How do I merge two separate (but similar) contacts folders into one in an Exchange 2000 environment?

[quentinhudson]

In our public folders, we had a contact folder called 'postal
systems'. For test purposes, another contacts folder was created in
the same location called 'postal systems 2005'. Unfortunately,
after the testing was completed the test folder was not removed, and
some users in the department continued to update the original, while
others updated the new version. I believe that over 500 of the contacts
contained within each folder, differ from one folder to another in some
respect. My problem is that while the same contact cards may exist on
both folders, they might differ in very small areas e.g. a telephone
number or an email address. My aim is to merge both the folders, while
avoiding duplicate contact entries for the same individuals or
companies. When the same person exists on both folders, I wish to
retain only the contact card which contains the most modern
information. How can I do this?

Best,

QH

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

In

In our public folders, we had a contact folder called 'postal
systems'. For test purposes, another contacts folder was created in
the same location called 'postal systems 2005'. Unfortunately,
after the testing was completed the test folder was not removed, and
some users in the department continued to update the original, while
others updated the new version. I believe that over 500 of the
contacts contained within each folder, differ from one folder to
another in some respect. My problem is that while the same contact
cards may exist on both folders, they might differ in very small
areas e.g. a telephone number or an email address. My aim is to
merge both the folders, while avoiding duplicate contact entries for
the same individuals or companies. When the same person exists on
both folders, I wish to retain only the contact card which contains
the most modern information. How can I do this?

Best,

QH

Create a new PF contacts folder. Copy all the contacts from each of the
other folders, to this new one.
Change permissions on the old folders so that nobody can make any changes
(this is what you should have done with the "test" one).
Then, either use a phone list view so you can easily see the dupes (you can
customize it so you can see more fields) and prepare for some manual effort,
or see whether one of the dupe checkers such as that at
www.sperrysoftware.com helps.