Setting up Outlook 2016/2019 with a CalDAV Synchronizer add-in

Setting up Outlook 2016/2019 with a CalDAV Synchronizer add-in "EVO Collaborator"

EVO Collaborator for Outlook syncs your default calendar and address book from your CardDAV or CalDAV server automatically. If you want to synchronize more than one calendar, we recommend setting up additional profile in ECO CalDAV Synchronizer.

Step 1 - Download and install plugin

To sync your CalDAV calendar in Outlook, you need to download and install the plugin ECO Outlook CalDAV Synchronization add-in.

ECO CalDAV synchronizer add-in download

After you installed it on your PC, you need to restart Outlook 2016. The plugin will be available in Outlook ribbon tab at the top.

Step 2 - Select the proper profile and enter correct CalDAV server hostname or URL.

To set up your calendar, you need the CalDAV hostname or URL of your calendar.

If your CalDAV server is already supported by ECO, select the profile directly from the list, such as FastMail.

If your CalDAV server is not supported directly by ECO, log in your Webmail and go to Calendar section. Try to find the CalDAV URL and copy & paste it into ECO's Calendar URL in profile #21.

Enter your username and password. Then click TEST, Apply and Quit.

Step 3 - Open Outlook and click ECO CalDAV Synchronizer

Open Outlook and click the ribbon tab EVO's CalDAV synchronization add-in at the top of your screen.

Step 4 - Click Configure Profiles

Click Configure Profiles to start setting up your calendar.

Step 5 - Add a new profile

Now, you need to configure a profile for your Webmail calendar.

In profiles list to the left, try to locate the service you want to synchronize with.
If your service is not found, try to enter the CalDAV synchronization URL directly.

Step 6 - Select CalDAV folder in Outlook

Next, you need to select the folder where the calendar will be saved on your computer. If you don't change it, default folder will be used.

Click the FOLDER button to the right of Default CalDAV calendar folder name.

Select the Calendar folder under your Outlook Data File (PST) or under your Exchange OST profile.

Step 7 - Enter your server settings

If your server is found in the list, just enter username and password and click TEST.
Otherwise you need to enter your server settings.

• CalDAV calendar URL: the URL you copied from Webmail earlier.
• Username: Your email address.
• Password: Your password.

Then click TEST, Apply and Quit.

Step 8 - All done

Your calendar is now configured. Any change made in Outlook or on Webmail will be synchronized within an interval..

How to share Outlook's calendar with other people?

Without Exchange Server, how to share Outlook's calendar?

Back in the old days, Outlook users could share their calendars with others via Microsoft Exchange Server. However, only users within the same domain could be accessing to the calendars since it is within a proprietary network environment.

Outlook Calendar Sharing

Now, Microsoft started to promote Office365 a few years back after realizing content sharing is getting more popular through Internet. Not only Office, but also its own Outlook.com was merged in with Exchange Online Service as its backend. As a result, individuals other than users within the same domain, such as free Outlook.com users, are able to access shared calendar resource.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

It is almost summer vacation for schools. Teachers and club staffs may want to plan out agenda of the upcoming school year during summer instead of at last second. But, the fact is that everyone is on vacation and planning trips here and there. 

In the past, teachers and staffs used to hold meetings somewhere they need to physically show up. Then, they would have discussions and use Excel to jot everything down. It was not really effective and yet a good summer vacation was interrupted for some of them.

For now, I suggest that teachers and staffs can create a shared calendar to which every member has access. Whenever there is any idea popped up in mind, just simply create an entry in the shared calendar. By using this collaboration scheme, an outline of agenda for next school year is almost complete. What is left is to wrap it up with some touch and fix on back-to-school day before school really starts.

How to share calendars with users on different platforms?

As we mentioned before, not every teacher or staff has an Outlook.com or Exchange account and gets to add, modify or delete calendar entries. Some has Gmail while some has Yahoo, iCloud or etc. Yet, everyone is on a variety of devices to get online, such as Android, iPhone, desktop PC, or laptop.

As perhaps the most commonly used calendar cloud service provider, Google is strongly recommended. Once this shared Google account is created, every teacher or staff can easily log in this shared Google account from his/her device. Since only one account is being used, everyone logged surely has the privileges to add, modify or delete entries.

How to confgiure shared Google account on different platforms?

Let's talk about how to configure Google account on various platforms.

1. Android:

Android

Whether it is Android phone or tablet, we can log in the shared Google or Gmail account. Then, we can download and install Google Calendar app. Lastly, open this installed app and we will see entries synchronized.

2. iOS:

iPhone

Whether it is iPhone or iPad, we can create Google/Gmail account from within Settings/Passwords & Accounts/Add Account. Then, we can open the built-in Calendar app and put checkmarks in the boxes next to the shared Google calendars. Lastly, we will see the entries.

3. Windows 10/8.1:

Built-in Calendar app within Windows 10/8.1 is rarely used by Windows users because they mostly use Outlook or Thunderbird instead. But, it is working fine. Once a Google account is created within the Calendar app, calendar entries will also be synced.

4. Outlook:

A known fact is that Google Calendar Sync for Outlook was discontinued 4 years ago. Even we downoad and install it on Outlook 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010 or 2007, it would not work because this Outlook add-in cannot connect to Google server. Yet, calendar ics files off Google Calendar can only be imported to Outlook and thus fails serving the purpose of synchronizing. I would rather recommend you to use some third-party Outlook add-in, such as EVO Collaborator for Outlook. Setting up such Outlook add-ins is similar to Google Calendar Sync for Outlook. Once installed, enter username, authenticate through Google OAuth 2.0, configure sync folders and that is all.

5. Thunderbird:

If some teacher or staff is using Thunderbird, then they can refer to Using Lightning with Google Calendar to install & configure Lightning and Provider for Google Calendar. 

6. Mac OS X:

Mac OS X

Like iOS, simply add the shared Google account within Internet Accounts. Once added, open the built-in Calendar application to access shared calendar entries.

How to use Outlook Google Calendar Sync?

Outlook synchronizes with Google Calendar for free

Google used to provide an Outlook add-in, called Google Calendar Sync, that enables users to sync its Google Calendar with Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019appplication on Windows. As Google became a bigshot, this freebie was discountinued. In fact, it was not gone but was included in Google App for Work, which turned into GASMO and then G Suite.

I did not use the paid Gsuite after Google Calendar Sync and I turned away to iCloud instead. Some time later, I heard a free Outlook add-in called Outlook Google Calendar Sync aka OGCS was released. Based on my curiosity, I was trying it out and checked how good it was.

Installing and Configuring Steps

1. Download this Outlook add-in from the GitHub website. The most current version is 2.7.0 beta beside the 2.7.5 alpha. I will try it with Windows 10 and Outlook 2016 at the time of downloading and installing.

2. During software installation, there popped up a security warning and we can ignore it. After installation was complete, there would be window with several tabs for further configuration.

3. Click on Settings tab first. Select Google on the side. Click on Retrieve Calendars button.

4. When a Google OAuth window pops up, click on Allow button at bottom.

6. Then, an Authorisation Code will be passed back to OGCS. Next to Select calendar, there will appear the Google account previously selected.

7. Still under Settings tab, click on Sync Options on the side. Let's try configuring the following environment:

• Direction: Select Outlook <-> Google will make it bi-directional sync. Make sure to uncheck 
• Disable deletions and/or Confirm deletions to have both Google Calendar and Outlook to reflect entry deletion in the sync session.
• Attribute to include: Check everything except Use Google default.

8. Next, click on Application Behaviour below Sync Options. Make sure to check both boxes of Start on login and Start in tray.

9. Click on Sync tab and click on StartSync button to see if Outlook calendar entries are being synchronized to Google?

Summary after using Outlook Google Calendar Sync for a few hours: 

It took me 5 to 10 minutes to configure and test out what is what. The following points are for your reference:

Pros:

1. The summary in the console is concise telling you what you need to know. It is good.

2. The Proxy Setting feature is quite useful for users in companies with proxy security.

3. Outlook entries created while Outlook Google Calendar Sync is turned off are still being synced. This is another plus.

4. Though a checkbox of Push Outlook changes immediately is not easily noticeable but still available. The immediate sync after I created something in Outlook is a plus.

Cons:

1. Sync folder assignment on Outlook side is a bit obscure, not quite intuitive enough. It took me a while to realize that I need to define a mailbox to which invitations come in. Then, I get to define to which calendar folder synchronized entries would go.

3. The absence of an Outlook add-in in ribbon UI is a disappointment. I need to call out Outlook Google Calendar Sync console and literally click on StartSync button or call out OGCS's Sync Now from system tray to immediately sync what I just created on Google Calendar to Outlook. 

4. I don't know about you but the shortest automated sync cycle is 10 min for entries on Google Calendar to be reflected on Outlook, which is a bit too long for me.

8. Software update as beta version is a bit slow since 2.7.0 has been out there since 2016. Software maintenance is not quite well managed.

9. Outlook Google Calendar Sync only synchronizes calendar. Other Outlook sync tools of its kind, such as gSyncit, EVO Collaborator for Outlook, OggSync and Sync2, are able to additionally sync contacts, tasks and etc.

In conclusion, OGCS does its synchronizing job as an alternative of Google Calendar Sync. In term of having demands on also syncing additional data other than calendar, such as contact and task, it is not recommended. Tech support wise, all that can be done is to create a new issue on GitHub. 

How to sync OwnCloud / Zimbra calendars and contacts with Outlook?

OwnCloud Outlook Calendar Sync

Some of my friends are using (Owncloud / Zimbra) CardDAV/CalDAV server They complain that the there is no plug-in to import their Zimbra or OwnCloud contacts and calendars with Outlook 2016/2019/2013/2010 or Office 365.

OwnCloud

Zimbra

I tried hooking up to both servers with some connector software plug-ins on the market. Amazingly, I found that EVO Collaborator for Outlook works!

Without this OwnCloud add-in (plugin), Outlook is impossible to show your contacts or calendars in OwnCloud or Zimbra.

All I need to do is to enter the following information inside spaces circled in the screenshot below:

1.      Server URL:

https://<servername_or_server_ip>/owncloud/   (for owncloud)

for Sync OwnCloud 9 calendar with Outlook, please visit this post

https://<servername_or_server_ip>/                     (for zimbra)

2.      Your username and password

After fields within the profile have been properly filled out, calendar sync is a breeze.

Not only (OwnCloud / Zimbra) platform supports CardDAV and CalDAV, but also EVO Mail Server has native support on ECO smoothly.

How to synchronize Nextcloud contact, calendar and task with Outlook?

How to sync outlook calendar with Nextcloud?

In this year of 2020, more and more jobs require people to work from home due to COVID-19 pandamic. Syncing calendar, contact and task remotely from home in order to cope with colleagues has become an issue for those who have not done this before.

For you ownCloud fellows, you should already heard of founding engineering crews from ownCloud left the company and created a brand new company called Nextcloud. Theoretically, Nextcloud and ownCloud should share the same or similar concept in the server backend. 

Out of curiosity, I want to check if EVO Collaborator for Outlook is compatible with Nextcloud. I applied for a trial account on Nextcloud (https://demo.nextcloud.com/). The server path is https://nextcloud_server/<username>/remote.php/, which (looks pretty familiar lol?) is what you would enter hostname space if you were to have an account from a Nextcloud service provider. 

However, if you run your own Nextcloud server, the server URL is the same as ownCloud and I think that looks very familiar to me: https://<nextcloud_server>/remote.php/

Therefore, we can still use EVO Collaborator for Outlook to synchronize Nextcloud’s contact, calendar and task with Outlook 2007/2010/2013/2016/2019.

After some basic tests, I think everything works fine, if you find any problem maybe you can contact next cloud or evo staff.

How to sync Outlook calendar and contact with gmx.de, gmx.ch, gmx.at, gmx.com, gmx.us and web.de?

How to sync Outlook calendar and contact with gmx.de and web.de?

In this year of 2020, more and more jobs require people to work from home due to COVID-19 pandamic. Syncing calendar, contact and task remotely from home in order to cope with colleagues has become an issue for those who have not done this before.

Both gmx.de and web.de are popular cloud service providers in Germany. They are among the few providers that host paid or even free mail servers and keep customers’ data domestically in Germany. Ever since Snowden's incident, people start to doubt Google or Apple is able to provide data security against NSA. 

Gmx.de and web.de provide easy-to-use and decent mail, calendar, contact & task cloud service for their users. However, if you search for a solution to sync contact, calendar and task with Outlook, you will hardly find any answer even on their website search. The main reason is that Outlook does not support CalDAV and CardDAV protocol even until the recent Outlook 2016/2019.

Staffs from EVO Collaborator for Outlook is kind enough to make the synchonization possible. Yet, it is simple to configure and use. Five steps are all you need to sync your way.

1. Download and install EVO Collaborator for Outlook
2. Open Configure profile(s)
3. Click on Profile gmx.de or web.de.
4. Enter username & password in corresponding area.
5. Click Test, Apply and Quit.

GMX cloud services are available in several country code top-level domains, such as .US, .COM, .AT, .DE, and .CH. EVO Collaborator for Outlook can auto-detect e-mail address that you entered and fill in server host name for you. The following server list is for your reference:

1. Gmx.de account:
   a. carddav.gmx.net
   b. caldav.gmx.net
2. Gmx.at account:
   a. carddav.gmx.net
   b. caldav.gmx.net
3. Gmx.ch account:
   a. carddav.gmx.net
   b. caldav.gmx.ch
4. Gmx.com or gmx.us account
   a. caldav.gmx.com

Please note that GMX.COM and GMX.US accounts do not have CardDAV service available. However, whenever CardDAV becomes available, EVO staff will make it work in future upgrade.

2018.01.05

How to test fake SD card

Test SD cards

Sandisk SD Card

SDHC (MicroSD or so called TF) cards had been pretty cheap lately, no matter you are trying famous brands like Kingston or Transcend, they are cheap, however, there are a lot of fake cards out there, some of them are just using some brands that you never heard of, or some of them are faking famous brands like kingston.

Fake SD cards symptons and problems

FAKE SD cards (counterfeit SD cards) usually come with large capacity like 32GB or 128GB, and sometimes they are cheaper, however, the capacity is not real, once you place more files in it, older files disappear or just become empty or wipded out.

Once you get one of these fake SD cards, your nightmare never ends, you spend hours and hours to find out what's wrong and finally you got the idea, maybe this SD card is a fake.

How to identify Fake SD cards

It's not easy to identify fake SD cards because the newly written files are usually valid, only older files becomes bad, so it's not easy to proof that a TF card is fake manually.

Free fake SD card testing software

Today we are going to introduce a nice little utility to test the SD card, it is done by filling the SD card with random digits dummy files, and them verify what had been written, the SD card is only good when all files passed the test.

** before you start, make sure your SD card is empty, so all space can be tested.

1. download the software H2TESTW from https://www.heise.de/download/product/h2testw-50539

2. installl and launch it

SD Card testing software

3. Click write and verify and wait.