outlook vs palm desktop

L

Leekduck

New member
recently my computer trashed.
i went to the old computer (where i backed up addresses and all a few months ago with old palm to outlook) and reinstalled the palm desktop.
i was hoping that the t3 would overwrite the outlook on the old computer (i set the hotsync to palm overwrites desktop) but instead it duplicated all the changed addresses and really screwed up my appointments. it was a mess. i lost a whole bunch of phones. i am thinking that the way to go is by using the palm desktop only since you are only dealing with one companys software and not having to worry about an outlook conduit.
any thoughts on outlook vs palm desktop backups
eduard
 
The problem is not Outlook vs. the Palm Desktop. The problem is not keeping backup files. If you had backed up Outlook to a CD, you could have restored your Outlook file and then synced normally.

That being said, there's no way that a handheld overwriting the desktop sync could have ever produced duplicate records unless they were already on your Palm. I do know that the Palm Outlook conduits do not as good a job syncing as Pocket Mirror did but it should not have caused the problem you describe.
 
If your old computer was sync'd to a non-T3 Palm then there is a way that the duplicates could have occurred. Outlook has to have a PalmPilot Category in it regardless of how it's syncing (whether it's Pocket Mirror or Palm's T3 conduit) it will "duplicate" if this category is not present.

What I'd suggest, go into Outlook and change the contacts view from Address to Category or Phone List. Then be certain to add the PalmPilot Category to this view and sort on it inside of Outlook.

You can then delete the duplicates that are listed in the PalmPilot category as None. Play around inside of this Phone List view a little and you'll see what I mean.

Once you've deleted the non PalmPilot category contacts you should then sync with Outlook overwrites handheld option set. Be certain though that you don't have any Contacts on the Handheld that are in the "unfiled" category....unfiled on the handheld will result in a non category on the PC.

If your a little squismish about this procedure you can always make a back up copy of your Outlook Address Book by exporting to Excel or CSV.

This is the way the I've found to also quickly move tons of contacts from one category to another.....using the Windows Drag and Lose function while viewing the address listing in this Phone List format. It's not good for anything else but does make data manipulation quick and easy because it looks just like Excel in this mode.
 
The two gents above know worlds more than I do about Outlook; on the other hand there's no bigger "backup" fan than me and I PREFER THE PALM DESKTOP, especially if all your "figuring" is on the handheld and you rarely use the PC other than to enter some new addresses. Burn a CD (aggregate, preferably with Nero) as often as you can - certainly once per week - and include the Palm Backup and Archive Folder and Address, Datebook, et cetera. Also use a CardBackup Utility just in case.

I prefer Palm Desktop hands down. It is simple, straightforward, pretty goof proof and after reading the DOZENS of Outlook Nightmares on this forum, I would say you've got the right idea - stick with the Palm Desktop. At least you're hotsynced to the PC and backed up with a pretty nice PC display, and you know where your stuff is.
 
You can also consider using a memory card. They have simialr write tomes but are reuable and better for the environment! :)
 
the whole reason i chose outlook is to have standard way to store and as per most msoft products, things did not go as planned.

i DID have backups to the card - it went corrupt. be careful with the cards - they are definitely not as stable as one would like. i have a lexar 512.

i also did a regular backup but that is on the machine that is dead and i will have to fix.

as per outlook duplicates - i set the mode for my first hotsync as palm overrides outlook and there were definitely duplicates.

also - i got some real strange effects on the scheduler - my repeating appointments all got shifted an hour up - !!! - could be confusion with daylight savings. and some of my appointments got duplicated up a day. very weird. anyway what i will do after i attempt to fix the contacts mess is this - i will switch to palm desktop. the thinking is this - at least the two pieces of the soft (hotsync and palm top) are designed for each other. the conduit is always trying to keep up on the latest version of outlook software and i could see problems. since this was the only thing i used outlook for, it should not be a problem.

will update when all fixed
 
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