Of course, I googled my problem and after sifting through many results, I found the below which worked like a charm. Many thanks and please go to Tech Recipe for graphics and the step-by-step instructions. Instructions without graphics are below.

Another way to find and eliminate duplicates is to export your contacts into a .csv file, open them in excel and do a sort by name. I like this method when I know I have several contacts with the same name, but with different information in them. It’s a bit easier for me to consolidate all the entries into one while looking at them in excel. When you’re finished, simply import them back into Outlook.

Directions

1. Open your Outlook contacts

2. Click View, mouse over Current View and select Phone List. This will create a list of all of your contacts in a column based view.
3. Right-click a column header and select Field Chooser from the resulting menu.

4. In the Field Chooser box, use the dropdown and select All Contact fields.

5. Select Created.

6. Drag Created to the Column Headers to add it to the list. Close the Field Chooser box.

7. Now click on the newly added column header (Created). This will sort all of your items by the date that they were added to your Contacts.
8. Scroll down to the first contact in the list that is to be deleted and select it.
9. Scroll down to the last contact that is to be deleted. Hold down the Shift key and select this contact. This will highlight all of the contacts that you are going to remove.
10. Press the Delete key. The duplicate contacts will be removed.
11. Click View, mouse over Current View and select the view you normally use for your contacts (such as Business Cards).
12. Your Contacts should not display any duplicates.

It seems we all are looking for the ‘magic bullet’ of syncing software. We want to be able to access our email, contacts and calendar remotely, on our main computer and on our PDA.

A big ‘must’ for Virtual Assistants is the ability to access our clients’ calendars. We need access to post appointments, send invitations to meetings or find free time for setting up meetings, trips, etc.

When I moved a client to using gmail so I could access her email, I did some research into the google calendaring feature. I had heard so many great things about the google calendar and how easily it synced with people’s smart phones and outlook and other mail programs.

To my delight, I found that Google had introduced the very desirable ’2-way sync’ feature earlier this year. Google has all the instructions here.

So, download the file and follow the instructions to install it (you’ll have to have outlook closed). After installation, you’ll get the below box where you’ll then enter your gmail address and password. Then you will want to select the 2-way radio button. The only other option is how often to sync. Default is 120″, the lowest interval you can select is 10″.

Google Calendar Sync Options

Then pull up outlook and you’ll see a little calendar icon in your system tray. Hover your mouse over it and it identifies itself. When you see arrows moving on the icon, you know it’s syncing.

If you have more than one google calendar, it will only sync to your main calendar, so choose wisely. If you have a calendar further down on your list, you can go into the google calendar settings and decide which calendar will be your main calendar (a nice feature).

In addition to the sync function, google also has some other interesting calendar features. For example, code is provided if you want to insert your calendar inside your blog or website – handy if you have events to publicize. There are a host of options available for sharing your calendar on-line with others. Just choose the permissions you want others to have.

I’ve been using it for several months and it seems to be working well. You can also import your outlook contacts into google. From outlook, I did a file export into a .csv file (currently the only supported import/export method), and then imported that into google. More information here.

Microsoft released in March their updated (and beta) version of FolderShare.

FolderShare is a free piece of downloadable software. Install it and log in. There are three components – a Personal Library, a Shared Library and a Remote Access section. Pretty simple – the personal section contains files and folders that only you will have access to. Shared folders and be shared with one or a number of people. Click the “create library” button and navigate to the folder on your computer you want to share and select it. Then you will designate the person’s email you want to share with and FolderShare will send them an email. You can share a document, a folder of pictures, think of the possibilities!

The remote access allows you to login and work on files from anywhere you might be. You can also set up remote access with a colleague or client. Use it to keep shared files and folders you use for collaboration. I think it’s easier and faster to get to than using Google Docs. It is useful for me in my virtual assistance business.

So you’re wondering about security. Here’s how they secure data (taken from the Microsoft site): FolderShare help:

Yes, FolderShare works with the Mac too! There is a Mac client for download at the Microsoft site. You can share folders between PCs and Macs. From a couple blogs I’ve read, they play and share very nicely together!