Paying for qualified Outlook support-recommendations?

[Leander]

Hello,

I am new to the forum, longtime admirer of Slipstick.

I have solved so many computer problems over the last month that now I just want phone support or a remote connection (safe, reputable) and have someone fix my standalone Outlook 2010 32 bit on Win 7x64 problems.

I have gradually "rebuilt" my personal Lenovo x201 tablet after major infection. Am now at the point where I need:

1. Single functional .pst file. Fix mail going into one .pst file, 10 years of tasks, calendars, contacts in another file.

2. Optimal Mail setup to use my Tablet and iPhone anywhere

3. Eliminate multiple extra mail, contact, task,calender folders

4. Merge some contact folders.

In general, CLEAN UP!

Will appreciate any leads to qualified helpers. I am a low intermediate user, back to first version of Outlook.

Thank you,

Leander

 

[Diane Poremsky]

1. This is easy. do you want the 10 yrs of stuff in the same pst with your mail?

2. IMAP, Hotmail or Exchange server is best for anywhere access

3. Merging is as simple as importing from a second pst or moving from one folder to another. Handling duplicates is another matter. fortunately there are a lot of 3rd party duplicate remover apps. I have a list of apps at Duplicate Remover Tools - Slipstick Systems

4. you can use the method here - Merging Two Calendar Folders - Slipstick Systems - to merge contact folders too.

 

[Leander]

1. This is easy. do you want the 10 yrs of stuff in the same pst with your mail?

2. IMAP, Hotmail or Exchange server is best for anywhere access

3. Merging is as simple as importing from a second pst or moving from one folder to another. Handling duplicates is another matter. fortunately there are a lot of 3rd party duplicate remover apps. I have a list of apps at Duplicate Remover Tools - Slipstick Systems

4. you can use the method here - Merging Two Calendar Folders - Slipstick Systems - to merge contact folders too.

Thanks very much for your response, Diane. And let me say that you and Sue Mosher deserve a lot of credit for the huge contributions you have made with respect to Outlook.

1. yes

2. I understand, but IMAP may be part of why I'm in trouble.

3. Good tip, thank you.

4. Another good tip, thank you.

At this point I don't think I have another ounce of problem solving in me until my batteries recharge for a few weeks. Can you recommend any service that will talk you through it, or make a remote connection and just do it? Maybe Microsoft? I've used their techs before, experience was so-so.

Thanks for any leads, and who knows, I may just follow what you've given me and try it myself!

Leander

 

[Diane Poremsky]

I'm not sure that imap is your problem - unless you say that because you have 2 pst files, one for imap email and one for the calendar and contacts. You can't avoid that with imap - you need a data file for the things imap does not support (everything but email.)

I can help you with it, if you want someone to take a look at it.

 

[Leander]

Thank you very much, Diane. Unfortunately, I made the call to Microsoft this morning before I read your response.

Since I did, I might as well let others know what my experience was, hopefully help someone else.

Probably the most important first fact for anyone considering this is that I had to pay $99 for this call. My Office 2010 is out of warranty-can't recall how long warranty lasts.

I paid it.

For my $99, I got pretty good service. I got a man in Manila, Phillipines who spoke pretty good English. We had a 70 min call, during which these things occurred:

1. I explained my situation: Lenovo x201 Tablet, Win 7 x 64, Office 2010, e-mail accounts via Time Warner Roadrunner and Gmail. I use the tablet as my main personal computer and send and receive e-mails both from a wired TimeWarner Cable connection at home, and via a Verizon global Gobi 2000 embedded card on the tablet (fixed monthly fee) so that I can have broadband internet connection almost everywhere. I also want to get the same e-mail on my iPhone and iPad at times.

Some infection killed my Tablet about a month ago, at which point I discovered that my disk image backups had stopped working 1-2 weeks earlier. I resurrected it by saving data to an external drive, formatted hard drive, then factory reinstall, then reinstall Office 2010 from original disks. I then created a new Outlook profile and tried to pull in the old .pst data file from its storage spot on external drive. I couldn't recall what all of my previous e-mail settings were. I was left with an old .pst file, set up exactly my way, with a 10 year history, and a new POP-3 file into which all my e-mails were going.

After some effort before my help call, I was able to get both data files next to each other, and to select my old file as the default file. At that point I could see both the old .pst folders and the new .pst folders in the left hand Navigation pane in Outlook 2010. I could use all my old calendars, contacts, Tasks, Notes, and just had to select the Inbox from the new .pst file.

2. He explained that no new .pst file is created when you create an IMAP e-mail account. I couldn't really understand the explanation, and will have to read more about it.

3. He created a new account, using my Gmail account, IMAP format.

4. We discovered together that you cannot direct new IMAP e-mail into my existing .pst file, which is set up as a POP-3 account.

5. His suggestion was that several times a day I manually move all my new e-mail messages from the IMAP account to my accustomed old POP-3 .pst file. I declined that solution.

6. We bailed out completely on IMAP and set up a Gmail Pop-3 account.

7. He showed me the obvious way to point mail coming into that new account to fill my old .pst file instead of some new file.

8. With all my earlier efforts, I had created a lot of extra calender, contact, and task folders. He showed me how to eliminate them.

9. He helped me merge all my contacts into one single folder. I will tag and refine that later.

All in all, I thought I got my money's worth, if for no other reason than that most of that 70 min was answering my questions. When we were finished, I felt like most of the answers were obvious and I could have figured them out by myself. But, as I mentioned, exhaustion and time constraints had taken their toll and I just needed someone to fix it for me.

I suspect that, having bailed out on IMAP, I have no way to get mail on my iPhone. I'll wait 1-2 months to tackle that. He understandably had no interest in helping me use my Apple products.

Thanks, Diane, for your replies, and I hope my story helps someone else.

Leander

 

[Diane Poremsky]

#2 - Either he is confused or did a poor job of explaining what he was trying to say. When you use an IMAP account, a new pst file is created for the account. You can't make it use another pst - it needs to create the pst file used for email. (Which you discovered in #4.)

As long as you are not deleting mail you download from gmail, the phone should have access to it.