Tricky Outlook Question

Lery · 05 Mar 2011

I am trying to find out if there is a way to use Outlook (2007 or 2010), to just view and reply to e-mails from my POP3 account? I do not want to download anything locally on the hard drive.

I know there is a setting which will leave the e-mail on the server, and download a copy locally. I do not want that obviously. There is another option to download just header information, which saves it locally. You then have to download the full message. Sort of defeats the purpose.

So essentially, I just want to make Outlook into a simple e-mail viewer. I like some of the options that Outlook has, like dragging and dropping images into the e-mail. I cannot do that when using my web browser to view my POP3 e-mail.

Irene · 05 Mar 2011

Could an IMAP account be preferred?:
Demystify e-mail terms and get on with your life - Outlook - Microsoft Office

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)

IMAP is a way to access a server and, if you like, keep your e-mail messages stored on the server. Using IMAP has its advantages:

You can view just the headers of your e-mail messages and decide whether you want to download them. No need to download an entire spam message when the heading is disgusting enough.
You can create and move folders or mailboxes, delete messages, and even perform a search for certain parts of a message — all on the server.
Your e-mail travels with you and is always available since it's not stored locally on any particular client (and I know you know what an e-mail client is).

Note You do have to be connected to the server continually while you're receiving or sending your e-mail, so that's one thing to consider.

Lery · 07 Mar 2011

@Irene, that would require me to download a copy of the message locally. That is exactly what I am trying to avoid

blakej777 · 07 Mar 2011

Disabling cached exchange mode will leave it on the server. Not sure if thats what your getting at...

Lery · 07 Mar 2011

blakej777 said:

Disabling cached exchange mode will leave it on the server. Not sure if thats what your getting at...

No. I don't care about the server. I do not want to download the e-mail message locally to my .PST file. Ever.

Irene · 08 Mar 2011

I have never used this, but it looks as if it might suit your purpose (download included in the link):
Check Emails Without Going To Your Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo - Downloads - TechMynd

POP Peeper is an email notifier that runs in your Windows task bar and alerts you when you have new email on your POP3, IMAP (with IDLE support), Hotmail, MSN, LiveMail, Yahoo, GMail, Mail.com, MyWay, Excite, iWon, Lycos.com, RediffMail, Juno and NetZero accounts. IMAP supports you to access AOL, AIM, Netscape and other services.

Send mail directly from POP Peeper and use the address book to email your frequently used contacts. POP Peeper allows you to view messages using HTML or you can choose to safely view all messages in rich or plain text. Several options are available that will decrease or eliminate the risks of reading your email (viruses, javascript, webbugs, etc).

POP Peeper can be run from a portable device and can be password protected. Many notification options are availble to indicate when new mail has arrived, such as sound alerts (configurable for each account), flashing scroll lock, skinnable popup notifier, customized screensaver and more.