Very interesting. How could we change from Pop then? Eleanor ----- Original Message ----- From: Ibrahim Gucukoglu To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Wednesday, March 04, 2009 4:35 AM Subject: [access-uk] Re: IMAP AND/OR POP3 Hi Carol. Take a look at this information I pulled from my mail provider's frequently asked questions. I believe it covers most of the reasons and differences between the two protocols. You'll have to find out whether imap is provided with your email service, as some only provide pop access. POP is a very simple protocol that only allows downloading of messages from your Inbox to your local computer. Generally, once transferred, the email is then on your local computer and is removed from your mail server (it is possible to leave them on the server, but they all stay in the Inbox). IMAP is a much more advanced protocol that allows you to see all your folders on the mail server , and quickly view subjects and message bodies of emails, but delay downloading of larger emails (such as those with attachments) to a later time if you want. IMAP also allows you to synchronise mail folders between your home machine and on the web, so that you see the same folders and messages wherever and however you access your email. IMAP POP Flexibility Can view just message headers, and then choose which messages to download Have to download all messages at once Can delete/move a message without having to download it Have to download all messages Can download just text body of a message Have to download entire message (including any large attachments) Synchronisation Can view messages in all folders Can only download messages from Inbox Any changes made via web interface or email software (eg move message, add flags, etc) appears in the other automatically Once downloaded, changes only made on local email software Can access messages both at home/work, and on the road through the web interface Once downloaded, can only access messages at home/work Safety All messages kept on FastMail.FM servers, including realtime replication to a backup server, and nightly incremental backups of all emails to yet another server kept for 1 week Once downloaded, copy only exists on your local computer, if it crashes, email is lost (it is possible to leave messages on the server, but all messages stay in the Inbox) To understand the power and usefulness of IMAP, we recommend you look through the following example usage scenario using Outlook Express. If you feel you need further help or explanation, please feel free to email me privately and I'll be happy to talk to you by phone about the options and benefits open to you. ----- Original Message ----- From: Carol Pearson To: Access UK Mailing List Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 4:48 PM Subject: [access-uk] IMAP AND/OR POP3 Hi all, Having decided to take some email on my phone, I am wanting to understand more about the differences I will experience if I decide to use IMAP as opposed to POP3 for my NTL and Googlemail accounts. I understand, basically, that it's reckoned that IMAP is more stable (not giving extra copies of mail where this sometimes occurs with POP3), but I need to know more specifically how this will affect my day to day working. I don't use Google online but still much prefer to download to Outlook Express. In the case of POP3, everything comes into my In-box unless I specify to the contrary. Will this be the same with my Outlook Express if using IMAP? Do I need to set my phone and computer(s) all to use IMAP to get everything working correctly? Thanks for anything that you can offer on this. -- Carol carol.pearson29@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- I am using the free version of SPAMfighter. We are a community of 6 million users fighting spam. SPAMfighter has removed 1305 of my spam emails to date. Get the free SPAMfighter here: http://www.spamfighter.com/len The Professional version does not have this message