Group Calendar F.a.q.
last FAQ update: October 2008


Make sure you have all Outlook patches; it does make a difference.... http://office.microsoft.com (click 'Check for updates')

List of known GroupCalendar error messages and solutions.


Before going to the actual questions you can review these short comments we make repeatedly  on our most common questions

 

Frequently Asked Questions

GENERAL

 


(un)INSTALLATION


CONFIGURATION

 


USE


TROUBLE

 



 

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We have a secretary that does not want her appointments to show in the GroupCalendar, however, she has to create appointments for other people. 

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We don't want anything to show in the GroupCalendar unless we choose for it.

 

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"what do I need to install GroupCalendar"

You need administrator rights on the pc to install GroupCalendar. 

 

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It calls me "unknown"/"Empty" and does not show my name in the delegate access list.

GroupCalendar needs an email in the inbox or sent items folder of Outlook to understand who you are. It reads your name from the emails you sent.

You can however force it to use a particular name by editing the registry.
Do Start menu - Run - type: REGEDIT (ok)
Browse to hkey_current_user/software/opusflow/gc
Open UserName from the right pane and adjust your name.
Close regedit, restart Outlook and adjust the settings for database and group calendar folder.

 

 

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"Do I need to do anything to get my GroupCalendar folder in sync?"

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"I like it but I need / want / wonder why.... "


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"Can I have private or hidden appointments ?."

 

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"The button 'X' is not working anymore"

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"How do I use it with Exchange Server?"

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"How do I use it without Exchange Server?"

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"I am not technical, but can you explain how it works?"

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"Your software sends an email why?, when? to whom?"

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"Can I make an appointment in the calendar of another user ?"

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"Is there a way to mass configure the software to point to the network share and Group Calendar, so that I can set it up and just have my users go to the network and get the software?"

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"I get an error when I try to sync my GroupCalendar or when the autosync tool starts a synchronization and don't use a exchange public folder as group calendar"

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"Can I import my existing appointments?"

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"We use Exchange server and don't want the users to enable the GCSystray.exe or synchronize manually"

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"I attempted to uninstall the demo, through the normal windows "add / remove programs" in the control panel of settings, it didn't work!"

You might have had Outlook running in the background processes.
To remove all remains:

In Outlook

If any buttons remain in outlook:

You can also remove the "c:\program files\Group Calendar" folder.

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"We installed it but it does not seem to work, please help"

- Close Outlook and check it is not running by ctrl-alt-del - taskmanager - services.
- Also close gchelper if it is running.
- Delete the folder c:\program files\Group calendar 
- Install the product again
- Start Outlook and don't change any settings
- Check if you have a subfolder GroupCalendar under your private calendar
- Make a new appointment in your personal Calendar
- Check that it shows up in the GroupCalendar sub folder
- Create a Public Folder on Exchange Server of type Calendar
- Give everyone at least Author rights on the folder
- In your GroupCalendar settings select the public folder
- Create a test appointment and check that it shows in the public folder
- Go to a network share where everyone has all rights
- Copy the Group Calendar.mdb database to that network share
- Adjust your group calendar settings in outlook to reflect the new database location (browse to the share and select the database)

If this works, adjust the settings for the other users in their GroupCalendar settings.
After this you can give every user a department setting to use in filters and views for the public folder.

Still no good? Try again with this manual or contact us.

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Does GroupCalendar offer any different views for the Calendar?  We need one to be able to .....

        Other resources: step by step guide

 

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I work off-line from the Exchange Server and the network. I dial in now and then and sync all folders. 
How do I use GroupCalendar then?

Make sure that you connect yourself. Don't let Outlook initiate the connection. If GroupCalendar sees the central database again it will start to sync your offline changes automatically.

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We do not have an Exchange Server and work off-line from the network where the shared Access database resides.  We dial in now and then.  How do we use GroupCalendar then?

Connect to the shared database when dialed-in with the "select database" button. If the connection is broken GC will automatically use a local cache.

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Troubleshooting

  1. A general troubleshooting trick is to close outlook and check ctr-alt-del : services. close outlook.exe if still running.
    Restart Outlook.
  2. If this does not work, close Outlook again and check ctr-alt-del: services. close outlook.exe there too if still running.
    delete the 'Your Name'.ini file from c:\program files\group calendar and start outlook. 
    With the settings button you can adjust the defaults to the shared locations/folders
  3. If that still does not work and you use outlook XP
    check Help, about, disabled add-ins. Maybe the add-in was disabled by Outlook, and you can enable it there.
  4. If that is not the case check Tools, Options, Other, Advanced, Com add-ins and see if it is in the list and enabled.
    If it is not enabled, enable it and press OK once. Open the dialog again and check if Outlook accepted that.
  5. If that is not the case, remove the addin from the "com add-ins" dialog and close Outlook. Reinstall the setup.
  6. If it still does not work log in as administrator and run setup again.
If that still does not work disable the other add-ins first and try again. If you use a PDA, disconnect it


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How to order

 Click here , press the "quick buy" button, select a bank, cheque, cash, wire transfer or creditcard payment method.
You will receive your license directly after payment. The license file can be placed on the pc with the demo software and it will be registered as a full version.

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I don't feel like reading.

Call us (OpusFlow)! You can reach us on both U.S. and European business hours. (16 hours a day)
Or send an email.


Country code: 31 (Netherlands)
Area code: 186
Subs. Nr. : 66 91 94

From the US you dial: 011 - 31 - 186 66 91 94
Fax: 011 - 31 - 186 66 95 99
E-mail: info@opusflow.nl

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I want to start all over again, clean everything and start fresh

I don't have an Exchange server public folder as GroupCalendar

I do have a Exchange server public folder as Group Calendar

- Remove all record of any table in the database. Use a clean one from the setup instead.
- Remove a public folder create a new one and start importing right away. (On a new public folder, first create at least one   item in a GC monitored personal calendar of a folder owner )

 

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Can I be a member of  two or more GroupCalendars ?

"I am curious if it is possible to have more then 1 calendar?  For instance, could we have one scheduling calendar, one calendar for checking out hardware and one calendar for signing out the conference room?  We need more then one calendar."

Answer

Yes and no. You can not have seperated calendar folders and connect to them at the same time. But the workaround might suit your needs better. 

Using the view capabilities in Outlook you can create views and filters in outlook very easily. On the website you can find an example that creates a view for groups of people but you can also create a view for a specific code in the subject.
So you basically have all appointments in one calendar but using the views and filters it's like having 3 different folders.
In your case you could all use the code $CR1$ if the appointment subject is for the conference room (or #cr1# or even apple99 if you like) as long as you all use that code and you create a filter the shows only appointments with $CR1$ in the subject you will have your conference room schedule(s)

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I use a laptop and I am not connected to the network all the time.

No problem. GC takes care of everything. 

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The public calendar in Exchange server shows my appointments but when I change or delete one, that is not updated in the Exchange public folder.

 

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I have a number of users connected to my Exchange server permanently, and I have a few mostly travelling. The travelling users connect over VPN or come in now and then. How do I set it up ??

 

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I run Outlook XP and the buttons on the toolbar don't work anymore and it not longer syncs.

 

If still no good

If still no good

If it's not in the list

if still no good

 

The calendar does not sync.

 

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        Error # 424

            This could be due to a number of causes.

            A missing component from either this 'Forms 2.0 setup' or this 'VB6 runtime library setup'.

            If the problem persists

            If the problem persists let us know.

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         How to de-install ?

        "I started with the uninstaller in the control panel, and removed some things manually but I still see the buttons.."

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How to install it in such a way that all users that log on the computer have it in Outlook.

For pc's where all users are member of the administrators group:

        For pc's where users are member of the Users group:

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        Can I invite someone?

 

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Can I produce a HTML calendar for people that only have access to our Intranet / the Internet ?

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Can I print the GroupCalendar other than with the standard Outlook layout?

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We don't have a server at all, no peer to peer, no LAN.. now what ?

You can use a web server and replication: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnacc2k/html/intrjet4.asp

or connect a pc to the internet and set it up as a VPN enabled server where you can share the database so you and your team can connect to it over the internet.
Windows XP as a VPN server: http://asia.cnet.com/itmanager/netadmin/0,39006400,39050037,00.htm

Windows 2000 server; how to enable VPN : http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6268-1032135.html

Connect Windows XP to the VPN : http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=305550

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Add items into the GroupCalendar but don't participate with all calendar items.

To create the user "Everyone", open the central shared group calendar database, table TB_users and create a new record with any name you like. ("management" is another possibility)

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        We want to use SQL server. How to create the database?

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How to connect to our sql server database over the Internet?

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How to update to new releases.

For a large number of pc's 

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I can not find a way to send reminders to a person or persons regarding appointments that were entered on their calendar. Is there a way to do this in Outlook Group Calendar?

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I get network errors... "database not found" and alike.

        net use x: \\servername\sharename

          net use x: /d
        net use x: \\servername\sharename
          outlook.exe

            this will remove and recreate the drive mapping to the shared folder where the groupcalendar database is being shared.


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Outlook 2007 pop3 is slow and outlook crashes occur.

- The size of your pst file may contribute to the problem. Try it with a new pst file

- As an administrator, do: netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disable 
 

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Message after uninstall about 'redemp~1'

Use Start menu / Search to find  "redemp*.ecf", delete that file and restart Outlook.

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When I log on to another machine my settings are gone. Can I change the path of the INI file?

Make sure the settings file (ini file with user name)  gets stored on the network at a permanent location.

To use this option, add the ini path to the following registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\OpusFlow\GC add a REGSZ value with name: IniPath (type the path value without a trailing backslash).
Example; to use the z drive type z: as value.