enabling address books

[j lunis]

Outlook 2007
Trying to get my contacts to show up in the Address Book (when I press
CTRL-N and select 'Address Book').
Here is what I have. 3 folders (uncertain of the lingo) - Personal
Folders, Husband's, Wife's.
When I go to Properties for each folder's Contacts folder and select the
'Outlook Address Book' tab, the 'Show this folder as an email address
book' checked but grayed out in all three folders. (On one occasion I
did find the checkbox for my wife's contacts ungrayed out (is that a
phrase?) but don't know why.
Even on the occasion when my wife's address book should have been
active, the address book was empty and is still empty.
How do I 'ungray' the 'Show this folder as an email address book' checkbox?
How do I get Contacts in all folders to show in Address Book?

 

[Brian Tillman]

Trying to get my contacts to show up in the Address Book (when I press
CTRL-N and select 'Address Book').
Here is what I have. 3 folders (uncertain of the lingo) - Personal
Folders, Husband's, Wife's.
When I go to Properties for each folder's Contacts folder and select
the 'Outlook Address Book' tab, the 'Show this folder as an email
address book' checked but grayed out in all three folders.

You must repair the Outlook Address Book service. For Outlook 2007, that
may require a new mail profile, but see this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287563/en-us

 

[j lunis]

You must repair the Outlook Address Book service. For Outlook 2007,
that may require a new mail profile, but see this:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/287563/en-us

OK Brian.
Install the Outlook Address Book service. did that for 2 of my 5 email
addresses. Actually, I suppose I re-added the same 2 addresses.
According to the web site instructions, all steps were completed
successfully.

Mark your contact folder . . . - can't do that. still dimmed.
FWIW, both Profiles (I think my folder and my wife's folder are called
profiles) were imported from O2002.

I have read about 'repair' but am uncertain of a few things.
I now have 2 email accounts for 2 email addresses. Is this OK?
Do I have to repair all 5 email addresses?
Should I back them up before I repair them?

 

[Brian Tillman]

Install the Outlook Address Book service. did that for 2 of my 5 email
addresses.

No you didn't. The address book service is a profile-wide service and
applies to all accounts within the same profile. It's either in the profile
or it's not, whether you have one or 50 mail accounts in that profile.

Mark your contact folder . . . - can't do that. still dimmed.
FWIW, both Profiles (I think my folder and my wife's folder are called
profiles) were imported from O2002.

If the choice is still dimmed, then you did not properly add the OAB
service. Moreover it's clear you don't understand what a profile is. PSTs
and profiles are not equivalent. Mail accounts and profiles are not
equivalent. This isn't pejorative, merely an observation based on your
statement.

I have read about 'repair' but am uncertain of a few things.
I now have 2 email accounts for 2 email addresses. Is this OK?
Do I have to repair all 5 email addresses?
Should I back them up before I repair them?

I think your best bet is to create a new mail profile. The BEST practice is
for each person using the PC to have his or her own Windows username. Then
no one shares folders. See this:
http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/newprofile.htm

 

[j lunis]

No you didn't. The address book service is a profile-wide service and
applies to all accounts within the same profile. It's either in the
profile or it's not, whether you have one or 50 mail accounts in that
profile.


If the choice is still dimmed, then you did not properly add the OAB
service. Moreover it's clear you don't understand what a profile is.
PSTs and profiles are not equivalent. Mail accounts and profiles are
not equivalent. This isn't pejorative, merely an observation based on
your statement.


I think your best bet is to create a new mail profile. The BEST
practice is for each person using the PC to have his or her own Windows
username. Then no one shares folders. See this:
http://www.howto-outlook.com/faq/newprofile.htm

pejorative? I saw that as an accurate observation of an old guy's KB.
Well, first the good news.
Followed all the instructions in your link. Everything seemed to work
as intended (and got rid of that eternal "Personal Folders.)"
Started up Outlook and the 'Show this folder as an email address book'
checkbox was no longer dimmed. Checked it and checked Address Book.
Still no entries. Closed Outlook and restarted. 'Show this folder as
an email address book' checkbox was dimmed. Does this mean I'm back
where I started?

 

[Brian Tillman]

Followed all the instructions in your link. Everything seemed to work
as intended (and got rid of that eternal "Personal Folders.)"
Started up Outlook and the 'Show this folder as an email address book'
checkbox was no longer dimmed. Checked it and checked Address Book.
Still no entries. Closed Outlook and restarted. 'Show this folder as
an email address book' checkbox was dimmed. Does this mean I'm back
where I started?

Seems so. Without being able to see what you see and do at each step, I
can't tell where the process may be failing.

 

[j lunis]

Seems so. Without being able to see what you see and do at each step, I
can't tell where the process may be failing.

I have created 3 new Profiles according to instructions in a MS web
site. Still no address book entries.
Went through the instructions in your link once more. Still nothing.

I'll let you in on what happens.Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
1. On the Tools menu, click Accout Settings .
2. Click the Adress Books tab.
3. If your Outlook Address Book is listed, click Close, and then go to
"Step 2: Mark your contact folder for use with your address book."
OAB IS LISTED. NOT THE ONE WITH MY ADDRESSES IN IT, BUT OAB IS THERE.
IF I SELECT 'CHANGE' UNDER ADDRESS BOOK, THE ONE I WANT IS LISTED BUT I
CAN FIND NO WAY TO SELECT/ADD IT TO THE 'DIRECTORIES AND ADDRESS BOOKS'
DISPLAY.
iF I SELECT 'NEW,' I GET TO 'ADDITIONAL ADDRESS BOOKS,' 'ADDITIONAL
ADDRESS BOOK TYPES,' HIGHLIGHT OAB AND GET 'THIS ACCOUNT OR DIRECTORY
TYPE ALREADY EXISTS . . .' ON to 'Step 2'

Step 2: Mark your contact folder for use with your address book
1. On the File menu, point to Folder, and then click Properties for your
folder name.
2. On the Outlook Address Book tab, click to select the Show this folder
as an e-mail address book check box, type a descriptive name, and then
click OK.
DID THAT. NO ERRORS.

Step 3: Look for an e-mail address or a fax number
1. In the Folder list, select the Contact folder.
2. Double-click the contact to open the item, and then look at the
e-mail address field and the fax numbers field
DID THAT. EMPTY.

 

[Brian Tillman]

Step 3: Look for an e-mail address or a fax number
1. In the Folder list, select the Contact folder.
2. Double-click the contact to open the item, and then look at the
e-mail address field and the fax numbers field
DID THAT. EMPTY.

If they're empty, then of course the contact won't show in the Address Book.
The contacts need to have electronic addresses in order to appear in the
Address Book.

 

[j lunis]

If they're empty, then of course the contact won't show in the Address
Book. The contacts need to have electronic addresses in order to appear
in the Address Book.

Oops. Braindead. The Address Book is empty. CTRL-SHIFT-B.
BTW, made an interesting observation. I have t2o files (?) showing in
Outlook - one for my wife and one for me. Both contain electronic
addresses in Contacts. Both selected as Address Books. Both show in
CTRL-SHIFT-B. Neither show any addresses. My interest here, though, is
my wife's Address Book under Contact Properties. Irratically, it
changes itself back to the name of 'Contacts' as opposed to 'Wife's.'
When I go back to Contact Properties, it is no longer dimmed (both
address books dim as soon as I select them and restart Outlook). I can
change the Address Book name to 'Wife's,' check it as an address book,
and it showsw up in CTRL-SHIFT-B (albeit empty). A day or two later it
changes itself back to Contacts and is undimmed - is that a word?

 

[j lunis]

Seems so. Without being able to see what you see and do at each step, I
can't tell where the process may be failing.

Brian,
If it helps, one more observation.
I can open a New Message, type in 3-4 letters of a contact's name, hit
'CC:' and the name appears in Address Book with email address filled in.
"Type ahead' doesn't finish the name but at least CC: can find it.
However, if I type in 3-4 letters of a contact's name and hit 'Address
Book,' Outlook can't find the email address.
How can CC: find the email address in Address Book when I type in a
partial name, but Address Book seems to think it is empty?

 

[Brian Tillman]

If it helps, one more observation.
I can open a New Message, type in 3-4 letters of a contact's name, hit
'CC:' and the name appears in Address Book with email address filled
in.

"Hit CC"? do you mean click the Cc button just below the To button? What
do you see when you click To? What's in the "Show names from the"
drop-down?

"Type ahead' doesn't finish the name but at least CC: can find
it. However, if I type in 3-4 letters of a contact's name and hit
'Address Book,' Outlook can't find the email address.
How can CC: find the email address in Address Book when I type in a
partial name, but Address Book seems to think it is empty?

I'm confused. Clicking Cc brings up the Address Book, so how does the
address book not find it?

 

[j lunis]

"Hit CC"? do you mean click the Cc button just below the To button?
What do you see when you click To? What's in the "Show names from the"
drop-down?


I'm confused. Clicking Cc brings up the Address Book, so how does the
address book not find it?

First, I need to say what I mean.
Wwhen I type in 3-4 letters of a contact's name in the 'TO:' box (or
whatever it is), Outlook fills in s the contact's email address.
However, if, instead of typing a contact's name, I hit 'Address Book,'
or 'TO:,' Outlook shows an empty Address Book.
So, to me, Outlook can find a Contact if I just start typing a name, but
it indicates to me the Address Book is empty. Just seems it has to be
getting that Contact's name from somewhere for it to find a name by 3-4
characters.

 

[Brian Tillman]

First, I need to say what I mean.
Wwhen I type in 3-4 letters of a contact's name in the 'TO:' box (or
whatever it is), Outlook fills in s the contact's email address.
However, if, instead of typing a contact's name, I hit 'Address
Book,' or 'TO:,' Outlook shows an empty Address Book.
So, to me, Outlook can find a Contact if I just start typing a name,
but it indicates to me the Address Book is empty. Just seems it has
to be getting that Contact's name from somewhere for it to find a
name by 3-4 characters.

From the sound of things, you're referring to the autocompletion feature.
Outlook remembers the most recent 1,000 addresses to which you've sent mail.
It's not connected with your contacts in any way whatsoever.

My personal opinion is that you need to begin again with a clean mail
profile and take the process very carefully one step at a time. Perhaps you
missed a step or tried to modify the existing profile rather than creating a
new one. Your symptoms still indicate an incomplete mail profile. If it
doesn't work, perhaps someone else will be able to add to the conversation,
since I can't think of anything more to suggest.