Are you referring to the Windows usernames here? Mail profiles aren't file
system objects and cannot hold files, so I'm confused by your use of the
word "profile".
Apparently he has Outlook delete messages from the server when he downloads
and you leave copies on the server. Creating new mail profile resets the
informaiton on what has been downloaded, so if you leave copies of messages
on the server, Outlook will believe they're all new and ask for them again.
Since you didn't rebuild the laptop, it knows w\hat it downloaded in the
past and isn't confused by the old messages. The rebuilt PC, however
doesn't have the history.
BT uses Yahoo for its mail services, so it's really no different than a
regular Yahoo account. As long as a POP account leaves copies of messages
on the server, creating a new mail profile will cause all the messages to
download again. Hotmail doesn't use POP, so new mail is handled differently
and doesn't have the problem.
Uninstalling what program?
You have a couple of choices that I can see. One is to use your web browser
to log into your BT/Yahoo accounts online and move the messages in the
server's Inbox to some other folder. If the messages aren't in the Inbox,
Outlook can't see them to download. They'll still be available on line if
you need to reference them from a remote location. Another alternative is
that you can simply let them download fully again, which should reset the
history and Outlook will track it from that point forward. You can install
a duplicate message removal program to eliminate the duplicates. There's at
least one free one available. See this:
http://www.slipstick.com/addins/mail_duplicates.asp . Another choice is for
you to create a new PST, make it your delivery location, allow Outlook to
download all the messages to that PST, and when it finishes (aving rebuilt
the download history). make your original PST the delivery location again
and delete the PST with all the dupes in it. If I had to choose, I'd choose
the server-side solution I mentioned first.