Microsoft Office Outlook Team Blog

Is it possible to synchronize the Windows Live Calendar with Windows Mobile devices yet?

Just downloaded this version of the connector, however when i try and change the default e-mail account i am seeing the following:

"MIcrosoft Office Outlook, An unknown error occurred, error code 0x8004010b"

Please provide steps to change default account. Thanks.

looks great!

I'd like to see the ability to synchronise a default PST Calendar with this one.

Do you fix issue with business Contact manager for Outlook 2007? Previous version have isues with Hotmail Connector.

It is good to see an update, and some communication on this.

I just tried it, and it seems that many previously reported problems remain. Like:

- Due dates of follow up flags aren't synched

- Master category lists aren't synched

- Categories on contacts aren't synched

- Tasks seem not to synch at all. This is in particular problematic, since they DID sync with the previous version of the connector if you had a premium subscription, right? If I understand it correctly, the new connector automatically switches you to Live Calendar, and with that takes task synchs away. Correct? If yes, you should ASAP put a warning up on the download page and here that this version will cut features for some people of previous versions

- Same for notes

- For people that don't have premium subscription, in previous version a warning came up that tasks and notes aren't synched. That seems to be gone, which is really bad, because it will most likely lead to data loss

I have one major peace of advice for the Connector team: Please communicate more about what you do. Connector is in such an immature state that you really need to provide precise change logs for updates. Why do I have to try it out myself, just to find out that all the things listed above don't work? These things have been reported before. I understand that you cannot fix everything soon, but you can certainly let us know what you have and what you haven't fixed. Also, it is great to have calendar synch now, but the story of how we got there was a disaster.  People were asking questions about this (which plan do you need for calendar synch? does hotmail plus have it? which office live version ?) since september, and there was NEVER any useful answer from MS. I applaud you to releasing it now, but please do not cover in your cave for another year without answering questions of users etc.

Do I need to uninstall the previous version of Outlook connector first, or will this beta install over the top?

What is the full version string for this version? I have 12.0.6237.1003 - is that the version being called 12.1??

We just moved to Outlook at work and I was about to set up a workaround using a Office Live Workspace calendar to synchronize between my wife's calendar at home to my Outlook at work. Now I can use my hotmail account and share her calendar, works great so far.

Windows Live Calendar Beta doesn't seem to allow entry or display of tasks, although the Hotmail calendar does support tasks. If we switch to Windows Live Calendar Beta, then how can we manage our tasks?

Sounds awesome! I've installed Outlook Connector but for some reason Outlook crashes everytime I go to Contacts and try to print out a Directory list of my contacts. After some troubleshooting I've found Outlook Connector to be the cause of it.

For the past two days I have not been able to download anything from my Hotmail account with version 12.  Now that I try to download it, I keep getting an error message that "OutlookConnector.exe is not a valid Win32 application."  How can I fix this problem?  

Calendar sync works great, thanks!

Aren't Tasks and Notes synced in the background? I know that Windows Live Calendar doesn't have interface for task and notes but why not allow syncing then between multiple Outlook clients at least until Live Calendar gets the UI?

Also I am frequently getting the following error:

Error in Mail

There is an error synchronizing your mail account. Please verify your account has been configured correctly by first accessing your mail on the web.

Error: 4102. Client. Unable to convert a string value using the given charset.

But this issue was present in the previous release too. I am able to temporarily solve it by deleting the account and setting it up again but the issue keeps comming back

The oulook connector being download is still version 12, there is no 12.1beta!

Just installed it but no data comes through.  I've disable firewalls, reinstalled, etc. It says it's connected but no data syncs.  Just got google set-up in outlook, took ten minutes.  What is interesting is that I can send out of outlook using the connector, just can't see any of my contacts or past e-mails.

Any ideas?

Does this new update still have the extremely inconvenient CAPTCHA when attempting to send an e-mail through Outlook?

I am glad for the calendar synchronization support, it works perfect!

But I have a problem:

I used previous version of the Outlook Connector more than 1 year without any problem, yesterday it stopped working so I downloaded this 12.1 Beta. Yesterday the mail synchronization worked well, new incoming messages  appeared in my Outlok, but today it does not work again. I am getting this error:

Time: 26.7.2008 11:10:42

Error in Mail

There is an error synchronizing your mail account. Please verify your account has been configured correctly by first accessing your mail on the web.

Error: 4102. Client. Unable to convert a string value using the given charset.

I have Czech version of Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit and English version of Microsoft Outlook 2007. Is there any chance to get it work?

BIG BUG!

After installing Outlook Connector 12.1 Beta, I am not able to sync my smartphone calendar to Outlook anymore!

This is very annoying! I use windows live for mobile to sync emails and contacts, but since wlfm can't sync the calendar, I sync the calendar to outlook using Outlook Connector, then sync Outlook to the smartphone (Calendar only).

Since this beta calendar syncing between Outlook and the phone does not work anymore, maybe because the calendar names in outlook have changed?

This is very annoying, I'm quite dependent on my calendar in my phone!

I cannot uninstall properly either.

After uninstall and restart computer, launching Outlook will always pop up the message which says that the Outlook Connector Extensions (msncon32.dll) cannot be loaded and has been disabled by Outlook.

Please verify it.

Thanks in advance.

sheeeng (at) gmail dot com

I have 2 @live.nl accounts.

I have 1 @live.com account.

I have 2 @hotmail.com accounts.

All of them except 1 hotmail account synchronizes fine in OL 2007 + Connector

It won't sync on:

- vista business

- outlook (OL) 2007

- OL connector 12.0.4518.1068 or 12.0.6237.1003

- SINCE after (multiple times) re-installing vista and of course outlook also.

that hotmail account synchronizes fine on:

- XP pro

- outlook 2007

- OL connector 12.0.4518.1068

details of the hotmail account:

- free hotmail account (5GB storage)

- 1.3GB emaildata

- used since before 2001

Does anyone have a solution for my problem?

It really starting to frustrate me..

BTW: I totally agree with Davidacoder. You should really start communicating with us users.

The "Contact Us" menu option sends you to a support web page that eventually wants a product id.  Entering the product id for Outlook Connector fails with an "invalid product id".

I know this is a beta, but it doesn't seem like there is any way to log feedback.  Everyplace I go just seems to point back to other web pages.

got it working ok, after discovering  i had to resave all my recurring appointments to avoid a calendar synch error.

but what what about "Tasks" and "Notes" these used to synch with the old hotmail calendar, when will we see this available again?  I really need Tasks as I use them regularly.

Cheers

CB

Why can't we use task requests and also the flag to-do option on the outlook connector? It's very important to have these flags uploaded to my office live account. When will these simple features be available in the outlook connector?

Sounds great.

Do you have similar tool for synchronization with Gmail?

I believe MS will earn points if does such a tool.

After reinstalling the connector for the second time it seems to work. It syncs my inbox fine but only some folder contain all my emails and some are empty. I have this will be reslove in the release.

I used the old Outlook Connector for months just fine on Windows XP SP3 system with Ultimate Office 2007/ Outlook 2007 Business Addition. A couple days ago I noticed my email wasn't synchronizing between my paid Hotmail accounts and Outlook 2007. I looked around and saw your new Beta and installed it. The system synched one time and then it told me that Outlook 2007 had a problem and needed to restart. It did that repeatedly until I removed all Outlook Connector programs. I then reinstalled last year outlook connector program and my accounts and emails came back but it still would not synch. I reinstalled your new beta program and outlook 2007 synched with hotmail once and then started giving me errors again. I uninstalled your new connector beta program and now I am back to square one. Thank you for screwing up my time. I love to waste hours trying to figure out what someone else did wrong. Everything was working until it stopped working without any changes on my machine so I believe there is a serious problem between hotmail and both versions of the Outlook 2007 connector. Please figure it out and get back to us. Thank you!

Several comments on a few sites indicate the same problem that I am having: Status shows to be connecting but no data is transmitted. Details are:

Outlook Connector Version 12.0.4518.1068

Account: xxxxxx@hotmail.com

Signed in successfully at 7/30/2008 11:46:49 AM                                                                        

Mail:                                                                                                                  

Calendar:                                                                                                              

Contacts:                            

Installed the new beta, and now though 'server status' report shows it logs in, no emails are ever detected and downloaded, next to 'mail' etc. it just says 'connecting' forever.  Downgraded back to current non-beta version and same result. this is true with hotmail.com, live.com, and live.co.uk

any ideas?

I was using Connector quite happily until July 21st when it stopped delivering mail to me. I tried reinstalling and now I keep getting the same error message about 5-6 times every time I try to reconnect:

"The Network Connection has interrupted.Please try again later."  And this message doesn't stop!!!  It is so annoying having a product that worked stop working and then send numerous redundant messages.  

I am simply trying to reestablish the connection between my Live.com account and Outlook using Connector. Can somebody help me here?

I have a custom domain windows live account, and contact sync just doesn't work.

I can't sync my subfolders with the 12.1 version. pls fix it as soon as possible. I need it for work.

why is the old version not working anymore..it was perfect. no probs at all.

thank you.

michael

On 7/22/2008 my Outlook Connector stopped working with my OLSB account.  I have since updated to OC 12.1, but it seems to have trouble syncing all of my messages I have online. Is there is a reason why I would not be able to sync all my folders and e-mails from my web-based account?  Any comments are appreciated.

Thank you.

God awful beta update - countless people around the web are having problems with their outlook connector no longer working - with this one of many, many blogs on the topic...   All I receive is either a message stating that Outlook Connector is only available to subscribers (of which I am an unhappy paying one) or just endlessly 'connecting' with no connection ever being made...

Makes it really easy in deciding whether or not to renew my subscription - the premium account is providing less and less value every day, no reason to give more money to Microsoft for something that doesn't even remotely work...

I think I am having the same problem as several others here. I have multiple hotmail and live.com accounts and all but one are syncing perfectly. Unfortunately the one that is not syncing is my main account. I'm wondering if the size has anything to do with it. I have over 350mb of saved emails in there. The other accounts all have fewer then 10mb of saved information. I'm trying to get a friend to use outlook and I want their experience to be good so if there is a fix please let me know.

Has anyone been able to sync the Live calendar with the iPhone 3G 2.0.1 (itunes 7.7.1) over the Outlook Connector 12.1 beta?

I am quite annoyed that in true tradition Microsoft and Apple have decided not to play nicely with each other. After all, its only the customer who suffers and who cares about customers!

Having said that I am too much of a Microsoft-phile to care about little toy doohickeys from a fruity company. If the iphone doesnt work in the next few does - it will go meet its maker.

my question is very basic, i've not used connector at all before. Just downloaded and installed followed all instructions, added hotmail account etc. Yet it still won't work.  'Unable to open folder' is all it keeps saying when i click on my hotmail account name.

I have winxp sp3 and outlook 2003.

Any help at all? because there isnt even the help option under the outlook connector menu

p.s the version i have is 12.0.6237.1003

There seems to be a problem in accepting calendars in Live Mail web-app (www.hotmail.com).  Doing so doesn't update my new (beta) calendar, it actually enters the meeting invite on my old MSN calendar.  

Is there a way to fix this?  I am having a helluva time as I use both the outlook and web client throughout the day.

I am having the same problem as Jason P. It was working fine in Outlook 2007 and now it is not. On my second machine where I use Outlook 2003 I have no problems at all.

I think I may just get a gmail account and unsubscribe to a service that does not work!

Could not longer connect and retrieve mail after installing Beta.  After uninstalling OC Beta Outlook 2003 still would not go online and connect for mail. Could not delete the hotmail and outlook connector store service folders. Could not access Tools/EMail accounts to remove email additions made by OC Beta.  Uninstalled Office 2003 and Oulook 2003, reinstalled, same problem.  

I still get FIVE annoying messages boxes, at each outlook startup, which ask me for my Live ID/password. :|

The Live ID and passwords from all 5 accounts are stored, i must only click on "OK", but it's annoying.

Same as a prior poster - I tried to sync my iPhone 3G with both iTunes and mobileMe and both fail with Outlook 2007 using MS Outlook Connector 12.x.  

Regards, /tlmc

For about the last 12-15 hours I have not been able to retrieve my e-mail from my windows live account. The calendar syncs fine though. Are there network problems? Is there a forum to discuss this further?

I have installed Outlook 2007 and the 12.1 outlook connector.  I have added my Windoes Live Mail, hotmail acct to outlook using the connector.  I see the folders in outlook but no mail is displayed.  No contacts, no calendar, nothing.  What am I doing wrong.  This seems too simple to mess up.

Good day

Now I have come to why is not functional calendar and synchronize mail connector and Outlook 2007 ceases to download e-mail to Outlook 2007.

All are on the conscience of the color category.

If any mail or event in the calendar marked with color categories přestne Connector to synchronize data. Unfortunately, I have thus come to some e-mail which is the worst case. :-(

I am from the Czech Republic and the categories are hooks and commas (punctuation) b maybe there could be a problem. I do not know  but if it is not possible to use.

Here are some of the bugs I've run into so far.

1.  when i send an appointment to people via outlook, they get it two times.  i'm not sure about the timing, but less than a day later, the meeting is deleted off my calendar.  this is not repro when i make an appointment that doesn't have attendees.  i'm also getting flaky behavior when i try to make the appointment via IE, then add attendees via outlook - sometimes it removes me as the organizer.  

the bad part is that windows live won't let you send invites out via their calendar.  you can only make appointments with yourself.  if you want to send out an invite, they redirect you to myspace and you essentially make an evite.  this is really a huge hassle because it won't be in your calendar and for simple appointments, you really don't need an evite.  

2.  some of my email shows up completely blank via outlook except the date.  when i go to hotmail, i can see everything.  i have noticed that this only happens with mail that was in my non inbox folders in hotmail prior to installing the connector.

3.  when i use conversation view in outlook, all new email shows up under conversation "none".  when i click on an email, focus is taken away from the email and it moves into the correct conversation or is moved to a new folder if there is a rule.  not repro if i group by date.  bummer because i love conversation view.

4.  in outlook with exchange, the reading pane was turned off by default in junk email.  not the case with the junk folder in hotmail via outlook.

issues with contacts (i was trying to merge my exchange contacts with my hotmail contacts (most of them from my IM).

5.  if i move a contact from my archive folder over to my hotmail account, and the same email address is on both, it asks if i want to merge the two, but it doesn't acutally merge the two, so i get dupes.  don't know if it's because i categorized everything.

6.  as a result, i went one by one (very tedious) and deleted my hotmail contacts and moved my exchange contacts over.  now the vast majority of my IM contacts appear in msn im as "non messenger contacts", so i can't im with them anymore.  i had filled in the outlook IM address field in my contacts.  turns out this is different than the field that msn im uses.  this field is not shown in the outlook contact form.  looks like i have more tedious work to do.

7.  some of my exchange contacts (archive folder) can't be moved over to hotmail.  rebooting doesn't help.

8.  hotmail respects my old categories for contacts, but doesn't have these categories in the "all categories" list.  shouldn't outlook just add these new categories?  it would make life much more simple.  easier to delete a category than to have to type it all in again.

There is only one major bug that I have found so far.  Connecting a live.com email account to Outlook 2007 does not work.  I was using my live.com email account in Outlook 2003 with no problems.  Noone has been able to get it working with Outlook 2007.

Hello folks,

Thanks fo this great tool. It helps a lot. Can you give an approximate date for tasks and notes to exist and sync as well?

However, I unofortunately have constant error messages on my system (WinXPProSP3, OfficePro03SP3, broadband, about 1000 pieces of mail, about 3500 appintments going back to 6 years ago (I need these)). I get the error messages in the Sync error folder. The Calendar sync always reports an error, but seems to partially sync. Email reports an error every now and then. Contacts sync fine.

In addittion, with this new beta 2, sync started consuming 100% processor power for about 5(!) minutes and the whole sync process takes like 5 times longer than with the beta-1 version.

Further, it seems that if I define some other of my e-mail accounts, I am unable to send e-mail out from them: every single piece of mail can only be sent as my hotmail address as the sender. Am I doing something wrong or this is a (bug)?

Thanks:

PB.