Main Area and Open Discussion > General Software Discussion

Desktop/email search program

<< < (4/5) > >>

Carol Haynes:
I have moved MailStore databases from one computer to another without much of an issue. If I remember correctly I just installed MailStore on the new system and then replaced the database folder with a copy of the folder from the other machine. Started up the new MailStore and the database was all there as normal. I haven't tried the commercial version though so I don't know if things are different there.

The only issue is that MailStore archives are only compatible with the same or newer versions of the software but if you keep systems up to date with the software this won't be a problem.

In terms of use - I just let MailStore archive everything every time - I don't need exceptions and it doesn't create duplicates - it is also intelligent enough that if you move an email item in your PST file from one folder to another it adjusts the archive to match without creating duplicate entries - which is very nice.

Another nice thing is that you can archive from any supported client (including hotmail, gmail etc. straight from the web or any POP accounts) and it supports the 'don't display images' idea unless you click display images in archived emails - avoiding potential malware issues in any spam you or your system miss.

True deleting of old mail from the PST file (or other mailbox) can only be done by date but you can set it up to only archive the folders you choose so you could copy any emails you want to keep in the PST file into a non-archived folder. You can still archive this folder by setting up another archive profile just for that folder but omit the deletion option.

Steven Avery:
Hi Folks,

Thanks, Carol.

As long as you have no problem deleting the same entries you moved, all should be fine.  The reason I don't plan to delete them the first time is that the archive is play, first time trial, not production.  Once the user says "OK", then a startover with a real move-and-delete can occur. I wouldn't count on dup-find capabilities in that case, simply start fresh.  Although I am surprised that MailStore would notice dups after a PST folder move.   Interesting .. a technical question for later. Remember sometimes you have the exact same email from somebody, except for the date.  So MailStore must be checking "exact" by their own index. Kewl.

And I think the MailStore techie was just being cautious in implying a degree of difficulty in movement among PCs.  It doesn't make a lot of sense, you should be able to bring over the data files and any config that exists and go from puter to puter (its not like there are hardware drivers of a disk image) as Carol describes. Maybe I will shoot the techie an email or call and try to pin down what he meant.  Not critical either way, since he was clearly not saying there was any save/restore problem on the same PC.

It does seem like MailStore is the simplest one-step solution for those who don't mind a paid license (like a business).  Any solutions that work with multiple PST seem to retain a problematic or complication factor that MailStore lacks, attachments included or stripped. (Granted they are far better than doing nothing.)

Similarly Fookes, the other main player, seems a bit more conversion-savvy rather than archive-savvy and would require two softwares rather than one and has a real contact problem, nobody to call, no email addy, only web-contact.  So far nobody else seems to have the full savvy so far of how to bring the mail into a solid new format and leave it there. As Carol has described, it sounds like MailStore has brought this to a fine art, and when I talked to them I was impressed.

Appreciate the direction and pointing from DonationCoder, hope to have this installed on a user puter very shortly.

Shalom,
Steven

Steven Avery:
Hi Folks,

My first MailStore try was a bit frustrating.  Wasn't sure if the Home or Server edition applies, since it is a business use on one individual puter.  The home is individual use .. it installs Net 2.0 .. and then .. does nothing.  When I try to install a second or third time, all I got were reinstalls of Net 2.0.

Strange .. I'll probably try on the home puter. And call them in the AM.

Shalom,
Steven

spooz2:
try lookout130. a freebie!  No longer supported as company bought by Microsoft.   Terrific! but conflicts with Xobni.

Innuendo:
Steven, I hope you find what you are looking for. I only threw out Fookes because years ago I used their product Mailbag Assistant to move from one email program to another...it's been so long ago I don't even remember what the program names were.

Sorry I don't have more experience in this area, but I have always been adamantly against using Outlook for email for any reason. Outlook as a program has an unmatched feature list, but the PST file format has always struck me as being one of the most fragile file formats ever created by man. The internet's full of horror stories about PST files and you don't even have to look farther than this very forum to see Carol's trials and tribulations with the troublesome file format.

My emails are very important to me and I always refer to them as the timeline of my life. For me an email program best use a database to store emails for speed and it best provide tools to maintain, repair, check integrity, and compact that database. It's simply amazing how many results a Google search will bring up for a) people screaming for a way to fix their corrupted PST files; and b) products which will supposedly fix all your PST problems...for a small fee. This is something MS should have provided with an easy way to access it from within Outlook. Outlook sounds like a program in desperate need for a new database format.

While Googling for a solution to your problem I did run across this page that gleefully outlines why a person should never use a PST file ever:

http://blog.sembee.co.uk/archive/2009/01/26/92.aspx

One interesting tidbit I learned on that page is that Outlook 2003 and above use a new PST file format that is limited to 20 GB...so I guess the person referenced above using a 15 GB PST file still has some wiggle room.

Anway, hope you find what you're looking for.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page