How can I synchronize several GBs of emails on two computers?

January 18, 2007 9:32 AM

I have several GB of email and two computers. How can I keep things synchronized?

I have been using Outlook for years on a Windows computer and I have virtually every email I have sent and received for that last 9 years. It takes up several gigabytes, but it has been a great resource to have and it has occasionally been a huge help.

All was fine while I used one computer, but now I have a desktop and a laptop. I have tried half a dozen programs to synchronize the Outlook emails between the computers (PSTSync, SyncPST, EZOutlookSync, ShareO, etc.) but all of them have failed because they are buggy and/or don’t synchronize Deleted Items.

So I am looking for a solution for how to manage my email. I would be most happy with just finding a program what will synchronize Outlook emails between computers. But I am willing to look at other programs besides Outlook (although I have really liked my spam blocker Cloudmark, which is Outlook-only). Using a web-based email service or IMAP doesn’t make sense because I already have about 4-5 GB of email. I am wary of Thunderbird because of the reports of people having their email corrupted (Outlook has had problems, but I never lost a single email in 9 years to a technical problem) and synchronization is still a problem there. Eudora also seems to lack synchronization tools.

I can’t be the only person facing this dilemma. So AskMefites with huge archives of email and multiple computers: what do you do?

posted by Tallguy to computers & internet (14 comments total)

I have moved totally to Gmail and could never go back to outlook. I saved my old outlook pst's to a dvd and have it for history, a copy at work, a copy at home. The searching for gmail is invaluable to me.
posted by thilmony at 9:49 AM on January 18, 2007

I think the point of the matter is that you already have several gigabytes of email that is only going to grow. Now is the time to look at moving all your mail to to an IMAP server and letting it continue to grow on that, rather than trying to keep to separate multiple gigabyte email stores synced.
posted by chrisroberts at 9:49 AM on January 18, 2007

I'm in the exact same situation, using Outlook + Cloudmark as well. I run Windows XP, have enabled Remote Desktop connections, and when I want to access email from my laptop I connect back to my desktop machine using the Remote Desktop Client. As long as the connection is fast enough, it's just like being at my desk.

Cons: This requires me to keep the desktop machine turned on whenever I think I may want to access my email, which is a waste of electricity. I had to puncture my firewall to let RDC connections through; this is a security risk, though I believe RDC traffic itself is encrypted. Some ISPs may not allow your home machine to act as a server in any fashion at all.

It helps if your laptop's screen size matches your desktop screen size, to minimize window resizing.

When I can't connect back, I use a backup of the PST files on the laptop and my ISP's webmail interface to access newer email.

I'm sure others will discuss the possibility of putting all your email on an IMAP server.
posted by mvd at 9:52 AM on January 18, 2007

IMAP.
posted by Mikey-San at 10:39 AM on January 18, 2007

I would:
1. export your email out of Outlook
2. import it into second computer client
3. turn on "save email on server" in both email clients and set it to only delete messages after a week or so, long enough for you to have had a chance to check mail on both computers.
4. check your email on both computers, get all new mail on both.
5. be happy.

I don't have two computers but I have a home and a work computer and this is what I do. It works perfectly.

Keep in mind that 9GB of old email will probably slow down the performance of any email client. I'd just keep the outlook exports on disk and only import them if I really really need something.
posted by loiseau at 10:41 AM on January 18, 2007

IMAP IMAP IMAP. 4-5 GB is nothing for IMAP.
posted by stereo at 11:17 AM on January 18, 2007

I have been using the Briefcase method to synchronize Outlook for several years now and it works well. It helps to Archive old emails to a seperate .pst which can reside on both computers, to minimize the sync time.
posted by Manjusri at 11:26 AM on January 18, 2007

For those recommending IMAP, are there any tips for providers? My home computer is on a cable connection with limited upstream bandwidth so I probably don't want to host it myself. Most of the providers I have looked into charge substantial money for 4-5 GB plus of storage (and for some, it looks like just uploading my stuff to start with will incur bandwidth overcharges). Also, currently Google Desktop does a great job indexing my Outlook email. Would fast search be an option for IMAP?
posted by Tallguy at 11:47 AM on January 18, 2007

I'd agree with the IMAP suggestions, but isn't Outlook's IMAP support crippled in order to encourage you to use Exchange server? As I recall, thinks like filtering rules didn't work. Also, I think you were limited to one IMAP mailbox per e-mail profile.
posted by Good Brain at 11:48 AM on January 18, 2007

Im curious on how somoene with tons of PSTs or .msg files is giong to be able to push them to a mail server. The format is wrong and this would involve more costs to have a mail admin do the transfer. Then hosting. The transfer itself is in the gigabytes, which will probably add some kind of penalty for bandwidth use.

Second the remote desktop solution. If your machine isnt XP Pro then you can get away with using VNC.

Or properly archive your old mail onto a DVD or external hard drive. Keep only this years mail in the client. When you need the old stuff just mount the pst files. Not to mention that windows machine of yours will someday die and now you have an incentive to do proper backups.
posted by damn dirty ape at 12:26 PM on January 18, 2007

Bah, I just realized that my link for the briefcase method sucked. It's actually quite a bit easier than that.

Basically, you place the .pst file on the desktop in a specific location (I use My Documents\Outlook) and open up a network share to that folder. Then you make a briefcase folder called outlook on the laptop, and copy the file over. Next, point Outlook on the laptop at this file (you need to first add the .pst under file management or something like that, then point your email accounts at it, then delete the old one).

In use, you have to right-click and sync the briefcase before switching boxes, and wait until the files transfer over. But a side benefit is that you always have a backup of your .pst on the other box.
posted by Manjusri at 3:48 PM on January 18, 2007

I don't know how Outlook stores its mail files, but I used Thunderbird and sync between home & work computer every day using SyncBackSE.

You can move the entire profile folder to a new computer and open your email there and everything will look exactly the same. Maybe there is a way to backup your entire folder with all the pst files and options, etc.

You'd probably have to be sure to close Outlook before syncing either way.

Or if you have a way to import all your mail to Thunderbird I could give you details of what I do with that.
posted by jacobsee at 9:35 AM on January 19, 2007

Because of the way you framed your question: are you using your Deleted Items folder as your message archive? Or am I mis-understanding.
posted by dgeiser13 at 1:13 PM on January 19, 2007

DGeiser: Yes, I am using Deleted Mail as my archive. Except after a year I empty it into a Deleted Mail 2004 folder, etc. for performance reasons and those folders go into seperate PST files.
posted by Tallguy at 7:05 PM on January 19, 2007