OneNote + Windows Home Server = Awesome<\/p>\n
http:\/\/spackle.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/05\/onenote-windows-home-server-awesome\/<\/a><\/p>\n In this installment of my ongoing consumer technology series, I wanted to write a little about how I use my Windows Home Server with OneNote.\u00a0 This time, I\u2019ll focus on OneNote\u2019 shared, synchronized notebook capability. Whether you have a home office, or you\u2019re just really geeky, you may discover that you have need for more than one computer in order achieve true enlightenment.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s a desktop at home and a notebook for travel, or a netbook for compact, light duty work and a bigger notebook for heavy lifting.<\/p>\n Whatever the situation, you will eventually run into a multifaceted issue: how do I keep my digital life synchronized?\u00a0 Let\u2019s take on one aspect.<\/p>\n Intro to OneNote<\/p>\n Previously I wrote that one Microsoft has made a couple awesome applications.\u00a0 One of them is OneNote.\u00a0 OneNote is a little different than some of the other Office applications both in design and function.\u00a0 Also, they first built it in Office 2003, so it\u2019s pretty new.<\/p>\n Since it\u2019s a fresh icon in your Start menu, it\u2019s sometimes hard to explain why people should use it.\u00a0 It\u2019s not just for students or meetings.\u00a0 People use it for lists, brainstorming, drafting ideas, presentation or report citation collections, or blogging.<\/p>\n The reasons I love OneNote (others available at the I Heart OneNote blog) boil down to: I could write a post about each, but this time we\u2019re talking about shared notebooks.<\/p>\n What\u2019s a shared notebook?<\/p>\n When you set up a shared notebook, you are ensuring that any notes you take in that notebook will automatically show up on all your computers using OneNote.<\/p>\n OneNote does all the hard work for you.\u00a0 The most important thing to know about the process is that OneNote\u2019s synchronization works in a similar way to Exchange and Outlook.<\/p>\n Why is that important?<\/p>\n If you manually sync a notebook file or folder (copying \/ pasting, Live Sync, SyncToy, SkyDrive, DropBox, etc.), you will eventually get out of sync and lose data.\u00a0 Also, the size of the file sync is punitively large compared to OneNote\u2019s synchronization engine.<\/p>\n OneNote\u2019s sync engine handles collisions, multiple authors making edits to the same notebook and pages, and sends only incremental changes to the notebook each time it syncs.<\/p>\n The critical point of a shared notebook is having a common, accessible location available to all your OneNote installations once in a while.\u00a0 It has to work like a drive or folder, not a sync service.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to be available all the time, but synchronizing periodically will ensure your notebooks are up to date.<\/p>\n Adding in Windows Home Server<\/p>\n When you have a Windows Home Server (WHS), you have an obvious place for shared files and media.\u00a0 You can copy the OneNote notebook you want to share to a shared location on WHS (like your user folder, or make a new share if you like).<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how I did it: Now you have to do steps 5-7 on each computer you\u2019d like to use that shared notebook.<\/p>\n Make sure you close the old OneNote notebooks on each computer (if you had one with the same content).<\/p>\n Tip:\u00a0 If you\u2019d like to share pages or sections from other unshared notebooks in OneNote, you can either repeat the sharing process, or just move sections or pages into your new shared notebook and OneNote will take care of the rest.<\/p>\n Extra credit and information<\/p>\n Remote access while you\u2019re on the road is the next step.\u00a0 I will probably write a post about how I have enabled my WHS to share my content remotely over a VPN.\u00a0 When I connect to my WHS on the road now, I just go to Windows Explorer, open my shared drive (this activates my mapped drive \u201cO:\u201d), and OneNote synchronizes.<\/p>\n In the end, WHS protects your OneNote notebook files using its folder and file replication.\u00a0 Sure, you always have WHS backups too, but that doesn\u2019t help you share content easily.\u00a0 This powerful combination has helped me stay in sync as I move back and forth between my computers.\u00a0 It also helps me minimize configuration in case I get a new computer or want to flatten one and start over.<\/p>\n Of course, you have a lot more files to synchronize.\u00a0 So, I\u2019ll be writing a post on how to use Windows Live Mesh with your Windows Home Server to help keep the rest of your digital life in sync.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" OneNote + Windows Home Server = Awesome http:\/\/spackle.wordpress.com\/2009\/05\/05\/onenote-windows-home-server-awesome\/ In this installment of my ongoing consumer technology series, I wanted to write a little about how I use my Windows Home Server with OneNote.\u00a0 This time, I\u2019ll focus on OneNote\u2019 shared, … Read More 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\n
\nA computer for all seasons<\/p>\n
\nNever having to save my work
\nSearching all my notes (including handwriting and text in screenshots \/ pictures)
\nInk support for my tablet (copying drawings or diagrams from whiteboards)
\nScreen clipping capabilities to take screenshots
\nOneNote Mobile for my Windows Mobile device
\nShared notebooks<\/p>\n
\nOpen OneNote on your computer
\nClose the notebook file that you want to copy to your WHS share
\nFind the OneNote notebook file or folder (usually these are in a folder called \u201cOneNote Notebooks\u201d in your documents folder)
\nCopy the OneNote notebook folder or section file you want to share to a WHS share (e.g. \\\\server\\users\\name\\MyOneNoteSyncFolder)
\nMap a drive on your computer to that shared folder location (I mapped drive \u201cO:\u201d to the share \u2013 I like it this way, it\u2019s probably not required)
\nGo back to, or open OneNote again
\nOpen your shared notebook or section file from your WHS share
\nThat\u2019s it<\/p>\n