We can't help much when we don't know any basics except that you're annoyed
(and rightly so).

So how about telling us:

version of Outlook
what happened between when it worked and when it changed

Here are some tips about how to post questions:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=555375

Regards

Judy Gleeson
MVP Outlook
Trainer and Consultant

www.pragmatix.com.au

.

There is definitely some information missing since the following are
"givens"

#1 - Outlook would not change the File As field in a contact unless the
default setting was changed AND
#2 - A given contact was updated (and even then it doesn't do it correctly
in most cases)
#3 - Without some external event taking place - Outlook would never change
FA fields in bulk (or any other field for that matter)

In terms of item #2 above - a quick example of one scenario where Outlook
would not re-populate the FA field correctly is as follows:

#1 - Default FA setting set to LastName, FirstName (Company)
#2 - Contact is created and FA populated according to default
#3 - Default is changed to Company only
#4 - Contact company name is updated in contact
#5 - FA field is populated according to the original FA Default setting and
not the new setting
*** in short - Outlook retains the original FA setting for an existing
contact

Your example would be plausible if a contact's name was changed and the
"original" FA setting used when the contact was created was set to LastName,
FirstName - then Outlook would change the FA to what you describe but
wouldn't do it on a global basis all by itself without something else
triggering it. Are you using any kind of addins that sync or otherwise
update these contacts on a global basis?

Karl
___________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - Importer 1.3 / DataPorter 2.0 / Exporter
"Power contact importers/exporters for MS Outlook '2000/2007"
http://www.contactgenie.com