Sync issues between Outlook 2003 and Outlook 2007 through Windows Mobile

[Cory Hug]

I've found several previous posts on similar issues but none of the
threads ever seem to contain a solution.

I'm trying to sync my calendar between work and home through my
Windows Mobile 6.1 phone.

Home is Windows Vista with Outlook 2007.

Work is Windows XP SP2, Outlook 2003, on Exchange server 2007, with
ActiveSync 4.5.

My phone is a Sprint HTC Mogul with Windows Mobile 6.1.

I'm seeing 2 issues.

1. Some (not all, only some) recurring full day items, when synced to
the other PC, appear as from 1:00 AM one day to 1:00 AM the next day.
They appear on the PC they were originally created on and on the phone
just fine, but 2nd PC that they get created on as a result of the sync
from the phone they show up an hour off. Both PC's and phone are all
set for Central time. I know both PC's have the updates for the
changes in daylight saving time dates a couple years ago, but this is
happening on calendar items that aren't even anywhere near (date-wise)
the change from daylight to standard or vice versa. Some recurring
full day items transfer fine, but several have this issue. I can't
find any pattern regarding which ones transfer okay and which ones
don't.

2. Items that have synced from one PC to the other won't appear in the
Day/Week/Month view. If I look at the Category view they're there but
not in the Day/Week/Month view. (This is on the secondary PC where
the item gets created as a result of the synch from the phone.) I've
found several threads regarding this issue and they all talk about it
being an issue with the iPhone and several responses of "it's Apple's
problem." Well, I don't have an iPhone, I have a Microsoft Windows
Mobile 6.1 device, and it's happening to me too, so I'd say it's NOT
Apple's problem (or at least there's another similar problem that is
Microsoft's problem). I have already tried resetting the views as I
saw suggested in several other threads.

Thank you.

Cory Hug
Des Moines, IA

 

[Cory Hug]

I almost forgot, I have a 3rd problem as well.

3. Full day recurring items based on something Xth certain day of the
week in Y month every year don't come across correctly from my Outlook
2003 to my Outlook 2007. For example, I've got an item set up for the
first Friday in January every year that I created on my work Outlook
2003. It shows up on the phone properly, but when it syncs to my home
Outlook 2007 it comes in as "every January Friday" instead of "every
first Friday of January". Coincidentally any of the ones like this
are also ones that don't appear on the Day/Week/Month view so I don't
know if it's related or not. (But other items that don't fit this
recurring pattern, like just a normal January 5 every year, still
doesn't show on the day/week/month view either.)

 

[Cory Hug]

I discovered a bit more detail on this one. The items not appearing
are recurring items that were created a long time ago (like several
years). On the secondary PC, if look back on my calendar to the
original date the recurring item was created (including the year), I
see the item in the day/week/month view, but I do NOT see any further
recurring instances of that event from the initial date on.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

I'm trying to sync my calendar between work and home through my
Windows Mobile 6.1 phone.

Home is Windows Vista with Outlook 2007.

Work is Windows XP SP2, Outlook 2003, on Exchange server 2007, with
ActiveSync 4.5.

My phone is a Sprint HTC Mogul with Windows Mobile 6.1.

I'm seeing 2 issues.

1. Some (not all, only some) recurring full day items, when synced to
the other PC, appear as from 1:00 AM one day to 1:00 AM the next day.
They appear on the PC they were originally created on and on the phone
just fine, but 2nd PC that they get created on as a result of the sync
from the phone they show up an hour off. Both PC's and phone are all
set for Central time. I know both PC's have the updates for the
changes in daylight saving time dates a couple years ago, but this is
happening on calendar items that aren't even anywhere near (date-wise)
the change from daylight to standard or vice versa.

It would still be worth checking to see if DST settings agree across all
platforms and that the Central time zones you selected on each device are
all those that either obey DST or disregard it, both in Windows and in
Outlook's Calendar settings. It would also be worth making sure you have
the Windows Mobile DST update installed.

2. Items that have synced from one PC to the other won't appear in the
Day/Week/Month view. If I look at the Category view they're there but
not in the Day/Week/Month view.

I've seen a couple of posts where the situation matches yours and I can't
tell if the issue is with ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center, but
I'd lean toward the latter. Make sure you're using the most recent version
of WMDC.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/help/synchronize/device-center.mspx

 

[Cory Hug]

Thanks for your replay, although I think you missed my other messages
that were replies to my own original message with a 3rd issue and more
information.

It would still be worth checking to see if DST settings agree across all
platforms and that the Central time zones you selected on each device are
all those that either obey DST or disregard it, both in Windows and in
Outlook's Calendar settings. It would also be worth making sure you have
the Windows Mobile DST update installed.

I verified all this before I wrote the message. They are all set to
Central and set to obey DST. Though I'm not sure what you mean by
having the time zone I selected either obey or disregard DST. I don't
see 2 separate "Central Time" options anywhere, one that says it obeys
DST and a different one that doesn't. All I see is a single Time Zone
selection with a separate check box to set whether it obeys DST or
not.

I guess the only thing I'm not sure of is what you mean by the Windows
Mobile DST update. How would I know if I have it or not? I flashed a
new Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM on my device in September and the DST rules
changed like 2 years ago. Wouldn't those changes already be included
in the most recent OS ROM update? I've also run the "Windows Update"
utility on my Windows Mobile phone and it's told me there are no
updates available. If there's a separate DST update specifically for
Windows Mobile 6.1, can you point me to it?

I've seen a couple of posts where the situation matches yours and I can't
tell if the issue is with ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center, but
I'd lean toward the latter. Make sure you're using the most recent version
of WMDC.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/help/synchronize/device-center.mspx

I do have the most recent version of WMDC.

Also, one of my previous replies to my original message had more info
on this. The items that fail to appear are recurring items that were
created originally several years ago but have no set end date (and
thus continue on through the present day). On the secondary PC, if
look back on my calendar to the original date the recurring item was
created (including the year), I see the item in the day/week/month
view, but I do NOT see any further recurring instances of that event
from the initial date on.

I've discovered that so far the problem items are ones originally
created on my work Outlook 2003 and synced to the phone via
ActiveSync, then synced to my home Outlook 2007 through the WMDC in
Vista. It's on the Outlook 2007 they don't appear in the
Day/Week/Month view.

So, on the Outlook 2007 in Category view where I can see them, I
edited a few of these items by removing the recurrence and then
putting back on the recurrence. Then it appeared on my Outlook 2007
D/W/M view as it should. I synced this back to the phone, then back
to my work Outlook 2003. Everything appeared fine initially, but next
time I synced my work Outlook 2003 with my phone, it resynced those
same calendar items even though I had NOT edited them again on the
Outlook 2003. Then when I synced back to the Outlook 2007 through
WMDC, it changed the ones I had edited earlier back to the weird
recurrence pattern as viewed in the Category view and they disappeared
from the D/W/M view in my Outlook 2007.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

I verified all this before I wrote the message. They are all set to
Central and set to obey DST. Though I'm not sure what you mean by
having the time zone I selected either obey or disregard DST. I don't
see 2 separate "Central Time" options anywhere, one that says it obeys
DST and a different one that doesn't. All I see is a single Time Zone
selection with a separate check box to set whether it obeys DST or
not.

I meant that the checkbox might have been set on one and not on the other.

I guess the only thing I'm not sure of is what you mean by the Windows
Mobile DST update. How would I know if I have it or not?

I see "Microsoft Extended DTS Update" in the Add/Remove Programs for my
Windows Mobile device.

I flashed a
new Windows Mobile 6.1 ROM on my device in September and the DST rules
changed like 2 years ago. Wouldn't those changes already be included
in the most recent OS ROM update?

Beats me. Here's a link that may give more information:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/en-us/downloads/microsoft/daylight-savings-update.mspx

I've also run the "Windows Update"
utility on my Windows Mobile phone and it's told me there are no
updates available. If there's a separate DST update specifically for
Windows Mobile 6.1, can you point me to it?

I didn't realize Mobile 6.1 had a Windows Update feature.

So, on the Outlook 2007 in Category view where I can see them, I
edited a few of these items by removing the recurrence and then
putting back on the recurrence. Then it appeared on my Outlook 2007
D/W/M view as it should. I synced this back to the phone, then back
to my work Outlook 2003. Everything appeared fine initially, but next
time I synced my work Outlook 2003 with my phone, it resynced those
same calendar items even though I had NOT edited them again on the
Outlook 2003. Then when I synced back to the Outlook 2007 through
WMDC, it changed the ones I had edited earlier back to the weird
recurrence pattern as viewed in the Category view and they disappeared
from the D/W/M view in my Outlook 2007.

This sounds very similar to one of the iTunes problems, so perhaps there is
some synching problem in WMDC or ActiveSync 4.5 with WM 6.1. The System
Requirements for ActiveSync 4.5 don't mention Windows Mobile 6.1, only 6.

 

[Jon Morren]

Cory the problems you have been describing are exactly the same as ones I
have been experiencing on my new smartphone. There does appear to be
inconsistencies in when the errors occur. I have an almost identical set up
to you with Office 2003 and an XP PC at work and a Vista PC with office 2007
at home. It sounds like a bug in the sycing process. I have noticed the
problem even when syncing new items from the home PC to the smartphone. Where
is the best location to send this information to hopefully get a patch to
support this problem.

Jon