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My outlook does not sync, I have added the hotmail connector, added my hotmail address, it says mapi as type, I have done a send/recieve several times, I have deleted everything and started over several times, the server status in the bottom right corner says "contecting" and always says contecting....It has been 2 days and does not change, I cant figure out what I have done wrong or missed.
1) Which version of Outlook? XP, 2003, 2007, 2010?
2) If you do a Send/Receive (F9) do you get error messages? What do the error mesages say?
3) If you check you Hotmail account via the web, is it syncing with Outlook? Are you sure that you've used the same account/login credentials?
 
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I am trying to setup the Hotmail sync with Outlook 2007. I setup the hotmail account as a pop account and I can send and receive email from Outlook thru Hotmail. After I set up the email account I installed the Hotmail Outlook connector add-in. After restarting Outlook, I do not see the Contact & Calendar folders for Hotmail in Outlook.

Do I need to setup the Hotmail account as an IMAP? Please advise what I did wrong? Thank you
 
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I am trying to setup the Hotmail sync with Outlook 2007. I setup the hotmail account as a pop account and I can send and receive email from Outlook thru Hotmail. After I set up the email account I installed the Hotmail Outlook connector add-in. After restarting Outlook, I do not see the Contact & Calendar folders for Hotmail in Outlook. Do I need to setup the Hotmail account as an IMAP? Please advise what I did wrong? Thank you
In Outlook, your Hotmail account should be a MAPI account, NOT a POP account and not an IMAP account! If you set it up as a POP account, it won't work. When you're done setting up the account, make sure that you're in "Folder List View" Ctrl+6 and that your Navigation Pane is viewable on the left side of Outlook.

In Android, your Hotmail account should be added as an "Exchange" account (which is a bit of a misnomer since you'll be connected to a Hotmail server rather than an Exchange Server). It will end up appearing on your phone as a "Corporate" account.
 
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In Outlook, your Hotmail account should be a MAPI account, NOT a POP account and not an IMAP account! If you set it up as a POP account, it won't work. When you're done setting up the account, make sure that you're in "Folder List View" Ctrl+6 and that your Navigation Pane is viewable on the left side of Outlook.

In Android, your Hotmail account should be added as an "Exchange" account (which is a bit of a misnomer since you'll be connected to a Hotmail server rather than an Exchange Server). It will end up appearing on your phone as a "Corporate" account.

Thanks for the response and as soon as I followed your directions everything was fine.

I might suggest that you modify your original post where you provide instructions. If you were to say that you install the connector plug-in first and then add the Outllook Hotmail account using it, I think it would be clearer.

Again, thnak you.
 
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Thanks for the response and as soon as I followed your directions everything was fine.
Glad to hear that you got it working!

I might suggest that you modify your original post where you provide instructions. If you were to say that you install the connector plug-in first and then add the Outllook Hotmail account using it, I think it would be clearer.
I think when I went to add a Hotmail account, Outlook kinda forced me to isntall Outlook Hotmail Connector, but things have probably changed since then, so I edited the instructions in my original post per your suggestion. If you get a chance, please read my edited instructions and let me know if I didn't get it right. (No need to let me know if I got it right.)
 
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Glad to hear that you got it working!


I think when I went to add a Hotmail account, Outlook kinda forced me to isntall Outlook Hotmail Connector, but things have probably changed since then, so I edited the instructions in my original post per your suggestion. If you get a chance, please read my edited instructions and let me know if I didn't get it right. (No need to let me know if I got it right.)

I read your revised instructions and you have improved it. When I first installed the plug-in it popped up and asked me if I wanted to add a Hotmail account but I said no because I already added it (as PO). If you respond yes to the question it automatically makes it a MAPI account. So I guess I would say add the Hotmail account thru the plug-in wizard. (maybe I am just being very picky).

Again, thanks for your help. Now I will have to see how I like the HotMail sync versus the sync using Calendar and Contact syncs that I previously explained.
 
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I am working with a Samsung Galaxy SII and Outlook 2010. I believe I followed the instructions for moving and syncing the files. Contacts worked perfectly. Only one of my calendar entries made it to the phone. I powered off and re-synced and a half dozen of my hundreds of Outlook calendar entries made the journey. Some were from my calendar, some birthdays, some Holidays. I deleted the Outlook Hotmail calendar and re-exported and imported. This time dozens of entries made the trip. But many more stayed at home. Any suggestions for what I may be doing wrong?
 
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Well after a very short test period I have decided to give up on the Hotmail sync. I have 2373 contacts in my hotmail contact folder in Outlook but only 2359 contacts in the Hotmail account on the web. Also in syncing my 3088 calendar events I continually get error messages in ths "Sync Issues" folder in the Hotmail outlook folder. The error message provides a lot of detail but does not seem to make sense to me.
 
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Well after a very short test period I have decided to give up on the Hotmail sync. I have 2373 contacts in my hotmail contact folder in Outlook but only 2359 contacts in the Hotmail account on the web. Also in syncing my 3088 calendar events I continually get error messages in ths "Sync Issues" folder in the Hotmail outlook folder. The error message provides a lot of detail but does not seem to make sense to me.
For me (and perhaps for you too) the difference between the number of "contacts" in Hotmail/Outlook and the number of contacts in Hotmail on the web or on the phone is that "contact groups" (i.e. email distribution lists) in Outlook are counted as "contacts", but "contact groups" are not transferred to the web or to the phone. I too was concerned about that until I figured it out. I'll update the original post to note that apparent discrepency.

I never even noticed the "Sync Issues" folder before, but after seeing your post, I checked it and found about 15k entries. But as far as I can tell, for the last 5 months that I've used this Hotmail-based synchronization method, ALL of my contacts, calendar entries, and emails are perfectly synchronized, so I don't really care about the "Sync Issues" folder. I assume that those "sync issues" occur when connectivity is limited or for some reason it can't complete it's sync. If you do a visual check, are your contacts and calendar items syncing properly? If so, I wouldn't worry about the "Sync Issues" folder.
 
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I am working with a Samsung Galaxy SII and Outlook 2010. I believe I followed the instructions for moving and syncing the files. Contacts worked perfectly. Only one of my calendar entries made it to the phone. I powered off and re-synced and a half dozen of my hundreds of Outlook calendar entries made the journey. Some were from my calendar, some birthdays, some Holidays. I deleted the Outlook Hotmail calendar and re-exported and imported. This time dozens of entries made the trip. But many more stayed at home. Any suggestions for what I may be doing wrong?
Birthdays & Anniversaries that are contained in your contacts will also appear on your Hotmail calendar, so if Birthdays and Anniversaries are the only calendar items that are synchronizing, then your Outlook Calendar isn't syncrhonizing, just your contacts. Make sure that you import your calendar items in the default Hotmail calendar, not the Birthday calendar or Holiday Calendar.
 
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For me (and perhaps for you too) the difference between the number of "contacts" in Hotmail/Outlook and the number of contacts in Hotmail on the web or on the phone is that "contact groups" (i.e. email distribution lists) in Outlook are counted as "contacts", but "contact groups" are not transferred to the web or to the phone. I too was concerned about that until I figured it out. I'll update the original post to note that apparent discrepency.

I never even noticed the "Sync Issues" folder before, but after seeing your post, I checked it and found about 15k entries. But as far as I can tell, for the last 5 months that I've used this Hotmail-based synchronization method, ALL of my contacts, calendar entries, and emails are perfectly synchronized, so I don't really care about the "Sync Issues" folder. I assume that those "sync issues" occur when connectivity is limited or for some reason it can't complete it's sync. If you do a visual check, are your contacts and calendar items syncing properly? If so, I wouldn't worry about the "Sync Issues" folder.

I do not have any Contact groups all of my Outlook contacts are either individual people or companies so the numbers of contacts should match perfectly (they do match in Gmail & Outlook using the Go Contact Sync Mod). I suspect that you are correct and the sync issues are really superfolous. I guess I really gave up because of the number of contacts problem and I also have a fair number of contacts with more than 1024 characters in the notes field and could have worked around that if I wanted to but I thought I would loose some valuable information or be forced to store the information less conveniently.
 
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No, Birthdays and Holidays weren't the only things showing up on the calendar. I also saw a few, and only a few, of my calendar items. I thought maybe I had too many calendar items and it was clogging up the synch, so I changed the setting so it would only synch six months of calendar items rather than all. Everything then disappeared.

This is too erratic for me. I cleared out everything and will give up Outlook for Google Calendar, etc, which is I am sure what Google had intended when they made this so difficult.

Thanks for the help.
 
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I am certain that there is some very simple thing that I'm missing here, but I give up on figuring it out.

I'm using Outlook 2003 and I've downloaded the Hotmail Connector. I added the hotmail account through the Connector, and can see it listed under my primary (non g-mail) account. When I open the Navigation view, I can see both accounts with theircorresponding subfolders.

I added all my contacts into the Hotmail Contacts file and was able to sync to my phone. I have also been able to sync from my Hotmail Calendar to the phone Calendar and vice-versa.

My problem is that when I add something to my Hotmail Calendar or Hotmail Contacts (whether by phone or the PC) and refresh, none of it makes it to my Outlook Calendar or Contacts file. Does that make sense??? I want things that I add to the Hotmail Calendar or Contact file to filter to my old Outlook Calendar or Contact file. So I guess the problem in a nutshell is that there is no syncing going on between Outlook and Hotmail files....

Any ideas?
 
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I'm using Outlook 2003 and I've downloaded the Hotmail Connector. I added the hotmail account through the Connector, and can see it listed under my primary (non g-mail) account. When I open the Navigation view, I can see both accounts with their corresponding subfolders.

I added all my contacts into the Hotmail Contacts file and was able to sync to my phone. I have also been able to sync from my Hotmail Calendar to the phone Calendar and vice-versa.
So it's working exactly like it should-- syncing your contacts and calendar items between your Hotmail account on Outlook and your phone.

My problem is that when I add something to my Hotmail Calendar or Hotmail Contacts (whether by phone or the PC) and refresh, none of it makes it to my Outlook Calendar or Contacts file. Does that make sense??? I want things that I add to the Hotmail Calendar or Contact file to filter to my old Outlook Calendar or Contact file. So I guess the problem in a nutshell is that there is no syncing going on between Outlook and Hotmail files....

Any ideas?
It's working exactly as it should. Your new Hotmail/Outlook Calendar & Contacts folders aren't supposed to synchronize with your old calendar & contacts folder. I know old habits die hard, but (as I describe in my original post) you need to stop using your old Outlook Calendar & Contact folder, and instead start using your new Outlook/Hotmail Calendar & Contact folder. Personally, I've collapsed my old "Outlook Data File" account containing my old Calendar & Contacts folders so that I don't even have to look at them anymore. You may wish to do that also. And you may also wish to rearrange your accounts in the Navigation Pane by dragging and dropping them up or down so that your new Hotmail account is where your old Outlook account was. Is there some reason that you want to use your old Outlook Calendar & Contacts folder instead of your new Hotmail account (or is it just force of habit)?
 
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[ Is there some reason that you want to use your old Outlook Calendar & Contacts folder instead of your new Hotmail account (or is it just force of habit)?[/QUOTE]

Thanks Razz, I guess I just misunderstood what the Hotmail Oulook Connector was all about...was thinking that among other things, it would sync old Personal Outlook information (Calendar/Contacts) with the changes made in the Hotmail Calendar/Contacts. I guess the only reason I liked the idea of having my old calendar and contact file kept up to date with the changes made in the Hotmail versions was that I am still hoping that a better more complete free solution comes along someday, and I would be able to delete the Hotmail account from Outlook and still have all the information there in my old Outlook versions of Calendar and Contacts.

But this is a workable solution since I suppose I can always migrate the information back to the old Calendar/Contact files if I ever delete the Hotmail account from Outlook, right?

The only other solution I was considering was the MPE...is there any other advantages/disadvantages between these two besides the ability to sync the Hotmail from anywhere? Does MPE sync Notes or Tasks by any chance?

And count me among those a bit shocked that as long as Android has been out, no easy, perfect syncing product between the two has surfaced! At least not a free or cheap alternative.

Thanks for responding, at least now I know that it is working as it is suppose to work...and I'm not missing something....
 
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...I guess the only reason I liked the idea of having my old calendar and contact file kept up to date with the changes made in the Hotmail versions was that I am still hoping that a better more complete free solution comes along someday, and I would be able to delete the Hotmail account from Outlook and still have all the information there in my old Outlook versions of Calendar and Contacts.

But this is a workable solution since I suppose I can always migrate the information back to the old Calendar/Contact files if I ever delete the Hotmail account from Outlook, right?
Right. You could always export your contact and calendar from Outlook/Hotmail to your old account. (For contacts, you could just copy and paste the contents of the folder.)

The only other solution I was considering was the MPE...is there any other advantages/disadvantages between these two besides the ability to sync the Hotmail from anywhere? Does MPE sync Notes or Tasks by any chance?
I haven't tried the most recent version of MPE, but MPE has recently added Notes and Tasks support (which require apparently require separate apps). I gave up on the old version because it didn't support very many data fields and it deleted the unsupported fields from my Outlook database. Many others have had this problem. Many haven't. My contacts database is too precious to risk it. MPE requires manual synchronization, and you either have to be connected to your Outlook-PC via USB or via WiFi (connected to the same WiFi router), whereas the Hotmail solution works automatically over any (3G/4G, or WiFi) data connection. MPE requires you to run apps on your phone and software on your PC, whereas the Hotmail solution doesn't. MPE requires manual intervention for conflicts, whereas Hotmail automatically, intelligently resolves conflicts based on which device entered which field more recently. You can check out the MPE software site here. I haven't tried it, but I'd guess that we could use MPE for Tasks and Notes only, while using Hotmail for Contacts & Calendar. Might be a good hybrid solution if you need Tasks and Notes on your phone and could live with manual synchronization. I essentially copy/keep tasks and notes in a draft email so that it's always availabe on the PC or phone in the "Draft Mail" folder.

And count me among those a bit shocked that as long as Android has been out, no easy, perfect syncing product between the two has surfaced! At least not a free or cheap alternative.
Yes, it's sad. But Google wants Google docs to kill Microsoft Office so it's not in Google's strategic interest to apply resources to Outlook synchronization. And Microsoft wants you to buy Windows phones so it's not in their strategic interest either. But to Google's credit, they don't stop 3rd parties from developing Outlook synchronization apps. CompanionLink is a bit pricey (and I haven't tried it) but it seems to be the best paid sync app.
 
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I still have not changed to an Android (using a BB) but I can not understand why no one seems interested in trying https://www.forge.funambol.org/download/

Please tell me what the objection to using this method is.
You either have to sync your data to Funambol's cloud server. (That's scary. I'm not willing to share my contact & calendar data with unknowns and perhaps untrustworthy people running the Funambol server.) Or you have to run your own Funambol server, which is a pain in the butt. You have to run an app on your phone and software on your PC. Synchronization isn't real time. You either have to do it manually or on a schedule. I see no advantage to Funambol.
 
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RazzMaTazz -
I just purchased a TB (but not yet received) and found information about syncing TB to Outlook "HTC SYNC 3.0.5579 FOR HTC THUNDERBOLT™ (VERIZON) | 09.27.2011".

I have not seen any comments about the HTC app, does this app work okay or is there a reason that no one seems to discuss it? Would appreciate any comments from people who have experience with it.
 
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Hello,
I am new to the forum and have gone from a Blackberry Bold old version, Droid, back to a BB Bold new version which had loads of problems with the new version, back to a Droid 3 by Motorola. For those of you that do not know Google has purchased the mobility part of Motorola.

I was using CompanionLink $50/ DejaOffice was free (but cannot be used without CompanionLink) to sync without having to use Google, but did not care for their business practices. So am looking for something that is free to use.

I have a couple of questions about using Hotmail with Android and Outlook.

1) With using the calendar do the color coded events show as color coded in Android and Hotmai?

2) I know that we have to create a new PST folder for Hotmail and contacts which is not a big problem.

3) With the Hotmail sync if you change it on the phone does it change it without syncing on your Hotmail account? (Google does not)

4) Is there a limited number of calendar events you can have on Hotmail?

For those of you that have had BB before there is a program for documents Called Documents to GO by DataViz. If you the program on BB the desktop is free and all you need to do is pay about $15 to get the phone version. I would be lost without DTG. You are limited by Google in the amount that you can upload and download at any given time.

However, now with the new Google sync app you can sync your Outlook with Google and it shows up on your phone as color coded. Via the sync on your computer. Yes you do have to make a few changes between the two. However with Google you can set up reminders in many forms pop-up, e-mail and SMS. You can set up as many as you like for each event and in different time lengths.
 
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1) With using the calendar do the color coded events show as color coded in Android and Hotmail?
No. Color-coded "categories" in your Outlook/Hotmail account do not get transferred to the Android phone.

FYI: If you have multiple calendar accounts on Android and you choose to merge the view of those calendar accounts, then the appointments for each account will be color coded by account.

2) I know that we have to create a new PST folder for Hotmail and contacts which is not a big problem.
Not exactly. When you create a Hotmail account, an OST file will be created. OST files are the Exchange-Server synchronized counterpart to PST files. You can export OST files to PST files and vice-versa. The nice thing about OST files is that they're ALWAYS backed up to Hotmail's geographically redundant servers, so your contact & calendar data is always backed up. If your PC and phone gets stolen, you can just buy new ones, enter your Hotmail login credentials, and your data magically appears.
3) With the Hotmail sync if you change it on the phone does it change it without syncing on your Hotmail account? (Google does not)
I don't understand what you're asking. With Hotmail sync, if you set Android/Active Sync for your Hotmail account to "push", then if you make a contact/calendar/email change on your phone, it automatically syncs with the Hotmail server immediately. From the PC side, Outlook syncs with the Hotmail server (and then down to the phone) whenever you do a Send/Receive (F9). I have my Outlook Send/Receive Setting set to automatically send/receive every 5 minutes.

4) Is there a limited number of calendar events you can have on Hotmail?
If there is a limit, I'm not aware of it. I have hundreds of events, including recurring events.
 
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Nice work RazzMaTazz and thank you for managing this thread.
I just picked up a Samsung Galaxy S II; I really like the phone the however, I had no idea the magnitude of the issues with Outlook. I have been spoiled with the ease and simplicity of the Iphone sync (although I really don't like the phone or Apples proprietary philosophy towards their products (I guess MS and Google are playing somewhat the same game). I think you have the best approach to syncing with Outlook. I am curious how this approach deals with past email history and what the email limitations are. I keep practically everything (to a fault); I find I have to go back it time and find certain emails so I delete nothing. With my Iphone I just set it to keep the last 60 days worth which worked fine for a mobile device (as I did not want to use up all its memory) and usually did not need anything old when on the go. On the Iphone I had a separate email account and just forwarded everything from my main email accounts. I guess I can still do it that way. I mainly want to sync calendar and contacts.
 
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I currently got it to work but my only issue is that I'm unable to edit contacts on my phone.

I'm using
  • Outlook 2010
  • HTC Desire on Android 2.2

I'm wondering if this is an HTC issue or a general issue.

Basically, when I try to edit a contact, none of the fields show up and it's all empty.

And if I try to create a new contact and select my @hotmail.com account it says, "Some contact fields maybe lost."

Has anyone else come across this issue?
 
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