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<title>The Leave Mail On Server (LMOS) FAQ</title>
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<h2>The Leave Mail On Server (LMOS) FAQ
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<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q: </font>How is my mail normally delivered and downloaded?
</b></p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A:</font></b> If you are using a POP3 mail program
and server, your mail is initially delivered to the mail server. The server
is up, running and on the Internet all the time so mail can always be delivered
to it. Periodically your mail program (or "mail client") connects
to the mail server, downloads messages to your computer, and then removes
those messages from the server. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> What is "leave mail on server"?
</b></p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A: </font></b>Most mail programs allow you skip the
last step of deleting the mail from the server. This allows you to leave
it on the server and pick it up from the server several times in several
places. For example you can pick up the same email from computers at home
and at work. Leave mail on server is often abbreviated as LMOS. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> How do I turn on "leave mail on server"?
</b></p>
<p><font SIZE=+1><b>A:</b> </font>It depends on the mail program you are
using. Most mail programs have a check box that turns this feature on.
It is usually associated with the Options or Settings for the incoming
mail server. Some times it's in the advanced section. Some mail programs
just let you specify how many days to leave the mail on the server. If
it is 0 then the feature is turned off. Be sure you turn it on for all
mail programs on computers that you check mail from. If not, one will keep
deleting the mail and the others will only get mail if they get it before
the other deletes it. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> Does this work with all mail servers? </b></p>
<p><font SIZE=+1><b>A:</b> </font>No. Even though a server is a POP3 mail
server, the system administrators may elect to remove your messages from
the server once you download them, even if you configure your mail program
to leave them there. They do this because they want to save disk space
on the mail server. Some may allow you to leave mail on the server only
in small amounts or only for a few days. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> How to do I know if it works with my mail
server?</b></p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A:</font></b> In the future, mail programs and servers
may inform you whether or not they support leaving mail on the server.
Today, the best thing to do is ask the manager of the mail server or try
it yourself. If you check mail from a second computer and don't get the
same messages you got at the first, your server probably deletes the messages
after you download them. If this happens be sure to use only one computer
to check mail or you will have some messages on one computer and some on
another. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> Does leaving mail on the server slow down
my mail downloads?</b> </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A: </font></b>It may slow them down in two ways. Some
servers are much slower when they have to process a lot of mail. You will
notice that it takes a lot longer for your mail program to log in to the
server with these servers. Even with servers that don't slow down in this
way, it will take a little longer to check your mail because the mail program
has to transfer more message identifiers to find out which messages need
to be downloaded. The second slow down usually isn't as noticeable. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> For how many days should I leave the mail
on the server? </b></p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A:</font></b> You should make it the longest time
you go between mail checks at the computer you use most
infrequently. That will guarantee you get all the messages at all
computers. As mentioned above, leaving mail on the server can slow
things down. The less mail you leave on the server the less it will
slow down. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> Do I have to read every message twice? </b></p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A: </font></b>Most often, you wind up reading (and
deleting) many messages twice. This is probably the biggest problem with
leaving mail on the server. Some mail programs help with this by allowing
you to delete messages on the server you have read or deleted. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q: </font>What does "delete from server after
deleted," or "after trash is emptied" mean?</b> </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A: </font></b>When you read and delete a message some
mail programs delete it right away, others put it in the trash. When you
empty the trash it is removed permanently. If you check mail after you
have emptied the trash, many mail programs will remove items emptied from
the trash from the server as well (if they were still on the server). This
is an excellent way to avoid reading mail twice. You check mail and download
new messages at one location, read them, delete them and empty the trash.
Then you check mail again. The second check removes the messages from the
server so they won't be downloaded a second time at some other location.
</p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> Why are some messages marked as read after
I download them?</b> </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A:</font></b> Some POP3 servers mark a message as read
after it has been download once completely. Some mail clients pay attention
to this mark, and some don't. For the clients that do, it is usually considered
a useful feature, however it is a non-standard feature of POP3 so not all
servers and clients support it. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> What about access to other mailboxes and
mail folders that I have?</b></p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A: </font></b>POP3 servers only handle one
mailbox, your inbox. There is no way to access, or arrange access to
other mailboxes. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> How can I coordinate my message filters between
my two computers?</b> </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A:</font></b> Usually you have to manually keep the filter
configuration the same on both computers. This is particularly messy for
people that get lots of mail and use filters to manage it. In some cases
it's possible to copy a configuration file from one computer to another,
but this technique is rarely supported by the mail program and is usually
at your own risk. </p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>Q:</font> What about IMAP?</b></p>
<p><b><font SIZE=+1>A: </font></b>IMAP was invented to solve the problem of
multiple access to your email, as well as a number of other
problems. If you use IMAP you can often avoid having to read you mail
several times. The problem with IMAP is that it is not nearly as
widely supported as POP because it is more complicated, and because it
often users more server resources. ISP's and MIS departments may be
reluctant to deploy it because of this. </p>
<p><i>updated May 19, 1998</i> </p>
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