imap gmail help

[Sally]

Can someone please help before the whole thing goes out the window!!

I had pop3 set up and it was working fine, but I then got an iphone, and I
couldn't get it so that I could see mail on the phone and it would still be
on the computer. I read up on it and it seems that I should have imap, not
pop3. So I deleted pop3 and started again with imap. Now I have millions of
folders all over the place - 3 inboxes, 3 sent, 3 deleted, 3 trash, and gmail
- no idea what gmail is.

Can anyone please help - I just want one inbox and one of everything, like I
had before when using pop3. I'm using Windows Mail on Vista.

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Can someone please help before the whole thing goes out the window!!

I had pop3 set up and it was working fine, but I then got an iphone, and I
couldn't get it so that I could see mail on the phone and it would still
be
on the computer. I read up on it and it seems that I should have imap,
not
pop3. So I deleted pop3 and started again with imap. Now I have millions
of
folders all over the place - 3 inboxes, 3 sent, 3 deleted, 3 trash, and
gmail
- no idea what gmail is.

Can anyone please help - I just want one inbox and one of everything, like
I
had before when using pop3. I'm using Windows Mail on Vista.

Gmail is Google Mail. If you have an email address that ends with
"@gmail.com", you have a gmail account.

If you don't have a gmail account, then you've probably followed directions
for configuring it, when you should have been using the server names for
whoever your mail provider actually is.

You may have windows mail and Vista and an iPhone, but the real question is
who your mail provider is.

Incidentally, there's an easy way to allow use of a POP3 with clients like
Windows Mail and an iPhone. Simply tell the POP client to "leave messages
on the server", and "for X days". This is in the Advanced settings
dialogs, and prevents the client from deleting messages as soon as they're
downloaded.

A problem with IMAP is that it can be slow to refresh because the messages
are actually still on the server, so everything you read is downloaded every
time. If you're using POP, messages are downloaded to your system and you
read them from a locally-saved mail store, which is much faster, and lets
you read when there's no signal.

Put another way, if you pay for network connect time on your iPhone, POP3 is
cheaper.

You may have deleted your old POP account, but the folders are likely still
there, and that's part of what you see. If you delete those, because POP
downloads from the server and deletes by default, you'll have deleted all
your old mail. At this point, if you re-create the POP account, you'll
probably also need to import those messages.
So, you want to be careful about how you clean up.

Stop, and collect all of the information you need before you proceed. Be
sure you understand why you're making the selections. In the meantime, use
whatever web interface comes with your mail.

HTH
-pk

 

[Sally]

Thank you so much Patrick - that is very helpful. I am sticking with pop3
and have reverted back to the way it all was before.

My server is Sky by the way.

I already have it set for the mail to remain on the server. So if I
download mail to my iphone and then want it on my computer, I need to go to
sky online and see it there? I mean I can't get it on my phone, and then get
it into my Outlook too?

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Thank you so much Patrick - that is very helpful. I am sticking with pop3
and have reverted back to the way it all was before.

My server is Sky by the way.

I already have it set for the mail to remain on the server. So if I
download mail to my iphone and then want it on my computer, I need to go
to
sky online and see it there?

No, you don't have to, but if the POP clients leave the mail on the server,
you *can* look at it. This can be a big help in testing the setup.

I mean I can't get it on my phone, and then get
it into my Outlook too?

If the iPhone supports POP mail, then yes, you should be able to do that.
It's just a matter of the settings. Apparently on the iphone, it's
Settings, Mail,<account>,advanced, delete from server, never.

If you're having difficulties reading the mail on the iPhone, and the other
POP clients are not deleting the mail, (verify this by using the web
interface) that's more of an Apple support question.



HTH
-pk