Viewing Outlook Express Emails on an iPad 2

[drenco]

My mum is about to get an iPad 2 and currently uses Outlook Express as her email on her laptop she would like to also use her iPad 2 to send and receive emails from Outlook Express using her iPad 2, how can this be done? thx

[mgmcc]

If she's using POP3 with Outlook Express, I would suggest changing to IMAP. The iPad's Mail app can then be configured with the settings and mail, both received and sent, will be available in both computers. POP3 will still work OK, but may not allow all mail to be viewed in both systems. Sent mail will only be available in the computer from which it has been sent.

If the iPad is to be a "3G" model, the outgoing SMTP server needs to be that of the mobile phone provider. If it is a "WiFi only" iPad, the SMTP server needs to be that of the ISP whose WiFi connection she's using, which can change depending on where she's connecting.

The general rule is that, to send mail, you must always use the SMTP server of the provider with which you've connected to the internet. The exception is, if your home broadband ISP supports SMTP Authentication (where you sign in with a Username/Password as with receiving mail), then you can use their server with any internet connection.

she would like to also use her iPad 2 to send and receive emails from Outlook Express using her iPad 2, how can this be done?

Messages will be sent and received using the iPad's own "Mail" application and has nothing to do with Outlook Express in the PC.

[drenco]

She would be using WiFi via Virgin Media Broadband, so whereabouts would i find the SMTP server of her Virgin Media? also how would i in Outlook change the settings from POP to IMAP ?

[greysts]

Use smtp.virginmedia.com

[mgmcc]

It appears that smtp.virginmedia.com does support SMTP Authentication so, with this configured, it should be possible to send mail with any internet connection.

also how would I in Outlook [Express] change the settings from POP to IMAP?

You can't change the settings. The existing "Account" in Outlook Express would have to be deleted and a new Account set up, selecting IMAP instead of POP3 for the incoming mail setting.

[drenco]

If the account was deleted then setup as IMAP would her emails from before still be available on the laptop ?

[mgmcc]

If existing emails need to be retained, I'd suggest they be backed up separately, as the IMAP configuration will only show messages on the server. With POP3, mail is downloaded to the computer; with IMAP all computers that have been set up sync with the IMAP server and mail remains on the IMAP server until deleted.

[drenco]

Originally Posted by mgmcc

If existing emails need to be retained, I'd suggest they be backed up separately, as the IMAP configuration will only show messages on the server. With POP3, mail is downloaded to the computer; with IMAP all computers that have been set up sync with the IMAP server and mail remains on the IMAP server until deleted.

Yeah i have just found out she's on POP3 all emails downloaded onto her laptop, so if i was to backup the existing emails then delete the account and setup a new one with IMAP how would i get her access to her old emails so she can view them which ive backed up? thx

[mgmcc]

I had a horrible feeling that was going to be the next question. Depending on how many messages need to be retained, they could be "dragged" from Outlook Express's message index into a new folder (outside the program) where each message would become an individual .EML file. If a substantial number of messages need to be retained, Outlook Express's .DBX files could be saved, but I'm not sure how useful that would be when IMAP has been set up. There are .DBX file viewers.

What I would personally do in that situation is to leave Outlook Express as it is and use it only as an archive of the old messages. Install another email program, such as Mozilla's Thunderbird, and set that up with IMAP. It is then a simple matter to set up the iPad with the same settings.

It is so long since I've used Outlook Express or POP3 that someone still using it might be able to come up with a better solution.

[greysts]

There are several programmes on the net that say they can import OE files but they all cost money. I use a small programme called OEQB from here. It will find everything related to OE including your profile, address book and email messages and back them up into a folder of your choice. Whatever new email programme you then choose it can be set to import from that folder.

I should add that the programme needs a bit of work to understand what it does but the result is worth while.