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

OK, I HAD a really long post here, highlighting all the bizarre problems I had getting this to work... But, after blowing away the connector, downloading a different version, recreating the hotmail account, and fiddling around, it FINALLY started working. I have no idea what I did that got it working, but it's working.......

Problem 1: And it's not an Android problem or a sync problem, it's an Outlook problem! I'm using Outlook 2007, and when I create a contact or calendar entry I do it using the buttons below the folders. There are several (mail, calendar, contacts, tasks...). HOW do I get the contact and calendar buttons to point to the folders in the hotmail section instead of the Outlook section? I tried setting the data file to the .ost file, but it won't let me - it just says the data file for the hotmail account is "not available".

Thanks for this method. It'll help me be where I'm supposed to be when I'm supposed to be there!

Hi Razz, and thanks again for all your work on this.

Yeah, it's most likely just habit - back when I started using Office I'd spend the VAST majority of my time in email. Still do, probably 99% of the time. So, I just hit the mail button to get the convenient mail screen.

Occasionally, I need to put in a calendar appointment, so I'll hit the "Calendar" button and add it. When it's time for me to go, the reminder pops up and tells me... So, I rarely go into Calendar or Contacts.

So, when I hit the Calendar button, and then select a time and fill in the appointment, doesn't that get created in whatever the default place is? Which is presume is the Outlook calendar rather than the hotmail calendar.
I figured I'd need to make a change somewhere so when I hit the Calendar button and create an event it gets stored correctly. BUT, in further playing, I realized there's a list of all the calendars and I just needed to select the hotmail one. So, problem solved...

Now, I'm trying to get the same thing to work on my rooted Nook color/tablet. It wants a Domain/Username so I have to figure that out.

Hi,
because I didn't find an answer to my problem in german Android Forums, I will now try your comunity
I have a big problem with this Exchange Sync method and my Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab 10.1.
Loging in my hotmail account works great, and my phone syncs all calendar items and my contacts.
But if i change something in an existing contact or an calendar item, like the beginning time or the place, the changes I do on my phone never arrive in my hotmail calender.
Only new contacts or calender items are syncronised to hotmail one time, every further changes doesnt arrive there.
The other direction works fine, if I cange something in my hotmail calender/contacts, the changes are also visible on my phone.

Is there someone with the same Problem? Is there a solution for this problem existing?

many thanks,

Niggy

I am setting up a new Razr Droid Maxx tomorrow.

I had a razr droid and the counter person set it up and got it going, then I began to learn how messed up it was the way they set it up Gmail account etc

So I want to do this the simplest way to sync Outlook to the phone

I can reinstall Outlook and make any account my 1st account.
My concern is that the 1st account is forced to be a Pop not allowed to be a MAPI or IMAP. Not sure if this true but as I recall it doesn't give you an option on the 1st one. One account has to be POP with the DELETE Folder and Calendar etc.

So do I want to set it up with Hotmail as my initial account or some other account?

I plan to use a Gmail account as my main email account that I want to sync to my phone.
So should I make the Gmail account the 1st one in Outlook or does it also have to be MAPI to sync everything? I don't really need to use Gmail online so I don't need to sync with Google server for Gmail. Just my phone.

Or do I need a less used email account as my 1st account in Outlook as the Pop then add the Gmail and Hotmail accounts to make the phone sync work?

Which email account should be the main one I enter into the phone to set it up? The gmail or the hotmail account? The phone has to have a Google Account name to set up, is that the same as the Gmail account or just any name?

Currently my gmail account in Outlook is set up as a Mapi and I don't have a Hotmail account. So could I just set up the Hotmail account as an IMAP and leave all alone?

I wasn't real clear on why or how to copy the calendar and contacts over from the gmail account in Outlook to the new Hotmail account since all email accounts in Outlook now seem to show up the same on the calendar and contacts regardless which accounts have checks next to them. The view is the same.
So don't all events go into the Personal Folders Calendar of the 1st account and all contact go in there also regardless which email account is selected as default?
Or is that just because I have the personal folders selected as the default data file since it was the 1st setup when I installed Outlook?

You cannot change the default data file. So I am not sure how I would change the default file to a new Hotmail account when I add it. I can change the email account default to hotmail, but how will that work since I do not want to receive emails into the hotmail account and will not be sending email from the hotmail account but will be using the gmail email account?

Hope this is not all too confusing. Perhaps just an explanation starting from scratch, an ideal setup would be useful here.

Seems like best would be to use hotmail as your main email and then it would be a smooth process.
Thanks

With quite a bit of work figured it all out.

1. I set downloaded and installed the Outlook Connector for Hotmail then it asked for the hotmail account info, Great

2. I set the hotmail account as the default data fine but left my Gmail account as the default for email
I wasn't sure where the email would come into but it comes and goes out of Gmail. Love it And the other items you mention above go to the Hotmail calendar Perfect

3. On my phone I installed hotmail account after downloading app Great

4. I set my Gmail to only sync email and not calendars and contacts

5. I set the hotmail to sync the calendar and contacts and not email.

6. I tried to copy the calendar but it would not copy into my new hotmail calendar so I had to make a new calendar.

7. I copied the contacts and tasks and notes over to the hotmail folders had a little trouble with the contacts copying in. Found I had to put them in from phone list and click in the right spot in the window for it to take. Not where it says click here to add new but nearby

8 then all seemed good after a long delay to sync. Had trouble figuring out how to force a sync. But on the phone in account for hotmail then account settings and sync methods I set it for push. Later I found a button at the bottom you have to press the menu pop up to see it that says sync to sync now. There is nothing on the hotmail website.

9. all going well but I had 3 of every appointment on my calendar. I turned of birthdays calendar and Phone calendar and and later saw I had to turn off the personal folder calendar because it was syncing from gmail. And I had the copy calendar which after bringing both of them up at the same time, they copied over to the main undeletable calendar in hotmail. Cool, tried for ever to get that to happen.
Then learned to click the check box on the hotmail website for the calendar I want to sync and work on live
Then turned off all other calendars. But then lost lots of data and all upcoming meetings in the calendar on the Droid.
So I did a refresh in the hotmail account settings and clear all the calendar and reloaded all appointments which got rid of duplicates and loaded fine, but so far still not upcoming meetings show up in the scroll page of the calendar as it is an icon on the phone.

So that is the only thing not working yet. I went back and set the phone to sync by push because I had changed it to manual after the refresh.

So the push should load new events. I will see. Maybe only newly added from now on.. Not sure how to get upcoming meetings to show again. May have to reinstall. ??

Anyway doing well after a day of work. Hope this detail is helpful for others who try this. I will soon delete my second calendar and hope the copied info stays on the static one.

Not sure how they synced, I think it was in hotmail online I checked both boxes at the same time or it was in Outlook when I showed both calendars at the same time and then they coped. I did both at near same time when I saw it populate the My Calendar finally.

Also have an error message because my verizon backup assistant hasn't installed right as I forgot the logon password there so it gives and error icon on the top of screen. I called tech support they said with what I was doing I didn't want to backup anyway, so they dod nto reset it or fix it. I will go into a store and get someone to.

And then there is how to get rid of Motocast off my computer. Ugghh

Also is it only a one way sync. That if you make changes to contacts or calendar on the phone it will not send the changes back to hotmail on the web or into outlook? That is what seems to be happening. All changes must be made online hotmail or in outlook. Another Caveat.

It works for me w/o any problem. Any calendar event and/or contact that I create in Outlook/online Hotmail/Android phone, automatically syncs to all other platforms!

One problem is I have several long Distribution lists in Outlook Contacts. I have to remove them because Hotmail instead of just ignoring them, it opens them up and makes each email address a new contact then sends all of them to the phone also. Fortunately when I delete the dist files it also deleted them from hotmail and the phone. So it is clean again but I have to keep a second contact list in under another non hotmail email address list with my distribution lists. Then I have to open a second contact list to search for the one I want to send to in an email.
Not sure if Hotmail sends to all in the list anyway when I do it.

Love the rest of how it works.

That may be it, not always do I have the opportunity to save under hotmail. Some don't let me. They are google contacts and some hotmail contacts only let me see a name and no place to add an email or phone number so I have to enter it in outlook.



Now just need a way to sync tasks and notes.

Yes I got a call. When done I went to recent calls selected the number. It gives me options to call or text or add contact. So I select add contact, then I create new and it only allows me to select a new hotmail contact and that only shows name and doesn't enter the number

Then I go back select the number again, and select add to contacts and I select her contact name and it won't add it.
So then I go to Outlook fine her new contact with no number that synced, I add her number in there and then after a while it finally syncs the number into her contact on the phone.

So why can't I add a new phone number that comes on a call t my phone into an existing contact or make a new hotmail contact and add it?

Razz..Thank you for the post. I'm learning a lot the more I read.

Two questions:

1) My companies IT group are real security freaks. Are there Outlook settings or things they can do that will not allow the Hotmail connector to function properly?

2) If all I am concerned about is e-mail would syncing with gmail be easier? I thought I saw you say this several times during my research on this post.

Wellthmentor said:

Yes I got a call. When done I went to recent calls selected the number. It gives me options to call or text or add contact. So I select add contact, then I create new and it only allows me to select a new hotmail contact and that only shows name and doesn't enter the number

Then I go back select the number again, and select add to contacts and I select her contact name and it won't add it.
So then I go to Outlook fine her new contact with no number that synced, I add her number in there and then after a while it finally syncs the number into her contact on the phone.

So why can't I add a new phone number that comes on a call t my phone into an existing contact or make a new hotmail contact and add it?

Click to expand...

It depends on which phone you are using. I am on HTC Sensation. When I get a call and want to add that number to Contacts, I press and hold the number and then select

I am not using Exchange, just Hotmail Connector.

So far I have been told that Hotmail absolutely will not sync from phone to hotmail or Outlook Contacts. It is one way only. This is what I have found. There is not even a place to enter a phone or email in the contacts for hotmail on the phone.

I have Google sync for contacts unchecked. So any time I go to create aa contact or add one, there is no choice except hotmail. So contacts I set up on the phone only accept a name input and do not sync.

I have to do them in Outlook then contacts sync up with the Droid.

I have Google sync for contacts unchecked. This may be the reason I only get Hotmail as a choice to add contacts to.

Can I turn on google sync for contacts and hotmail sync both at the same time? Or will I get 2 of all contacts in my name list?

I don't mind having two contacts pop up in one name, like a hotmail account and Gmail account and skype account, but I don't want the name twice in the contact list.
Thanks

Has anyone tried this one. Sounds Great
If it works I can get rid of this stupid hotmail and go back to using google that doesn't prevent me having Distribution lists and this will sync everything else in Outlook and gives you a notes program that isn't on the droid.

Currently only $9.99 for one PC to droids and sync both ways

Wellthmentor said:

I am not using Exchange, just Hotmail Connector.

Click to expand...

I am also not using exchange, just Hotmail Connector.
However, when I set up the mail account on my phone, I set it as if it was Exchange (MAPI). On my HTC Sensation it is easy to set up. When I go to "new email account", the next screen shows various options such as "

Wellthmentor said:

Has anyone tried this one.

Click to expand...

What do you mean by "this one"?

Hi everyone, I am in the process of trying to set up this synching for my bosses phone. When you add the hotmail account onto outlook, do you do it by going to tools/email accounts/add email, or do you click on outlook connector/add new account? We have Outlook 2003. Corporate email is POP.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Well now that I have some experience with different tools to sync Droid and Outlook I can tell you I don't like using Hotmail. And I don't like using the Hotmail Connector that I can't find a way to disable to stop the syncing when it gets weird and I need to clean up. And I hate that I can't enter info into the phone and have it sync back up to hotmail or outlook. That is terrible.
I can switch the settings from use hotmail for storage of contact info to Google but I am not sure that was syncing new items entered on the phone either because hotmail won't sync that direction.
I have not tried setting accounts to allow syncing both Gmail and hotmail at the same time yet. Concerned I would get too many more duplicates.

So I have gone back to Google Contacts and let it sync to the droid and just do a sync to outlook by import export of csv files. You just have to remember which you entered last, on the phone and google or outlook and transfer that direction.
Until I decide which of the Sync programs I will by which will also sync not only calendar and contacts but also notes and tasks.
I have looked at several and each have their weaknesses. Some won't sync without Bluetooth, some require a USB cable some will do wireless as soon as you get home but their calendar in month view doesn't show words only a triangle or bar to indicates something on the calendar that you have to use with their sync program.
So I still haven't found a great solution with out Exchange. But I like the Calendar where you can read the appointments on it in month view without opening a day. I have suggested to one company that they improve their calendar like others you can get free that use colors and words in month view.