Outlook on two computers

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tim Dees
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Tim Dees

I typically run Outlook on two different computers - a desktop which has an
always-on connection to the Internet, and a laptop that I use when away from
home. Generally, I send and receive mail only from the desktop machine.
However, when I am going to be away for several days, I copy the Outlook.pst
and Archive.pst files to the laptop, send and receive e-mail from that
machine, then copy the files back to the desktop when I return. The *.pst
files are quite large (presently about 281 and 500 MB respectively), so this
is kind of cumbersome, but I haven't found a better way.

Recently, I seem to have done something to the setup on the desktop machine
that causes Outlook to poll the server for e-mail every five minutes and
send anything in the Outbox, whether I have Outlook running or not. This
doesn't bother me as much as not being able to copy the *.pst files, because
the files are locked, apparently being in use. Even if I shut down Outlook,
the files remain locked. So, my first question: how do I change the
settings so that Outlook lets go of my *.pst files when I shut it down?

My other problem is more elusive, in that no one has ever given me a cogent
answer: when I copy the *.pst fles to the laptop, my Address Book of e-mail
addresses disappears. It is still there when I copy files back to the
desktop after a trip, but they just don't show up on the laptop. This is
inconvenient when I am trying to send emails from the road. Can anyone tell
me how to copy or otherwise transfer the files so that everything workds in
both places?

By the way, I am using Outlook XP, running Windows XP (Pro on the desktop,
Home on the laptop), and have ordered Office 2003, but it ain't here yet.
 
Are you running anything that might be locking it open like a fax client?

Also, on the laptop is the Contact folder still marked as an address book?
Right click on it, choose Properties and go to the Outlook Address Book tab
 
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