentiate a read message from an unread message.

 

[Eric]

Thank you. That is the sort of response I was looking for. I like how AOL
automatically moves email out of the InBox to an Old Mail folder after I've
read them, then deletes them after a specified time maybe a week, with a
button to "keep as new" for the few I don't want moved out. It's annoying
to have to move them out manually in Windows Mail. It could be an
acceptable workaround to be able to delete them if it saves deleted mail for
a specified time period (just one extra button to click before moving on to
read the next message).

I did set up Windows Mail to read my AOL email but I don't remember how.
Can it be set up as POP (or where can I find out which email providers'
accounts can be set up as POP versus IMAP)? That would be very useful to be
able to set up rules to route incoming mail by sender to different folders.



Windows Mail has a rules feature, but they act automatically only on
incoming messages, and only on POP (not IMAP) accounts. You can
invoke a rule manually for a one-shot operation on any folder, but
there is no way to differentiate a read message from an unread message.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Gary VanderMolen wrote:

Windows Mail has a rules feature, but they act automatically only on
incoming messages, and only on POP (not IMAP) accounts. You can
invoke a rule manually for a one-shot operation on any folder, but
there is no way to differentiate a read message from an unread
message.

Thank you. That is the sort of response I was looking for. I like
how AOL automatically moves email out of the InBox to an Old Mail
folder after I've read them, then deletes them after a specified time
maybe a week, with a button to "keep as new" for the few I don't want
moved out. It's annoying to have to move them out manually in
Windows Mail.

Different on my side: I always keep things that I do not deleted right
after reading in a hierarchy of different folders for different purposes
and actions. So moving items from the inbox to the respective folder is
just the normal action.
And it's easy enough to mark several mails and then have them moved to
the same folder in a "bulk" operation.

It could be an acceptable workaround to be able to
delete them if it saves deleted mail for a specified time period
(just one extra button to click before moving on to read the next
message).

There is no such feature in WinMail.

I did set up Windows Mail to read my AOL email but I don't remember
how. Can it be set up as POP (or where can I find out which email
providers' accounts can be set up as POP versus IMAP)? That would be
very useful to be able to set up rules to route incoming mail by
sender to different folders.

I myself have only IMAP accounts.
I can not say whether or not AOL offers IMAP too.
But what for what you have in mind it would not be of help: *rules* in
WinMail are not operable for IMAP accounts.

Rainald

 

[Eric]

There is no such feature in WinMail.

So deleted mail cannot be retrieved? So I have to drag mail to a different
folder if I might want to save it but don't want it cluttering up my InBox?

I myself have only IMAP accounts.
I can not say whether or not AOL offers IMAP too.
But what for what you have in mind it would not be of help: *rules* in
WinMail are not operable for IMAP accounts.

Rainald

I don't remember if I used POP or IMAP to set up my AOL. The Windows Live
setup page
(http://www.freeemailtutorials.com/windowsLiveMail/setupEmailAccounts/setupAolAccount.htm)
says let Windows Live handle it automatically so I don't know what it's
default would be.

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

As they say, different strokes for different folks. I grew up with
POP email, and I can't stand the comparatively sluggish responses
to keyboard commands in webmail or IMAP mail.
I don't mind moving older emails manually to an archive folder
once a week. Actually I delete most emails after reading them
because they are of only transitory value.

AOL recommends IMAP rather than POP access:
http://postmaster.info.aol.com/imap/express.html

However, their older POP access may still work. Give it a try.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Eric wrote:
[...]

I don't remember if I used POP or IMAP to set up my AOL. The Windows
Live setup page
(http://www.freeemailtutorials.com/windowsLiveMail/setupEmailAccounts/se
tupAolAccount.htm)
says let Windows Live handle it automatically so I don't know what
it's default would be.

What might WLM (Windows Live Mail) have to do with the discussion in
this thread?

Rainald

 

[Eric]

Eric wrote:
[...]

I don't remember if I used POP or IMAP to set up my AOL. The Windows
Live setup page
(http://www.freeemailtutorials.com/windowsLiveMail/setupEmailAccounts/se
tupAolAccount.htm)
says let Windows Live handle it automatically so I don't know what
it's default would be.

What might WLM (Windows Live Mail) have to do with the discussion in
this thread?

Rainald

That it doesn't say which way it sets it up, when they say it will
automatically set up email without prompting for POP or IMAP information,
and someone suggested in another thread that Windows Mail is obsolete and I
should use Windows Live Mail instead.
(did Windows Mail have this sort of automatic setup?)
That is annoying if POP allowed mail setup rules to automatically route
different incoming email to different folders and IMAP doesn't allow it and
providers are preferring IMAP for some reason.
(is there another reason I should want to use IMAP versus POP?)

 

[Rainald Taesler]

That it doesn't say which way it sets it up, when they say it will
automatically set up email without prompting for POP or IMAP
information,

Sorry, I do not understand you. Who "they" say what?

and someone suggested in another thread that Windows
Mail is obsolete and I should use Windows Live Mail instead.

Yes, some say so. I or one do not like WLM at all and I will not use it.
In case I can not get WinMail going under the final if Win7, I will make
the move to some other mail client, possibly Thunderbird.

(did Windows Mail have this sort of automatic setup?)

Automatic setup?
Not really. WLM can use the settings specified for WinMail and import
them.

That is annoying if POP allowed mail setup rules to automatically
route different incoming email to different folders and IMAP doesn't
allow it and providers are preferring IMAP for some reason.

Do providers really prefer IMAP?

(is there another reason I should want to use IMAP versus POP?)

I am using IMAP only for all of my accounts.
The main advantage is that the folders if the mail-store are held in the
IMAP mail-server.
And by this one can use the stored stuff in as many computers as one
likes.
This way my desktop and my notebooks' mail storage always is in synch
automatically.

HTH
Rainald

 

[Eric]

Sorry, I do not understand you. Who "they" say what?

Are you following this thread? I provided a link for the Windows Live Mail
that says it will automatically set up mail for certain mail providers, that
you won't have to enter POP or IMAP information, that you'll have to tell it
you have an account with AOL, gmail, etc and it will choose that provider's
default but it doesn't say if it will tell you which one it's choosing to
use. I was wondering if Windows Mail had that automatic setup, or if
Windows Live Mail would use whatever Windows Mail used if it's different
than the provider's default..

Yes, some say so. I or one do not like WLM at all and I will not use it.
In case I can not get WinMail going under the final if Win7, I will make
the move to some other mail client, possibly Thunderbird.

What would make Windows Mail better than Windows Live Mail?

Automatic setup?
Not really. WLM can use the settings specified for WinMail and import
them.


Do providers really prefer IMAP?

I don't know if all providers do, but apparently any mail provider like AOL
which has a local program for email access and a webmail access which
mirrors it is using IMAP.

I am using IMAP only for all of my accounts.
The main advantage is that the folders if the mail-store are held in the
IMAP mail-server.
And by this one can use the stored stuff in as many computers as one
likes.
This way my desktop and my notebooks' mail storage always is in synch
automatically.

HTH
Rainald

I did find this out thanks. Apparently POP is only better if you need to
set up local mail rules to route incoming messages to different folders
automatically, but IMAP is better if you want to be able to mirror the email
on another reader program and/or webmail and/or another computer or if you
want to be able to download the same mail more than once. It seems I'd want
IMAP and I'll have to check with my mail provider if I can set up mail
routing rules on their end..

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

Windows Mail does not have the automatic account setup feature
that Windows Live Mail has.
The first time you run Windows Live Mail on a Vista computer it
will check to see if Windows Mail has any data (accounts, emails,
rules, etc.). If so, it will copy and import everything from Windows Mail.
The automatic account setup only comes into play when you set up
a new account from scratch.

 

[Rainald Taesler]

Are you following this thread?

Yes!
But obviously I overlooked your link :-( :-(
I'm so sorry.

I provided a link for the Windows
Live Mail that says it will automatically set up mail for certain
mail providers, that you won't have to enter POP or IMAP information,
that you'll have to tell it you have an account with AOL, gmail, etc
and it will choose that provider's default but it doesn't say if it
will tell you which one it's choosing to use. I was wondering if
Windows Mail had that automatic setup, or if Windows Live Mail would
use whatever Windows Mail used if it's different than the provider's
default..

No, there is no similar feature in WinMail.
But IMHO this does not really matter.
As to my experience it's easy to enough to set up an account manually
(at least if one is able to just read what the mail providers explain;
unfortunately, however, having monitored this NG for a while I gained
serious doubts on folks' ability to mange the basic "cultural

What would make Windows Mail better than Windows Live Mail?

I for one hate WLM.
The UI (user interface) is terrible and handling basic things with News
are seriously suffering.
I wont' work with this beast even if MS seems to be forcing us.
At present I'm still hoping that the hack enabling the usage of WinMail
under Win7 will still work in the final (as it is right now under the
RC).
If not, I will make the move to some other client for mail and news; at
present Thunderbird is my favorite candidate.

[...]

I don't know if all providers do, but apparently any mail provider
like AOL which has a local program for email access and a webmail
access which mirrors it is using IMAP.

OK, didn't know that.
Even if there are no rules available, I prefer IMAP by far.
Working with quite a number of computers and no Exchange-server in the
background I really do not see how I could my manage my work with mail
without using IMAP.

I did find this out thanks.

De nada.

Apparently POP is only better if you
need to set up local mail rules to route incoming messages to
different folders automatically,

Yes. The only advantage.
And something I really do not need.
IMAP has different folder hierarchies for each account and by that
individual Inboxes for each account. So there is no need for sorting
incoming mails after the account.
I just read the things in each Inbox and then decide to either delete
the mail or move it its proper storage place - Archive with a hierarchy
of subjects or ToDo-stack(s) wir forwarding to someone else. I would not
want to have this done without an intellectual decision anyway.

but IMAP is better if you want to be
able to mirror the email on another reader program and/or webmail
and/or another computer

RightyRight.
The same things in the same folders on every machine. And this
automatically.

or if you want to be able to download the
same mail more than once.

Naturally this too.
But not only the download. Far more important is the storage.
Everything I keep in the mail-store (with sophisticated
folder-hierarchies) is available everywhere (in the desktop in my home
office, on the notebooks, in my lab in the university and even in any
internet-cafe worldwide).

It seems I'd want IMAP

Go for it.
I cannot see what you might miss.

and I'll have to check with my mail provider if I can set up mail
routing rules on their end..

It could be possible. Depends on their possibilities and their
flexibility.
From our university's IT department I know that it's just some 3-liners
of UNIX code (let it be 10 at the max <g>) to filter things.
The decisive question is, however: Does one *really* need rules???

As said, I live without any.
And if it's managing a business, one would not use WinMail (or nasty
WLM) anyway. For that there is hardly any way around a mail-server
back-end like Exchange & Co.

Just my 2 cents

Rainald

 

[caver8]

Maybe someone can help me in a similar problem. Silly me, I thought that this
thread was about 'rules' and not this topic with AOHll. I want to know how
the Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail can save and export those real
'Message Rules' that actually exist within those three programs. (aka:
'toolbar, Tools - Message Rules - Mail' - and then on to setting the rules )
How can I export THOSE settings from one computer to another, or from a
backup when I reinstall Windows with a clean boot every six months to a year
to eliminate all those updates and patching other programs with updates ,
etc. My computer runs so much faster when I do this but every time I have had
to redo my message rules. I have special folders for all the people I get
emails from regularly and also businesses and updates from the manufactures
of the products I use, software and hardware, and I LOVE when those emails
all slip quietly into those appropriate folders so I don't have to pick
through my inbox to find important emails amid the crap that slips by the
junk and spam email filters that usually delete the email I want in the first
place, but those message rules put an end to searching. The only problem is I
have to redo those rules over and over. What do I need to do to import the
message rules?

 

[Dave]

Windows Mail rules are stored in the registry. To save them you have to use
regedit and export the following key...
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail\Rules]

In Windows Mail:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail\Rules]

In OE, they seem to be located somewhere under
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\
(search for "Rules")
Mine appear to be located at
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities\{E13FA5B4-AC90-49F6-B7B4-5E3E1B18EACD}\Software\Microsoft\Outlook
Express\5.0\Rules

I don't know about Outlook, as I don't have it installed.

When you export the key, it will be saved as a .reg file.
Copy it to the other computer, and double-click on it to merge it with the
registry.
This will work to restore or copy the rules to the same program, but not to
a different program (AFAIK).

 

[Gary VanderMolen]

I use a free backup/restore program:
http://www.staticbackup.com/windows-mail-backup/
http://www.staticbackup.com/downloads.htm