Q I have recently purchased a notebook PC and I’m using Microsoft Office Outlook for my emails.
When I first used it and told it to ‘Send and receive all messages’, it downloaded 550 messages, some of which dated back to 2004. I had assumed these had been permanently erased after deleting the messages.
I have a dial-up connection which means that it will take ages to download
and delete the messages. How can I erase them and ensure that future emails will
be permanently gone when I delete them?
Irvine Robb
A It sounds like you were using another email program (such as Outlook Express) before switching to Outlook, and this was configured to not throw email away when you deleted it.
The easiest way to delete the messages will be to use your internet service provider (ISP)’s webmail access, if it provides webmail. If you’re not sure, look at the ISP’s website, or call their help desk.
With webmail you’ll be able to log in with the same username and password, and will be able to delete any emails you don’t need. Because the webmail site doesn’t need to download the messages to your PC, this will be much quicker than using Outlook, which has to download each message.
If your ISP does not have a webmail service, try using the website www.mail2web.com instead.
To ensure messages are properly deleted in future, click Outlook’s Tools menu, then E-mail Accounts, select ‘View or change existing e-mail accounts’ and click Next, then select your account from the list and click Change. Click More Settings, then the Advanced tab. Make sure the box marked ‘Leave a copy of messages on the server’ is not ticked, and click OK.
Remember that this will mean there’s no backup if you accidentally delete something, though, only what’s downloaded to the computer. Outlook Express users can find the same settings by clicking Tools, then Accounts, selecting their account and clicking Properties, then clicking the Advanced tab.
