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Question

Microsoft Outlook 2003 mail download

Apr 24, 2016 9:32AM PDT

I have a PC running W7, using Earthlink as ISP, and Outlook 2003 as my main email software. I manually download email from my ISP as a daily routine using "Send/Receive". Outlook 2003 has a 2GB limit on storage, as I understand it.

I am a lazybones about keeping my Inbox cleared out, and like to have it more as a filing cabinet. This leads to occasional instances of "The message store has reached its maximum size..." message, and the circumstance usually involves just having clicked Send/Receive button, watching the download status window go through its display, and realizing that no new email has shown up in my Inbox. It has apparently just downloaded into oblivion. My ISP has no provision for keeping a copy of received email, and that would end up being a maintenance nightmare in any case.

My question is this: Does the email that is downloaded to a full Outlook mailbox go someplace else, or is it just vaporized? I have done a bit of looking for some temp/cache folder, but haven't lucked upon anything that looks right.

Please, no obligatory lectures about .pst folders and keeping the items in archive storage; I'm doing a lot of that; it's just laziness on my part, and hoarding behavior, in the face of too many other things to do.Wink

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
I thought it was 20GB?
Apr 24, 2016 10:34AM PDT
https://www.google.com/#q=outlook+2003+pst+file+size+limit

You asked:
Does the email that is downloaded to a full Outlook mailbox go someplace else, or is it just vaporized?

This has to be broken into 2 parts.

1. The email might be vaporized at the server after download depending on settings. Both in OL2003 and the ISP. Stock settings is to delete what is downloaded at the server.

2. As to what's downloaded, it only goes into the PST file.

Sorry but that's the only question I found in your post.
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Answer
Re: Outlook 2003
Apr 24, 2016 12:23PM PDT
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/830336 tells about the file size.

It seems best to compact the pst-file and - if necessary - move some files to other pst-files before you get the error message about the data store being full, especially once you noted that mail gets lost if you don't.
It might be even better, but also it migth cost more time than you want to spend on the task, to actually DELETE old mails that are no longer relevant.

To close, I really hope you do have the time to BACKUP your large collection of mails once in a while (each day for the inbox, each week for the active pst, archive files if they are changed). If you combine that with a setting like "leave downloaded files on the server for 2 days" (the wording is: "leave a copy of messages on server" and "remove from server after x days", you'll never lose anything. That must be a feature hoarders love.