Syncing PDAs and Missing Appointments

We've had a lot of people complaining that a range of old appointments are missing from the calendar. If all old appointments go missing AutoArchive is the most likely culprit, but these users still have their older appointments while several weeks of more recent appointments are missing. AutoArchive doesn't skip appointments like that so we know it’s not an archive problem.

The cause is syncing with a new handheld device. Typically, sync software defaults to syncing current appointments and delete appointments older than a few weeks to conserve space. When appointments are deleted from the handheld, the sync process deletes them from Outlook too. So after a few weeks of use, appointments are deleted from the handheld to free up space and then from Outlook on the next sync.

The solution: Set the handheld to keep appointments forever. If you need to free up space on the device, use AutoArchiving in Outlook to remove appointments from Outlook. When you archive them, the next sync will remove them from your handheld.

Always, always back up your contacts and calendar when you get a new handheld and start syncing with Outlook. We see too many reports of disappearing appointments and contacts when users start syncing with a new device, even from people who are family with syncing. It's too easy to forget to change a setting and lose everything or end up with duplicates. Fortunately, there are a number of duplicate removers for Outlook, including the Duplicate Eliminator utilities from Sperry Software. See Duplicate Remover Tools for Microsoft Outlook for additional options.

Exchange Quick Tip: OWA Lite & Accessibility Setting

A reader recently asked "We're using Exchange 2007 and one of our users always gets OWA Lite. He's using IE and the checkbox for OWA Lite is not checked. Any suggestions?"

OWA has an accessibility option users can enable to force OWA Lite. It sounds like your user enabled this setting at some point then promptly forgot about it. He can change it the next time he's logged into OWA by going to Options, General Settings, Accessibility and removing the check from "Use the blind and low vision experience".

Outlook Quick Tip: Macro Security and OneCare

If you use Microsoft's OneCare you are prevented from using the No Security check macro setting. If you choose this option (which is not recommended), OneCare will reset it so that all unsigned macros are disabled. Either sign the macros with SelfCert or choose the option "Warning for all macros".

Daylight time FAQ

I thought by now most of the problems associated with the change in the start of daylight time would be gone and we’d see just the usual problems associated caused by changing time zones. Unfortunately, based on questions I'm getting, there are still a lot of users aren't using the correct time zones.

In order to avoid problems when DST kicks in (or ends) make sure the computer is using the most recent time zone and daylight time definitions. You can do this from Windows Update.

If you have the time zone correct and you're seeing "bugs" with the time, it may be a temporary problem due to limitations with the weekly view and the dual time zone display. When you use dual time zones in Outlook and the default zone is west of the secondary zone, an extra hour is added to the time offset for the Sunday DST goes into effect. If you view multiple dates and begin with that Sunday, the (incorrect) offset is used so it appears Outlook has the times wrong. See http://www.slipstick.com/calendar/dst_week.asp

Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst

2007 time zone update for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928388 

There is a newly released KB article for Outlook 2003 concerning a DST issue:
The duration of an appointment changes from one hour to two hours unexpectedly when the appointment occurs at the same time as the DST transition
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967630