Simple mail "server" program needed - advice needed please

Hi

I need a simple (ie cheap or free) program that will act as a mail server on my
desktop machine. I only need it to pick up mail and then hold it until an email
client requests it.

The purpose is simply so my wife can collect, read and reply to her email on her
laptop. Currently the desktop email software picks up all the mail from our domain,
and there is no way of leaving her mail to be picked up separately - it's either all
or nothing.

I use WorkGroupMail at work, on the server, and the client machines simply log into
the server and pick up the users' mail as and when the each user logs in. It's a good
program - I've also got it running on a friend's company server for his small office,
but as the minimum user base is for 5 users at £70 odd it is a bit overkill (and
expensive) for this simple home use of 1 desktop and 1 laptop (occasionally I might
want to use my laptop but that would be unusual)

Any advice much appreciated.

--

Andrew Sayers

--
"Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is interesting. What they
conceal is vital. "
"Andrew Sayers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi
>
> I need a simple (ie cheap or free) program that will act as a mail server
> on my
> desktop machine. I only need it to pick up mail and then hold it until an
> email
> client requests it.
>
> The purpose is simply so my wife can collect, read and reply to her email
> on her
> laptop. Currently the desktop email software picks up all the mail from
> our domain,
> and there is no way of leaving her mail to be picked up separately - it's
> either all
> or nothing.
>
> I use WorkGroupMail at work, on the server, and the client machines simply
> log into
> the server and pick up the users' mail as and when the each user logs in.
> It's a good
> program - I've also got it running on a friend's company server for his
> small office,
> but as the minimum user base is for 5 users at £70 odd it is a bit
> overkill (and
> expensive) for this simple home use of 1 desktop and 1 laptop
> (occasionally I might
> want to use my laptop but that would be unusual)
>
> Any advice much appreciated.
>
> --
>
> Andrew Sayers

I set up a rule in Outlook Express that all emails to a certain address be
left on the server. My wife then picks those up on her Laptop and downloads
them off the server.

Easy to set up and free.

Dave

On Tue, 22 Aug 2006 17:38:45 +0100, Andrew Sayers <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote in <(E-Mail Removed)>:

>I need a simple (ie cheap or free) program that will act as a mail server on my
>desktop machine. I only need it to pick up mail and then hold it until an email
>client requests it.
>
>The purpose is simply so my wife can collect, read and reply to her email on her
>laptop. Currently the desktop email software picks up all the mail from our domain,
>and there is no way of leaving her mail to be picked up separately - it's either all
>or nothing.

If your desktop machine runs Linux, then there is a relatively simple
and free solution. Use fetchmail to collect the mail from your ISP's
mail server and deliver it to the mail server on the local machine.
Linux systems generally come with all the bits you need and it is just a
matter of configuring them (carefully so that your machine does not
become a relay for spam).

If your desktop machine runs Windows, it can still be done free, but is
not quite so simple. The simplest approach is probably to install Cygwin
which provides a Linux-like environment on Windows, then install
fetchmail, exim and uw-imap which are all available as Cygwin packages.
The basic configuration is that fetchmail collects the mail and passes
it to exim which listens for incoming mail and puts it in users'
mailboxes. uw-imap listens for connections from mail clients, and
delivers the mail from the mailboxes to the clients.


--
Owen Rees
[one of] my preferred email address[es] and more stuff can be
found at <http://www.users.waitrose.com/~owenrees/index.html>

"Andrew Sayers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi
>
> I need a simple (ie cheap or free) program that will act as a mail server
on my
> desktop machine. I only need it to pick up mail and then hold it until an
email
> client requests it.
>
> The purpose is simply so my wife can collect, read and reply to her email
on her
> laptop. Currently the desktop email software picks up all the mail from
our domain,
> and there is no way of leaving her mail to be picked up separately - it's
either all
> or nothing.
>
> I use WorkGroupMail at work, on the server, and the client machines simply
log into
> the server and pick up the users' mail as and when the each user logs in.
It's a good
> program - I've also got it running on a friend's company server for his
small office,
> but as the minimum user base is for 5 users at £70 odd it is a bit
overkill (and
> expensive) for this simple home use of 1 desktop and 1 laptop
(occasionally I might
> want to use my laptop but that would be unusual)
>
> Any advice much appreciated.
>
> --
>
> Andrew Sayers

NTMAIL used to be a good way of doing this, but it now seems to have morphed
into surgemail. Good news is its still free for 5 users:-

http://netwinsite.com/surgemail/pricing.htm

You probably also need PULMAIL if you have a POP account:-

http://www.swsoft.co.uk/index.asp?page=freesoftware

hope this helps,

Dave.

"Andrew Sayers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> Hi
>
> I need a simple (ie cheap or free) program that will act as a mail server
on my
> desktop machine. I only need it to pick up mail and then hold it until an
email
> client requests it.
>
> The purpose is simply so my wife can collect, read and reply to her email
on her
> laptop. Currently the desktop email software picks up all the mail from
our domain,
> and there is no way of leaving her mail to be picked up separately - it's
either all
> or nothing.
>
> I use WorkGroupMail at work, on the server, and the client machines simply
log into
> the server and pick up the users' mail as and when the each user logs in.
It's a good
> program - I've also got it running on a friend's company server for his
small office,
> but as the minimum user base is for 5 users at £70 odd it is a bit
overkill (and
> expensive) for this simple home use of 1 desktop and 1 laptop
(occasionally I might
> want to use my laptop but that would be unusual)
>
> Any advice much appreciated.


I knew I forgot one, you might also want to try "Mercury" from
http://www.pmail.com/index.htm

>
> --
>
> Andrew Sayers

"David Wade" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>"Andrew Sayers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> Hi
>>
>> I need a simple (ie cheap or free) program that will act as a mail server
>on <

<snip>

>>
>> Any advice much appreciated.
>
>
>I knew I forgot one, you might also want to try "Mercury" from
>http://www.pmail.com/index.htm
>

Thanks for the suggestions guys I'll look into them.

--

Andrew Sayers

"David Wade" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>
>"Andrew Sayers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>news:(E-Mail Removed).. .
>> Hi
>>

<snip>

>>
>> Any advice much appreciated.
>
>
>I knew I forgot one, you might also want to try "Mercury" from
>http://www.pmail.com/index.htm
>
>>
Pmail seems down at the moment, is this just temporary or have they given up? Does
anyone know anything on this?

--

Andrew Sayers

In message <(E-Mail Removed) >, David Wade
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>
>I knew I forgot one, you might also want to try "Mercury" from
>http://www.pmail.com/index.htm
Good program, I use it a lot.
Business Mail Gateway is also meant to be good and it used to be free
for home use.
>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Andrew Sayers
>
>

--
Clint Sharp

In message <(E-Mail Removed)>, Andrew Sayers
<(E-Mail Removed)> writes
>"David Wade" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
>>
>>"Andrew Sayers" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
>>> Hi
>>>
>
><snip>
>
>>>
>>> Any advice much appreciated.
>>
>>
>>I knew I forgot one, you might also want to try "Mercury" from
>>http://www.pmail.com/index.htm
>>
>>>
>Pmail seems down at the moment, is this just temporary or have they
>given up? Does
>anyone know anything on this?
>
Working fine here.
--
Clint Sharp

On Wed, 23 Aug 2006, David Wade wrote:

>I knew I forgot one, you might also want to try "Mercury" from
>http://www.pmail.com/index.htm

I use Mercury. It's very good - and it's free.

David

--
David Rance (E-Mail Removed) http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk
Fido Address: 2:252/110 writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France