Question

Outlook 2003 - Contacts - "Show This Folder as E-Mail Address Book" on new installs/profiles

Asked by: cmuir

Hi

We are deploying a new custom install of Outlook 2003 but are struggling to have the "Show This Folder as E-Mail Address Book" for users standard Contacts folder selected by default. This means that when users compose a new message their contacts are not available from the "Show Names from the:" drop down list.

We can add the Contacts folder as an address book via Control Panel > Mail for each usser but would like a solution for all users and all profiles if possible.

Cheers

C

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2007-11-13 at 07:18:09ID22957248
Tags

address

,

outlook

,

book

,

show

,

folder

Topics

Email Clients

,

Outlook Groupware Software

Participating Experts
2
Points
0
Comments
10

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Outlook address book
    How do I add addresses to my outlook express address book?
  2. Address Book from Outlook Express/Outlook
    Hello, I need a way to read the address book from Outlook Express or Outlook (either or both). I've tried the following code, but it only works on a few machines: Dim ola As Outlook.AddressList Dim ole As Outlook.AddressEntry Set ola = Appli...
  3. Outlook resource booking
    The problem we are having is if someone books an Outlook resource as an all day even Outlook does not flag this resource as in use on this day. This means people are still able to book this resource which causes double bookings. If you book the resource from say 9:00 - 5:00 O...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: Klaatu01Posted on 2007-11-13 at 12:27:31ID: 20274788

So you want the "Contacts" folder to be the "Show this address list first" Default setting as soon as the profile is created for the first time on a single-user desktop or laptop?  Am I reading what you are asking correctly?  I want to make sure the Contacts list referred to is the server-based list and not a copied/imported (pre-existing) file.

 

by: cmuirPosted on 2007-11-13 at 12:34:25ID: 20274855

Yes exactly that - standard server based contacts

 

by: Klaatu01Posted on 2007-11-13 at 12:36:42ID: 20274871

Are the users going to be Remote where the Address Book will be inaccessible for updating?

 

by: cmuirPosted on 2007-11-13 at 13:02:18ID: 20275079

No - standard in the office config running OL 2003 cached mode by default

 

by: Klaatu01Posted on 2007-11-13 at 13:43:06ID: 20275445

I looked into the available Command-line switches to see if one addressed this issue and I did not find one.  In no way does it mean the desired setting is impossible, but it may be difficult to accomplish.  There are Microsoft tools available for accomplishing nearly anything for anyone willing to invest the time (I learned this recently by researching how to kill 500, up to 2 years old "Read receipts" a user's profile was generating), but perhaps the following will be of some help.

"How to deploy the .oab files and the .ost files for use with Outlook 2003 in Cached Exchange Mode"
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/872930/en-us

I mention it because of the many Registry keys described, some of them Registry additions, and the possibility they would relate to the desired configuration.  For example, it may be possible to disable the other address lists so that only Contacts remains and becomes the de facto "default".

I am checking the Microsoft "Office Online" Discussion Groups as there is an area dedicated to Outlook > Contacts.

 

by: Klaatu01Posted on 2007-11-14 at 05:27:55ID: 20279626

On the "Office Online" Discussion groups, in response to my Contacts question Oliver V. wrote:
Normally you can configure Outlook by creating a "PRF" file, but Outlook Address Books are the exception, they can not be configured by PRF files.  What are PRF files?

"Customizing Outlook Profiles by Using PRF Files"
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/ork2003/HA011402581033.aspx

Maybe it helps.

--
Oliver Vukovics
Share your Outlook PST files without Exchange: Public ShareFolder
Synchronisation for Outlook and Exchange: Public SyncTool
http://www.publicshareware.com

 

by: cmuirPosted on 2007-11-14 at 05:47:39ID: 20279754

Looking at the custom maintenance wizard at the moment to create a CMW file that may do the trick

 

by: cmuirPosted on 2007-11-14 at 06:03:52ID: 20279878

Nailed it - you can add an address book as an after thought to install via creating a Custom Maintenance Wizard then running the CMW file that is created in this rough format.

Worked for me and allows us to tweak so many more settings

MaintWiz.exe /c \\filepath\CMTEST.CMW /qb-

 

by: Computer101Posted on 2009-03-20 at 19:16:49ID: 23945505

PAQed with points refunded (50)

Computer101
EE Admin

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...