Google Apps Sync Disables Outlook Search (Update)

News

Update: The issues with Windows Desktop Search and the Outlook Connector icw the Google Apps Sync plugin have been solved and a new version has been released. No news have been posted about the other issues regarding Acrobat PDF Maker Toolbar and Apple’s Outlook Change Notifier

The Outlook team is reporting on their blog that there are issues running the Google Apps Sync plugin with Microsoft Office Outlook.

The first one is that it disables Windows Desktop Search from indexing Outlook. The second issue is that it disables the Microsoft Outlook Connector.

To recover from the first issue, you can change the following registry key;

Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Search
Value name: PreventIndexingOutlook
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 0

Uninstalling Google Apps Sync will also re-enable the indexing. If you are using Google Apps Sync version 1.0.22.1945 or lower, then you’ll have to first install the latest version of Google Apps Sync and then uninstall it again to recover (or use the registry fix).

The second issue is easier to overcome as the Outlook Connector will notify you of it with an error that some functionality will be disabled. By clicking “Yes” on the dialog when prompted, the Outlook Connector will reset the proper keys and will function correctly.

In addition to the issues reported by the Outlook team, Google also reports that Google Apps Sync disables the Acrobat PDF Maker Toolbar and Apple’s Outlook Change Notifier.

Microsoft and Google are working together on fixing the mentioned issues.


CodeTwo

Migrate from Outlook Express or Windows (Live) Mail to Outlook

Windows Live Mail buttonMigrating from Outlook Express, Windows Mail or Windows Live Mail to Microsoft Office Outlook used to be a relatively easy process but since these applications have been out of support for quite some time, it has become a bit more complicated to import this data into Outlook on the latest versions of Windows.

In addition to mail, this guide will also discuss how you can migrate your Contacts and Calendar.

Continue reading: Migrate from Outlook Express or Windows (Live) Mail to Outlook


New version of OutlookTools released

News

A new version of OutlookTools has been released. OutlookTools 2.2 has been released to comply with the changes in Office 2007 Service Pack 2. It is still compatible with previous versions of Outlook as well of course.

OutlookTools is a support and advanced settings tool for Microsoft Office Outlook created by HowTo-Outlook. It gives you easy access to Outlook settings and data folders and allows you to change settings that are normally only possible through the registry.

Main Program Features

  • Easy access to Outlook settings and data folders
  • Easy access to troubleshooting tools
  • Start Outlook with a startup switch
  • Clear the Most Recently Used lists
  • Make the New Mail Alert stay up for longer than 30 seconds
  • Unblock attachments

And note that OutlookTools is completely free!

Download: OutlookTools 2.2


Office 2007 Service Pack 2 released today

News

The wait is over; Office 2007 Service Pack 2 has been released today. After the KB articles for Office 2007 Service Pack 2 have been made public already earlier today, the download links for Service Pack 2 are now active as well.

When it comes to Outlook, Service Pack 2 is very similar to the February 2009 cumulative update which was very much focused on improving Outlook’s responsiveness and stability. Some other notable changes and fixes in Service Pack 2;

  • The option to select which pages you want to print is back.
  • Many fixes to meetings and reminders behavior.
  • “Change Calendar Time Zone” option is removed and now available as a separate download.
  • Outlook shutdown improvements (quicker and less likely to hang when still being used by an addin or external application).
  • Downloading from POP3 will download the newest messages first instead of the oldest.
  • RSS Feeds behave more reliable (sometimes they caused duplicates or stopped updating).
  • Improved reliability with SharePoint connections.

When you launch Outlook for the first time after installing Service Pack 2, you’ll get a dialog saying “Preparing Outlook for first use.” This could take a while depending on the size of your mailbox and the amount of items in it. This is because of some changes in the indexes of the pst-file to improve performance. Don’t worry, this is one time only and it won’t break compatibility with Outlook 2003 (or in case you are still using the ANSI format, it won’t break compatibility with Outlook XP/2002 or previous either).

Outlook will also show a new icon in the Notification Area if the outlook.exe process is still running when all Outlook windows are closed already;
Outlook running in background

In addition, this Service Pack is the first Office Service Pack that can be uninstalled without first completely uninstalling Office and then reinstalling it again. So if you find the need to uninstall it again for whatever reason, you can use this tool.

View: Description of 2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 2 (SP2) and of Microsoft Office Language Pack 2007 SP2
Download: 2007 Microsoft Office Suite Service Pack 2
Download: Microsoft Office Language Pack 2007 Service Pack 2
Download: 2007 Office Service Pack 2 Changes (Excel sheet)


Include pdf-version when sending Office documents

MailPdfPlus Macro buttonFrom within Word, Excel and PowerPoint, you can save your document in the pdf-format. Additionally it allows you to directly share and send out the open document as a pdf-file attachment via Outlook.

On occasion it can be convenient to send out the pdf-version together with the original Office document. For instance;

  • The document is ready for the final review before publishing or distributing but the final reviewer should also be able to make some last minute changes.
  • Provide the option to people to read the document on their smartphone which do no have the Office app installed on their Android or iOS device.
  • Accessibility reasons.

This guide explains how you can create that functionality with a macro in Word. It also includes code examples for using this macro in PowerPoint and Excel.

Continue reading: Include pdf-version when sending Office documents


Klingon language support for Office 2007 added

News

I’m sorry to disappoint the Trekkies and other enthusiasts about this news but of course this was an April Fool’s joke. However, only very little picture editing had to be done to achieve these results. Most of it can be achieved already by modifying your font settings in Windows and Outlook. You can choose a font other than Klingon as well if you like ;-)

Office 2007 is localized in 37 languages and offers proofing tools for even more languages. A new language will be added to this collecting; Klingon.

For the ones not familiar with that language; Klingon is a fictional language spoken in the Star Trek series and movies with Lt. Worf probably being the most famous Klingon. The Klingon Language Institute (KLI) is an independent organization that supports the studying of the language for well over 15 years now. The Klingon language itself celebrates its 25 year anniversary this year since actual grammar was developed for it for the movie Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

Support for it will be added as a Language Pack meaning that not only proofing support will be added but also the interface can be set to appear in Klingon. However, there are certain limitations to this since several sections of the interface rely on the language of Windows itself and its configured locale. You can see this for instance in the time notations (I used an English version of Windows XP with a Dutch locale on my test machine). Additionally, subjects and names cannot be written in Klingon as they are not included in the Unicode character set and to prevent potential encoding issues on mail servers. It is also funny to see that the product names (Microsoft Outlook/Exchange) are not translated either.

The Klingon Language Pack will come out together with the Office 2007 SP2 updates for the other language packs which are currently available already. Additional languages are expected as well.

Klingon mail Outlook window smallKlingon message windows small

Klingon is the first fictional language that will be supported in Office.
(Click on the pictures for a larger view)


Files and Settings guide for Outlook

Files and Settings buttonThis guide is not for the faint hearted but still is useful if you are interested in the location of a specific file or its purpose and whether or not is possible to migrate it to another computer.

If you are looking for a way to just backup your Outlook data, please take a look at Backup and Restore all Outlook data instead.
If you are looking for a way to conveniently backup your Outlook data and settings or want to move your Outlook data and settings to another computer, the blog post Backup Outlook settings is recommended instead.

If you are in IT support or just are interested to find out which files Outlook uses and where it stores its settings; This is the guide for you.

Continue reading: Files and Settings guide for Outlook


Exclusive Wintersale of Picture Attachments Wizard (50% discount)

News

For a limited time only, Collaborative Innovations is offering their Picture Attachments Wizard addin with a 50% discount when using the discount code; MSOUTLOOKINFO-WINTERSALE

This offer is valid until the end of the Winter (March 21).

Amongst others, the Picture Attachment Wizard addin will allow you to view picture attachments as thumbnails directly within the Outlook message or even view them all within a Slide Show. This takes away the need to open them one at a time. Continue reading: Exclusive Wintersale of Picture Attachments Wizard (50% discount)


Fonts, sizes and color settings of the Outlook interface

Fonts, Sizes and Colors buttonIf you don’t like the way Outlook looks like by default, you might want to find out how you can change the fonts types, sizes and colors in Outlook to suit your taste better.

Most of them can be changed but the way to do it is scattered between various Windows and Outlook settings and even then they are not in a single location. Some sections can even be modified in multiple ways to reach the same or similar results.

This guide provides an overview how you can change which section of Outlook and if it needs to be done at Outlook level or at Windows level.

Continue reading: Fonts, sizes and color settings of the Outlook interface