Contacts randomly disappear

[Hans]

I am using Outlook for years and sometimes i notice that a contact has
disappeared. I have not consiously archived something or changed anything.
Sometimes i notice it because I want to look up someone in the contacts
database or sometimes I notice it because with sending an email Outlook does
not recognize the name anymore...
This is very strange and it makes me loose my trust in outlook.

I see on the internet that a lot of people have this problem and I have
never seen a satisfying answer to this problem.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Disappears from where, in what version and what information store? Outlook
does not randomly lose data all by itself. There is more to your story than
you have told us. What add-ins or sync software are you running, for
example? What method are you using to send when you think Outlook can't find
a Contact?

 

[Hans]

Hi Russ,

Thank you for your answer. I am using Outlook 2007 and i do not synchronize.
So what i do is adding contacts and sending emails. When outlook asks me to
archive, I allways say "no" because outlook does not make clear what happens
when you do that. I am afraid that when it archives, things get lost. (*)
My computer has been part of a network last year, now I disconnected and
uninstalled MS Exchange. Maybe that has to do with it.
Maybe the communication with exchange is the problem. Sometimes my .pst file
is very large, recently it was 591.250 kB. Maybe that has to do with it.
It would be so nice if Outlook had a "backup my contacts" function.
I have had Business Contact Manager installed, but uninstalled it, because
it was a US version and I have a Dutch language Outlook version.

(*) I would love to give some advice to MS devolpers to tell them what
standard rules to follow when you build a user interface. One of them is to
explain what happens.

Disappears from where, in what version and what information store? Outlook
does not randomly lose data all by itself. There is more to your story than
you have told us. What add-ins or sync software are you running, for
example? What method are you using to send when you think Outlook can't find
a Contact?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I am using Outlook for years and sometimes i notice that a contact has
disappeared. I have not consiously archived something or changed anything.
Sometimes i notice it because I want to look up someone in the contacts
database or sometimes I notice it because with sending an email Outlook
does
not recognize the name anymore...
This is very strange and it makes me loose my trust in outlook.

I see on the internet that a lot of people have this problem and I have
never seen a satisfying answer to this problem.

 

[Hans]

when I send an email to someone I regularly send and receive emails, I type
the name in the To... line and normally Outlook recognizes that and fills in
the email address.

Disappears from where, in what version and what information store? Outlook
does not randomly lose data all by itself. There is more to your story than
you have told us. What add-ins or sync software are you running, for
example? What method are you using to send when you think Outlook can't find
a Contact?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I am using Outlook for years and sometimes i notice that a contact has
disappeared. I have not consiously archived something or changed anything.
Sometimes i notice it because I want to look up someone in the contacts
database or sometimes I notice it because with sending an email Outlook
does
not recognize the name anymore...
This is very strange and it makes me loose my trust in outlook.

I see on the internet that a lot of people have this problem and I have
never seen a satisfying answer to this problem.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

You have now introduced endless possibilities, but no clear description of
what your problem is. This in in no way an Outlook problem This is end user
error in migrating data incorrectly and in not configuring your address book
service correctly while moving from Exchange to a local data file. We have
no idea what you did, so we cannot tell you what you did wrong.
The autocompletion feature does not even use your Contact information.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

when I send an email to someone I regularly send and receive emails, I
type
the name in the To... line and normally Outlook recognizes that and fills
in
the email address.

Disappears from where, in what version and what information store?
Outlook
does not randomly lose data all by itself. There is more to your story
than
you have told us. What add-ins or sync software are you running, for
example? What method are you using to send when you think Outlook can't
find
a Contact?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I am using Outlook for years and sometimes i notice that a contact has
disappeared. I have not consiously archived something or changed
anything.
Sometimes i notice it because I want to look up someone in the contacts
database or sometimes I notice it because with sending an email Outlook
does
not recognize the name anymore...
This is very strange and it makes me loose my trust in outlook.

I see on the internet that a lot of people have this problem and I have
never seen a satisfying answer to this problem.

 

[Diane Poremsky {MVP}]

recognizes it as in 'displays it in a dropdown as you begin typing the
name' or 'underlines it after you leave the To field'

Those are two different things - the first is the autocomplete cache. Names
can disappear either because its corrupt or because they aren't used much -
there is a limit of about 2000 names in the file. Archiving will not affect
this. The cache is specific to each profile so removing exchange and
creating a new profile will make a new cache file.

The second is autoresolve and uses actual contacts stored in your contact
folder. Archive could remove these, if the contacts folder is enabled for
archiving.


--
Diane Poremsky [MVP - Outlook]
Need Help with Common Tasks? http://www.outlook-tips.net/beginner/
Outlook 2007: http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/ol2007/



Exchange Messaging Outlook newsletter:
(e-mail address removed)




** Please include your Outlook version, Account type, and Windows Version
when requesting assistance **

when I send an email to someone I regularly send and receive emails, I
type
the name in the To... line and normally Outlook recognizes that and fills
in
the email address.

Disappears from where, in what version and what information store?
Outlook
does not randomly lose data all by itself. There is more to your story
than
you have told us. What add-ins or sync software are you running, for
example? What method are you using to send when you think Outlook can't
find
a Contact?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

I am using Outlook for years and sometimes i notice that a contact has
disappeared. I have not consiously archived something or changed
anything.
Sometimes i notice it because I want to look up someone in the contacts
database or sometimes I notice it because with sending an email Outlook
does
not recognize the name anymore...
This is very strange and it makes me loose my trust in outlook.

I see on the internet that a lot of people have this problem and I have
never seen a satisfying answer to this problem.

 

[Rodger Ling]

Russ, you are one tactful, helpful guy! It's people like you who have made
IT professionals so beloved by the general public.

Rodger Ling
www.stationr.org

You have now introduced endless possibilities, but no clear description of
what your problem is. This in in no way an Outlook problem This is end user
error in migrating data incorrectly and in not configuring your address book
service correctly while moving from Exchange to a local data file. We have
no idea what you did, so we cannot tell you what you did wrong.
The autocompletion feature does not even use your Contact information.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

when I send an email to someone I regularly send and receive emails, I
type
the name in the To... line and normally Outlook recognizes that and fills
in
the email address.

Disappears from where, in what version and what information store?
Outlook
does not randomly lose data all by itself. There is more to your story
than
you have told us. What add-ins or sync software are you running, for
example? What method are you using to send when you think Outlook can't
find
a Contact?
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
I am using Outlook for years and sometimes i notice that a contact has
disappeared. I have not consiously archived something or changed
anything.
Sometimes i notice it because I want to look up someone in the contacts
database or sometimes I notice it because with sending an email Outlook
does
not recognize the name anymore...
This is very strange and it makes me loose my trust in outlook.

I see on the internet that a lot of people have this problem and I have
never seen a satisfying answer to this problem.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Russ, you are one tactful, helpful guy! It's people like you who
have made IT professionals so beloved by the general public.

Odd, because Russ isn't an IT professional. Why would anything he says
reflect on a profession of which he is not a part? You might as well claim
that what I say reflects badly on cardiologists.