We have a single POP3 mail server that collects all email for both my wife
and I (same domain with different addresses). Originally I had seperate .pst
files for both of our XP accounts on the same machine (which is the default)
but realized we were wasting space (and time) by both getting the exact same
emails in each .pst. So I creaed a single .pst file in a shared directory and
setup outlook to use this for two accounts. We use rules to move the email
from the inbox to our own folders. This works, however, now we get double
entries in this .pst file, since when we each check the POP3 mail server, it
doesn't realize that we already have the mail in our folders and downloads
another copy. How is email flagged as already downloaded? Is this done by the
client or on the server? Is this something that Outlook 2003 can control?
Thanks.

I forgot to mention that I leave the mail on the server so I can also access
it from the web (which I think is causing this problem).

In news Mark Timperley Mark typed:
We have a single POP3 mail server that collects all email for both my
wife and I (same domain with different addresses). Originally I had
seperate .pst files for both of our XP accounts on the same machine
(which is the default) but realized we were wasting space (and time)
by both getting the exact same emails in each .pst. So I creaed a
single .pst file in a shared directory and setup outlook to use this
for two accounts. We use rules to move the email from the inbox to
our own folders. This works, however, now we get double entries in
this .pst file, since when we each check the POP3 mail server, it
doesn't realize that we already have the mail in our folders and
downloads another copy. How is email flagged as already downloaded?
Is this done by the client or on the server? Is this something that
Outlook 2003 can control? Thanks.

If you've removed the message from the Inbox, Outlook probably won't know
you already downloaded it.

Mark Timperley Mark wrote:

We have a single POP3 mail server that collects all email for both my
wife and I (same domain with different addresses).

Actually, they're not really different mail addresses, they're aliases of
one another. It's like you calling your spouse "wife" or "dear". Two names
for the same person.

Originally I had
seperate .pst files for both of our XP accounts on the same machine
(which is the default) but realized we were wasting space (and time)
by both getting the exact same emails in each .pst. So I creaed a
single .pst file in a shared directory and setup outlook to use this
for two accounts. We use rules to move the email from the inbox to
our own folders. This works, however, now we get double entries in
this .pst file, since when we each check the POP3 mail server, it
doesn't realize that we already have the mail in our folders and
downloads another copy. How is email flagged as already downloaded?
Is this done by the client or on the server? Is this something that
Outlook 2003 can control? Thanks.

The client keeps track of what has been downloaded and Outlook stores this
information in the mail profile. Since apparently you each have your own
Windows username, you each use a separate mail profile. There's no way with
the setup you have to prevent multiple downloads. Instead, one solution is
to have one profile do all the downloading. A better solution is to have
your ISP provide you with addresses that point to separate mailboxes. This
will allow you to have completely separate folders. If you want to share
data, you can use the shared PST to pass information betwen the two,
scheduling common appointments, for example, in the common calendar while
keeping specific appointments in you private calendar.
--
Brian Tillman

Thanks Brian. I guess I'll have to get another mailbox because the double
copies are driving us nuts...