share pst file without Exchange?

[Angela]

I have a home network - an old laptop in the kitchen and
a new desktop in the office. I want the Outlook files to
reside on the desktop since it's backed up and more
reliable but would like to use the laptop for
sending/receiving email. I'd like to be able to see the
same info (sent mail, inbox, calendar) on both
computers. Is it possible without using Exchange? I've
succesfully connected the laptop to a mailbox.pst file on
the desktop but since the inbox is empty I can only
assume this isn't where the email is stored.

 

[Skipper]

Well, I have been trying to figure this out myself. I have actually been
doing it for a few years now with the .pst file being synchronized using the
sync tool in window 2K. The problem is that in it's initial sate, you can't
sync those types of files. There is a registry edit you can do to allow
this but I have been posting here to try and figure it out.

I'll be in touch,

 

[Chris Lineback [MSFT]]

Yes, this is technically possible. Depending on your version of Outlook, it
is possible to share .pst data, without an Exchange server, using the Net
Folders feature. Here are the articles you will need to get started:

195867 OL2000: How to Use Net Folders
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=195867

229962 OL2000: Troubleshooting Net Folders
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=229962

Net Folders is only supported in Outlook 2000. So the "sharing" process
requires all parties use only Outlook 2000. Net Folders uses hidden Rich
Text e-mail messages to replicate .pst data, and it has some limits, so
please read the above articles in detail. Furthermore, if your ISP , or
any network hops along the path between the shares, do not support Microsoft
Rich Text (specifically TNEF) then the Net Folder share may fail to
replicate any/all/some data.
--
Hope that helps!!

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Chris Lineback, MCSE
Microsoft Enterprise Messaging Support

- Please do not send email directly to this alias. This alias is for
newsgroup purposes only.
-This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights

 

[Angela]

Thanks for your help, Chris - it's working now. However,
because Net Folders is designed to share folders between
two different users, there were a few quirks that I'll
share for Skipper and anyone else pursuing this.

First, you can't share the Inbox which is the folder I
wanted to share. I had to create a separate Shared Inbox
on the primary computer and then a Rule to automatically
copy(or move) mail from the Inbox to the Shared Inbox.

I had two computers with the same email services assigned
to both. Net Folders uses emails to transfer information
so initially the share setup didn't work. I had to
create a new email address /service for the second
computer so that the primary computer could send
information to the second computer.

Every time the primary computer tries to update the
second computer, I get the annoying "your computer is
trying to send an email.." security warning. That's
addressed in a few other discussion threads so hopefully
will be able to fix that problem next.




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