Shared Outlook contacts no longer visible in WAB following Office2003 install

[mikethepsych]

Hi,

Whilst running Office 2K, I had a personal Outlook address book and a
shared Outlook address book. The Windows Address Book (WAB) was
configured to share information with Outlook
(HKCU\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\UseOutlook = 1) and, consequently, I
was able to see both my personal and the shared Outlook address books
in WAB. Successful searches could be made for contacts in either
address book in either Outlook or WAB.

Having just upgraded to Office 2003, I see that the shared address book
has disappeared from my WAB "folder list" leaving only the contacts in
my personal address book listed. Searches for contacts known to exist
only in my shared address book now fail. I also note that searches for
shared contacts via the WinXP "Search -> For People" diaglogue also
fail, suggesting that oth WAB and "Search -> For People" use a common,
similarly afflicted search mechanism and neither can see my shared
Outlook address book. Looking at the registry shows the above reg. key
to still be set to '1'.

Outlook 2003 is able to see both address books and I'm able to
successfully search both books (but only via Outlook!).

Since my wife wishes to keep using Outlook Express 6 for her mail (and
OE6 uses the WAB interface for email address searches), this issue is
preventing her from seeing our shared contacts - something she had
previously been able to do.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Rgds,

Mike

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Your post does not make sense or may be inaccurate. What do you mean that
Outlook is able to "see both address books?" There were never two address
books if you had enabled sharing correctly, and Outlook can never see the
WAB under any circumstance.
Moreover, you need to state which mail support mode of Outlook 2000 you were
using, how you "upgraded" to Outlook 2003 and how you migrated your data.

 

[MikeDaPsych]

Russ,

Thanks for the prompt response. Answers below:

Your post does not make sense or may be inaccurate. What do you mean that
Outlook is able to "see both address books?" There were never two address
books if you had enabled sharing correctly, and Outlook can never see the
WAB under any circumstance.

Looking at Outlook 2003 Contacts page, I see two contacts lists under
the "My Contacts" banner - "Contacts" (from my Personal Folders
(outlook.pst) file) and "Shared Contacts in Shared" (from my Shared
(shared.pst) file).

Exiting Outlook and opening the WAB, however, I now see only the
default "Contacts" list, whereas previously I saw "Contacts" plus
"Shared Contacts".

Moreover, you need to state which mail support mode of Outlook 2000 you were
using, how you "upgraded" to Outlook 2003 and how you migrated your data.

IIRC, I used Outlook 2000 in Internet Mail Only mode (the majority of
my accounts are POP/SMTP, with a single work account accessed via
IMAP).

To upgrade from 2000 to 2003 I simply allowed the Office 2003 setup to
follow the recommended "Upgrade (existing installation)" path. No
manual migration of data was performed, I shut down Outlook 2000,
allowed the Office 2003 setup to upgrade my existing installation, and
opened Outlook 2003. All my folders and accounts had migrated without
issue.

Rgds,

Mike

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

That's helpful information.
Upgrades from IMO have never worked since IMO was never actually Outlook--it
was Outlook Express in all its transports. Skipping entire interim versions
with an in-place upgrade from IMO puts you in completely uncharted waters.
For starters, you should create an entirely new Outlook profile from scratch
with a unique name. Delete all other profiles. Reset the sharing reg key so
that you are not sharing. Reboot. If you decide you still want to try to
share your Outlook Contacts Folder with OE, then reset that reg key. I've
never seen anyone try to share Outlook 2003 with OE. Good luck. Be a good
guinea pig and let us know what happens.

 

[MikeDaPsych]

Russ,

I don't believe the actual sharing of Outlook 2003 contacts with
WAB/Outlook Express is the issue - I *can* successfully share the
contacts list of my default Personal Folders with OE/WAB.

What I don't understand is why I cannot share *all* my Outlook contacts
lists with OE/WAB - why can I see the "Contacts" in my default Personal
Folders *.pst but not the contacts in a second (or subsequent) contacts
list from another *.pst file?

The original problem was seen on my WinXPPro/Office2003 home machine.
I've subsequently reproduced it on both my office machines -
WinXPPro/OfficeXP, Win2K/Office2003 - by creating a new *.pst file,
creating a new contacts folder within it, and setting the "Show this
folder as an e-mail Address Book" flag (if not already set) in the
"Outlook Address Book" tab. Result: WAB still sees my default
"Contacts" list but not the newly created list in the new *.pst.

Best regards,

Mike

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

That's an entirely different problem than you posted first. Please clarify
your post.
Has the problem all along simply been that you can only share your default
Contacts Folder?
That's all that reg key has ever done.

 

[MikeDaPsych]

Russ,

That's an entirely different problem than you posted first. Please clarify
your post.

Previously, with Outlook 2K installed, I could see BOTH my default
Outlook "Contacts" AND my Outlook "Shared Contacts" list in WAB/OE.

Now, with Outlook 2003 installed, I'm only able to see my default
Outlook "Contacts" list in WAB/OE. I'm, therefore, unable to see (in
WAB/OE) the contents of my "Shared Contacts" list (visible in Outlook).

Has the problem all along simply been that you can only share your default
Contacts Folder?

No - the problem is why, having just installed Outlook 2003, I've lost
the ability to see my "Shared Contacts" list in WAB/OE, visible whilst
Outlook 2K was installed.

That's all that reg key has ever done.

My experience suggests otherwise.

Is it possible that the way in which Outlook "publishes" the existence
of additional contact lists (over and above the default list) to the OS
has changed from 2K to 2003? i.e. Outlook2K "published" the existence
of both my default and shared contacts lists and both were picked up by
the OS and made visible in WAB/OE. Outlook2003 only "publishes" the
existence of the default contact list and, therefore, this is the only
list visible in WAB/OE.

Just a thought....

Regards,

Mike

 

[MikeDaPsych]

Russ,

FYI, I've just tried the following on my Win98/Office2K laptop:

1) Open WAB. Tools->Options->Share contact info. with Outlook etc.
Verify that only default "Contacts" list is displayed. Close WAB.

2) Open Outlook2K. Create new *.pst file. Create new "Test Contacts"
list within *.pst file. Add single "Test" contact to "Test Contacts"
within new *.pst file.

3) Reopen WAB. Now displays default "Contacts" list *AND* "Test
Contacts". Newly created "Test" contact visible in WAB.

So I wasn't dreaming - it is possible to share more than just my
default contacts list with WAB/OE.

Now I just need to figure out why, having installed Outlook2003, I've
lost this ability....

Some diffing of registry data looms.....

Rgds,

Mike

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You didn't read what I posted. Since you are using IMO mode, you aren't even
running Outlook's Address Book Service because IMO doesn't have extended
MAPI support. You are running the Windows Address Book Service as your only
addressing service, so every Outlook Contact Folder you select will display
when you enable sharing.
Now that you are running a full Outlook version, you are using a reg hack to
share your default Contacts Folder with OE but you are no longer using the
Windows Address Book Service. Only your default Contact Folder can be
shared.
Did you not notice that when you open the Windows Address Book it no longer
contains an option for sharing? There's your clue.

 

[MikeDaPsych]

Russ,

Thanks for the clear response.

You didn't read what I posted.

I read your previous post but without the clear explanation given in
your last message, did not understand the full implications of IMO
mode, the various Address Book Services etc.

Having read your most recent mail, I'm now clear on why sharing of
non-default contacts lists isn't possible under Outlook 2003.

Did you not notice that when you open the Windows Address Book it no longer
contains an option for sharing?

Tools -> Options -> Data Sharing *is* present in my WAB with Outlook
2003 installed under WinXP Pro. The "Options" menu is however missing
from my work laptop running Outlook XP under WinXP Pro.

Many thanks for your help,

Mike

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

No version of the WAB has Tools > Options > Sharing unless you are running
IMO.
You may have done an in place upgrade, in which case you have a corrupt
profile. Always create a new profile if you do an in place upgrade.