Outlook Express/Hotmail Contacts Synchronization keeps trashing my local address book
Spaceman Spiff
I have an Windows address book with 235 entries in it. Every time I try to
synchronize it with my Hotmail address book, the process results in all but
67 entries being deleted from my local address book, Thank God I have that
sucker backed up onto a separate WAB file.
So, I tell myself, OK, it is synchronizing the "wrong" way, and it is up to
me to outsmart it. It is taking the old records I had previously placed in
the Hotmail address book, and allowing those to supersede the new entries
that I made to my Windows address book, thereby trashing all of them! All of
this without a single user prompt! Nice product, this Outlook Express. I
keep repeating to myself: "It's free!"
OK, so I think maybe I should go back to square one, zero records, and start
from scratch. I did this three different ways, with equally crummy results:
1.) If I delete all the records from my Hotmail address book, and then
synchronize again, I can get the remaining 67 records to disappear as well.
At that point, I have no entries in either address book (Windows or
Hotmail). Then, I can import the whole 235 record load from the backup WAB
file into the Windows address book, and synchronize again. Sure enough, a
bunch of records get uploaded to the Hotmail account at this point, but
nowhere near 235 records. How many? 67, of course. And as you have probably
guessed, 67 is also how many records out of 235 remain in the local address
book as well.
2.) I can produce the identical frustrating result if I delete all the
records from my Windows address book first. Upon synchronizing with Hotmail,
zero records are left in both address books. Then, after importing 235
records into my Windows address book and synchronizing again, I get my 67
records back -- but no more than 67!
3.) I can also produce the same frustrating result by going into each
address book and manually deleting all records before importing the WAB file
into the Windows address book and resychronizing. I get back 67 records,
every time.
By the way, the 67 records that I can get back are always the same 67, and
all of them are ones that I recently created. I'm beginning to think that
when I import my 235 records into the Windows address book, I am unwittingly
importing some synchronization data with them. I am likewise suspicious that
the Hotmail server is remembering synchronization data from the records it
had deleted, and that between the two, they are conspiring to drive me
crazy. It's a short drive, believe me.
Can any of you shed some light on what is happening to me? Also, is it
possible for me to dispense with this synchronization utility entirely, and
simply import the WAB file or a CSV (comma delimited text) file directly
into the Hotmail address book?
Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.
Regards,
Spaceman Spiff
Running:
Pentium III, 600 MHz, 128 MB RAM
Windows 98 Second Edition v. 4.10.2222 A
Outlook Express v. 5.50.4522.1200