"How can I keep my Outlook contacts in sync with Gmail contacts?"
If you want to sync Outlook contacts with Gmail contacts, there are two ways you can do it. You can do it the hard way, where you export your contacts from Outlook and then import them into Gmail. Or you can sync Outlook contacts the easy way by using software to keep the two contact lists automatically up-to-date.
"Is it possible to redirect emails from Outlook 2003 to be received in Gmail or Hotmail?"
You can redirect email from any version of Outlook to Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail or any other online service. In most cases, you can also respond with the from address you normally use in Outlook, making it appear as though you were responding from your desk. To make the redirect from Outlook to your favorite email service provider, you need to make a few configuration changes for it to work smoothly.
"How can I remove duplicate calendar entries from Outlook?"
For some reason Microsoft never included a true duplicate removal tool for Outlook, so you have to use an alternate strategy, which involves either a whole bunch of clicking and deleting or an export process to clean up duplicates with additional software. Unless you have hundreds of duplicate items, it's generally easier to go the first route, which is simply to delete calendar events in a slightly manual way. You can get some additional help from the Find tool in Outlook.
"I have outlook 2007. It runs an automatic pst backup. When it does, my computer slows down. Can you turn off the back up from Outlook?"
Outlook doesn't have an automatic backup feature built-in, at least not what I'd call a backup. If you back something up, you are making a copy of your data. The copy can be used to recover data if the original becomes corrupted or fails. Outlook does have a feature call AutoArchive, which is turned on by default. AutoArchive moves email messages from the Outlook PST file to an Archive PST file based on how old the email messages are. If you want to turn off AutoArchive, the steps are fairly straightforward.
My Outlook PST file is corrupt. I tried using scanpst.exe like you suggested, but I still can't recover my Outlook email. What other options do I have? I really need my email.
SCANPST.EXE is usually a viable solution. I'm assuming since you're writing that you don't have a backup of your Outlook data. Before you read any further, promise me that you'll commit to backing up your Outlook data in the future. Here's a fairly simple free way to backup Outlook automatically. If you prefer the lazy backup method, download True Image and automate your backup that way. Either way, start backing up today, so you do waste time attempting to fix your data problems when they happen in the future. On to the solution...
"I read your tutorial on how to sync Outlook Calendar and Contacts with Gmail and the T-Mobile G1, but you didn't cover syncing your Outlook mail with Gmail. I've got about 50 folders and 5 years of mail in Outlook. How do I get all that old mail into Gmail and keep both in Outlook and Gmail in sync?"
I didn't originally cover how to keep Gmail and my G1 in sync because at first I was attempting to continue using Outlook as a POP3 email client, while also accessing my mail from the Gmail Web interface and from my G1. This was a horrible idea from a time management perspective. Outlook treated all messages downloaded from Gmail as new mail, even if I'd already read it online or on my phone. The solution takes a couple of steps that require an initial upfront investment of time, that pays huge dividends later.
"How can I sync my T-Mobile G1 Google Android phone with my Outlook contacts and calendar automatically?"
Knowing that Google provides a great free solution for syncing Outlook with Google Calendar automatically, I was extremely hopeful they had finally offered a solid solution for managing contacts between Outlook and Gmail. So far, Google's only automatic solution involves syncing Outlook with iTunes, which is great if you have an iPhone, but kind of inconvenient for an Android phone, especially since you need an iPod for it to work. After trying several of the free solutions, including GCalDaemon, which acts as a local server for your contacts, I concluded I'd rather pay for the reliability of an app I'd recommended in the past, CompanionLink.
"I am trying to install Google Calendar Sync, but when it begins to install, a message pops up that I must close Outlook first. I do not have Outlook open. Any suggestions?"
There are many instances where you will have closed the Outlook application window without Outlook actually being closed. I'm not sure if this is a problem with Outlook or a feature designed to make it load faster when you re-open it later, but I find it frustrating on a regular basis. Some manual intervention is required to fix the problem.
The solution is to open Windows Task Manager and end the Outlook.exe process before doing whatever you need to do without Outlook getting in the way. To end the Outlook process, open the task manager by holding down Ctrl+Shift+Esc. You can also get there using Ctrl+Alt+Del on your keyboard and clicking Start Task Manager.
On the Processes tab, locate Outlook.exe, select it by clicking on it, and then click the End Process button. Once you've done this, you can proceed without being warned that Outlook is still open.
"Every time someone in my Outlook contacts list changes jobs or gets a new phone number I have to make changes to my contacts. In some cases, I lose track of contacts because they didn't let me know they changed career paths. Is there any tool to I can use to update my contacts automatically?"
Unless you're telepathic, you'll have a hard time keeping up with anyone who doesn't tell you when their contact information changes. Those people who drop off your radar can be hard to track down later, although occasionally you can find them via sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and MySpace. While it won't cover 100% of your contacts, Plaxo is the free solution I use to keep up with the changes in my own contacts list. Plaxo has an add-on for Outlook, Outlook Express, Thunderbird, and Mac Address Book, making it a viable solution for almost any personal information manager.
For each contact you have who also maintains a free Plaxo account, you get automatic updates anytime they change their address, job title, email or phone numbers. Of the hundreds of people in my own contacts list, about 30% of them use Plaxo. These also seem to be the most active members of my contacts list, so maybe there's a connection between frequent change and the use of Plaxo.
To automate your contact updates, first go get a free Plaxo account. You may be surprised how many of your contacts are also using Plaxo. Once you've signed up, you can optionally contact those contacts in your address book who aren't currently using Plaxo and attempt to convince them to sign up. Keep in mind that many people won't accept - as I've mentioned in the past, it took me years to sign up for Plaxo. Now I'm a convert.
Automatic sync between Google Calendar and Outlook is one of the more popular things I've ever written about. Previous solutions ranged from a clumsy add-on for Outlook called RemoteCalendars and a handful of solutions that cost money. As of today, Google officially supports calendar sync with Outlook using their very own Google Calendar Sync freeware app. You need both Outlook and a free Google Apps account to use the app, but I'm highly impressed with the simplicity and speed of the official Google product. I downloaded the app and had complete sync of all my Outlook items within under 10 minutes. I'm currently defaulting to the 120 minute update timeframe, but you can update more frequently if your calendar changes more often. If you're a Plaxo user, you'll also now get a convenient way to get from Google Calendar to Plaxo by way of Outlook. [Windows XP/Vista $0.00]
"Came across your MediaBlab while searching for an Outlook to AOL calendar sync tool. Do you know of such a product? any info you have would be appreciated."
If you have a Blackberry or Palm OS device, you can set up something approximating an automatic sync of your AOL calendar and Outlook Calendar by passing data through your mobile device. If you don't have one of these two phone types, your options are limited to exporting calendar data from AOL or exporting calendar data from Outlook. You then import calendar data to Outlook or import calendar data to AOL, depending on where you exported the data from. Here's how both of these options work:
"How can I export my Outlook 2007 Calendar as an iCal file?"
Outlook 2007 makes publishing an iCal file a little confusing because the option isn't part of the Import and Export options. Instead of using the Import and Export wizard in Outlook, you need to be in the Calendar view and File > Save As.
By default, the Save As will export your calendar as an iCalendar .ics file of the current day.
Clicking the More Options button allows you to save as much of your calendar as you want to export as an iCalendar.
My big complaint about Google Calendar was lack of support for easily syncing calendar data with my smartphone. I use Outlook for my personal information management because it's still the only thing that puts all my data in one place the way I want it. Google Calendar's iCal export made manual syncing with Outlook possible, but I want to get all my calendar data from my computer to my phone automatically. There have been several third party solutions that attempt to address this with varying levels of success. Just recently, Google released Google Calendar Sync, completely addressing the automatic sync between Outlook and Google Calendar. Google still hasn't addressed automatic sync of Contacts with Gmail and Outlook. For that you need CompanionLink.
