Outlook Express Question ?

Whenever I import account and message settings from one computer to another in Outlook Express I have a problem....
 
It seems to want to download the last year's worth of emails.  Why is this and what can I do to prevent this ?  I Reformated a computer the other day and it downloaded over 2000 old emails...
 
I much prefer Thunderbird as it's less hassle.  But I'd still like to know what's happening...

Any Ideas ?

Dont know much about Outlook Express, but the full version of outlook has an option called cached exchange mode which means a local cache of the inbox is maintained on the local PC to speed up the user experience.  There is prob something similar in outlook express when you connect to you internet mail account that maintains a local copy of the inbox on your machine unless you specify otherwise

May have found the answer from another forum.....
 

Make sure that Outlook Express, in your email account settings, is not set to "keep downloaded messages on the server

 
I'm sure that OE hasn't cached exchange mode.....
 
Thanks

If you left your mail on the server then it's going to download whatever is still there.
 
Personally i leave a couple of weeks worth on the server but make sure to backup my downloaded copy.
 
Also use Thunderbird

I like Thunderbird, but find the way it opens a message in a tab takes a bit of getting used to.  I also really like the utility Mozbackup http://mozbackup.jasnapaka.com/ , makes migrating Thunderbird and Firefox settings a doddle...