Outlook 2003, POP3: messages not removed from server when moved to Personal Folder

[scottporad]

Hi Everyone...

I basically have the exact same problem as this poster did:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr..._frm/thread/9fc41b3a9dedd267/df329baebcc3c2b2.
However, I have my settings set as the responder to the post
described. The difference is that I'm using Outlook 2003 and the
poster was using 2002.

To resummarize the problem: I use Outlook at home, and a web client
when not at home. I move my messages into a Personal Folder (different
from the POP3 folder) when I want to file them in order to keep the
volume of mail on the server (and, hence, displayed in the web client)
low. However, Outlook 2003 is not removing them from the server as I
think it should. In fact, I previously used Outlook 2002 and it worked
as expected.

Anybody have some thoughts on this? Does perhaps the 2003 behavior
work differently than the 2002 behavior? If so, how can I make 2003 do
what I need it to do?

Thanks,

Scott

 

[Brian Tillman]

To resummarize the problem: I use Outlook at home, and a web client
when not at home. I move my messages into a Personal Folder
(different from the POP3 folder) when I want to file them in order to
keep the volume of mail on the server (and, hence, displayed in the
web client) low. However, Outlook 2003 is not removing them from the
server as I think it should. In fact, I previously used Outlook 2002
and it worked as expected.

The "POP folder", as you put it, are no different in any way whatsoever from
the "Personal Folder" you mention. Moreover, you don't appear to understand
how POP clients and servers work. When a POP client connects to a server
and sees there is mail, it downloads it to a local Inbox, removing it from
the server altogether, unless you have instructed it to leave a copy there,
and then disconnects from the server. Thereafter, no matter what you do in
your folders, the POP server doesn't know you're doing it. There is no way
for a POP client to inform a POP server that local changes are being made.

The only two options available in Outlook for conveying information to the
POP server is to have Outlook remove messages from the server after a
specified number of days and to have Outlook delete messsages from the
server when removed from the Deleted Items folder. Moving a message from
one fodler to another is strictly a local operation and does not involve the
server in any way whatsoever. I'd be very surprised if Outlook 2002 (or
2000 or 98 or 97, for than matter) behaves any differently in this regard.

If you see any other behavior, then you're not using a POP account. The
behavior you describe would apply to an IMAP account or to an HTTP (i.e.,
Hotmail) account.

 

[scottporad]

Brian--

Thank you for your reply, however your post is inaccurate.

First, there are differences between Personal Folders X and Y within
Outlook. When using Outlook as a POP3 client, the messages are
delivered to a Personal Folder, let's call it Personal Folder X...the
the folder I referred to as the "POP folder".

In addition, I have a second Personal Folder, Personal Folder Y, that
is not the one that Outlook delivers the POP3 mail into. When I am
done reading an e-mail, I move it from Personal Folder X to Personal
Folder Y.

Now, in Outlook 2002, if you had the e-mail configuration set to leave
messages on the server, but delete when removed from Deleted Items,
then when an item was moved *from* the Personal Folder where POP3 mail
is delivered (Personal Folder X, aka. "the POP Folder") *to* another
Personal Folder (Personal Folder Y) then it was treated by Outlook as
if it were removed from Deleted Items.

While it may seem to you that this is a strictly local operation, to
the Outlook 2002 POP3 client it was not...it thought that the messages
had been deleted entirely, aka removed from Deleted Items. As a
result, Outlook told the POP3 server to delete the message the next
time it Sent/Received.

In addition to the developer from Microsoft describing this
functionality in the post I referenced, I experienced it myself with
Outlook 2002. However, the behavior does not seem to be the same with
Outlook 2003.

Perhaps there is someone from MS on this board who can explain how or
if the behavior is different in Outlook 2003.

Scott

 

[Brian Tillman]

First, there are differences between Personal Folders X and Y within
Outlook. When using Outlook as a POP3 client, the messages are
delivered to a Personal Folder, let's call it Personal Folder X...the
the folder I referred to as the "POP folder".

In addition, I have a second Personal Folder, Personal Folder Y, that
is not the one that Outlook delivers the POP3 mail into. When I am
done reading an e-mail, I move it from Personal Folder X to Personal
Folder Y.

Just because mail is delivered to one instead of the other does not imply
there are differences between the two, only that you've told Outlook to use
them differently. Structurally they are identical.

In addition to the developer from Microsoft describing this
functionality in the post I referenced, I experienced it myself with
Outlook 2002. However, the behavior does not seem to be the same with
Outlook 2003.

Perhaps there is someone from MS on this board who can explain how or
if the behavior is different in Outlook 2003.

MS employees rarely ever post to these newsgroups (although it does happen
on occasion, as your citation of the earlier thread proves). While I don't
recall Outlook 2002 behaving as you say, I'll accept your statement that it
did. However, your own experience proves that Outlook 2003 doesn't behave
that way and as far as I know there's no setting in it that will do so it it
doesn't already. All the recommendations I've seen suggest enabling the
option to remove the items from the server after a specified number of days
and I tend to believe that when a program has an option to "remove from
server when deleted from Deleted Items" that it means exactly that and I can
very well believe that moving a message from a delivery location folder is
not seen as the equivalent of removing it from the Deleted Items folder
because the "empty" operation is considerably different from a move
operation.