Add your Outlook Calendar to Windows Live Calendar

Windows Live Calendar is a new service from Windows Live that is currently in Beta (testing).

You can use the calendar to plan events and schedule meetings, but what if I'm already using the calendar in Outlook?  Well, I can import my calendar from Outlook into Windows Live and receive alerts, and updates.

It is expected that a plug-in will be made available soon to handle synchronisation between the two calendars shortly, but in the meantime, this is a great work around.

Firstly, open up Outlook, and go to your calendar.

Click on "File" on the menu bar, and click on "Save As".

Now, pick a location to save your calendar.  You'll be deleting this afterwards, so we're just going to pick the desktop.  Name the file.

You'll also want to click on "More Options" and change the settings...  You will want either "Whole Calendar" or "Next 30 Days".

Click OK and Save.

Now, go to http://calendar.live.com/ (You can also reach the calendar by clicking on the Windows Live Orb on any Windows Live service).

Click on "Import" to bring up the import settings.

Now, find the file you just exported from Outlook.

You can also decide whether to create a new calendar (default option) or import into an existing calendar (useful if you want to do this procedure again and upload changes).

Click on "Import" and wait whilst the calendar is uploaded (this may take a little while for entire calendars).

Once this procedure has done you will see all your Outlook events in your Windows Live Calendar!

If you wish, you can edit events and chose to be alerted through Windows Live Messenger, or by email, when events are due to happen.

You'll also be able to see upcoming events at http://home.live.com

Share Files Using SkyDrive (Share with Everyone)

Remember the days of emailing files to yourself?  Or remember USB keys that you'd leave at home/work/in the car?  Well, these days are now officially over thanks to Windows Live SkyDrive.  Think of the service like a USB drive in the cloud.  A USB key that you never have to remember.

Better still is that you can also share files with others.

Let's take a look at how we can share a file with everybody.

Let's log in to SkyDrive at http://skydrive.live.com

You'll notice that SkyDrive is split into Personal, Shared and Public Folders...

We are now going to chose where to upload a file.  If I want to be the only person allowed to access the file, I'd simply upload the file to the Personal folders (you can add folders if you wish to any section).

For this tutorial, I'm going to share my folder with everyone (ideal for uploading a holiday snap, for example).

Click on the Add Files button next to the Public Folder header:

You're then given the option of uploading to a new folder, or selecting and existing one.  Let's create a new one:

 

Click on Browse, and locate your file:

Tip: You can also install the drag on drop application if you want to upload multiple files at once

Once you have added your file, click on the Upload button.

You'll see an animation as your file(s) upload, and then you will see your file appear, as if by magic, in the folder you created earlier:

You can now share your image in a number of ways.  The easiest way is to use the options on the menu bar.  You can click Embed to get the code to put your file on a web page, if you wish.  But, probably, the most common button you'll use will be 'Send a link' which will generate a URL you can give to your family and friends so that they view your file:

If you wish to share a number of photos, you can jump back to the folder that you have uploaded your files to, and click Send a Link.  That way, your family and friends can see all the photos and files in that folder.

Get Facebook on Windows Live Messenger

Did you know you can now get Facebook information directly from Windows Live Messenger?

To do this, simply click on the Facebook tab (if you want, you can rearrange your tab order - click here).

You will need to sign in, at least the first time you use this service, with your Facebook account details.

Once you have done this, you will be able to see status updates and view photographs.

Also, a cool little feature, is that you can invite your Facebook friends to use Windows Live Messenger by simply highlighting their name and clicking on the Messenger icon (you can also send a message and poke too).

The Facebook tab may not be available in all regions yet.  Now, if only, the Live team would do something similar for Windows Live Spaces??

Rearrange your Messenger Tabs

Did you know that you can arrange your Windows Live Messenger tabs to show what you want to show, in whatever order you want to show them?

Well....  You can!

To do this, simply click on Tools and then Options (If you can't see the menu bar, then press the Alt key on your keyboard).

Click on the "Tabs" option.

Then highlight the item you want to move, and use the 'Move Up' and 'Move Down' features to arrange the tabs in an order that suits you.

Personally, I keep the Alerts tab up the top, along with the new Facebook tab.

Click on to finish.  Your tabs will shuffle themselves.

Contact Us

If you want to suggest an article, or submit one yourself, contact us:

ali@livessentials.net

Links

Sites which we think you may find useful!

Get Windows Live - Download the Windows Live software, and learn about the online services.

Liveside - Great site for the latest Windows Live news.

MSN UK's Windows Live Section - useful tips and tricks.

Get Windows Live on your mobile phone!

 

You can now take Windows Live with you on your mobile device.

All of the popular services are available and most of these are available in more than one form depending on the device you own.

 

Windows Live Messenger

You can use Messenger on your mobile phone in three different varieties.

First of all, there's Windows Live Messenger - the web version.  You can get to this from http://mobile.live.com on your mobile device.  This is ideal if you don't have a Windows Mobile phone or a Nokia handset.

The second version is the Windows Live suite for Windows Mobile.  If you have a Windows Mobile device, you should have Messenger pre-installed (or its predecessor, MSN Messenger).  You can get to this directly from the Programs menu.  Some carriers, however, remove Windows Messenger from their devices (In the UK, T-Mobile is a prime example).  For users with a Windows Mobile device, but no Messnger, you can download a ROM update at your own risk from XDA Developers.

The third version is Winodws Live for Nokia devices.  You can check if you have a compatible device here.  If you do, you can install Windows Live using the Download! application on your device and you're ready to connect. To download and install Windows Live to your device, select the Download! Folder > WinLive from the menu on your Nokia Nseries device.

Windows Live Spaces

You can also access Spaces from Windows Live on any mobile device.

Simply point your browser to http://mobile.spaces.live.com/ to see contact updates and post photos/blog entries.

If you are a Windows Mobile owner, you can also upload images to your space directly from your mobile phone camera application.  Full instructions coming soon.

Windows Live Hotmail

You can check your mail on your mobile phone using the mobile Hotmail site at http://mobile.live.com/hm/ - from here you can read your email and compose email.

Live Search

There are two fantastic ways to use search on your mobile phone.  The first is the search web site which can be accessed from any device at http://m.live.com/ - from here you can search the web, search images, search products (specific regions only).  UK and Japanese customers can also search automatically from their real time location using cellular tower triangulation.

The second way is the fantastically useful Live Search application.  The application, available for Windows Mobile and Blackberry devices can be used to search the web, get weather forecasts and, most impressively search maps.  The application also provides driving and walking directions which works with your GPS (if your phone has GPS, of course) and can be used as a dashboard Satellite Navigation device.

You can download the search application by pointing your phone's browser to: http://mobile.search.live.com/client and find out more from your PC's web browser at http://livesearchmobile.com/

 

We will be adding articles shortly regarding uploading photos from your mobile phone, and publishing Spaces blog entries via email (which you can send from your mobile device.... Stay tuned!).