Geek brain dump

Guess what? I just managed to delete all my contacts on my new Windows Mobile 6.1 cellphone! A search on Google tells me I am not the only one, and Microsoft ActiveSync gets a lot of the blame for this mistake to be possible among various web forums (I have been searcing for a solution for some hours, so I have read enough to say this).

There are some handful mistakes that results in a deleted contact list. My mistake was syncronizing Outlook with my new cellphone with the synchronization relationship in Microsoft ActiveSync set to sync Outlook to the phone, and not the other way around (yes, it was my mistake). When the damage is done, there is no backup, neither in the phone or in ActiveSync, to regret the operation. Microsoft has, with other words, made the operation permanent.

My solution

Then I found a post on a web forum saying that Outlook will put deleted records from a synchronization into the deleted items folder. Hurra! (norwegian expression for expressing happiness). The solution was then moving the items I needed back to the contact folder. Please note that you will find all versions of the same contact if you have changed it and synchronized it to Outlook. You will find to-do items, calender items etc. If you are using Microsoft Outlook 2007 as I do, then do this to find your deleted items:

• Choose «Folder List» in the list on the left side (same as the picture to the right).
• Select the items you want to get back and drag and drop them at the “Contacts” folder in the “Folder List” view (in the picture to the right you see this just above the selected folder “Deleted Items”.

Make a backup

I recommend that you make a backup of all your items in contacts, calendar, tasks etc. One great piece of software for Windows Mobile is PIM Backup, it is free software, and you find it at http://www.dotfred.net/.