Transfer contacts from C500 to M3100?

[Guest finisterre]

I'm trying to transfer a couple of hundred contacts from old phone to new, but have hit a snag or two.

I am unable to sync the contacts from the C500 to the PC using Activesync 4.1 or 4.2, because it repeatedly hangs after transferring 1 or 2 contacts.

If I use SIM manager to transfer using the SIM, I end up with 3 distinct entires for a person who has a home, work & mobile number. Plus I lose name information due to the 12 letter max when storing contact names on the SIM.

If I use IR beam, then the 3 numbers for each contact DO end up all in a single entry, but I have to beam each contact individually. Very laborious.

Any other ideas?

Thanks.

[Guest jimbouk]

Didn't you have the contacts sync'd already from your c500 with a pc?

Have you tried bluetooth instead of infra-red?

[Guest finisterre]

Didn't you have the contacts sync'd already from your c500 with a pc?

Have you tried bluetooth instead of infra-red?

I've never bothered syncing contacts with the PC before. Just backed them up over the air to Orange periodically.

And I don't have Bluetooth on the PC.

Beaming via IR would be fine, if there were a way to do ALL to contacts at once.

Cheers.

[Guest jimbouk]

If I were you, I would work on the problem with getting the c500 to sync with the pc.

Try finding a copy of activesync 3.8 (its probably on the cd that came with the c500). Uninstall 4.2 and install 3.8 (its better with older wm os's).

Then once you have them all in Outlook, uninstall 3.8, re-install 4.2, set up your sync partnership with your 3100 and bob's your Aunty's husband.

[Guest finisterre]

If I were you, I would work on the problem with getting the c500 to sync with the pc.

Try finding a copy of activesync 3.8 (its probably on the cd that came with the c500). Uninstall 4.2 and install 3.8 (its better with older wm os's).

Then once you have them all in Outlook, uninstall 3.8, re-install 4.2, set up your sync partnership with your 3100 and bob's your Aunty's husband.

Just did exactly that. Tried Activesync 4.1, 4.2 then 3.8. Deleted PST file in Outlook (it was empty anyway). Still gets stuck after a random amount of contacts.

Bloody frustrating.

[Guest jimbouk]

When you say "stuck" do you mean it completely freezes or just seems unresponsive? Maybe you need to leave it for 30 minutes or something.

(Oh and by the way when I mentioned BT earlier that was suggesting BT all your contacts from the c500 to the m3100 - but I guess there's no "select all" option with that either...

[Guest finisterre]

When you say "stuck" do you mean it completely freezes or just seems unresponsive? Maybe you need to leave it for 30 minutes or something.

(Oh and by the way when I mentioned BT earlier that was suggesting BT all your contacts from the c500 to the m3100 - but I guess there's no "select all" option with that either...

I'll leave it running overnight, but I'm pretty sure it's stuck (1 contact synced, 55 secs remaining permanently, green disk still spinning). The C500 with the problem is my G/Fs. Just tried mine, and it synced OK (and quickly), so I'm guessing she may have a corrupt contact which is halting the process.

Don't suppose anyone knows of a way to IR beam mutiple contacts at once?

[Guest niacin65]

I'm trying to transfer a couple of hundred contacts from old phone to new, but have hit a snag or two.

I am unable to sync the contacts from the C500 to the PC using Activesync 4.1 or 4.2, because it repeatedly hangs after transferring 1 or 2 contacts.

If I use SIM manager to transfer using the SIM, I end up with 3 distinct entires for a person who has a home, work & mobile number. Plus I lose name information due to the 12 letter max when storing contact names on the SIM.

If I use IR beam, then the 3 numbers for each contact DO end up all in a single entry, but I have to beam each contact individually. Very laborious.

Any other ideas?

Thanks.

You can do it by using SP Studio (freeware) on both devices. Read HERE and Also HERE

[Guest Dr Who]

I know this problem and can't believe O haven't fixed it!

Its caused by the OTA Orange Backup service. Any contacts backed up using this service and then restored to the phone will NOT sync with Outlook. Never figured out why but think that there is a slight difference in the format of the contacts after they have been through Orange Backup which Outlook doesn't like.

The original thread is here

http://www.modaco.com/index.php?showtopic=113192&hl=

but for some reason that thread is broken in the SQL database at the moment.

I found this out TWO YEARS ago!

Only way I found to get round it was to use a rainy Sunday to type all my contacts into Outlook...........

[Guest NikLP]

That whole post sounds like a right pain in the arse.

There *was* something else IIRC back in the day, that was caused by something dodgy in MMS messages? If you have any of those you could try deleting them? If not, sorry.

You're mugging yourself by using OBackup instead of ASync anyway, but presumably you've worked that out now... :D

[Guest finisterre]

Thanks guys. I tried SP Studio as suggested, and whilst it kinda worked, the contacts ended up as SmithJohn instead of Smith, John on the M3100 - and I didn't fancy having to edit them all.

I have used OTA backup on both mine and my GF's C500s before. I am unsure as to whether I've ever had to restore them on hers, which may have introduced the problem mentioned above. I guess I may ahve done.

Looks like I'll have to beam them all individually over the next few days.

As to mugging myself not using Activesync - well I had an Ipaq 3970 back in the day, and after a few months or years of syncing, it had pretty much destroyed the Contacts, Tasks and Calendar within Outlook on my PC. I had people's birthdays in Outlook 20 times on the same day (some running 00:00-24:00, and some offset by an hour). And duplicate aqnd differing entires all over the place elsewhere (and I consider myself highly PC literate, having been an IT pro for 20 years). I still haven't tidied up the mess it made of Outlook on my PC! I just gave up using Contacts, Tasks and Calendar on the PC. So I suppose, you could say once bitten, twice shy, when it comes to Activesync.

[Guest jimbouk]

There are settings to avoid duplicates and I think there are even ways of deduping on both ppcs and in outlook.

I would do what Dr Who suggested and type them all into outlook once and for all. Create a new profile in Mail settings in Control Panel, and then tell outlook to use that by default, you will then have a clean empty outlook. Type them in there and then sync to the device.

OR beam them and then sync as suggested above.

[Guest NikLP]

Everyone gets stung by activesync, it's the law. I've ended up reinstalling windows on one occasion because of it.

You should reinstall windows at least once a year anyway, because it's still fairly crap. This will cure most of your problems with outlook and async overnight. If possible I guess a good solution would be to time this to coincide with buying a new handset?

my two cents anyway.

[Guest Dr Who]

Thanks guys. I tried SP Studio as suggested, and whilst it kinda worked, the contacts ended up as SmithJohn instead of Smith, John on the M3100 - and I didn't fancy having to edit them all.

There is tool available somewhere withing the vast hive mind that is Modaco that sorts out problems like this with Outlook. I am not 100% sure it will sort out the problem that you are having but it *might*. If no one can send you the link I can email you the program perhaps if I can find it.