Avoiding duplicates when synching between two computers and a WM p

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PeterJordan - 22 May 2008 16:28 GMT

I regularly synch the Outlook contacts and calendar items that are on my
desktop with my smartphone.

I have a laptop on which I haven't used Outlook for several months -- the
contact and calendar databases are thus outdated and duplicative.

I would like to delete all the calendar items and contacts on the laptop,
then synch it with the phone so that the desktop, the phone, and the laptop
all have the same calendar and contact information. It looks as if I could
select all, then delete as far as the contacts are concerned. Is this what I
should do in Outlook on the laptop? And is there anything equivalent with
calendar entries?
Any hints on how to do this without ending up with either lost or duplicated
contacts and calendar items?

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Brian Tillman - 23 May 2008 15:46 GMT

> I would like to delete all the calendar items and contacts on the
> laptop, then synch it with the phone so that the desktop, the phone,
> and the laptop all have the same calendar and contact information.
> It looks as if I could select all, then delete as far as the contacts
> are concerned. Is this what I should do in Outlook on the laptop?

Sure. Ctrl-A will select all.

> And is there anything equivalent with calendar entries?

Display the calendar in a table view like By Category first.

> Any hints on how to do this without ending up with either lost or
> duplicated contacts and calendar items?

Make a backup of your PST or mailbox before you try this. The sync may
decide to delete everything on the phone instead of repopulate Outlook,
depending on what the sync software perceived to be the older data.

You may wind up with duplication, depending on how the sync software
perceives the data. There are good duplicate eliminators for Outlook, some
free, that you can find here:
http://www.slipstick.com/addins/calendar_dupes.asp
http://www.slipstick.com/addins/contacts_dups.asp

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Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]

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Mark McGinty - 23 May 2008 16:04 GMT

>I regularly synch the Outlook contacts and calendar items that are on my
> desktop with my smartphone.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> should do in Outlook on the laptop? And is there anything equivalent with
> calendar entries?

To wipe your calendar, and create a table view for your calendar folder.
Then you can select all and delete them. To create a new view, click the
following menu item, while the calendar folder is selected/displayed:

View -> Arrange By -> Current View -> Define views

This opens the Custom View Oganizer dialog. Then click the New button, make
sure Table is selected in the type of view list, edit the default name if
you want to, and click Ok. Finally, click the Apply View button.
(Directions are for Outlook 2003, other versions may vary slightly.)

> Any hints on how to do this without ending up with either lost or
> duplicated
> contacts and calendar items?

Have you created or edited items on your laptop? If so you obviously stand
to lose data by wiping folders. You will only be able to make changes on
the laptop when you know it is in sync, and you'll have to sync any changes
made on it to the phone and then to your desktop before changing anything on
either of them.

The fact is, your scheme is full of potential for lost data, your safest bet
is to consider your laptop read-only.

There is no way built into Outlook to reconcile changes and fold
duplicates/near duplicates into a single, current item.

-Mark

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Brian Tillman - 27 May 2008 12:38 GMT

> To wipe your calendar, and create a table view for your calendar
> folder. Then you can select all and delete them. To create a new
> view, click the following menu item, while the calendar folder is
> selected/displayed:
> View -> Arrange By -> Current View -> Define views

Why suggest this where there are already five readily available table views
defined for use?

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Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]

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