Can't Delete Contacts in Windows Contact List ... WHY?

I need someone to help...!
I can't seem to delete some of the contact names that have entered into my
*windows contacts*. When I try to delete these names, my Windows
Explorer says.... *Windows Explorer has stopped working * then, it
re-boots, and the names are still there. Even when I try to right-click
the name or delete the names, *Windows Explorer* re-boots.

Is there a way to delete the name I want deleted from my Windows
Contact List, and keep Windows Explorer from rebooting?

What mail software are you using? Windows Mail?

"Darryl Fulton" <> wrote in message
news:A767CB92-2A0B-4D75-9886-...
>I need someone to help...! I can't seem to delete some of the contact
>names that have entered into my
> *windows contacts*. When I try to delete these names, my Windows
> Explorer says.... *Windows Explorer has stopped working * then, it
> re-boots, and the names are still there. Even when I try to right-click
> the name or delete the names, *Windows Explorer* re-boots.
> Is there a way to delete the name I want deleted from my Windows
> Contact List, and keep Windows Explorer from rebooting?

On Mon, 11 Jun 2007 18:15:01 -0400, Darryl Fulton wrote:

> I need someone to help...!
> I can't seem to delete some of the contact names that have entered into my
> *windows contacts*. When I try to delete these names, my Windows
> Explorer says.... *Windows Explorer has stopped working * then, it
> re-boots, and the names are still there. Even when I try to right-click
> the name or delete the names, *Windows Explorer* re-boots.
>
> Is there a way to delete the name I want deleted from my Windows
> Contact List, and keep Windows Explorer from rebooting?

Some of us are still using older Windows OSes. I see by your NNTP posting
headers that you are posting with Windows Mail, which only runs on Windows
Vista. It usually helps to state the OS and version up front when making
your problem statement. I can't assist Windows Vista users, not having
Windows Vista to play with.

OIC. You did cross-post to a couple of Vista groups. Alas, the
microsoft.public.internet.mail group still harbors a population of non-Vista
users.

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

Hi, Darryl.

HOW are you trying to delete your Contacts? Are you doing it from Windows
Explorer? Why not use the Contacts button in Windows Mail?

But deleting them from Windows Explorer does work for me. I browse to
C:\Users\RC\Contacts, then I select one from the list and use the normal
deletion technique, either the Delete key or right-click then Delete.
Unless I use the Shift key while deleting, Vista puts the deleted Contact
into my Recycle Bin - as usual.

Sometimes, if Vista is very busy (especially on a slow computer with limited
RAM), you might see a "Not Responding" message for several seconds - or even
a few minutes - while Vista completes its previous task. Clicking the mouse
at this time might trigger an abnormal exit from Windows Explorer. The only
cure for this is patience. ;^}

Step by step, how are you trying to delete Contacts? Are you an
Administrator? And logged on as such?

(PS: I've corrected your cross-post to
microsoft.public.windows.vista.file_management, inserting the missing "c" in
microsoft.)

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail beta in Vista Ultimate x64)

"Darryl Fulton" <> wrote in message
news:A767CB92-2A0B-4D75-9886-...
>I need someone to help...! I can't seem to delete some of the contact
>names that have entered into my
> *windows contacts*. When I try to delete these names, my Windows
> Explorer says.... *Windows Explorer has stopped working * then, it
> re-boots, and the names are still there. Even when I try to right-click
> the name or delete the names, *Windows Explorer* re-boots.
> Is there a way to delete the name I want deleted from my Windows
> Contact List, and keep Windows Explorer from rebooting?

I need to vent, sorry, and this topic ignited me. I got a new laptop
this year and it was Vista and I imported old OE and Outlook stuff to
this new Windows mail client, and it's been a wastful stressful
fustrating few months trying to the simple things I used to do easily,
like Finding text within a message in an email Folder accurately and
easily... I spent dozens of hours trying stuff checking stuff learning
about indexing and trying the new search tools and Find tools and its
buggy doesn't always work right confusing and help data and support is
elusive, and i am not dumb although not an expert. And the "won't work
in Vista comments are exasperating!!"

So I read this recent post about contacts, which replaces the
delightful well-designed easy to use addressing in OE and Outlook. So
just like the recent posted inquiry, which got some inane unhelpful
response i think, I wanted to delete a contact. I used windows Mail
contacts button and many other approaches, pulldown menus, etc. Nowhere
is there a delete tool for that in MS mail, i can find, nor in the
online unhelpful help-texts. One of the things i keep trying is to
right-click the undesired contact I navigate to in differet ways,
hoping (expecting?) to see a "delete" choice. But just lke darryl,
every time I right-click I get an abort "windows explorer has stopped
working". It happens each and everytime and has nothing to do with slow
Vista or Vista doing something else. It is a normal approach to doing a
simple task, and it is NOT the only time I get unexpected "windows
explorer is restarting" messages with no free or easy way to get
support for such nonsense. Thanks for hearing me out hope someone can
help or at least learn what the users are facing and seek remedies for
the good of all! (And please don't be offended hurt or defensive or
unkind:-)


--
jkdood
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Vista is different from previous versions of Windows, and Widows Mail is
different from OE, even thought there are some similarities. I'm just
offering my opinon, of course, but maybe replacing the address book with a
contacts folder is supposed to outsmart the usual self-replicating email
worm. Perhaps MS thinks the new design is another thin layer of security.

Contacts add/delete fairly easily from the Contacts folder, just like in
other file folders, as long as it's set up correctly, which we just learned.
It takes getting used to doing it differently, though. Just like when Win95
was new, and when XP first arrived, we're going to find a bunch of lttle
things that fewer people have experiened, so far. Over time, we'll learn how
to correct them.

The hardest part for the *experts* (I'm not one) is to reproduce the problem
if no one knows the cause. Thanks to Mac, we now know how fix this
particular issue.

I try to help with the ones I know a little bit about, just in case I can
help rule out some simple but overlooked things, so the *experts* can get a
little more info and figure out the more technical solutions. Sooner or
later, one of them usually does, just like in this case.

What sometimes sounds like a weak or unhelpful suggestion or question, is
quite often an attempt to find out exact what steps were included in "I
tried everyhing and nothing worked", because they really mean "I tried
everyhing I could think of and ran outof ideas."

KB

"jkdood" wrote in message news:...
>
> I need to vent, sorry, and this topic ignited me. I got a new laptop
> this year and it was Vista and I imported old OE and Outlook stuff to
> this new Windows mail client, and it's been a wastful stressful
> fustrating few months trying to the simple things I used to do easily,
> like Finding text within a message in an email Folder accurately and
> easily... I spent dozens of hours trying stuff checking stuff learning
> about indexing and trying the new search tools and Find tools and its
> buggy doesn't always work right confusing and help data and support is
> elusive, and i am not dumb although not an expert. And the "won't work
> in Vista comments are exasperating!!"
>
> So I read this recent post about contacts, which replaces the
> delightful well-designed easy to use addressing in OE and Outlook. So
> just like the recent posted inquiry, which got some inane unhelpful
> response i think, I wanted to delete a contact. I used windows Mail
> contacts button and many other approaches, pulldown menus, etc. Nowhere
> is there a delete tool for that in MS mail, i can find, nor in the
> online unhelpful help-texts. One of the things i keep trying is to
> right-click the undesired contact I navigate to in differet ways,
> hoping (expecting?) to see a "delete" choice. But just lke darryl,
> every time I right-click I get an abort "windows explorer has stopped
> working". It happens each and everytime and has nothing to do with slow
> Vista or Vista doing something else. It is a normal approach to doing a
> simple task, and it is NOT the only time I get unexpected "windows
> explorer is restarting" messages with no free or easy way to get
> support for such nonsense. Thanks for hearing me out hope someone can
> help or at least learn what the users are facing and seek remedies for
> the good of all! (And please don't be offended hurt or defensive or
> unkind:-)

After you click on Contacts, don't you have a Delete icon on
the toolbar? If not, what do you see on the toolbar?

It is, of course, not normal to have Windows Explorer crash
on you when right-clicking a contact. Of several dozen Vista
machines I'm personally familiar with, none do that.
Is there anything unusual about your PC, did you do a clean
install or was it a upgrade of XP to Vista?

Gary VanderMolen


"jkdood" <> wrote in message news:...
>
[snip]
> So I read this recent post about contacts, which replaces the
> delightful well-designed easy to use addressing in OE and Outlook. So
> just like the recent posted inquiry, which got some inane unhelpful
> response i think, I wanted to delete a contact. I used windows Mail
> contacts button and many other approaches, pulldown menus, etc. Nowhere
> is there a delete tool for that in MS mail, i can find, nor in the
> online unhelpful help-texts. One of the things i keep trying is to
> right-click the undesired contact I navigate to in differet ways,
> hoping (expecting?) to see a "delete" choice. But just lke darryl,
> every time I right-click I get an abort "windows explorer has stopped
> working". It happens each and everytime and has nothing to do with slow
> Vista or Vista doing something else. It is a normal approach to doing a
> simple task, and it is NOT the only time I get unexpected "windows
> explorer is restarting" messages with no free or easy way to get
> support for such nonsense. Thanks for hearing me out hope someone can
> help or at least learn what the users are facing and seek remedies for
> the good of all! (And please don't be offended hurt or defensive or
> unkind:-)

"Gary VanderMolen" <> wrote in message
news:...
> After you click on Contacts, don't you have a Delete icon on
> the toolbar? If not, what do you see on the toolbar?


Apparently not until you select a contact.

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE/WM
Do not send mail.

Hi. Thanks all for your patience, interest, and assistance!

UPD: Goodish news, sort of: The re-starting-Explorer error would occur
when right-clicking a contact, selected first, or not.

I subsequently noticed that I was getting the same error when
right-clicking any icon (but not folders) on the desktop. I checked
the net, and found many users, mostly VISTA, were getting this error
last fall, and many in May and June this year. Last fall, solved by
SP1, the same error would loop and made many crazy.

Worms and viruses were suspected. Some fingers were pointed at McAfee
(which I have, free, with Comcast ISP subscription) and does not behave
well with Vista. Spy/dll's were mentioned, safe mode solutions helped
some, but the best results seemed to be from folks who restored.

This is a new (SONY VAIO) laptop here with Vista pre-installed by the
way. I also saw in Event log many recent application errors with
explorer.exe/kernel32.dll - i could not find kernel32.dll.

So I did a system restore, taking the recommended checkpoint 3 days ago
before an auto-update from Windows. I also did a (clean) memory check.

I am now restored, and I CAN right-click a contact now without an error
(and choose delete if I wish.) I can also right-click desktop icons
without an abort now.

The major changes in 3 days were auto-updates from Windows, and from
McAfee. McAfee has already started re-installing automatically. Windows
will likely follow. I will look for the problems to reoccur, to see, IF
as i suspect, that one of those guys is the culprit.

I guess this is a decent resolution, and maybe at least will assist
others struggling with same errors. I therefore remind anyone that gets
the restarting error when right-clicking a Contact, to see if that also
happens when they right-click a desktop icon, and if yes, to look to
other areas (and DLLs) for an answer, and maybe do a restore.


--
jkdood
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Yes, please post back more info if you can determine which it was.

McAfee was my favorite until they *improved* it too much several years ago,
and I don't even remember what I used to replaced it. Now, my current ISP
included free AV but it isn't availible for Vista, yet, and I'm using
anoher.

If you want to test a free AV to prove/disprove McAfee is the cause, many
people have reported success with the free versions of Avast4 and AVG using
Vista.

KB

"jkdood" wrote in message news:...
>
> Hi. Thanks all for your patience, interest, and assistance!
>
> UPD: Goodish news, sort of: The re-starting-Explorer error would occur
> when right-clicking a contact, selected first, or not.
>
> I subsequently noticed that I was getting the same error when
> right-clicking any icon (but not folders) on the desktop. I checked
> the net, and found many users, mostly VISTA, were getting this error
> last fall, and many in May and June this year. Last fall, solved by
> SP1, the same error would loop and made many crazy.
>
> Worms and viruses were suspected. Some fingers were pointed at McAfee
> (which I have, free, with Comcast ISP subscription) and does not behave
> well with Vista. Spy/dll's were mentioned, safe mode solutions helped
> some, but the best results seemed to be from folks who restored.
>
> This is a new (SONY VAIO) laptop here with Vista pre-installed by the
> way. I also saw in Event log many recent application errors with
> explorer.exe/kernel32.dll - i could not find kernel32.dll.
>
> So I did a system restore, taking the recommended checkpoint 3 days ago
> before an auto-update from Windows. I also did a (clean) memory check.
>
> I am now restored, and I CAN right-click a contact now without an error
> (and choose delete if I wish.) I can also right-click desktop icons
> without an abort now.
>
> The major changes in 3 days were auto-updates from Windows, and from
> McAfee. McAfee has already started re-installing automatically. Windows
> will likely follow. I will look for the problems to reoccur, to see, IF
> as i suspect, that one of those guys is the culprit.
>
> I guess this is a decent resolution, and maybe at least will assist
> others struggling with same errors. I therefore remind anyone that gets
> the restarting error when right-clicking a Contact, to see if that also
> happens when they right-click a desktop icon, and if yes, to look to
> other areas (and DLLs) for an answer, and maybe do a restore.