Cloud email recommendations

I need to get off Netzero free email combined with a local install of outlook 07. I am sick of backing up PST files. Can anyone recommend a state of the art free web based client that will work with IE 8? Also if the program is able to easily convert existing email on outlook format (with word 07 as the editor) that woud be a huge plus. Now I use verizon DSL primarily but direct it to a local install of outlook. (netzero is used for less important stuff like subscriptions to coupon sites) my total volume of saved mail is less than 25 meg, i am good about keeping it cleaned up. Thanks in advance for all serious replies.
GO WATSON! Jennings is toast

 

Get a free Google gmail account. Use a browser for its webmail access or set your account for POP access and use any POP client you want, such as Windows Live Mail that comes with Windows Live Essentials, or Thunderbird, or whatever. A POP client may be able to import your existing Outlook contacts and message database. A POP client may be to aggregate all of your email accounts.

GK

 

if you don't want to deal with pst files, it may be better to access gmail via IMAP rather than pop3. I am not sure if it is possible to copy your existing email to an IMAP folder on gmail though.

hotmail also work and have outlook connector and live mail supports it natively.

yahoo only support desktop client in their paid Plus version.

These are the 3 I frequently use and all three are nice.

 

Watson won!!
Thanks so much for the quick replies, I like what I have seen of the Gmail interface, but I tried to setup an account and they wanted my unlisted home phone. I am paranoid about giving it, is there a way around this?
Right now I will consider any of these suggestions
PS Now I use pop 3 for incoming & outgoing from verizon (my ISP). to see my mail in outlook 07. Sorry I am really struggling with all of this.

 

didn't recall I need to give it any phone number, can you just give it a random one ?

Outlook 2007 is a pretty nice mail program and not using it is a bit of waste. As mentioned, you can use gmail/hotmail and still use outlook with all your mail kept on server so you don't need to backup etc.(if you trust microsoft/google) and can access the same thing from anyway using a web browser.

 

I don't see where they ask for your phone number?: https://www.google.com/accounts/New...40fc80a767f5d34506daaab68a4592d684eeee&type=2

 

JOSEA,

you can set up your IMAP Gmail account, and then in the File menu in Outlook select File -> Open -> Open Personal Folder (or something similar to that)

then select your PST file from your POP e-mail account

once there, you can simply drag and drop your e-mails/folders from your PST to your Gmail IMAP. This will "migrate" (and make your Outlook Not Respond for a while) your e-mails to your Gmail.

I almost always recommend this for people moving from POP to IMAP. The same procedure works for people using Thunderbird 3.x, in case you're curious.

Hope that helps!

 

yup, that is a simple backup procedure. works for hotmail too. just tried moving email from gmail to hotmail via outlook.

I find gmail's web interface more appealing though.

 

Chimpanzee, Great minds think alike, I tried that but to activate the account a code was required, which could only be received via text (alas no cell phone here) or phone call to the phone number provided.

Since I am paying for Verizon DSL, they have web based client...but I have been crusing their (Verizon's) forum and see many horror stories of not being able to import from Outlook to their latest version 2.0...

Crash thanks for the link, I already have a Google sign in, and once logged in when I try to set up a gmail account I see a screen that differs slightly from that in the link. (the aforementioned activation stuff).

 

I've got Yahoo email running for free with Outlook.....

-> To be honest, I wouldn't use the Stasi (aka Google) for private email but only for stuff that is generally public anyway (e.g. forum posts, spam email) - why: They let a computer scan your emails to display targetted ads - + all the other tracking they do.

I think if you want a bit of privacy, it might be a good choice to use an email account from a company you don't use for search a lot (at all?) - i.e. you search with google and use yahoo mail - google can track you, but they can't analyze your emails.

-> On that note though - I don't think any company that offers free emails will guarantee data integrity/safety. They will possibly do their best to insure their name doesn't get tarnished but they won't guarantee it. (It would be rather dubious if they did -> that would indicate to me that they must analyze your emails to sell profiles as else they couldn't survive)

 

no free mail provider does anything different. stop the paranoya, and stay neutral in here.

btw: mails get all scanned for spam and virus filters on all webmails. so everywhere, every mail gets read. all the time. get over it. mails are for public communication. there's no privacy about public communication.

 

I know that they sometimes ask for "recovery options" where you can provide ways to verify your account in case you lose your password. Unless it has changed very recently, adding a phone number was always optional. Are you in the US or a different country?

 

-> I'm not aware of any email providers giving you targeted ads based on the contents of the email.
Virus-scans don't have to care about the content of the email either (with regards to the words)
Spam scans will search for certain keywords - and some email providers actually switch those off when you enable client access e.g. POP so you don't miss any emails.

The Stasi (aka Google doesn't -> that actually a major downside - if I want POP access I don't want any potentially wrong algorithms sifting out mail)

And "stay impartial" - why should I stay impartial in the face of what you can call "financial-fascism"? Because that's what google is, nothing else.

 

because you went crazy at some point, with relation to your stasi focus.

how to determine someone goes crazy? by noting he calls stuff "stasi" and "fascism".

as said, they all access your mails and all the content to verify certain stuff. having automated tailored ads doesn't change a thing, there. there's no privacy invaded there btw.

but as said, you can't think rational anymore. you just think with your paranoya.

 

Its asks for your mobile now for extra security, in case your account gets hijacked. It was only a change that happened a few days ago. Have a read at this:

Advanced sign-in security for your Google account - Official Gmail Blog

 

-> It has got nothing to do with thinking rationally - on that note, having everything out in the open is irrational.

And the moment a company starts profiling you, your privacy is violated.

And it hasn't got anything to do with paranoia but just past experiences - the Dutch authorities kept a register of people including religious faith - the Nazis exploited that. I can do without that or the digital equivalent in the future - no matter if perpetrated by a company or a government.

And if anything I'd go the other way - people who claim all their private data should be on the web are naive and disillusioned - it cannot be called anything else.

 

as said, to everyone: don't listen to detlev. he's absolutely crazy about privacy issues.

(i never said anything about private data btw. but anything that is communication with another person is NEVER private. that is the definition of private, btw. so calling mails private data in any way is wrong, except if you just mail to yourself all the time)

 

Communication with anybody is by the nature of being communication private.
If you write and post a letter that letter is private and may only be legally opened by the recipient unless a court order allows the authorities to open and view that letter.

The same legal rules should apply for emails - technical realization is another issue here - and that would exclude any snooping for commercial gain.

Yes, the post office can screen letters for bombs -> on that argument you can screen emails for malware, but imagine the post office, even automatically, opening letters, analyzing the content and adding the appropriate advertisement leaflet to it.
Who would accept that?

-> And back to google - google is especially dangerous when it comes to privacy because they are everywhere. If they were only a search engine it wouldn't be an issue - but with their ads, search engine and google analytics they are pretty much everywhere - who would accept being followed around all day? I wouldn't.

 

there it goes: crazy.

and btw, no, communication with someone else means having to trust that other person, and the whole communication process in between to be 100% secure and reliable. which is NEVER true. ergo, if you want something in private, don't tell ANYONE. tell one, and your information is not save and private anymore.

that's as basic a law as physics.

the trick is, at google, NO PERSON touches your mail. the ads are tailored to the mail, not tailored to you. there is actually LESS privacy harassement than when a letter gets checked for bombs, as a human sees the content, then.

but as said, you: crazy. => any logical talk: impossible. enjoy your private life with just you and no friends. i (and most others) till then enjoy the benefits of stuff like gmail, and not having to worry.


to the op: they added the phone verification to make sure you're a real person, not some random spam-computer-register. and it helps to get your account back if you're in trouble one day, having lost the password or something.

 

Sorry to hijack this.. but i started this
Is there any advantage to https://encrypted.google.com/
over the standard google site?
I always err on the side of caution and never open any email that I do not recognize the from address. And I use Avast plugin for outlook which never seems to catch anything in the 15 months I have used it.


Crash I am in PA in the USA

 

Well - google still knows what you do obviously, but your transmissions to and from google will be encrypted.

On open Wi-Fi it can be very beneficial as you can listen in on any traffic unless it is encrypted. On protected Wi-Fi unless the users internally connect via a VPN anybody on the network can listen in on what you transmit.

And to Dave:
The definition of privacy does not exclude the participation of multiple parties.
definition of privacy from Oxford Dictionaries Online
Definition of privacy noun from Cambridge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus

Privacy can encompass a group of people - recipient & sender of correspondence or an individual. It can even encompass a whole company.

 

Google it and read up.

POP gmail supports SSL communication, so your postal comms would be secured.

GK

 

I just wasted an hour on the phone with verizon support, They kept telling me to use some propritary program wizard to move all email,contact, calendar info from outlook PSt back to the server (verizon's) so I can just deal with thier web interface. (I saw no postive comment on thier forum about said wizard.
My latest idea, OPen outlook on my local PC, disable incoming messages, then forward all my email to my verizon email account.
Open the verizon web interface and it should be in my in bin (At least I pray).As for calendar and contacts, there is not a lot and I will just do the data entry as needed (the advange of having very few friends)

Before I do this can someone comment on this scheme? I try appreciate all the input here you people are the BEST in the world!!!!!!!

 

personally i would not use web based mail of any ISP as I may change in a heartbeat. Either host it yourself or use public one like gmail.

 

do you currently use your Verizon e-mail in Outlook? if that is the case, then you can use Gmail (as an example) to retrieve mail from your Verizon account. this is a nifty feature with teh added benefit of not having to log in to multiple accounts to check mail - it can all be done from a single account. instead of setting up mail forwarding in multiple accounts, you can do mail "getting" from a single account.

this is just like using a universal remote control and not having to get up from the couch to swap remote controls, if that makes sense.

this link from Google Support explains how you can go about setting up your Gmail account to retrieve mail from other accounts. the most important information you will need is the POP access information from your Verizon and any other mail accounts you wish to set up.

one thing to keep in mind is the option to delete the e-mails from the original inbox (eg. your Verizon inbox). if you leave this option off - for now, let's pretend the option is TO DELETE when retrieving mail - then your Verizon inbox will eventually get filled up to max capacity.

the only limitation i can think of is that this is only for mail messages.

now, regarding the Verizon mail wizard, i agree with chimpanzee in that you should try to migrate to a public mail service, like Gmail or Hotmail/Live (as examples). ISP's conveniently provide mail to their customers, but i have yet to hear glowing reviews for their services. i recommend switching to Gmail, and then manually exporting your PIM data from Outlook (contacts, calendar) to your Gmail account.

here's a few links, from Google Support, to get you started
(direction) Outlook --> Google
migrate calendar
migrate contacts

hope that helps

 

Dave thanks for the reply and I appologize for the nasty PM. I was in the process of wrecking my G73 with a Vbios update when I sent that. I looked at the link, and totally understand the above quoted part of the post. My last question here before I am banished is has anyone successfully done this? The hair brained scheme I dreamed up a few posts above did not work out so I am still stuck w/Outlook (Server account is POP3, incoming.verizon.net,
SMTP outgoing.verizon.net)
Type is POP/SMTP so i really have no idea what type I have.
Maybe I will go back to free Netzero email
Have a good weekend all, I gotta get some chronic, I need it BAD.

 

You have a mail account with Verizon. Apparently you have been accessing it with Outlook, a POP client, downloading mail to your PC. You can probably also access it via a browser using a webmail interface, leaving the mail online at Verizon.

Most/All webmail interfaces are slow and klunky and leave your mail online. Advantage is you can access your mail from anywhere using a browser. But only one mail account at a time.

Get a gmail account and set it for POP access. Then you can access it with a browser or with a POP client. Get a POP client you like and configure it to access all of your mail accounts, Verizon and gmail etc.. Eventually retire your use of Verizon and then you will be left with ISP independent gmail.

Windows Live Mail in Windows 7 MS Essentials is a free POP client successor to Vista Windows Mail, and XP Outlook Express. Free and works ok. Or find a better POP client with more maintenance overhead than Windows Update.

I suspect most POP clients can import your existing mail db.

GK

 

GKDesigns is right. Also, don't worry about the PM, i didn't even regard as being "nasty".

The first step would be to have your Gmail account created and configured in Outlook on IMAP. Then in Outlook, drag your e-mails from your Verizon account folders directly into the folders in your Gmail account. This would essentially copy your Verizon e-mails to your Gmail account so that your Gmail account has the same emails (up to that point in time) as your Verizon e-mail account. See the attached image to see what I mean.

Regarding the use of the mail retrieval system from within Google - yes it works, I use this for my own ISP's e-mail address as well. Gmail periodically retrieves e-mail from my ISP-based e-mail account (equivalent to your Verizon) and sends them directly to my Gmail inbox.

Down the road your best bet is to use a free e-mail client like Windows Live Mail or Mozilla Thunderbird. I recommend Thunderbird if you do want to move away from Outlook.

 

Why move away from Outlook ? Outlook 2007 is a very powerful mail system.

No way Live Mail or Thunderbird can match Outlook.

 

Great question, I like outlook 07 but am out of work and my copy is not exactly.... your know what I mean. I have to get off it. Also I do not use more than 10 per cent of the features. I like having word as editor, if only for grammar checking. I will miss outlook, I have used it for about 10 years at work and home.
I have eliminated verizon webmail, I do not like the interface and their forum is loaded with issues and very unhappy people. Their phone support for webmail is really bad too. I will stay with verizon as my ISP, here in Pennsylvania USA they are by far the most cost effective ISP - 15 dollars per month 1 MEG download speed is all I need.
Talk to U guys (I assume) soon I gotta try to blind flash my other Rig to get it up and running.
I also have a Q about adobe alternatives, will start another thread after I search these awesome forums.

 

oh, i see.

Well give Live Mail a try then. If you are not paranoid type, gmail/hotmail are very nice web based mail system which support desktop clients as well.

As for adobe, you mean photoshop or what ? If it is photoshop, the closest thing I can think of that is free is GIMP.

 

I can't vouch for Windows Live Mail, as I've never used it, but I do know that Thunderbird has spell checking if that is your worry.

As for a Photoshop alternative, I personally use Paint.NET as a lightweight alternative. I don't think it's quite as powerful as GIMP, but it's easy enough to use for most basic needs. If you're after an Adobe Reader replacement, Foxit Reader is good. PrimoPDF is a decent Adobe Acrobat alternative if instead that is what you're looking for.

 

I agree, I like Outlook 2010 quite a bit, but it is very expensive. I skimped on MS Office by buying the Home and Student versions which came with 3 installs and am using Windows Live Mail 2011 as a poor alternative.

Btw, I have configured WLM 2011 to access my primary Gmail account, which is set up to retrieve emails from my other accounts - another Gmail account and a Hotmail (Live Mail) account. It's worked well thus far.

 

Wow, I am overwhelmed... I supported pc's for 10 years + and do not have 1/10 the knowledge of each member of this thread. Yes, Adobe reader, I will not use it (I lke simple programs that work consistently) Using visagesoft on both machines, but it does not consistenly open pdf's from with in IE8. The only thing stopping me from trying Gmail is the phone activation (newly implemented as I learned here). I have a hard time trusting Google disclaimers.(and have been called paranoid, I call it cautious)
Found out about paint.net about 1 year ago- use it all the time - excellent and easy to use (I like short learning curves).
IS there a thread filled with Acronym definitions D ) ?

 

Perfectly understandable. For some reason when I had registered with Gmail, there was no such requirement. But now apparently there is.

You could also use the Microsoft Live services, which included Hotmail. I believe it integrates well with the MS Office Web Apps and that eco-system. While I have a MS Live account (including Hotmail), I don't use it very frequently. One thing to take note of is that there have been reports that Hotmail has been loosing emails recently. This has not happened to me or to some of the folks I know who do use Hotmail regularly.

At the end of the day, I think it is a matter of trade-offs. "Cloud-based" emails are convenient (for obvious reasons), They are generally well designed and efficient - of course, some are better than others. They usually have some limitations of storage etc. - though such facilities are roughly speaking comparable between services. And, they all have some sort of privacy and security issues. I guess another point to keep in mind is the company providing the service. One does not expect Google - as a company - to crash. But a smaller - lesser well known - company may not have that advantage.

 

thanks for the info about PrimoPDF, I was looking for a good free/cheap PDF creator. rep+

 

This happened to me once with my Gmail account, where I was going something around 3 straight days without receiving any e-mails. I don't consider this anything to be up in arms about - it's technology: most days it works, but every once in a while it'll call in sick with the flu.

My thoughts exactly, each provider has their own strengths and weaknesses - you just get to decide which strengths better suit your needs/wants. My experience (and my experience alone - I don't speak for anyone else here!) has been that Google's services feel more cohesive as an online service, while MIcrosoft's services do better in an out-of-the-cloud environment.

To be honest, i think people should not be so afraid of Google or Microsoft "reading" their e-mails. It is more likely that a hacker sends out a new e-mail based worm or trojan which infects your friend's friend's friend's friend's inbox and eventually winds its way to your inbox (more than likely in an infected "I can haZ Cheezburger?" image attachment), than for Google or Microsoft to leisurely whip up a batch of popcorn while they read your inbox messages as a Sunday matinée event. These days, China's a bigger security threat.

 

Closed by request.