Known Problems

Outlook Sync > Outlook > Phone/PDA and back again produces duplicates

A 3 way sync from MyOffice > Outlook > Mobile phone / PDA and back again is NOT RECOMMENDED.

It may work but the most likely outcome is that it will produce duplicates. If you continue the cycle of syncing it will produce triplicates, then quadruplicates and so on.

Whether or not the sync works depends upon the sophistication of the sync between Outlook and the phone / PDA. If this sync replaces the Outlook records (and thereby destroys the sync IDs set up by MyOffice) then the records on Outlook will look like new records to MyOffice and it will add them to the database when they already exist.

If you wish to use your PDA to access MyOffice then you should consider using the Pocket PC PDA version of MyOffice. This connects directly to the MyOffice database.


Outlook Sync produces duplicates

Each time you create a new sync 'partnership' you could produce duplicates. For this reason its best to create a partnership once and then leave it alone.

The purpose of the partnership is to remember what's been synced. When you delete a partnership, the application forgets which appointments and contacts have previously been synced with Outlook.

When a new partnership is added, all existing entries will be synced afresh. So when the sync program encounters entries in Outlook it doesn't know that they were previously synced and it does them again, producing duplicate entries in the application. The same happens in the opposite direction if you sync from the application to Outlook.

If you get duplicates you should delete them manually from both systems.


Clicking on Outlook Sync menu displays 'Unable to open Microsoft Outlook'

The reason the message is displayed is either because:

  1. Outlook is not installed on the PC, or
  2. You are using a very early version of Outlook, or
  3. The registry has become corrupt in some way preventing MyOffice from finding Outlook

If you are using an early version of Outlook (e.g. Office 97) you will need to upgrade to a later version.

If you are using Outlook 2000 or later try repairing your Outlook installation. Failing that, uninstall and reinstall Outlook.


Diary appointments appear to move to different times

Check that the date & time zone settings are correct on all PCs used to access the diary.

Ensure that the checkbox called 'Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes' is checked.

If one PC has the wrong date & time then appointments entered via that PC will appear at different times when viewed from another PC. The appointments will appear to move by the amount of the time zone difference.

If a diary is being accessed by users in different time zones then you will need to configure a specific time zone for the diary. i.e. Specify the time zone in which you want the diary to operate. See Setting the time zone for a diary