Duplicate Incoming POP Messages via Different Connections

[JCW]

Two Closely Related Questions:

1) Using a given laptop, I occasionally access the same POP3 e-mail account
on the same remote server via two different routes: When at home, I use a
high-speed Internet connection (Comcast). When traveling I often have to use
a dial-up Internet connection through a different ISP (Cyber Mesa).
Sometimes I forget to (or don't want to) clear all messages off the server
before departure, in which case I get duplicate copies of any messages that
still remain there. I'd like to know why Outlook (2003 and 2007 behave
similarly on different laptops, e-mail-only version -- no local Exchange
server, under Windows XP) cannot recognize that these messages have already
been downloaded so as not to download duplicates. Short of deleting them
from the server in advance, is there any way to avoid this.

Possible Cause of Problem 1?: Since I want to limit the size of messages
that can be downloaded via dial-up, I have created two separate local e-mail
accounts within Outlook for accessing the same remote POP3 account -- one for
the high-speed, and one for the dial-up, Internet connection. (Although I
remember seeing a way in Outlook 2007 to set up a single local account to use
LAN access when it was available and dial up access when not, there was some
reason that I cannot recall why I didn't want to do this -- different POP3
access rules on the server for access via the native and the non-native ISP,
or some such. In any case, there appears to be no such feature in Outlook
2003.) Any explanation or solution would be most welcome.

2) Often, when I'm traveling, a message download via the dial-up connection
will be blocked by my intentional size limit (see above). In that case, I
download the complete message via the high-speed connection when I get home.
Since this complete version does not replace the "phantom entry" created in
my Inbox by the blocked download, however, I want to delete this phantom
entry; but I can find no way to do so. Telling Outlook to delete the entry
just "marks it as deleted," but it never goes away. Again, this problem
occurs under both Outlook 2003 and 2007. (I suppose that marking the phantom
entry for full download, dialing up through the traveling account from home,
and downloading the entire message again -- possibly taking a very long time
-- might allow me to get rid of it, although I haven't actually tried that
cumbersome approach.) Probably a solution to Problem 1 would also eliminate
Problem 2. Otherwise, is there any practical way to get rid of these
annoying phantom entries?

Again thanks in advance for any suggestions -- JCW

 

[ANONYMOUS]

You have to use the same laptop wherever you are and you are not likely
to get duplicates. If you use two different machines (desktop at home
and laptop on the road) then you will get the messages on each machine
unless to download from the server completely i.e. delete them on the
server after download. I haven't bothered to read your entire message
because it is too long for me to read at this time of the day. (23:33
hours BST)

hth

 

[JCW]

DearANONYMOUS -- Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. Perhaps my mention
of two laptops (an attempt to explain the two different versions of Outlook)
was a red herring. I hope that tomorrow you will have time to read my
questions more carefully an appreciate that this phenomenon only involves the
use of a single computer. -- JCW

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

1) Using a given laptop, I occasionally access the same POP3 e-mail account
on the same remote server via two different routes: When at home, I use a
high-speed Internet connection (Comcast). When traveling I often have to
use
a dial-up Internet connection through a different ISP (Cyber Mesa).
Sometimes I forget to (or don't want to) clear all messages off the server
before departure, in which case I get duplicate copies of any messages that
still remain there. I'd like to know why Outlook (2003 and 2007 behave
similarly on different laptops, e-mail-only version -- no local Exchange
server, under Windows XP) cannot recognize that these messages have already
been downloaded so as not to download duplicates.

Because the data that records what has been downloaded is not stored on the
server. Each PC keeps track on its own what it has downloaded. One PC has no
way to tell another that the messages it sees on the server as new are not, in
fact, new. Gmail tries to ameliorate this by having its server attempt to
remember what messages have been downloaded before, but that's not standard
POP server behavior.

2) Often, when I'm traveling, a message download via the dial-up connection
will be blocked by my intentional size limit (see above). In that case, I
download the complete message via the high-speed connection when I get home.
Since this complete version does not replace the "phantom entry" created in
my Inbox by the blocked download, however, I want to delete this phantom
entry; but I can find no way to do so. Telling Outlook to delete the entry
just "marks it as deleted," but it never goes away. Again, this problem
occurs under both Outlook 2003 and 2007. (I suppose that marking the
phantom
entry for full download, dialing up through the traveling account from home,
and downloading the entire message again -- possibly taking a very long time
-- might allow me to get rid of it, although I haven't actually tried that
cumbersome approach.) Probably a solution to Problem 1 would also eliminate
Problem 2. Otherwise, is there any practical way to get rid of these
annoying phantom entries?

I've never experimented with this so can't tell you how to delete the "header
only" entries (but try holding Shift when pressing por clicking Delete) but
what you describe is one of the reasons the IMAP protocol was invented. Since
you say you're accessing the same mailbox from two different networks, is the
mailbox hosted by a third mail provider?

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

DearANONYMOUS -- Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. Perhaps my mention
of two laptops (an attempt to explain the two different versions of Outlook)
was a red herring. I hope that tomorrow you will have time to read my
questions more carefully an appreciate that this phenomenon only involves
the
use of a single computer. -- JCW

What you described originally is far and away a two computer issue and I, too,
believed that's what you were describing. It's not typical of using multiple
networks with the same PC.

What type of account are you using? Are you using the exact same mail server
regardless of the network connection? Are you starting the network connection
prior to starting Outlook? Do you change mail profiles at all?

 

[JCW]

Thanks, again, for your help, Brian. See answers spliced into your message
below. -- JCW

What you described originally is far and away a two computer issue and I, too,
believed that's what you were describing. It's not typical of using multiple
networks with the same PC.

It obviously never occurred to me that anyone would object to receiving the
same incoming message on two different computers. (In fact, I count on it.
That's how I bring my home computer up to date when I return from a trip.
Rather than copying PST data from the traveling computer, as we discussed
recently in a separate thread, I just connect via the high-speed connection
at home and download all the messages again to the home machine. The present
problem #1 arises only when I carry my home computer on the road or use my
traveling computer from home. [Of course problem #2 arises any time I use a
telephone modem and find an oversize message on the server.])

What type of account are you using?

POP3, if that's what you mean. (I tried mention as many details as I
thought relevant in my original post.)

Are you using the exact same mail server
regardless of the network connection?

Yes, although as I mentioned in the original post, some mail servers require
different protocols when accessed from outside their own networks -- not
different servers but sometimes different ports and/or secure vs. open
authentication. I can't remember all these details at the moment, but let me
know what details you need and I'll dig them up when I have time. (I'm
leaving on another trip today and will be restricted to a telephone modem all
week, so I might not be able to access this site again until Sept. 20th.)

Are you starting the network connection
prior to starting Outlook?

Yes, when using the high-speed cable connection -- it's on all the time.
No, when using the dial-up connection. I only dial up (invoking the Windows
"connectoid" from outside Outlook) when I'm ready to send/receive, in order
to reduce telephone usage.

Do you change mail profiles at all?

No. Never have. (Although the two laptops obviously have different mail
profiles, as I said, this happens when only one laptop is in use and is moved
between locations.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

No. Never have. (Although the two laptops obviously have different mail
profiles, as I said, this happens when only one laptop is in use and is
moved
between locations.

I can't think of anything that would cause the issue you describe when
connecting via a different network transport. Outlook itself doesn't know
about or care which connection method you use. I've heard about your symptom
in only two sutuations: different mail profiles (which includes the different
PC case) or failure to receive acknowledegement from the server when messages
are downloaded (i.e., the send/receive process terminates incorrectly or times
out).

 

[JCW]

OK, Brian. Any ideas about Question 2 in my original post: "...the "phantom
entry" created in my Inbox by the blocked [oversize] download, however, I
want to delete this phantom entry; but I can find no way to do so." These
useless place-holders continue to accumulate in my inbox; how can I delete
them? -- JCW

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

OK, Brian. Any ideas about Question 2 in my original post: "...the
"phantom
entry" created in my Inbox by the blocked [oversize] download, however, I
want to delete this phantom entry; but I can find no way to do so." These
useless place-holders continue to accumulate in my inbox; how can I delete
them? -- JCW

Does holding Shift when you try to delee it make a difference? How is it
marked as deleted? Is the Purge item available when you click the Edit menu?

 

[JCW]

Brian -- See answers my interleaved with your questions below. Note that I
am now on travel, working with Outlook 2003 over a telephone modem. The
message with which I just experimented is therefore the only copy (phantom
copy, that is) of one that I recently failed to download (703 KB, whereas my
size limit is 300 KB). Obviously it would be feasible to force a download of
this message, if that proved beneficial to the troubleshooting... -- JCW

Does holding Shift when you try to delee it make a difference?
No.

How is it
marked as deleted?

Line drawn through the entry.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Brian -- See answers my interleaved with your questions below. Note that I
am now on travel, working with Outlook 2003 over a telephone modem. The
message with which I just experimented is therefore the only copy (phantom
copy, that is) of one that I recently failed to download (703 KB, whereas my
size limit is 300 KB). Obviously it would be feasible to force a download
of
this message, if that proved beneficial to the troubleshooting... -- JCW


Line drawn through the entry.


No.

I'm at a loss, then. Sorry.