Email Queries.

[DieDieMyDarling]

I've set up my own filters using Outlook Express, which looks for keywords in both Subject line and Body text. Any emails that contain certain keywords in the subject line won't be downloaded from the server, i had to set up a seperate filter for the body of the email, as outlook express won't read the body until it's already been downloaded, so they are moved to 'deleted' and marked as 'read'.

My problem is this, all the emails that don't get downloaded from the server have to be deleted manually. I've tried using the command 'delete from server' but it won't work. And i can't find any settings for saying how many days my emails should remain on the server before being deleted by NTL. I think i remember that NTL keeps your mails on it's server for something like 30 days. The amount of spam mail i get, i'd probably go over my 10mb quota in 30 days!

Is there any way of getting the 'delete from server' command working with NTL, or any way of setting a personal setting for how long emails should be kept on the server for my account? It's quite annoying having to manually delete them all, every few days.

AFAIK The "delete from server" will only be done if you download the mail - this is a feature of Outlook, not NTL.

[Chris W]

Originally Posted by Pem

AFAIK The "delete from server" will only be done if you download the mail - this is a feature of Outlook, not NTL.

you are correct messages will only be deleted when they are all downloaded.

you could use a program such as mailwasher to download filter spam and delete them from the server keeping them out of outlook express completely.

[greencreeper]

I use The Bat! I've specified that for the common spam folder (the folder into which all the spam from all my accounts goes) the emails should be deleted from the server, so that when they're downloaded they don't remain on the server to send my accounts over quota I also specified that the spam folder should keep messages for a week.

[DieDieMyDarling]

That doesn't make sense, the emails delete from the server once downloaded anyway. :-| I'll try one of those mail washers, thanks people.

Originally Posted by DieDieMyDarling

That doesn't make sense, the emails delete from the server once downloaded anyway. :-| I'll try one of those mail washers, thanks people.

When you connect to a pop3 server using Outlook (or indeed most clients) it queries how many e-mails the server has - it then downloads a copy of each e-mail. When this has completed it then sends the commands to delete each e-mail from the server (if that option is enabled).

[greencreeper]

I choose to keep emails on the server and only delete them when deleted from trash. In the past I've been bitten - I'd get to Uni and find that my emails are all at home on my PC It also prevents me from losing emails if something happens to my PC - corruption of the database files for example. It's for these reasons I'd always advocate the "leave on server until removed from trash" method. The Bat! allows me to vary this on a per-folder basis, so I can leave all emails on the server except those marked as spam.

I have a copy of Mailwasher - licensed. It just doesn't work with NTL's email servers - they respond too slowly and MW wrongly interprets this as the POP server not conforming to the RFCs, which is rubbish. There might be a new version out that actually allows the user to configure the server timeout - wouldn't that be a novelty. MW also has pretty poor out-the-box spam features and actually advocates spamming by offering to bounce spam. We all know that spam rarely has a valid FROM: address, so some poor sod receives an email saying that a message they didn't send has bounced. They then hassle tech support or come on here, and we tell them to ignore it - it's some idiot with a copy of MW. Oh and you can report spam so the sending mail servers are blacklisted - so you have loads of people who haven't a clue what they're doing happily blacklisting email servers, totally undermining anti-spam efforts.

I don't like Mailwasher - you'd never know though

[MovedGoalPosts]

The idea of leaving messages on the server works fine until you are dealing with someone like ntl. They only store for a max of (I think) 90 days, after which the mail will dissapear into cyberspace never to be heard of again. Make sure you do download to your own PC anything important and take backups.

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

The idea of leaving messages on the server works fine until you are dealing with someone like ntl.

Storage limits and removal after X months are not exactly unique to NTL

[greencreeper]

Originally Posted by MovedGoalPosts

The idea of leaving messages on the server works fine until you are dealing with someone like ntl. They only store for a max of (I think) 90 days, after which the mail will dissapear into cyberspace never to be heard of again. Make sure you do download to your own PC anything important and take backups.

The emails are downloaded and exist on your machine for all long as you and physics allow. Once they're deleted from the server, either by you or NTL, you can still keep a local copy. In essence the POP server becomes a means of accessing new emails, and a remote backup (though short term) of your emails old and new.

All this is POP - IMAP is very different.

[edit] In response to Pem - very true, though given a choice (wouldn't that be nice) I'd opt for storage limits rather than vanishing emails