Windows XP and user account setting

Rowski · Jan 25, 2003

I was wondering if there is a setting so different user accounts can share the same e-mail accounts and address. User1 is the admistrator account and user2, user3, user4 are limited accounts. On use2, use3, user4 accounts I have to set up new e-mail account even though I have the user1 account setup to recieve e-mail. So how do I set it so if user1 logs in and recieves e-mail it is shared amoung the other users next time they log in.

Hope this makes sense in what I'm try to get at/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif.

It is Windows XP Pro and the e-mail program is Outlook Express 6.

Thanks

frank_f15 · Jan 25, 2003

remember reading about something about the same problem u are are having, but i am not sure where i saw it/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif think it might have been in an issue of SMART COMPUTING, if u are a subscriber u can search their data base to find it. damm i wish i could remember where saw it.

bill18163 · Jan 26, 2003

Don't think you can do it. They could all use the same e-mail account but it would have to be set up within their own user profile. Why would you want everybody to get their mail at the same address? You would have four people all using the same address. It seems to me it would be a little crowded in there.

Rowski · Jan 26, 2003

I see what you are saying about in that it could get a little crowded. I should have given a little more detail of the situation. This is for my Parent's first computer. I created user account (limited one) so they can not foul up the important setting and give them a more custom look. They only would get maybe a few e-mails a week. Mostly to comunicate with relative in Germany. So I thought thought that they could have the same e-mail address for the two different user accounts. My reasoning is that if my father didn't get a chance to look at e-mail then mom could with her user account. May not be good reasoning/w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif. If it can't be done than I'll just have to give them seperate e-mail addresses and let it be like that.

bill18163 · Jan 26, 2003

If all the people using the computer can be trusted not to cause any problems you don't have to have any profiles at all. My wife and I use Win XP and we have no profiles for either of us. We both use the computer for e-mail using Yahoo and we both have a different address. Actually a lot of people make a mistake when they use their ISP for their e-mail address. Take me for instance. I use Earthlink for my ISP. I do have an e-mail address with Earthlink set up with Outlook Express and I have it set up so when I'm checking my mail at my main address on Yahoo, I can also download my Earthlink messages right into my Yahoo mail box. But what happens if I cancel or don't renew with Earthlink and go with another ISP? Now you have to tell everyone your new address and you might miss important e-mails. My account with Yahoo is always there even if I change ISP's.

Rick Jay · Jan 29, 2003

I'm not sure if what you want can be done either. But maybe you could set up an individual account for each of them without e-mail access and an additional account that they both can access (username "E-Mail") to check on mail. Switching between accounts is fairly quick.

Just a thought, but I'll admit, not an ideal solution.

~Rick

looch · Jan 30, 2003

Hi Derek.

Start by creating a folder called "mail" or something and place it somewhere a little more intuitive than the weird, default location - let's say: c:\mail.

Login as user1 and create the Outlook Express profile for this user. From the Tools menu, select Options. Click on the Maintenance tab and then click the button called Store Folder. Click the Change button and select the c:\mail folder you created earlier. You should get a message indicating that the changes won't take effect until you shutdown and restart Outlook Express.

Next, log user1 out and log user2 in. Set up Outlook Express for this user. Using the instructions above, change the location of the Store Folder to the same one (c:\mail). There should be a messsage to the effect that "There already seems to be a message store in this location. Do you want to use this one or do you want to overwrite it?" Choose to not overwrite it.

Repeat for users 3 and 4.

Rowski · Jan 30, 2003

Is that "store folder" basically the inbox folder or is it all the "local folders" for Outlook Express?

looch · Jan 30, 2003

The folders in Outlook Express aren't actually folders when look at them with Windows Explorer (does anyone else hate the fact that the file manager has the same name as the web browser?).

Each Outlook folder is represented by a file with a .dbx extension (inbox.dbx, drafts.dbx, etc). I don't think you can mess around with these names. So, to answer your question, the store folder is for all local Outlook folders.

What are you getting at?

Rowski · Jan 30, 2003

<font color=blue>What are you getting at?</font color=blue>

I was just hoping that it was/is all the Outlook local folders. Seems easier and more fluid, for the 2 users, than just having the inbox.

Thanks for the help. I may not get to trying this out till late this weekend or early next week.