ActiveSync Not Active - Doesn't update!

[mcsouth]

I just recently (this week) received two Dell X50v pda's for my boss and I, that we intended to sync with our work PC's in order to have portable access to our Outlook information. As a longtime PPC user, I was expecting a fairly smooth set-up, and indeed, ActiveSync installed without any issues, and we were able to establish partnerships with our PC's (standard partnerships - did not select Exchange ActivieSync option).

However, we are both experiencing identical issues - after docking the pda, it connects and syncronizes, but any changes that occur on the desktop after that are not updated on the pda! New mail arrives, you can read it or move it to a personal folder, and the pda is not updated. The same thing occurs for Calendar and Task list entries - changes made on the desktop are not updated on the pda.

I have tried clicking on the "Sync" button in Activesync, but it still does not pick up these changes. The only "fix" seems to be undocking the pda, then redocking it - ActiveSync starts up again, and then seems to "notice" the differences.

I did some checking on both Dell's and Micorsoft's Knowledge Bases, and came up with the following MS Knowedge item:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;240223

We are using Outlook 2003, and connect with an Exchange server. We also use offline folders to store e-mail on our desktop that we wish to save - is this the same as the "OST" referred to in this Knowledge article?

This is a MAJOR dealbreaker for both of us - if we cannot get ActiveSync to function properly, it somewhat defeats the purpose. When you have a meeting, you want to be able to grab your pda and go - complete with all of the latest information on your pda. It is simply not convenient to have to redock the unit, wait for ActiveSync to do its thing, and then dash off.

Does anyone else have this issue at work? Is there a way to fix this, or are we stuck with ActiveSync that does not actively sync?

[Jason Dunn]

We are using Outlook 2003, and connect with an Exchange server. We also use offline folders to store e-mail on our desktop that we wish to save - is this the same as the "OST" referred to in this Knowledge article?

This is the first time I've heard of a configuration like this, so I think it's rare enough to explain the strange problems you're having. ActiveSync is notoriously limited in what it allows you to sync against. I sync against an Exchange server as well, but it's online, and I have no offline folders, so I can't figure out your exact scenario...

[nitestrike]

It sounds like to me you are using Personal Folders (PST Files), but I agree that a few more details need to be provided.

[mcsouth]

I'm certainly not an expert on Outlook and Exchange configurations - that's why I was hoping someone might recognize this issue and help provide some ideas.

Our company (20000+ employees worldwide) uses an Exchange server, I believe hosted in Italy, for all email. When we fire up Outlook in the morning, we connect to the server to get our mail. All mail in the Inbox, Sent, Draft, and Deleted folders are copies(?) of the content on the server, because those folder's contents count against our 50MB mailbox limit on the server. If we want to keep mail for future reference, etc, we move it to our personal folders (resident on our local PC), which removes it from the server. I don't know if this is a typical configuration or not - it's the only one that I'm familiar with from a corporate perspective.

This is unlike my personal email, which, when I open Outlook at home, connects to my ISP's mail server, and downloads my mail to my local PC - it is no longer on the server.

I have been investigating this issue further, and basically, I have determined that ActiveSync will update the PPC, but only at very weird intervals. Unlike my personal PPC (iPaq 1945), which when synced with my home PC, updates almost immediately when I make a change on the desktop, my work PPC (Dell X50v) is often out of sync for 30-40 minutes (in some cases over an hour) with my work PC (the only PC I sync it with). At this point, I am unable to figure out how or why it doesn't update the records more frequently. I have also been unable to figure out what finally "triggers" it to do an update.

If I press the "Sync" button in ActiveSync, it will not "see" the updated records on the desktop. I either have to undock and redock the PPC to get it to update, or if I select the "Options" button, and immediately click "OK" (without making any changes), it will resync immediately, and pick up all the changes.

Does anyone have any ideas why ActiveSync isn't seeing my Outlook changes and syncing them sooner? This affects Tasks, Calendar items, email - I basically have to manually force a sync (just like a Palm :? ) before grabbing my PPC, because otherwise, it is most likely not current with my desktop.