Deleting Duplicate Data
From time to time you may wind up with duplicate contacts, appointments or tasks either on your Desktop computer or on your Pocket PC. To delete this data, you could manually go through each record and delete the duplicates but this can be quite tedious. Here are some tools you can use to find and delete duplicate records on your computer and your Pocket PC.
Deleting Duplicate Outlook Data on the Computer
Probably the most well known free software you can get to remove duplicate Outlook Data from your computer is Outlook Duplicates Remover Version 5.0, created by Fr Simon Rundell and Fr Michael Lewis, Vicar of the Parish of the Holy Spirit in SouthSea, UK. This software has been around for quite a long time and works quite well. I used it recently on my Outlook 2007 database.
You can download the Outlook Duplicates Remover software from Slipstick.com. When you select this link you will see the box shown below. Choose the "Save" option and download the file to your computer. 
After you've downloaded the installation file, you'll select the file to begin the installation, and an installation wizard will install the application on your computer. Then you can use the application by selecting Start > Programs > Holy Spirit, SouthSea (strange name, but the software works very well).
When you run the application, you will not be able to view or validate any of the duplicate records it finds and deletes - the software shows a count of duplicate records it finds and then deletes those records - so the first time you run the software be sure to select the Configure button and take some time specifying the several options that the software will use to identify duplicates. After you've configured the software, select the Delete button. The software checks every record in your Outlook database, so running the software may take some time depending on the number of records it finds in the database.
Deleting Duplicate Outlook Data on the Pocket PC
If there is duplicate data is in your Pocket PC but not in Outlook on your desktop computer, you can delete your existing ActiveSync partnership and create a new partnership, or you can use a third party application to remove the duplicate records from your Pocket PC, or you can delete the pim.vol file on your WM5.0 or WM6.0 Pocket PC:
Delete ActiveSync partnership and create a new partnership
To delete your ActiveSync partnership, do not attach the Pocket PC to the computer. Open up ActiveSync on the computer:
- For ActiveSync 3.x: Select File > Delete Partnership
- For ActiveSync 4.x: Select File > Delete Mobile Device
If you are asked if you wish to delete your "My Documents" folder, select NO.
To create a new ActiveSync partnership, do not attach the Pocket PC to the PC until you are prompted to do so. Open up ActiveSync on your computer:
- For ActiveSync 3.x: Select File > Get Connected
- For ActiveSync 4.x: Select File > Connection Settings > Connect
A wizard will open up and prompt you through the remaining steps. When you create a new AS partnership, ActiveSync should recognize that there is data on both the Pocket PC and the desktop computer and may prompt you for how you with to proceed. You'll have 3 options:
- Combine the data on the device with the data from the computer,
- Replace the data on the Pocket PC with the data from the computer,
- Do not sync the data at all
Choose option #2 to replace the data on the Pocket PC with the data from the computer.
Use third-party utility to delete duplicate records
Some third-party applications, such as SKTOOLs, also include options to find and manage duplicate contacts, tasks, and appointments. You could use these tools to search for duplicate records and then delete them. SKTOOLs provides information about any duplicate records it has identified, and you can decide whether or not the records are duplicates before you choose to delete them.
Delete the pim.vol file
If your Pocket PC is running WM5.0 or WM6.0, you could also rename the pim.vol file, perform a soft reset, and then sync your data. When you perform the soft reset, the Pocket PC will create a new, empty pim.vol file. Then when you sync to your computer, the pim.vol file will be populated with the data from your computer. See the article entitled "Backing up and Deleting PIM data" for more information.
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Hello Julie,
I tried the program from Slipstick and it looks like this program needs to access to Outlook from the internet, so I aborted it all.
Could it be a security problem if I open up my Outlook to a program which is located somewhere on a server?
Normally this is a virus behavior, though I have no reason not to trust the the people who created this program, but the security question is interesting.
And thank you fot all posts!!
Kaj.
Hello Kaj,
The application does not run from the internet. You'll save the file to your desktop and then install it to your computer. Since this was a point of confusion for you, I decided other users might also be confused, so I updated the article to provide more information about installing the application to the computer.
I appreciate your asking the question and apologize for the confusion.
Julie
I did install the program.
Then opened it and checked the setting options.
Then then tabbed to seek for dublicates.
Then got the message that this program needed access to the internet. Why does it need the access just to check for dublicates in my Outlook?
Kaj.
Kaj.
I have used this application for quite a while, but when I wrote up this article, I uninstalled the application and reinstalled it from the download I provided here. I never received any kind of prompt that indicated I needed to give the software access to the internet and I have run the software when my computer was not connected to the internet, so I'm not really sure why you are getting this prompt.
Julie, I dont know either, but the message came up. I installed the program again and when started the search for dublicates it came up again. My security system which is quite normal I suppose, wants me to accept that this program gets access to the internet.
Anyway, I just dont use it, but find the issue interesting.
Kaj.
So you can't use the software then? I wonder if anyone else has the same experience with this software......
Yes, I can use the software if I allow give the program internet access, which I dont do because I dont understand for what reason the access is needed.
Kaj.