pocketprimer.com
from my pocket to yours . . .

from my pocket

How to Cancel a Zune Pass

On your desktop computer, open up your browser and go to Zune.net and sign in to your account.

Click on the down arrow just under your Zune Tag (and avatar), select "My Account"

Zune My Account

Click the "Manage Zune Music Pass" button

Zune My Account1

Select the "cancel subscription or free trial" option, then click the "Next" button and proceed through any remaining prompts as directed.

Zune My Account2

Did you enjoy this Post? Subscribe to From My Pocket

Technorati Tags:

Here’s an easy way to print files you create on your Windows Phone

Currently, there are only a very limited number of ways to print files that are created on a windows phone 7 device.  Many of the options only provide a way to print photographs that were clicked form a windows phone, while others provide some kind of subscription based service where you upload or email a document to the service and the service sends the file to a networked printer.

I recently read a really great article, called "Print Files from any Mobile Phone using Dropbox" on the digital inspiration blog.  I tweeted a link to it, but then I thought I'd modify some of the steps that are laid out in the article to clarify how you'd use this method with a windows phone.

Step 1: If you don't already have a Dropbox account, go sign up for one and install the Dropbox software on the computer that is connected (either by wired or network connection) to a printer.

Step 2: Download the ePrint.zip file from digital inspiration's website.  Unzip the file and click on the eprint.vbs file. This will create a PrintQueue subfolder within the My Dropbox folder on your computer.

Step 3:  Email the files you want to print from your phone to your unique "sendtodropbox" email address.  If you haven't already connected the "send to dropbox" service up with your Dropbox account and gotten a unique email address, go to the "SendtoDropbox" website and do it now; then create a contact on your phone called "Dropbox" and input your unique email address into the email field. (The SendtoDropbox service provides you with a unique email address to use to send documents to your Dropbox account - emailed files will be automatically uploaded and stored in an Attachments folder). 

Step 4: Move the files that you want to print from the Attachments folder to the PrintQue folder in your online Dropbox account.  I'm using a third party application called BoxFiles for Dropbox on my phone to manage my online Dropbox files and this application makes it really easy to move or copy files from one folder to another:

  • Open up the BoxFiles for Dropbox app and find the file you want to share
  • Tap the icon to the left of the file name, then tap "Copy" or "Move" (see the fifth & sixth  options in the screenshot to the right)

 BoxFiles1_thumb BoxFiles2_thumb

If your computer is turned on the files will be synced from your online Dropbox account to your computer and the files in the PrintQue folder will be automatically queued up and printed on the local default printer that is connected to your computer.

Go over to digital inspiration's blog and read through the article there to watch a video and learn more about how the PrintQueue folder and the eprint.vbs file works.

Final Comments

Okay, I know you're not really printing files from your windows phone 7.you're actually printing files from your desktop computer, but the process sure makes it easy to download and print files that you create on your phone.  If you are away from your office, but leave your computer turned on, you could queue up files to print from your phone while you're on the go and then when you return to your office your printed files will be waiting for you in the printer tray. 

BTW, you can also use this method as a quick and easy way to print files while you're seated at your computer.just copy the files you want to print from any folder on your computer to the My Dropbox > PrintQueue folder.

Did you enjoy this Post? Subscribe to From My Pocket

Technorati Tags: , ,

Upload videos to YouTube from your Phone

One of the new features you get with the Mango update to Windows Phone 7 is a way to share videos with others directly from your phone via email or by sharing (uploading) videos to Facebook or SkyDrive.  This means you can now post videos to your YourTube account by emailing your videos to a unique YouTube email address!

Before you can upload videos to your YouTube account, you'll need find out what your unique email address is by logging on to your YouTube account from your desktop computer.  Click the down arrows just to the right of your user name (see the upper right hand corner of screenshot below) and click the "Settings" option.  Then click "Mobile Setup" under Account Settings to find the unique email address you can use to upload videos to your account.

YouTubeSettings3

Create a contact on your phone for YouTube and save your unique email address to it.  Now whenever you want to upload videos to YouTube from your mobile phone:

  • Tap the Pictures tile on the phone's start screen
  • Tap camera roll
  • Find and tap the video you want to share to open it up
  • Press & hold your finger on the video, then tap "share.."
  • Select an email account
  • Tap the + sign to the far right of the "To:" field and select your YouTube contact
  • Input a title in the Subject field of the email
  • Tap the Send icon.

Did you enjoy this Post? Subscribe to From My Pocket

Technorati Tags: , ,


Manage & Share PDF files from Windows Phone 7

A fundamental difference between the Windows Phone 7 operating system and its older Windows Mobile operating system cousin is the way files are handled on devices. Windows Phone 7 does not expose its file system to the end user, so there isn't a way for you to browse, sort or manage all the files that are stored on the phone from a single application.  Instead each application plays within it's own "sandbox," which means each application operates, in many respects, as a stand alone entity within the windows phone operating system infrastructure.  The application controls how users interact with its files. It is left to the application developer to provide options to users for retrieving, backing up, renaming, and organizing files and to provide ways for users to share its files via text message or email.

The Adobe Reader software that Adobe developed for Windows Phone 7 is missing some important options. The application does not provide a way to share PDF files that are stored on the phone with anyone else, nor is there a way to copy or back up PDF files from the phone to the web or to a computer.

PDF files can be moved into the Adobe Reader sandbox easily enough (via email, downloaded from websites, etc), but the application is tasked with moving data from its own sandbox once the data is stored in it.  Since the Adobe Reader application does not provide a "Send To" or "Share" feature, there is no way to email or share documents that are stored in its "sandbox" with any other service or device, so once a PDF is stored on a windows phone, there's no way to move it off the phone (unless you delete the file) or share the file with other users.  Until Adobe updates the Adobe Reader application to address this deficiency, I'm using a workaround I formulated to get around this limitation.

How I manage & share PDF Files from my Windows Phone

I share PDF files from my Windows Phone by storing PDF files in the cloud where I can easily download files to my phone or share my files from the phone.  The advantages of storing your PDF files (and other files) in the cloud are:

  • The files are available to you from any connected computer
  • The files are available to be downloaded to a new phone or a recently reset phone
  • You can share your [PDF] files with anyone else by emailing a link to them
  • The cloud is device and OS neutral.  Storing your data in the cloud makes it very easy to transition from one device to another without being locked into a particular operating system.

Of course you need to take the usual precautions when storing data in the cloud (maintain a strong password that you change from time to time; don't store really sensitive data in the cloud like bank account information, etc.).

For this article I evaluated several different cloud based services (Box.net; SugarSync, SkyDrive; and Dropbox) and decided Dropbox was the best choice.

Store PDF files on Dropbox

  1. Set up a Dropbox account:  If you don't already have one, go sign up for one right now.  Once you sign up with Dropbox, you'll download a client to your computer.  Then you can set up a folder (and related subfolders) to store the data that you want to automatically sync to Dropbox.
  2. Move the PDF files to a folder within the My Dropbox folder on your computer.  The files will be synced to your online My Dropbox account.

Download PDF files to your phone

You can use your phones mobile browser or a third party Dropbox application to download files to your phone. 

  1. Use the phone's mobile browser:  Open up Internet Explorer on the phone and navigate to the mobile Dropbox website (https://www.dropbox.com/m/). Log into the Dropbox, then navigate to the file you want to open on the phone, tap the file. The file will open in Adobe Reader and will be automatically stored in Adobe Reader documents listing.
  2. Third Party App: There are several good Dropbox apps in the WP7 Marketplace that you could use to download Dropbox files to your phone. (I'm currently using BoxFiles for Dropbox).

Forward emailed PDF files to Dropbox

If you receive an email on the phone that includes an attached PDF file, you can open the file on your phone and save it to the phone, but if you think you'll ever want to send the PDF file to anyone else, you can use your unique Dropbox email address to upload the PDF file to your Dropbox account.

  1. Sign up with the "SendtoDropbox" service.  SendtoDropbox provides you with a unique email address to send documents to your Dropbox account (emailed files will be automatically uploaded and stored in an Attachments folder). sendtodropbox
  2. Create a new contact on your phone called Dropbox that includes your unique SendtoDropbox email address
  3. Forward any emails that include PDF file attachments to your "sendtodropbox" email address by opening the email, tapping the respond icon on the lower edge of the screen, tap forward, and enter your unique sendtodropbox email address in the To: field.  The files will be uploaded to the Attachments folder of your Dropbox account, which will be synced to your computer and where the files will be available when you want to share them with others.

Share PDF files from your phone

With all your PDF files stored in the cloud, it's pretty easy to share them with others.  I prefer to use BoxFiles for Dropbox to share files from my phone since the Dropbox mobile website is not fully functional on windows phone 7 (the share option doesn't display).  To share a file,

  • Open up the BoxFiles for Dropbox app and find the file you want to share (the icon to the right of the file distinguishes PDF files from folders and other types of files - see the third file in the screenshot to the left)
  • Tap the icon to the left of the file name, then tap "Email link" (see the fourth option in the screenshot to the right)

 BoxFiles1 BoxFiles2

As an aside, this method should work on any mobile device and is not limited to just windows phone 7 devices.  If you have a different device that runs a different mobile operating system, you'll use a different third party application to manage and share Dropbox files than the one I use, but I believe there are similar Dropbox applications in the iPhone and Android Marketplaces.

Did you enjoy this Post? Subscribe to From My Pocket

Technorati Tags: , ,


Keep Track of Purchased & Downloaded Windows Phone Apps

The Zune desktop software helps you keep track of your purchased and downloaded windows phone applications.  To view the list of applications that you've installed to your Windows Phone, open up the Zune software on your computer and log into the Windows Live account you used when you purchased/downloaded the apps.  Then click SETTINGS (I've highlighted the SETTINGS option with a red rectangle in the screenshot below).

Zune Collection1

Then click ACCOUNT > Purchased History > Apps

Purchase History

Unfortunately, all applications you've ever installed to your phone shows up in the list, including trial apps you may no longer care about.  Also, there isn't a way to delete apps from the list, nor is there a way to force a manual reinstall of an App from this screen.

Did you enjoy this Post? Subscribe to From My Pocket

Technorati Tags: , ,


Posting to the blog from a Windows Phone 7

Diarist for Windows Phone 7 is now in the marketplace. I've used this application on my windows mobile phones and my pocket pcs and I'm glad to see that I can now use it on my windows phones. It's free and you can get it here: http://zune://navigate/?phoneappid=3ab0d3d2-5680-e011-986b-78e7d1fa76f8

How to restore contact pictures to your windows phone

If you've set up the Outlook Hotmail Connector to sync your contact and appointment data to your Windows Live account, and then sync this information to your windows phone, you've probably noticed that pictures that were included with your Outlook contacts did not sync to Windows Live.

Windows Live accommodates photos with contacts, but the only contacts you'll see in your Windows Live Contacts that have photos are your Live Messenger contacts who have posted a picture of themselves to their Windows Live account.

You'll need to manually restore the photographs to your contacts on the phone.

The easiest way to restore your contact pictures to your windows phone is to upload the pictures to your Windows Live account and then sync the pictures over to your phone.

Upload the Pictures to your Windows Live Account

  • Gather together all your contact photos and place them in a folder on your computer
  • Then, using Internet Explorer, login to your Windows Live account > go to Photos > Select the Mobile photos album > Create folder > input "Contact Photos" in the space provided (or whatever you prefer to call the album) > Next
  • Open up File Explorer in a new window on your computer, navigate to your contacts folder and select all the contacts. 
  • Drag all of the pictures to the "Drop photos here or select photos form your computer" box in Windows Live (the drag option will only work if you are using Internet Explorer)

Sync the Pictures to your Phone

  • On your phone, open up the Pictures hub > tap all >  now you'll see a "Contact pictures from Windows Live" album.  Open up the Contact pictures album and tap each picture to download it from your Windows Live account, then tap the three periods in the lower right hand corner of the screen and tap "Save to Phone"
  • Go to the people hub
  • Select a contact that you want to add a picture to and tap the pencil icon 
  • Tap "add photo" and then select the picture from your Saved Pictures.

When you sync your phone to Windows Live, the pictures will also sync to Windows Live.  You won't see the pictures there, but if you get another phone and sync to your Windows Live account, the pictures will be synced over to your new windows phone.

Did you enjoy this Post? Subscribe to From My Pocket

Use Windows Live to handle tasks on a Windows Phone

There is no task application on Windows Phone 7 and so there's no way to sync tasks from Outlook to WP7.  Windows Live includes a task option that is buried within the Calendar, but it is very limited and it doesn't sync either. 

I recently published an article that documents one method you could use to handle your tasks on a windows phone, which you can read here.  At the time I also mentioned another method that I was formulating.  This method is more complicated to set up, but is free and integrates nicely with Outlook and the phone's calendar. 

I've figured out a way to use Windows Live and Outlook to manage tasks.

Setup Windows Live to accommodate your Tasks

Create a new Windows Live account that is different from your primary Windows Live account.

Login to your new Windows Live account, select Hotmail > Calendar

Select Share > My Calendar > select Share My Calendar and place a checkmark in the box next to "Share your calendar privately with friends and family" > select the "Add people" button

WLCShare02a

Input the email address for your primary Windows Live account in the "Enter a name or email address" space, then select the down arrow underneath "Choose how much these people can see and do" and select "Co-owner."  Select the Add button and scroll down to the bottom of the page and select "Save"." 

WLCShare02

Select OK to send an email to your primary Live ID account to complete the set up, then log-in to your primary Windows Live account and select Hotmail. Open up the email that was just sent from your other Windows Live account and select the Orange "Accept" button in the upper right hand corner of the email.

Select Hotmail > Calendar. Now you should see a new calendar button in the left hand control panel called "My Calendar".  Click on the new calendar and rename it to "My Tasks."  Now you can view, modify and delete items from the new Windows Live calendar.

Move Outlook tasks to your new Windows Live Calendar

To gain access and sync to your new Windows Live Calendar, you should have already set up the Outlook Hotmail Connector to sync your primary Windows Live account information with Outlook.  If you've already set up the Connector, when you open up Outlook and select Calendar, you should now see the new Windows Live Calendar in the left hand control panel. 

In the screenshot below, the Windows Live Calendar I'm using for my appointments is labeled "Julie's Calendar" and the Windows Live Calendar I'm using for tasks is labeled "Julie's Tasks" (you can click the screenshot to see a larger version of it).

WLCShare03

Right now your Windows Live Tasks Calendar is empty.  You could start manually inputting tasks to it, but you can also export the tasks that are stored in your Personal folder to a CSV file and then import the CSV file into your new Windows Live Tasks Calendar.

Export your Outlook tasks to a CSV file:  Select File > Import and Export > Export to a file > Next > Comma Separated Values (DOS) > Next > select Tasks (This computer only) > Next > select the Browse button and navigate to the folder and create a file name for the file > OK > Next > Finish > Change date range to accommodate all your Tasks > OK.

Before you import the CSV file into your new Windows Live Calendar, open up the file in Excel and edit the file as follows:

  • Input a date in the Start Date.  This field must have a date in it or else the record will not import into your Windows Live Tasks Calendar 
    • For tasks with Due Dates: I copied the Due Date to the Start Date field (or you could map the Due Date to the Start Date field when you import the file into your new Windows Live Tasks Calendar)
    • For undated tasks: If you want to track these tasks on your phone, you'll have to input a date in the Start Date field.
    • Input a date in the End Date. If you don't input a date in the End Date field, Outlook will treat the task as an all day event with a start time of 12:00 AM on the Start Date and an end time of 12:00 AM the next day.  (See the screen shot below)

 WLCShare04

  • Add Start Time & End Time columns and input a time in them. If desired, you can add start time and end time columns in your CSV file and input whatever time you desire for each task or you can import the tasks into your Windows Live Tasks Calendar and then move them around on your calendar in Outlook.

Import the Tasks CSV file into your new Windows Live Tasks Calendar: Select File > Import and Export > Import from another program or file > Next > Comma Separated Variable (DOS) > Next > select the Browse button and navigate to the folder where the CSV file is stored > Ok > Next > select your new Windows Live Tasks Calendar > Next > you can select the Map Custom Fields to make sure the fields in your CSV file are mapping to the right fields in the Windows Live Tasks Calendar

WLCShare05 

Then select Ok > Finish.  Your tasks have now been imported into your new Windows Live Tasks Calendar. Finally press the F9 button to synchronize the tasks to your online Windows Live account.

Create some Outlook Views to Handle Tasks

Now that your tasks are stored in the new Windows Live Tasks Calendar, you can create some views to help you work with tasks as if they were still stored in your Tasks folder.  I replicated some views that parallel the views I've used to work with tasks for several years, which include the following fields:  Icon, Attachment, Importance, Subject, Complete, Status, Start, End, Duration, Categories, Created, Flag Status.  I've created three different views that show these fields, and included the following advanced filters:

  • Active Tasks:
    • Start: in the next 7 days
    • Flag Status: equals UNFLAGGED
  • All Open Tasks
    • Flag Status: equals UNFLAGGED
  • Completed Tasks
    • Flag Status: equals COMPLETED

You can view your Windows Live Tasks Calendar and your main Windows Live Appointments Calendar individually and you can also overlay the Tasks Calendar with your main Appointments Calendar in the Day/Week/Month views by placing or removing checkmarks in the boxes next to each Calendar in the left hand control panel.  If you go back and review the screenshot of my weekly calendar which appears earlier in this article, you'll see an example of this.

Now you are ready to set up your windows phone to synchronize to your Windows Live Tasks Calendar.

Synchronize the Tasks Calendar to your Windows Phone

One really nice feature that windows phone 7 offers is the ability to sync multiple calendars to the phone.  Once the calendar data is on the phone, you can display each calendar's entries in a different color on the phone's master calendar and you can toggle the calendar displays on and off. 

To synchronize the new Windows Live Tasks Calendar to the phone, go to Settings > email & accounts > add an account > Windows Live > input your Windows Live Id and Password for your second Windows Live account.  Then all the data that is stored on that account will synchronize to the phone (you can modify this account later to change the account name, set the sync times, etc to your preferences).

To change the color for the calendar display or to turn the calendar on and off, open up the Calendar on the phone, tap the three dots in the bottom right hand side of the screen.  Then select "calendars" to change the color of the calendar items and to turn the calendar display on and off.

Calendar - agenda Calendar - multiple

 

Final Notes

It took some time to get used to seeing my tasks included in with my calendar items, but now that I've become accustomed to it, I really like it.  I also like the idea of scheduling blocks of time in my calendar to work on tasks.  I may not get the satisfaction of checking off my tasks on my phone, but I can do that in Outlook and I'm finding it very useful to organize my week in Outlook's weekly view, where I can move tasks around and schedule my tasks.  All-in-all, I think this method will actually make me more effective and more focused on getting things done.

Try this method out and let me know what you think of it.

Did you enjoy this Post? Subscribe to From My Pocket

Technorati Tags: , ,


Manage Your Tasks on a Windows Phone with Remember The Milk

Windows Phone 7 does not include a tasks application and there's no way to sync Outlook tasks to the device.  Even if there were a way to sync tasks, there's no place to store them once they get there.  This to me is one of the greatest deficiencies of windows phone.

A few years ago I signed up for a free "Remember the Milk" (RTM) account.  At the time I didn't have a prevailing reason to move my tasks to the cloud and there was no windows mobile support for RTM, so I didn't seriously consider using it. 

But now with windows phone 7, I had a strong incentive to find a different way to work with tasks on my phone, so I rummaged around and found my RTM login credentials and took another look at this well known, well regarded, cloud-based tasks application.  I figured I could at least have access to my tasks through RTM's mobile website.

Then last week, I discovered WinMilk in the Marketplace (in the Productivity category). I downloaded it to my phone, set up my Remember the Milk login credentials and all my tasks information synced beautifully to my phone.

Getting Remember The Milk ready to Sync to a Windows Phone

1.  Sign up for a free account with Remember the Milk

RMT001

2. Use MilkSync to Move your Outlook Tasks to your Remember the Milk account.

The easiest way to move your tasks from Outlook to your Remember the Milk account is to install the 14 day trial version of MilkSync to your computer.  MilkSync is RTM's Outlook connector. 

RMT002

After you install MilkSync to your computer, you'll enter your RTM Username and Password in the login screen and set up a few parameters to manage how you want to sync your data.

RMT003

MilkSync runs automatically in the computer's taskbar.  You can force a sync or change the RTM Account Settings by right clicking on the RTM taskbar icon. 

Notes about Syncing Outlook Tasks to Remember the Milk

  • Remember the Milk doesn't use categories, but instead organizes tasks into Lists and Tags.  When you sync your Outlook Tasks to RTM, RTM converts the categories that are associated with a task into Lists. When you select the List view (see 2nd screenshot below), you can enjoy filtered views of your tasks.
  • If you create tags in your RTM account and attach tags to your Tasks, the tags will be synced back to Outlook and show up as categories with a pound symbol (#) preceding their name (i.e., #Personal)

3. Use WinMilk Task Manager to Sync Your Tasks to your Windows Phone. 

WinMilk is a free Remember the Milk client that you can find under the productivity category in the Marketplace.  WinMilk lets you view your tasks by date, list, or tag and you can also edit and delete tasks on your windows phone.

ScreenshotTasks  ScreenshotListsScreenshotTags   

Here's some screenshots of the various screens you'll work with on your windows phone:

First screenshot shows the detail of a specific task.  If you tap a task, you'll see detailed information about it in this screen.

  • When:  this is the task's due date
  • List: this is the category that is used with Outlook
  • Tags:  shows any tags that you've associated with the tasks.  When synced back to Outlook, the tag information will be included with the task as another category that is prefaced with a pound sign (#).

While in this screen you can edit and delete tasks.  These screenshots are not up-to-date, but now when you tap on a task to see the detail you'll see four icons that run along the bottom of the screen that shows a checkmark, an arrow, a pencil (to edit), and a trash can (to delete).

Second screenshot shows the search screen.  You can search tasks by selecting the magnifying glass on the tasks, lists or tags screen (see the three screenshots above).

Third screenshot shows the smart add option which is accessed by tapping the plus icon on the tasks, lists, or tags screen.

ScreenshotTaskDetails ScreenshotSearchScreenshotSmartAdd

Before you can use WinMilk on your phone, you'll have to log in to your RTM account from the phone and authorize the application, so the first time you open up WinMilk you'll be prompted to login to your RTM account. 

WinMilk then takes you to the Remember the Milk login page where you can input your RTM login Name and Password.  The screen is small, so just tap (and keep tapping) the screen to get the screen large enough to see and enter your login information.  After you login you'll be asked to grant WinMilk authorization to your RTM account.  Afterwards you'll tap the "done" icon on the lower edge of the screen. Then WinMilk will automatically sync all the data in your RTM account to the phone.

WinMilk syncs changes back to your Remember the Milk account.  If you decide to upgrade your account to a professional account, which costs $25 a year, you can continue using RTM's MilkSync to sync the tasks back to Outlook on your computer.

I'm still running the trial version of MilkSync on my computer, but since I plan to continue syncing my older windows mobile devices to my computer, I'll probably upgrade my RTM account to a pro account so I can continue using MilkSync beyond the 14 day trial.

Stay Tuned!  I've figured out another option you could use to manage your tasks on your windows phone.  This other option is a bit more complicated to set up and I'm still working out the details, but it is completely free and integrates nicely with Outlook on your computer.  I'm still refining and testing the process and will be documenting it in an article that I plan to post to the blog next week.

Did you enjoy this Post? Subscribe to From My Pocket



Using the Outlook Hotmail Connector

Windows Phone 7 devices do not sync contacts and appointments to a local computer via ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center.  Instead WP7 syncs directly to data that is stored in the cloud, that is, it syncs to web-based services, such as Windows Live, Google, or Exchange Server. 

Since I plan to continue syncing my older windows mobile devices to Outlook on my computer, and in anticipation of Windows Phone 7, I spent some time exploring the Outlook Hotmail Connector as a way to manage my contacts and appointments on my local computer while also providing a way to make the data available for my new Windows Phone 7 device.

So here's all you need to do to get the Outlook Hotmail Connector running on your computer.  Then you'll be able to sync your new windows phone 7 to your windows live account, and you'll still be able to sync your older windows mobile devices to your computer.

Set up Outlook Hotmail Connector

  • Download Outlook Hotmail Connector and install it to your computer
  • After you've installed Outlook Connector to your computer, open up Outlook.  You'll see a "Microsoft Outlook Hotmail Connector" box with the question "Would you like to add a Hotmail Account?"  Select the Yes button.
  • Input your Windows Live email address and password in the space provided

 Outlook Connector 1

After you select Ok, exit Outlook and then restart Outlook.  When you restart Outlook, you should see your windows live folder in the Mail Folders panel. You will also find an Outlook Connector menu item has been added to the top navigational menu.  Give Outlook a few minutes to sync the windows live folder structure on the computer.  Then you can copy your contacts and calendar data to the windows live folders.

Copy Contact & Calendar data to the Windows Live folders

Copy Contacts from the Local Contact folder to the Windows Live Contacts folder

  • Open up the Contacts Folder in Outlook's Personal Folders
  • Display the "Phone List" view
  • Select Edit > Select All (Ctrl+A)
  • Select Edit > Copy (Ctrl+C)
  • Select the Windows Live Contacts folder
  • Select Edit > Paste (Ctrl+V)

Copy Calendar from the Local Calendar folder to the Windows Live Calendar folder

  • Open up the Calendar Folder in Outlook's Personal Folders
  • Display the "All Appointments" view
  • Select Edit > Select All (Ctrl+A)
  • Select Edit > Copy (Ctrl+C)
  • Select the Windows Live Calendar folder
  • Select Edit > Paste (Ctrl+V)

Now you'll need to change a few Outlook account settings to make the transition to Windows Live as transparent as possible.

Change Outlook Account Settings

Open up Outlook on your computer, select Tools > Account Settings

  • Data Files:  Select the Data Files tab > highlight your Windows Live ID account and set it as Default

Email Account Settings1

  • E-mail: If you're like me and use Outlook to manage a couple of different POP/SMTP email accounts on your local computer, you'll want to check the E-mail tab to make sure your primary email account, which is not your windows live account, is set as your default account - otherwise all your email will be sent from your windows live account

Email Account Settings2

  • Address Books:  Because you won't be using the local Contacts folder to store contact information you'll select the Address Books tab and removed the personal folders from the list of Address Books

Email Account Settings3 

Now you can continue using Outlook to manage your contacts and appointments, continue syncing your older windows mobile devices to your computer, and sync your new windows phone to your windows live account.  Any changes you make to Outlook or to your windows live account will be synced.  Your contacts and appointments on your computer, your mobile devices and your windows live account will always be in sync with each other and up-to-date.

NOTE: Before you sync an older windows mobile device to your computer, you'll need to delete its earlier ActiveSync or WMDC partnership and set up a new partnership.

NOTE: If you are still syncing email to Outlook's Personal Folder, you'll need to leave your Personal Folders open.  Within this folder are folders for Calendar, Contacts, etc.  Since you won't be using the Calendar or Contacts folder, you can delete the information that is stored in these folders, but you won't be able to delete them.

What About Tasks?

When you install Outlook Connector, you'll see a new Tasks folder called "Tasks (This computer only)."  Unfortunately, this is just another local folder.  Even though this tasks folder is considered part of the windows live set of folders it does not get synced to Windows Live. 

If you plan to continue syncing to an older windows mobile device, you'll want to copy your tasks from the Tasks in Personal Folders to the Tasks (this computer only) folder.

Unfortunately, there's not even a tasks application included on windows phone 7 devices.  I rely on tasks to keep me organized and so I had to figure out a way to workaround this huge deficiency. But I've settled on a workable solution, so stay tuned to the blog.  I'll be publishing another article about how to manage tasks on a windows phone 7 device that you might find useful.

Did you enjoy this Post? Subscribe to From My Pocket



Welcome to From My Pocket





From my pocket is a compendium of tips, tricks and techniques to help you love your windows phone even more.

Maybe you've seen me on the forums I frequent. More >>



Feel free to leave comments or email me.

You might also be interested in snippets, my "lighter" blog, where you can read about some of the other things I'm fiddling around with on my computer and my mobile devices.

Please think about subscribing to the blog, either through RSS feed or by email.

Catch me at the Microsoft Windows Phone forums

Click to chat me up



RECENT COMMENTS

  1. ProfJulie on Using the Outlook Hotmail Connector
    1/25/2012
  2. ProfJulie on How to Cancel a Zune Pass
    1/24/2012
  3. ProfJulie on Using the Outlook Hotmail Connector
    1/24/2012
  4. Robert on Using the Outlook Hotmail Connector
    1/24/2012
  5. Jason on How to Cancel a Zune Pass
    1/24/2012
  6. dave on Using the Outlook Hotmail Connector
    1/22/2012
  7. ProfJulie on Using the Outlook Hotmail Connector
    1/20/2012
  8. dave on Using the Outlook Hotmail Connector
    1/20/2012
  9. ProfJulie on Using the Outlook Hotmail Connector
    1/20/2012
  10. ProfJulie on How to Cancel a Zune Pass
    1/20/2012

Tag Cloud

Please support the blog