I've moved a couple folders, it takes awhile. I would like to delete a few of the folders on the server trying to make it look exactly as my outlook pop folder view. I am not allowed to delete some folders "The server responded: 'DELETE failed: Can't delete mailbox Inbox.Drafts: no such mailbox'."
A few things to keep in mind:
1) Most IMAP servers don't support sub-folders
2) You can control which folders you see/don't see why right-clicking on the root IMAP folder, selecting IMAP Folders, then clicking QUERY. You can then subscribe or unsubscribe to various folders to clean things up
3) Sometimes Outlook still shows a folder that has been deleted. Shut down Outlook then re-connect
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This article of yours really woke me up, and I have been trying to find a good Exchange solution since I read it, but I must say I am surprised at how hard that is.
I have been checking out a few hundred sites offering the service (!), and at least 50% have no clue as how to take advantage of the internet. They think it's enough to create a 'professional' looking site with the usual men-in-suits look and telling that they offer Exchange hosting. What they do not mention is exactly what they are offering, which plans, and the cost of these. It's like a car dealership saying 'we are selling black, white and red cars. Contact us for further info!'. No, I won't. If you are at that level, I won't waste my time. On to the next site...
Right after reading your article, I visited 4smartphone.com. I do remember stopping by there some time ago, but back then I really didn't have the need for Exchange, which I do now. So I signed up... During the process I ran into a problem and contacted support. I got a no good reply, so I went on without any help.
After downloading the setup files, I clicked on 'next' on the site to see how they should be installed, only to find a non-finished page , consisting only of 'text here'-labels. I took a screenshot of that page and sent it to support, along with a few questions. That's 8 days ago and I am still waiting for a reply...
It took some work getting 4smartphone.com running without any support, but finally it was ok. While testing, I decided to check out the competition. I soon found out, though, that not only are the professionalism and competitiveness at a low, as described above, but being european made me unwelcome on many sites.
1and1.com seemed very professional, so I contacted them with a tech question. Not only did I receive a swift reply, I was also spot on. Great! I'm signing up! So I entered there signup page and started filling out... I got to the Country drop down and clicked it. US or Canada... Nice! So I have spent hours finding the right hosted Exchange site, only to find out during signup that they actually don't want my business after all! Couldn't you put that on the front page? Believe it or not, the world is bigger than Northern America and I came here to save resources, not to waste them!
Well, after that time waster, I decided to give 4smartphone.com another go, as I was getting close to the limit of time I could spend on this single issue. Wrote the sales department with a few questions, but yet again I got no reply. That's a few days ago and still waiting. Anyway, since the service was already running, I was just going to sign up, pay and get on with my life. No such luck...
4smartphone.com only accept a full annual subscription! In the fast paced world of the internet, I think that's a LOT to demand from the costumer. Especially considering the level of their support! I believe that if you offer a good product and user friendly service, you don't have to force the costumer to stay. They simply don't wanna go anywhere else! So yet again I went hunting for an Exchange server...
Lanlogic.com was next in line. They are 40% more expensive, right on top of my $10/month limit. During signup you have to decide how to alter the DNS MX record for your mail settings. I checked out my webhost and they are a bit fiddly in the DNS department. When it's set up for the first time, the records are locked and I had to make sure I could unlock them and do the DNS settings myself, not to waste more time. Finally I got it straight and continued with the signup. Entered personal details and those of my MasterCard. Hit the 'Signup' button. Guess what? 'An error has occured. We will contact you using the details you have entered'. But they didn't...
Looks like the shared hosted Exchange market is no way near ready for privates like myself, who don't wanna spend a fortune getting things up and running. Especially if you are from outside the US, you are in big trouble.
Not only did my first choice fail, also the second AND third turned out to be a no go. Guess I'll just have to wait another year or two for this market to mature....
HaraldB - thanks for your thoughts on the matter. The hosted Exchange market is indeed still a bit rough around the edges - even with 4smartphone I had trouble getting my accounts set up, getting the MX records straight, etc. It's not for the faint of heart - what surprises me is that these companies don't seem to offer domain registration services as well so that someone can get a domain AND an email account in one step. This is especially important because most people don't have the technical knowledge needed to register a domain, change the MX records, etc.
In defense of 4smartphone, when they're only charging $6.95 USD per month for a starting account, it's not financially viable to do 12 transactions over a one year period - they're having to pay 4-6% on credit card transactions, which eats into the profit. It's the same reason why I don't offer a $3/month subscription and instead opt for a yearly amount.
I think there's room for improvement from pretty much all hosted Exchange providers!
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Isn't the credit card fee the same, no matter if you pay 4% of (12x$7) or 4% of $7, 12 times?
Anyway, I have received reply from Lanlogic, so now I am trying that out. I have already set the MX records some hours ago, so it should soon be up and running. No such luck with Outlook...
After setting up with Lanlogic, you get access to download setup files for both Outlook and ActiveSync. I have tried converting an old profile and creating a new, but it doesn't work. Outlook can't log on, and if I allow it to run offline, Outlooks quits while reporting that the ost file is not an offline folder.
Trying to set up manually doesn't work either. When checking the username on the exchange server, the server can't be found.
I have tried everything I can think of, including switching to http, but no luck. Weird, because ping to the server is perfect and the 134 port isn't shut down...
Oh well, as you said, this isn't for the faint hearted. 4smartphone was a lot easier and I still think about paying for the full year, but their lack of support really is a turnoff.
Isn't the credit card fee the same, no matter if you pay 4% of (12x$7) or 4% of $7, 12 times?
Sorry, I didn't explain that fully: there's usually a per transaction cost, so it's 4% + 35 cents or something. That's really what eats into the profit.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HaraldB
After setting up with Lanlogic, you get access to download setup files for both Outlook and ActiveSync. I have tried converting an old profile and creating a new, but it doesn't work. Outlook can't log on, and if I allow it to run offline, Outlooks quits while reporting that the ost file is not an offline folder.
Assuming that you're using Outlook 2003 (and you need to unless you want to mess with VPN stuff), and that the downloadable setup file from Lanlogic is like the one from 4smartphone that automatically configures your Outlook 2003 settings, here's what I suggest:
1) Export all your Outlook data into a PST file
2) Run the Outlook setup file, which should create a new Outlook profile that is empty
3) Outlook 2003 should set itself up and sync with the Exchange server
4) Do a FILE > IMPORT and import your old PST data. Or, if it's huge, do a FILE > OPEN and attach the PST, then drag and drop the folders from the local PST up to the Exchange server
Hope that helps a bit!
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Thanks a million for your help and interest, Jason
Now I understand the 4smartphone thing. I guess I even see the logic in annual payments, when they have the lowest price on the market (well, except for a single competitor). Getting ever closer to buying this packet, even though they don't deserve it , due to the lack of support...
Unfortunately the problems with Lanlogic runs deeper than that. The setup file does something weird, so I can't even open Outlook. It times out, trying to connect to the server. I have tried manually switching the profile to http, but that doesn't help. It simply looks like wrong server info is entered into the profile. Since their site contains no valuable info about a manual setup, I guess I'll just have to wait for the reply from support.
Btw, I have installed the latest patches for both Outlook 2003 + XP SP 2, so that shouldn't be the problem.
It's strange a few months ago I wasn't getting responses from support, but in the past week they've been VERY responsive. Maybe it's because I wrote this article. ;-) You may want to try sending them an email - it's just support@, maybe that will get you the response you need.
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I have had the same thought No doubt your article has generated a LOT of work for what appears to be a very small company, but they still should reply to requests for help, if they want to earn money.
I used email to contact both support and sales (even though I have a strange feeling they end up the same place) with the same result: nada!
One of the things I contacted support about was problems with sending a mail. It looked like the item got sent alright, but afterwards it was back in the outbox again. This happened maybe 10 times, before I gave up and deleted the mail. I can't help but wondering if they (he?) thought I was flodding and got p!ssed? Althought that seems very unprofessional, I guess it is a possibility.
One of the things I contacted support about was problems with sending a mail. It looked like the item got sent alright, but afterwards it was back in the outbox again. This happened maybe 10 times, before I gave up and deleted the mail. I can't help but wondering if they (he?) thought I was flodding and got p!ssed? Althought that seems very unprofessional, I guess it is a possibility.
So you did sign up with 4smartphone after all? I haven't had any problems with sending through them - in fact, it's always my own IMAP servers on my own servers that bomb out. Outlook keeps hanging, even after I exit it, then I have to manually kill it and restart before my IMAP SMTP server will work. So in that regard 4smartphone has been perfect.
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No, I haven't paid up yet. This was during the start of my trial run. Problems occured while trying to mix my original .pst file with the new Exchange setup. Outlook didn't like that. Got it working myself after some time. It would have been embarrasing if I didn't, since I was part of the original team, creating Outlook 97
Outlook sure can have some problems shutting down. Especially if you have your PDA connected while Outlook is being shut down. Not good! Pull the plug on the PDA connection one minute in advance, and life is much easier
Re: moving outlook to imap
Linear Mode
