Keep Contacts sorted by last name?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mickey Segal
  • Start date Start date
M

Mickey Segal

By default, Windows Contacts sorts by the "name" field, which displays
contacts in order of their first names. Although it is possible to specify
sorting by the "Last name" field, and have this setting stick by setting
"Remember each folder's view settings", Windows Contacts first displays the
entries in order of "name" and then takes 35 seconds to re-display in order
of "Last name" (tested with a 2.66 MHz computer with 2.5 GB RAM and 1454
contacts on a computer with a clean install of Vista).

Although Windows XP also defaulted to sorting by "name", changing the
sorting to "last name" resulted in Windows Address Book showing the entries
immediately using the desired sorting method.

A workaround for the Vista behavior would be, within each contact, to set
the full name field to have the last name first, but each contact is added
by default in "First M. Last" order, and it would be a bother to change over
1500 contacts to such a format and make sure each new contact is added in
the non-default form.

Have I missed the setting to get immediate "last name" sorting in Windows
Contacts, or has Microsoft taken something that worked well in XP and
crippled it in Vista?
 
Does anyone know a workaround to get Windows Contacts to sort by last name
and not go through 35 seconds of sorting? I've done some string sorting in
programs myself, and 35 seconds for sorting 1500 strings seems ridiculously
high - I can do it in milliseconds.
 
In the Contacts folder?

right-click on the Names heading, and select Lastname to make it show up.
Then click on Last Name heading to sort ascending or descending.

or in the Send - To: window?

Click on the Names header... it cycles thru 4 different sorts...
 
I was referring to the Contacts folder. After I've waited the 35 seconds
during which the green bar fills the space near the top I can then re-sort
by any column title. The problem is that Vista is doing something for the
35 seconds, and starts with all my contacts alphabetized by name (i.e. the
first name) instead of defaulting to the sorting rule that I used last.
 
After adding Last Name, I went back and added First Name too.
Then used the MORE pick to re-sort the header positions.
Last name/First Name/ E-Mail addy/ Home Phone.

Now the bugger opens correctly.

Jim
 
I did all of those steps, and everything is sorted properly after 35
seconds. The problem is that it takes 35 seconds, and the initial display
visible during those 35 seconds is sorted by first name.
 
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