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Problem Syncing from Desktop to iPhone after getting new computer


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Recently, at work, our IT dept got me a new computer and installed all the programs I had on my old computer. I guess I was using an older version of Evernote before because it's different now. I noticed that changes I make on my computer are not syncing to my phone, but changes I make on my phone override my computer. Neither device has a syncing error message. I uninstalled and reinstalled Evernote on both devices. I restarted my computer. I emptied my trash. I have Evernote Basic and had already revoked my old computer's access and added my new computer. Any thoughts on what might be causing the problem? I keep my life on Evernote!

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3 hours ago, stlee33 said:

I noticed that changes I make on my computer are not syncing to my phone

The sync process is    device <>  server  <>  device

You can check the data on the server using the web platform at www.evernote.com

This will help identify if the problem is with your phone or computer

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I've done several tests to narrow down the problem and it seems to only be a problem going from my desktop app to the server (and then, of course it never makes it to the phone if it doesn't make it to the server). To test it, I just typed one word on a note in one place and checked in online and the other device. The only time it doesn't work is when I type it on my desktop app. But if I type it on my phone or online, the desktop app will update once it syncs. There seems to only be a problem syncing from the desktop app.

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You say you have gotten the new computer, and the IT-Department installed it. From what you say, I assume that you can go to the Internet from this same machine without problems, to the EN website as well, log in and open notes there etc. ?

Can you take it outside of the company, or is it a stationary machine that stays inside ?

To eliminate the corporate network, the easiest way would be to take the computer out, connect it to the internet (at home), and test it there. Another option would be when the computer has WiFi, and you can manage this, to create a hotspot from your phone, and connect it through there.

If it syncs then, it would narrow things down to the corporate network, maybe a firewall, maybe a proxy or something that prevents you to connect outside. I am not aware if EN needs special ports to communicate, but blocked ports could cause the problem as well.

Is EN installed on another machines in your company, or are you the only user of EN in the whole place ?

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It's a stationary desktop, so I can't remove it. No one else uses Evernote. Everything I'm doing is either with the desktop app on this computer, on the internet (online version) with this computer, or on my phone. I've used Evernote at work before, but it was on a different computer, so something about re-installing it (or the newer version) to this computer messed something up.  My desktop app is syncing from the EN server, just not to it. I can try contacting our IT company, but I was trying to avoid that since I use Evernote for both work and personal things on my own.

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Yes, I know this situation pretty well. Probably your old PC had network rights that were inherited, because they may have been granted before newer security measures were installed. Often in these cases, IT will let the new system just monitor what happens for a while, and then allow these activities without really analyzing them. But when a new machine is brought in, it will only get the official set of permits.

 First, I know nothing about your personal status in your company, and about company policy and sanctioning regarding IT security. There are companies where not authorized programs on a company asset can cause serious trouble for the employee. Each one can one day be a backdoor, especially when updating is not done or not possible due to restrictions.

So consider if installing and using EN on a „foreign“ device puts you under threat and is still worth it.

Second, maybe what prevents you to sync could be part of corporate IT security. On my last job, they had a network management that would only allow known machines (Mac addresses) on the network, and only to perform white-listed actions. So you could bring your iPhone, but it would not connect unless IT listed it, and put it into a class of devices controlling what it could do, and what not.

When they let your device in, I would always assume that the IT guys are able to read everything you send or receive, or at least control with whom you are in contact, and how much time this communication takes from your day to day „work“ life. As long as the company wants you to stay on, no problem. but when they want to get rid of you (or plainly 15% of the workforce, if possible without handing out redundancies) they will have everything they need to sack you out of IT-security-violations.

My personal solution: I got myself an iPad, with a good data Volume rate, and if I had some personal stuff to do while being on the job, I used this. If I had to get information from here to there, I used a cloud service that I could access from both sides. We had Office 365, so I used OneDrive; others may be on Google Docs etc. Your Up- and Downloads there can still be controlled by IT, but you are copying to and from an official Ressource, so this is normally not forbidden. 

EN is no such service, because in your company, it is not official, so moving information there can be regarded as stealing it from the company !

Further, using it on a desktop will create a full copy of your notebooks (yes, all of them) on your work desktop. If they show you out of the door tomorrow, how will you keep or bring this heap of personal data back under your control ? For corporate IT it is no problem at all to open access to your computer, search it, copy everything etc. They can even install a keylogger that grabs all of your login data, and in many cases (depending on the local laws for such cases) this will not even be regarded as illegal !

I would really think hard about whether I really need and want that EN client to be and work on my office desktop.

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6 hours ago, stlee33 said:

I noticed that changes I make on my computer are not syncing to my phone, but changes I make on my phone override my computer. Neither device has a syncing error message.

Not sure it makes a lot of sense that syncing only goes one way.  Do you press the sync button or press F9 after you enter the word and before you check on-line or the other app?  What is your sync interval set to on the desktop, Tools - Options  - Synchronization?  

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