Categories disappearing from contact records

[Guest]

I use categories to separate my contacts by type. I also use them to make a
group for mailing purposes. So a single contact can be assigned to several
categories. One example is our annual Christmas card list. I marked that
category on over 400 contacts back in November. Several weeks ago, I noticed
that the category only contained about 100. So I went back and remarked each
contact so the list was corrected. Now it has happened again. Can anyone
tell me why? This should not have anything to do with my registry, as the
category itself exists in the MCL, it's just the information that has dropped
from certain records.
Our company contact database is in a Public folder and is shared by less
than 10 people. I am the only one with contact deletion capacity; other
users add contacts or update information on existing contacts. No one has
gone out and wiped out contact categories from the records. Please help!
Thanks!

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No one has gone out and wiped out contact categories from the records.

You can't know this for sure. All the symptoms, in fact, point to the likelihood that someone has, in fact, done exactly that. If it happens again, the Modified date on the items will at least tell you when.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Guest]

Sue, thanks for the clue, but it doesn't make sense...I have found that 727
records out of over 4000 were modified from 11:18 through 11:29am on Mon
2/27. It has to be a program, not a person, modifying that many records in
that small period of time. Could this have something to do with a user
synching up their PDA from the database? I will check to see what our folks
were doing at that time. Thanks!

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

No, one person could easily have done it and in even less time. Select contacts, right-click, choose Categories, and clear all categories that are checked.

PDA sync is possible, but most PDA sync tools only sync the user's default Contacts folder, not public folders.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers