Ricky Says

Question: I recently bought a new iPhone 3G and want to copy all my contacts from my old phone to the new phone. I have quite a few and don't want to have to type them each into the iPhone as it would take forever. Is there a faster way to do this?

Answer: Yes, there's a much faster way to do this by using your iPhone's ability to sync with your Outlook contacts. If you can download your old phone's contacts into Outlook, Outlook Express, or Windows Mail for Vista users, then you'll be able to sync them to your new iPhone using iTunes.

Here's what you'll need:

1. iTunes loaded on your computer (free from Apple).
2. USB data cable to connect your old phone to your computer.
3. Software to transfer contacts from your old phone to Outlook or Outlook Express, which iTunes can then import into your iPhone.

Here's how to do it:

1. Connect your old phone to your computer with a USB data cable.

2. Copy your old phone's contacts to your computer using DataPilot, which works with all major phone types (download here and install on your computer).

DataPilot copies your contacts from your old phone into Outlook, Outlook Express, or Windows Mail if you're using Vista. Then iTunes can import these contacts into your iPhone

3. Run DataPilot and click the Read All button to load all of your phone's contacts.

4. Open Microsoft Outlook and create a new My iPhone folder in your Contacts. This will also work in Outlook Express.

5. In the DataPilot Phonebook Manager application, go to the File -- Export Address Book menu and choose Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Express.

6. The Export to Outlook screen will show up. Choose the My iPhone contacts folder as the destination (created previously), and click OK.

Now your addresses will all be in Outlook and the last step will be to sync them with your iPhone.

7. Plug your iPhone into your computer and wait for iTunes to automatically launch (or run iTunes from the Start menu if it doesn't).

8. Go to the iTunes Info tab and click the checkboxes to sync your contacts. Choose Outlook as the application to sync with. Click Apply, then click Sync.

You can also use DataPilot to transfer photos, videos, and ring tones from your old phone to your iPhone the same way - by transferring them to your computer and then importing them from your computer to your iPhone.

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