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We can now synchronize Outlook & Android without a 3rd party app or Exchange Server!

jflower: I'm sure it has nothing to do with Hotmail.com vs. Live.com. That's a cosmetic thing. It all get redirected to the same servers.

I now just keep my tasks as a list in a draft email. That way I can access them from my PC or phone. It's not as nice as really using Outlook's Tasks (which can have deadline properties, etc.) but for me, it's an acceptable workaround. In fact it's good enough that I feel absolutely no need to deal with MyPhoneExplorer.

I don't expect the folks at Microsoft to help you out, but if you can't find a solution, and it's really bugging you, you could always run (free) Google Calendar Sync on your PC and then sync your phone to your gmail calendar.
 
jflower said:
Thanks for the reply, RazzMaTazz. That's good to know about task sync using MyPhoneExplorer. I will keep that in mind, and would love to hear from anyone who has tried it for syncing tasks only.
Click to expand...
That is how I use MyPhoneExplorer. I do not sync the calendar (I use Google Calendar sync for that) but use MPE to sync contacts and tasks. I prefer to use USB but Wifi and bluetooth are supported.
 
Hi Razz,
As others have said, Thanks for your work on this. I was having significant problems with a 3rd party app and syncing via bluetooth when I found your original article.
All went well until I got some sort of "bug" in my DroidX. The Verizon tech people said the solution was to reset my phone, but I would have to reload all my apps. I finally did that, but have been having a problem with syncing my Outlook contacts and calendar info since. (Using Outlook 2003 on my Windows XP computer).
I can not get all my contacts onto my droid, and many of the contacts are repeated, or their fields are repeated within a contact.
I have tried to remove Hotmail from my droid and reinstall it, but still have the same problem.
I have Verizon back up assistant and I thought that might have been the problem so I tried to clean that up but am still having a problem.
Have you heard of this before? And would you have any suggestions?
But thanks again for the BIG idea!
JerryErds
 
jerryerds said:
I have tried to remove Hotmail from my droid and reinstall it, but still have the same problem.... Have you heard of this before? And would you have any suggestions?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure that I exactly understand what you're seeing.

1) Were you able to sync Outlook with the Hotmail servers? (If you go to the Hotmail web interface, are all of your Outlook contacts there on Hotmail?)

2) How many of those contacts are there?

3) If you create a new test contact on Outlook or Hotmail, does it sync to the phone within a few minutes (when your phone has a data connection)?

4) If you open one of your duplicate contacts, hit the settings button, select "edit contact" and then scroll up and down the data for that contact, does it say Google Contact (which would be a Gmail-based contact), or Corporate Contact (which would be a Hotmail or Exchange Server based contact) or or Facebook Contact (synchronized with Facebook), or Phone-Only Contact (which would be stored on your phone only and not synchronized with any server)? Usually duplicate contacts stem from having some combination of different sources of contacts. If so, you may need to delete your phone-only contacts, or choose to only sync and/or view your Hotmail contacts. (I touch on that in my original post.)

5) If you open your contacts app, hit the settings button and choose "Display options", under "Choose contacts to display" are there multiple accounts listed? If so, just choose the Hotmail account and then place check marks in the contact groups that you want to sync. Then choose the other account(s) and uncheck any boxes.

6) If you open your contacts app, hit the settings button and choose "Accounts", there should at least be a Gmail account and a Hotmail account. Please open them and make sure that you're syncing your Hotmail account. (You may or may not want to sync your Gmail account.)

7) Are you using the Hotmail app on your phone? I have no experience it.

I also have no experience with the Verizon backup assistant.
 
1. When I go the the Hotmail web site, I only have 72 contacts out of 660 that are in Outlook.
3. I did create a test contact and it did show up in a few minutes on my phone. Then a bit later I deleted it and now it is no longer on my phone contact list.
4. About the duplicate contacts, most of them were Backup Assistant contacts. I went to the verizon site and deleted my contacts there (said I had over 2000 contacts). That seems to have cleared the duplicate contact issue as well as most of the corrupted data in contacts.
5. I have selected to not show Backup Assistant items and not show Gmail items. I am only wanting to display the Hotmail items, and my Comcast.net items.
6. I am only syncing Hotmail items.
7. I am using the Android Contact App.
My main concern is that not all of my contacts from Outlook on my computer are showing up on my phone contact list.
I am hoping you might have some helpful suggestions for me.
Thanks!
 
RazzMaTazz -

Quite a way back you mentioned something that has me concerned; I hope you have a solution. I don't want to synch my private info using any public method, such as google or Microsoft, since I have a lot of notes in my contacts with confidential info. I'm not as concerned about my calendar. Is there any way to protect the contacts privacy, while still transferring from Outlook to my droid? Thanks for any thoughts!
 
whoknows2 said:
I don't want to synch my private info using any public method, such as google or Microsoft, since I have a lot of notes in my contacts with confidential info... Is there any way to protect the contacts privacy, while still transferring from Outlook to my droid?
Click to expand...
I think that the chances of your confidential information getting stolen from Google's or Microsoft's servers are infinitesimal. If such a hacking incident occurred, your contact data would be just one of millions of people's data, so the chances of somebody choosing YOUR data to sift through is even more infinitesmial. And the chances that they'd go through every single one of your contacts and find the confidential data is even more infinitesimal. I'd say that it's infinitely more likely that your confidential data would get compromised from you losing your phone, your laptop PC, or your house getting robbed.

If you're really concerned about it, my fist suggestion would be to remove the confidential information from the notes of the contacts and store that information in an encrypted document. There are apps (and PC software) that encrypt documents. Unless you've got a lot of contacts with vitally important information, that would probably be the easiest, safest solution and would prevent your data from being compromised if the phone is lost or your house gets robbed.

But if you don't want your data on anybody's servers, try MyPhoneExplorer. (It's free.) Make sure that you transfer your contacts as "Phone-only" contacts so that they don't get synchronized with Gmail.
 
Hi,

Being almost a year later, of course a lot has happened... What seemed really nice, getting a sync feature, now is a sad story since it hasn't evolved or... a bad solution from start.
SmartPhone users has been able to sync their phones for years, through the cable (USB or earlier, serial/parallell). Now sync is made through the all mighty cloud. Either this detour or I have to by an expensive software as an addon to my SEricsson Arc
For about 10-15 years I have been syncing contacts and moving pictures and files as standard ready to go with Ericsson smartphones (most other brands also I imagine).
Moving to Android we have to pay a lot to avoid this stupid made by Google (Apple and Microsoft).
These companies grown to be to big not improving, just hassling and forcing users into their own solutions - good business for the software companies, really bad for customers and integrity.
Might go back to computers and older phones not being ****ed up by Google, Apple or Microsoft (not as much, anyway) :-)

Tom
 
hey all,

this is my very first use of a forum ever, so i may or may not be putting this in the right thread, etc...but general question:

i am using the Droid Bionic, and just recently cleaned up and organized all my folders in outlook to make them and the program more effective..

i was wondering if anyone knew of an app for android that would allow me to sync the multiple accounts (and folders in each account) to my phone..

Kyle
 
TomKS: Many of us are disappointed the neither Google nor Microsoft provide an easy solution for syncing with Outlook, but they are competitors, in phone OSes and office productivity apps. To the credit of both companies, they enable 3rd party solutions, some of which are free. The free Hotmail solution in my oriiginal post works great.

Android phones offer superior price-performance (including many free money-saving apps, like GPS, free WiFi voice calls through Google Voice, sometimes free WiFi Hotspot, etc) that even if you feel you need to pay $10-$50 for a better 3rd party Outlook syncing solution, you're probably getting a better value than phones with other OSes.
 
kkohler92 said:
i was wondering if anyone knew of an app for android that would allow me to sync the multiple accounts (and folders in each account) to my phone..
Click to expand...
You don't need an app because that functionality ("ActiveSync") is built-into Android. The Hotmail solution in my original post (combined with say, multiple Gmail accounts for email, if you like) allows you to sync multiple accounts (and folders in each account).

Note however that the POP mail protocol does not enable true synchronization of subfolders, sent mail folders, drafts, deleted items, inbox, etc. IMAP protocol (used by Gmail, et al) or MAPI protocol (used by Hotmail) does enable such mail synchronizaiton. Additionally, Hotmail's MAPI protocol enables contacts and calendar synchronization, so you can synchronize to Hotmial's servers without installing any additional apps.

If you don't like the free Hotmail solution, there are several 3rd-party solutions listed here.
 
Hi guys,

I am new here and this is my first post.
I installed Outlook Hotmail Connector and created a Hotmail account in my phone.
It syncs Outlook to Hotmail and to my HTC Sensation.
All good, however when I compose and send a message from Outlook,it then syncs to Hotmail but the Sent folder in Hotmail shows me as the recipient and not the correct one.
If I send the message directly from the Hotmail web account,the Sent folder shows the correct recipient.

I posted this problem on Microsoft Outlook Forum and also Microsoft Hotmail Forum but no one has yet come up with a solution.
I also found out that a like question had been posted on "techsupportforum.com" almost 4 years ago but no one has come up there with a solution.
Can you check it out and tell me if you experience the same issue?
If so, any idea of what to do?
 
obladioblada said:
All good, however when I compose and send a message from Outlook,it then syncs to Hotmail but the Sent folder in Hotmail shows me as the recipient and not the correct one.
If I send the message directly from the Hotmail web account,the Sent folder shows the correct recipient... Can you check it out and tell me if you experience the same issue?... If so, any idea of what to do?
Click to expand...
That is REALLY weird. I am not seeing that same problem. It's hard to imagine Outlook not working properly, let alone not working properly with Hotmail. I have no idea how to fix it.

So you're saying that when you send an email from your Hotmail account in Outlook, that both the "To" line and the "From" line show your Hotmail email address (and not the intended recipient's email address), but ONLY for the mails in the "Sent" folder?

Are you saying that the recipients receive the emails just fine, with the correct To & From lines?

Does that happen if you send an email from another email account on Outlook (like a POP mail or IMAP mail account)?

Personally, I mostly use Gmail for mail, and Hotmail for contacts and calendar sync. But I do also have several Hotmail accounts on Outlook, and all of my Hotmail, Gmail, & Yahoo Mail accounts work correctly with the proper To & From lines.
 
I might have not explained it clearly.
Go to Outlook and compose a message from an account that syncs with your Hotmail Web Account and send it.
Everything will show as it should be in your Outlook sent folder.
The message you have just sent should sync and show also in your Hotmail Web Account.
Go online, log into that Hotmail account and go to the Sent folder.
Look for the message you have just sent. I suspect that over there you will see your name as the recipient and not the correct one. (The columns are fixed in the web account and you can
 
obladioblada said:
Go online, log into that Hotmail account and go to the Sent folder.
Look for the message you have just sent. I suspect that over there you will see your name as the recipient and not the correct one. ... Now, stay at the web account and compose and send a message from there. This time you will see the CORRECT recipient name.
Click to expand...
I followed your instructions. It works fine. Proper addressee & proper recipient in the inboxes, set mail folders of Outlook and in Hotmail web interface, and in the recipient's inbox. You've got something weird going on. I have no idea why.
 
Based on the links you sent, it looks like you're in the UK. I'm in the US. Perhaps Hotmail's servers are running different software in the two countries. In any event, this seems to be a Hotmail webmail bug and has nothing to do with Android or the Hotmail/Android sync method (which seems to be working for you), so I'm going to close this out. Good luck.
 
There goes my problem...

I use Outlook 2003, synced with my Windows Live account via Outlook Connector.
Then I sync my phone (occasionaly ZTE Blade, HTC HD2 running Android, Samsung Galaxy S and, last but not least, Moto Atrix 4G running a CM7 variant) by creating an Exchange (or "corporate") account on it.

Everything works perfect, except...

...except that when I edit a calendar event in Outlook or Windows Live, everything syncs fine. But when I edit an event on my phone, it doesn't "get through" to Live and, of course, Outlook. It stays unchanged.

Anybody has the same problem?
Any way to address it?

P.S.: Demo versions of Touchdown and Moxier Mail dont have this problem...
 
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I created an event in my HTC Sensation and a few minutes later it has been transferred to both Windoes LIve Hotmail and Outlook.
I use HTC's native calendar. When I open it it shows on top the name of the calendar that I use and there is a drop menu with check boxes to choose which calendar will be displayed. This is because the application supports multi Calendar. It will sync with Hotmail and Outlook only with the Active Sync (exchange) calendar.
 
cirithu said:
... when I edit a calendar event in Outlook or Windows Live, everything syncs fine. But when I edit an event on my phone, it doesn't "get through" to Live and, of course, Outlook. It stays unchanged.
Click to expand...
I don't have that problem. It really makes no sense that calendar items would sync down to the phone, but not up to the Hotmail/Live servers. When you create a calendar event on your phone, are you sure that you're creating it under your Hotmail/Live account? If I create a calendar event with the stock calendar app on my LG Optimus S, by default it's set to create the event in my gmail account, so when editing the new event, I have to manually select my Hotmail account.
 
Did you know that hotmail will apparently delete past calendar events with no warning message? Mine were recently deleted and I went searching on the Microsoft Support boards about the issue. I am finding plenty of people posting about the general issue that they want their calendar items kept indefinitely, but that hotmail eventually will delete them. Example of an ongoing thread: http://windowslivehelp.com/thread.a...14CFF072#380FD65C-7324-409F-BFA7-D45914CFF072

I was surprised by this issue - I'd think that my calendar events would be safe in the cloud with hotmail forever, or at least within a stated limit - and I wondered if anyone here knows anything about that.

I still haven't resolved why my recent past (through mid December) was suddenly deleted, but this broader issue makes me think I may have to come up with some other calendar plan. I've been resisting the google calendar, but may need to just bite the bullet and see how google-android-outlook can work. Dreading that.
 
RazzMaTazz - I am new here on this forum, but have read a huge amount of the posts since the start of this thread. (From South Africa, an Accountant, 43 years old, and would say fairly comp literate etc - not an expert, but I can help myself and have set up a small network or two in the past. Love to investigate all aspects of a phone before I buy - very happy with my Samsung Galaxy Note that I got just last week...lol)
I just want to express my gratitude and true utmost thanks to you (and some of the other helpful guys as well of course...) The way in which you persevered with this, helping people agross the globe with this issue, is just fantastic and really commendable. If I could take up a collection for you from all the thankful guys, I would really have done that. I hope that you get your rewards for your efforts in some or other way (good carma coming back to you or whatever), and that you will really be blessed in all areas of your life. I think you deserve it.
I was an HTC HD2 user for quite a while, had no syncing problems since it was on Win Mobile, but with my new Galaxy Note, I immediate start searching for the best syncing solution even before I attempted all sorts of funny stuff that other people tried. I am so grateful that I found your advise, and although it also took some hours of reading and understanding and testing and trying, mine is working 100% in all aspects. Yesterday I saw some guy writing something about his reply mails not reflecting in the Send Items on the phone, mine did that also at first, but I got it right as well. (don't know if you already found the solution for that one - didn't search for that post now)
But okay - just again - THANK YOU VERY VERY VERY MUCH !!!!!!
 
Razz, i'm new to smartphones & android. I want to say thanks to you and all the other helpful folks who i was able to read on this thread. I'm on a GSII SkyRocket w/ ATT & using Outlook 2010. Everything seems to work receiving email, contacts & calendar on my phone. I've had the phone for 4 days & spent 2 days deciding on how to do the sync. I really appreciate your post as I decided it would do all I need without the 3rd party. I do want to ask if I delete an email/calendar event/contact from my phone will it delete from my outlook? if so how long should i expect this to take place? is there a setting or something to to sync instantly or at least sooner? Any comments would be greatly appreciated. I'm determined to get the most out of this phone.
 
jflower said:
Did you know that hotmail will apparently delete past calendar events with no warning message?... I was surprised by this issue - I'd think that my calendar events would be safe in the cloud with hotmail forever, or at least within a stated limit - and I wondered if anyone here knows anything about that.
Click to expand...
I am unaware of the issue of Hotmail deleting old calendar events. How old? I've got recurring events going back forever, and I've got one-time events going back at least 2 years. (I can't remember if I copied more than 2 years of history into my Hotmail calendar.)

jflower said:
I've been resisting the google calendar, but may need to just bite the bullet and see how google-android-outlook can work. Dreading that.
Click to expand...
You can always use try using Google Calendar sync (which is free from Google). It's not bad, but you have to run it on your PC to get Outlook to sync with the Gmail servers.
 
WillemL1 said:
I just want to express my gratitude and true utmost thanks to you (and some of the other helpful guys as well of course...) The way in which you persevered with this, helping people agross the globe with this issue, is just fantastic and really commendable.
Click to expand...
It's nice of you to take the time to thank me. It's great to know that this thread is helping people. I've certainly been helped by others on this forum and elsewhere, and I'm just trying to pay it back. Sitting here geeking out in the US, I never really thought that it might be helping people all over the world. Kinda cool. I had the great pleasure of vacationing in South Africa. It's a lovely place and the people couldn't have been nicer.

WillemL1 said:
Yesterday I saw some guy writing something about his reply mails not reflecting in the Send Items on the phone, mine did that also at first, but I got it right as well. (don't know if you already found the solution for that one - didn't search for that post now).
Click to expand...
I couldn't reproduce that problem. If you remember what you did to solve it, please let us know.
 
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