PC Doctor August 16, 2012

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Dear PC Doctor,

I really have a puzzle for you. I have a desktop, which is the main computer in the house. We also have a laptop that is very rarely used. My problem is with email (outlook) all emails always went to the desktop. Only, when I opened the laptop and needed to write an email, would some mail come in. Just the mail that happened to be coming in at that time would be present. They went to the desktop also.

Now, for some reason, all mail is going to the laptop and only some goes to the desktop. These emails are coming from all different sources and sizes ads, as well as personal letters. I have even tried emailing them back to myself and quickly shutting down Outlook to force them to the desktop. It did not work; they went as new mail to the laptop.

I need this mail to the main computer where the printer is.

Can you please help? 
               
              Thanks, Kathy

Dear Kathy,

Not so good news you are describing the number one problem with Outlook down to a T. Outlook works by downloading your emails straight to your computer when you are logged in. Therefore, while you are logged in on your laptop, those emails are downloaded and saved onto your laptop. That is why they do not appear on your desktop.

Typically, most companies that use Outlook have a server where all the incoming mail gets stored, so you can just retrieve your emails from the server on any computer that's hooked up to the computer. It is kind of complicated stuff. There are a few not-so-elegant solutions to sync the emails between computers but nothing I would recommend.

However, you might not even need to use Outlook to check your email. Most email providers have their email accessible online from a portal. If you have a typical domain name email address (the part that comes after the @ and is usually Hotmail or Verizon, Comcast, AOL, Gmail, Yahoo and others) you can easily check your email from any computer with your favorite web browser. A simple Google search for “Verizon email” will find you the webpage to sign in with your email address and password.

               Good luck!  PC Doctor

Until next time… happy computing!