How to get Eudora running on Windows 10 real quick

Copy'n paste

 

I had been hanging onto my 11-year-old Windows 7 desktop, because I couldn't get one of my most important programs -- Eudora -- running on Windows 8 and so assumed it wouldn't work on Windows 10. But then I heard from people that Eudora does work on Windows 10.

Yesterday, I made it work, and it was laughably easy. But keep in mind, it involves this prep work:

• Make sure that Eurdora is running on your older computer with the latest patches, as I describe in How to make Eudora 7 work with Gmail servers at https://www.worldcadaccess.com/blog/2020/12/making-eudora-7-work-with-gmail-servers.html
  
  

Here are the two steps to install Eudora on Windows 10:

1. Install Eudora 7 on your Windows 10 computer. Here is the crucial part: when the setup program asks where to install the program and where to install the data, specify a new folder for them, such as \Qualcomm\Eudora. 
   
   (I show the step-by-step procedure for changing folders below, for those who need the details.)
   
   The key to disaster, I have learned, occurs when you accept the default folders, such as  \Program Files (x86). The grief is caused by a change Microsoft made between Windows 7 and 8 (and so 10) in the way that Program Files folders are handled.
   
   
2. Back on your old computer, close Eudora, and then copy the entire Eudora folder to a USB drive. (For me, that was 4GB of data.)
   Then, on your Windows 10 computer, copy the folder from the USB drive into the one you created during setup.
   
   This works, because Eudora is old enough that it uses .ini files to store settings, instead of the Windows Registry. By using .ini files, Eudora is portable.

When you now launch Eudora on Windows 10, you'll find (a) it works correctly and (b) everything is in place, including your preferred settings, mailbox structure and content, and email account info.

The only catch is that Windows 10 will complain that a registry entry is missing each time you launch Eudora.

You can ignore the warning by clicking OK, and if you keep Eudora running all the time, as I do, then you only encounter the dialog box after a reboot.

 

Step by Step Folder Renaming

When Eudora's Setup program asks where to install Eudora, click Browse.

Enter the name of a different folder, such as \Qualcomm\Eudora, and then click OK.

Confirm the name of the new folder by clicking Yes. 

Choose Custom Data Folder, and then click Next.

Notice the summary of folder names in which Eudora and its data will be installed. If you made a typo, this is the time to click Back. Otherwise, click Next and finish the installation.

 

 

 

Comments

[Andrew]

I have been using Eudora 7.1 for around 20 years and remain very happy with nearly all aspects of it.
The software has not been updated but POP and SMTP remain and so Eudora still works.
Because it has stood still in time with no bloatware and computers have become incredibly faster, Eudora which is a small application works blindingly fast. The program was very mature by version 7.1.

My OS C: SSD drive recently died with no image backup available. So had to start from scratch with everything with a new SSD installed with Windows 10.

Fortunately nearly all my data, including the Data folder for Eudora, had been saved on a separate data drive (as you can direct it to do when you install it). So all of the messages, ini file, mailboxes, address book etc. were saved.

I simply installed Eudora 7.1 (not the 'upgrade' 8.0 beta) in the default Qualcomm folder, and directed it to the pre-existing data folder on the separate hard disk drive during the installation process.

After a reboot, I started the new installation of Eudora and it worked perfectly using all pre-existing options and preferences exactly as I had left it.

With the new SSD drive (the previous drive was six years old) and Windows 10, Eudora was even quicker and worked as well as usual.

Eudora 7.1 lives on!!

[Craig]

If you already have Eudora using a dedicated folder on the Windows 7 machine you can simply copy the folder to the Window 10 and run Eudora.exe. There is no need to actually install the program on the new install. If you then make a shortcut to Eudora.exe on your desktop you are good to go. You don't even have to worry about the registry warning (at least it didn't pop up on my computer).

[Ralph Grabowski]

This is one of the brilliant aspects of older software that does not use the Windows registry: completely portable.

[Ken]

Right now all my attachments are stored on C:\Program Files (x86)\Qualcomm\Eudora\Attach. If I install on a Windows 10 machine and install it on the C drive (a new path), won't archived emails not be able to locate the attachments?

[Hans-Peter Pinaitis Fallesen]

Hello,
Is there anyone out there who could help me?
I´ve been running Eudora for at least 30 years and still do.
I love it.
But I´ve a problem that I´ve not found a solution to.
I´m Swedish and writing on a Swedish key board.
Quit often, but not always Eudora have problems with our special letters "å" "ä" "ö" in the text flow I write.
I see it perfectly right but the reciting person sees some strange letter combinations for those letters.
Is there any way to fix this?
Hans-Peter P Fallesen

[Ralph Grabowski]

As Eudora is an old program, it does not handle modern conveniences like Unicode (displays fonts from many languages) and advanced HTML. This is why you can see strange combinations of letters.

[Bertil Engelbert]

When I try to launch the Eudora installation file on a Win 10 OS I get a message telling me it has been blocked by an administrator. Since I am the administrator of my computer I wonder, what's wrong? What can I do about it?
(The installation file runs fine on a Win XP OS in a virtual machine on the same computer.)

[Ralph Grabowski]

Windows requires some actions to be performed by the Administrator. This is a form of security, but a very weak form.

You can run Eudora with Administrator rights like this:

1. Right-click Eudora icon, and then choose "Open File Location."
2. Right-click the Eudora.exe file, and then choose "Properties."
3. Click the Shortcut tab, and then click "Advanced".
4. In the Advanced Properties dialog box, turn on the option "Run as administrator".
5. Click OK to close the dialog boxes.

Eudora should run fine now.

[Bertil Engelbert]

Thanks, but it didn't work. (I didn't get the same meny when I right-clicked on the installation file.)

However, I tried another way which worked!
I copied the Eudora program files folder (C:/Internet/Eudora) and the Eudora data files folder (E:/Internet/Eudora) in my Win 7 computer to a C:/Internet/Eudora and a E:\Internet\Eudora folder in my Win 10 computer. Then I copied the content of the launch icon in Win 7 to a new launch icon in Win 10 (which included a pointer to the Eudora data folder).

So far, it works fine! And I don't get any complains from the OS like the one that you get (you wrote above):
"The only catch is that Windows 10 will complain that a registry entry is missing each time you launch Eudora."

[Glenn]

I am also a very happy, very long time user of Eudora (1994), and have been using it on Windows 10 without problems, except a minor burp at startup. Launching the application either directly or via shortcut results in a "User Account Control" error appearing asking if I want the application to make changes to my device. Clicking "Yes" results in the programme executing normally. I have tried changing the properties to allow compatibility mode (Win7 and WinXP) and also as administrator, but same startup error appears. Would be nice to see this burp go. Any suggestions?

Yes, Unicode would be nice as I use Chinese a lot. The was a patch for one much earlier version that permitted Chinese, but subsequent updates soon messed that up. Have tried the open source version, but found it wasn't patch on the last 7.1 version. A really good email client!

[Ralph Grabowski]

My solution to the "User Account Control" error problem is to keep Eudora running all the time.

[David]

Eudora is great. The problem is it uses the an old security protocol called TLS 1. And the web host and the email server company I am using no longer supports to you last one and says I need to move to TLS 1.2. So how do I get Eudora to work with TLS 1.2, or conversely does anybody know of a web host/ email server company that still supports TLS V1?

[Ralph Grabowski]

See my blog https://www.worldcadaccess.com/blog/2020/12/making-eudora-7-work-with-gmail-servers.html on instructions on how to upgrade Eudora to TLS 1.2.

[[email protected]]

I have missed Eudora! so very much! Glad to see this info & will give it a try! Thank you so much!
Why don't they just make an updated version?

[Ralph Grabowski]

Qualcomm abandoned Eudora nearly two decades ago, and subsequent attempts (v8.0, OSE, Thunderbird) were incomplete.

[Bilal Akbar]

I have Eudora 7.1.0.9 installed and its working but mailto link is not working means it is not default program to deal with these links please help if you can. I look for this solution but did not find anywhere yet. When I click some link it does not work and on default mailto link Chrome is specified.

[Ralph Grabowski]

There is some info at these two sites on dealing with customer MAILTO settings, which I intend to look at, but no promise from me of when!

For Windows 7:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7105258/how-to-register-custom-program-to-handle-mailto-protocol-on-windows-7

For Windows 10:
https://superuser.com/questions/1097511/register-mailto-protocol-to-custom-program-on-windows-10

[Sholom]

Count me as another one who keeps one old machine with Windows 7 and Eudora 7 installed on it. (Lots of history in those emails, I don't want to lose them!)

My question is this: since I already do have all my Eudora stuff in one dedicated Eudora folder, can I simply update my old machine to WIn 10 (or 11?) without disabling my Eudora?

Thanks in advance!

[Ralph Grabowski]

The bigger question is if your comuter is able to be upgraded to Windows 10 or 11:

Windows 10: probably
Windows 11: probably not, as Microsoft allows it only on recent computers

I have not tried this, as I am so reliant on Eudora that I don't dare upgrade my Windows 7 computer to Windows 10.