Sync Windows Contacts & Calendar without Outlook

tochabu · #1 (**permalink**) 09-23-2008, 07:03 PM

I am switching from a Motorola E815 to an XV6700. I was able to download my contacts and calendar from the E815 to my Vista machine using BitPim. I now have all of the information from my E815 in Windows Contacts and Windows Calendar. Is there a way to get this information to the XV6700 without using Outlook?

**PDAPhoneJunkie** · #2 (**permalink**) 09-23-2008, 07:38 PM

No, the XV6700 HAS TO HAVE OUTLOOK!

gambatte · #3 (**permalink**) 09-23-2008, 10:39 PM

Well, it won't be easy, hehe, this is M$ at its worst. The trick is to merge the Windows (Vista) and the Windows Live contacts:
http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/wi...-contacts.aspx
Read like the 6th comment or so that mentions the copying procedure. Once you have all the contacts in Windows Live (server cloud), you can theoretically sync them to the phone BUT you have to have WM6 running on the phone to get the Windows Live sync client. Should be easier, I know, but maybe M$ way to get you to buy Outlook.

Edit: You can also try exporting the Windows contacts as a .csv file and importing to Live Mail on PC:
http://www.freeemailtutorials.com/wi...rtContacts.htm
But you still have to have the WM6 Live sync client to get them to your phone.

tochabu · #4 (**permalink**) 09-25-2008, 07:17 AM

Thanks for the comments. Do you know if Windows Live Mail will sync to the PPC? I know that Windows Mail and Outlook Express will not. I have not been able to find any info about Windows Live Mail working with Active Sync or Windows Mobile manager.

I also found that it is possible to sync with Funambol, but I didn't find a way to import my current data there. Also, it looks like it can be done with Google/Plaxo/NuevaSync/Thunderbird, but it seems like a lot of trouble. I don't have THAT many contacts.

It seems like this should be simple. The data is not that complicated. Oh well, I'll probably just do it manually unless Windows Live can sync. Thanks again for all the help.

gambatte · #5 (**permalink**) 09-25-2008, 09:00 AM

The Live Mail sync feature is part of WM6/6.1, which you can get through the kitchens to flash the 6700. I am running WM6 and I can sync Live contacts and email, not sure about calendar though as I haven't paid attention to the text generated while syncing, and I don't use calendaring alot. It doesn't function through ActiveSync/WMDC but through the Live server. The only thing I see bad is that it sometimes duplicates contacts that I have previously synced with Outlook. Or maybe that was the first sync; haven't seen that happen for while. No, you can't use Outlook Express or Windows Mail.

The .cab for Live is available but don't know if it will run on WM5 or not.

Yeah, there's oggsync and goosync for Google but there are some $$ to going that route as well. You might even be able to do it through Yahoo 2 Go!, which is free and runs on WM5, if you are a Yahoo user. Yahoo 3 Go! doesn't sync in the current version.

Of course, it is not like an Activesync/WMDC sync 'cuz you do need an internet connection to access servers, but my 6700 is always hooked to some WIFI. I have no data plan.

Edit: Once you have all your contacts on your phone, most every1 here uses PIMbackup to back up contacts/calendar.
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-...ckup-v2-8.html
Very useful to backup to your miniSD in case of those hard resets or flashing.

Edit2: Hey, check to see if this will run on your phone. Says it will sync Live contacts to your phone.
http://www.gowindowslive.com/Mobile/...x?Locale=en-US

tochabu · #6 (**permalink**) 09-26-2008, 09:11 PM

Thanks for the great info. I was able to import my contacts using PIM backup. On the above link, i read "It is possible now to restore a text file containing contacts backed up from other applications, like in Outlook Express," but I could not immediately figure out how to do it. After a little searching, I found the PIM backup users guide here:
http://www.dotfred.net/PIM/Pim%20Bac...er%20guide.pdf

It explained how the backup file is formed. I was able to export the contacts from Windows Mail to a CSV file, rename the extension to .csc, zip the file by itself and change the extension of the zip file to .pib. After I copied this file to the SD card on the phone, I did a restore using the file. I was able to map the fields in the Windows Mail export to the fields on the PPC (Actually, PIM backup automatically maped the fields with the same names). The entire list of contacts was imported to the PPC. I could not use the BitPim CSV file directly because BitPim has more than one field for phone numbers for each contact along with a field to define the type of phone number (home, mobile, etc.), whereas the contacts on the PPC have fields defined for Home Phone, Cell Phone, etc. However, when I imported the BitPim contacts into Windows Mail, the phone numbers were put in the correct fields by Windows Mail.

Thanks again for the help.

gambatte · #7 (**permalink**) 09-27-2008, 10:01 AM

Good that you got the contacts over. Learned something, too. Didn't know you could rename .ext like that but if .pib = .zip, that's cool. Still don't know how you can "sync" to maintain the calendar yet but you should be able to sync the Live contacts and email over the net, should you opt for that, w/o Outlook. Or you can use Dashwire:
http://www.freewarepocketpc.net/ppc-...-dashwire.html
Google calendar seems your best bet at this point.