Syncing with Outhouse

NM. I figured out hpc notes and I'm happy.

I also discovered I *can* enter new data on my PPC, sync to my desktop, then sync back to my hpc without corrupting anything.

So...I guess my desktop will be my master PIM store then. Now, is there some backup option in Outhouse to backup all my PIM info? I didn't see one. Am I stuck ghosting the whole C: drive to backup my PIM?

Sorry for all the questions but if it helps one user besides me it's been worth it.

edit: My state of mind after getting all this to work.



Edited by wallythacker 2005-08-18 5:52 PM

You really hate Microsoft products, eh?

You can export a nice complete backup (or only certain items like your inbox and contacts) by going File->Import and Export.

I prefer to export to a file, then to Personal Folder File (.pst). It's only openable through Outlook, but stores EVERYTHING perfectly for when you need to restore it.

No need for import/export. Get the Outlook Personal Folder Backup addon from:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=8b081f3a-b7d0-4b16-b8af-5a6322f4fd01&displaylang=en

Puts a little Backup option on the File list, and allows you to specify where you want it backed up and how often it bugs you to do it.

I use it as part of an automated backup system for a medium sized network I admin. Restoring it is almost as easy. You can either import the info from in it, or you can just replace the outlook.pst file in your %Homepath%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\ directory.

Hope that helps,
J

Edited by jigab00 2005-08-21 2:32 AM

Funny enough, I don't hate their OS , it works fine for me. It's their business practices I'm not too keen on.

Thanks for the tips guys. There's another 40 winks of sound sleep I can get each night.

But.....When I sync with my first hpc (loaded with PIM) all seems OK, Then I sync with hpc b (empty of PIM) and when finsished neither the hpc or desktp has my PIM info. It all got erased.

What settiing do I alter on the deskto to stop this nonsense?

Edited by wallythacker 2005-08-21 3:34 AM

I'm still playing musical PIM here, trashing more than I sync

So, I start with my PIM data on my 6651. Now I want to sync with my desktop. Which of the 3 choices do I make, replace data on the pc, replace data on the hpc, or do nothing?

I *think* I chose replace the data on the pc seeing as it had nothing to begin with. So, am I right to this point?

The first thing to do would be to get all of the data from whicever device is the most up-to-date and to get that into Outlook's PST file.
Once you have the data down in the PST, back it up.

Then just for the first sync consider the PST to be the master file. Overwrite EVERYTHING on all three PDA's from the PST.
If you are telling each device to be the 'master' during sync, you will never get any of the three H/PCs in sync as it is being told the next time it connects that the entire PST database has changed, it's heavily out of date and should be ashamed of itself!

For the Initial sync, you want to replace data on the desktop. I still advise you to do this one 'PIM item' at a time, not all at once.

Thanks, I was almost on the right track. It makes sense the desktop will eventually be the master. I guess once I'm all said and done I'll always be pulling from the desktop for each ce device.

You suggest doing contacts, tasks and calendar as seperate jobs for each machine? Good tip , I'll use that too.

You know, I can see the usefullness of AS and Outhouse after all. Long ago I used Schedule + which either lost or duplicated eveytihng. But those were pre-ghost days when 95 would blue screen just for fun and trash everything.

I hope that POS, if I keep the SL4 on .net, will play nice with my setup. I *don't* want another sync program added to the mix.

Yes one at a time is certainly advised the first time, just take things slowly with it so you can spot errors and reduce hair loss.

I always avoided using Schedule +
Before I migrated to Outlook itself for my main activities, I had it installed on a 486 that sites in a corner and docked on the odd occasion. Eventually I took the plunge and started installing Outlook with MS Office.

It is a robust application, but they are fools to themselves (and I told them as such repeatedly on the MS Office 2003 beta - as did many others). There is functionality in Outlook Express that out strips that on Outlook, or even doesn't exist in Outlook! (Newsgroups, more customisable UI, less clutter for example)

Ah well, I'm used to it now though.

Ok, this poor SOB (me) is incredibly frustrated. I start with no PIM info on the desktop.

1. I load my 6651 PIM from a phatware dbexplorer file. This works fine.

2. I sync my 6651 with the desktop using the replace all data on the desktop. This works fine.

3. I sync my Casio to the desktop and all is fine. All 3 units are in sync as I can see.

4. I hard reset my 6651 and reload from a backup file with a partnership, but no PIM data.

5. I sync my 6651 with the desktop using replace all data on the hpc with desktop data.

6. There is ZERO PIM data on the 6651 and the desktop when I'm done. WTH?

7. I try syncing my Casio to the desktop using the replace all data on the desktop option.

8. Now all three units; desktop, 6651 and the Casio are devoid of PIM data.

All of this is done over ethernet.

It must be seeing the blank PIM databases on the restored H/PC with they newer file dates as the master client. As an experiment get the data down onto the PST file, hard reset the H/PC but don't restore from backup.

What you need to do is then backup just the system databases on the device, restore your ain bakup and then restore just the PIM databases. Now on older hp devices there is a utility in the control panel which does that... how to do it on a 6651... humm

FWIW, I looked at the deleted items on the desktop and everything prior to syncing with the restored 6651 was there, but of course, deleted during the so called sync.

If I restore my .pst file on the desktop , then try to sync with the empty 6651 again, it works. It also works if I restore my 6651 PIM from the phat dbexplorer file then sync to the desktop. With another machine coming (SL4) I need this syncing stuff bugfree. If I grab a machine for a trip I want to make sure if I sync it will have the newest complete data and not erase my desktop PIM.

But both those choices stink. I don't want to maintain a seperate PIM file in phat dbexplorer form.

I'm not sure what you're suggesting to try. Hard reset my 6651 then???
Try to sync it to the desktop before I restore it from a backup? I won't have any partnership info on my 6651 so it won't sync over ethernet.

Partnership information on the H/PC is just a registry setting. I wrote a CESD on it to go with my latest editorial. Have a read and grab a registry editor.

I did the manual partnership backup for all my ce stuff.

I just synced again after adding a couple new tasks and once more, all the PIM data on both my hpc and desktop was erased. So I give up.

I always find the bug that's never been discovered. If I can't get Outhouse to sync reliably with one machine it's hopeless to think I can properly sync with 3 machines.

Maybe Pocket on schedule will work better than this Outhouse crap. It can't be any worse.

Wally, I can assure you that this is just down to sequencing and partnership data.
I sync 7 H/PCs with one Outlook PST and do not suffer data loss.

The difference is that I started with the PST, then created new partnerships and inevitably everything eventually saw a full hard reset (with no restore operation as I don't use backup images).

If any of your backup images have been used manually at any time to enter PIM data, this is where the issue is coming from. As I said above, if you can restore blank PIM databases some how to the system, the problem will go away.