HELP! Contacts missing

My wife recently upgrade her RAID-1 system to Win 7 Professional. Some
gremlin fried one of the disks and also the motherboard so we rebuilt the
system with a new motherboard, hard disk, and processor (and a bigger power
supply) and a fresh install of Win 7. I assumed that all her data (including
WLM emails and contacts) would be safe since one of the RAID disks from the
old system survived. We now have it attached externally to the new system.
Before the crash, we also made a nightly Win 7 backup to an external disk
but that may have only been My Documents and not all her USER accounts.

I was able to fire up WLM and find all the email messages on the old disk
but the contact list with over 1500 contacts seems to be missing.

My question is HOW do I get the contacts from either the old RAID disk or
the backup disk into her WLM?

TIA,

Tom

The short answer is that if you had configured Windows Live Mail to
sign in to a Live ID, those contacts would be waiting for you at
http://contacts.live.com, and the first time you started your new copy
of Windows Live Mail, it would automatically sync those contacts.

--
Gary VanderMolen, Microsoft MVP (Mail)
Microsoft MVP program: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com


"Tom Brown" <> wrote in message news:...
> My wife recently upgrade her RAID-1 system to Win 7 Professional. Some
> gremlin fried one of the disks and also the motherboard so we rebuilt the
> system with a new motherboard, hard disk, and processor (and a bigger power
> supply) and a fresh install of Win 7. I assumed that all her data (including
> WLM emails and contacts) would be safe since one of the RAID disks from the
> old system survived. We now have it attached externally to the new system.
> Before the crash, we also made a nightly Win 7 backup to an external disk
> but that may have only been My Documents and not all her USER accounts.
>
> I was able to fire up WLM and find all the email messages on the old disk
> but the contact list with over 1500 contacts seems to be missing.
>
> My question is HOW do I get the contacts from either the old RAID disk or
> the backup disk into her WLM?
>
> TIA,
>
> Tom
>
>

It is unlikely that you will be able to recover them if not backed up to a *.csv file or automatically saved on line.

WLM and WLMsgr use the same contact database. For WLM two modes of contacts are available...online and offline. For each mode WLM
saves its contacts to a file called contacts.edb. The Windows registry provides pathname and the name of the contact folder
containing the contact database(contacts.edb).

Since this is a new install, the registry would not contain the path/folder of your prior contact file...though the file may be
present on your old disk.
Search for Contacts.edb..if you find it, you may be able to replace the current contacts.edb with the old(ymmv)....your only effort
after replacing and attempting to open Contacts in WLM(if successful) should be to export your contacts to a CSV file(nothing
else).. Once exported, delete the entire Contacts folder.

This registry key(on your current machine)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\Database
...shows a path name and also the numerical name of the contact folder on your current install

Note: If you are now using a Live ID, you will see multiple path names.
The path name in the registry if not using a Live ID shows as C:\Users\<windows logon name>\Contacts\Default\ and the data value to
the right contains the WLM generated numerical name of the folder (e.g.{ecbcb863-385a-4308-96e7-94082c67f7ce})
- The contact folder name shown in the registry should be seen(for lack of a better word) a junction since it points to your user
profile...i.e the contact folder actually resides elsewhere but Windows is smart enough to know where....the actual contact folder
resides at:
C:\Users\<windows logon name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts


As noted above, replacing a current contacts with a previous may create unpredictable results and subsequent
corruption....fortunately one can easily recover from this short term tweaking by deleting the Contacts folder subfolders and WLM
will glady recreate them with a new numerical name, update the registry..

If you are succesful in exporting your contacts to a csv file(after manually replacing contacts.edb with an earlier
version)...ensure you close WLM, delete the contacts folder, open WLM to recreate the folder and registry values prior to importing
from the csv file.

Good luck...as noted..ymmv...proceed at your own risk...but your efforts may save some retyping. If not comfortable with looking in
the registry or the above process....your only option is to reenter all contact data. In the future backup your contacts or
consider using a Live ID to ensure they are automatically backed up online.





--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

"Tom Brown" <> wrote in message news:...
> My wife recently upgrade her RAID-1 system to Win 7 Professional. Some
> gremlin fried one of the disks and also the motherboard so we rebuilt the
> system with a new motherboard, hard disk, and processor (and a bigger power
> supply) and a fresh install of Win 7. I assumed that all her data (including
> WLM emails and contacts) would be safe since one of the RAID disks from the
> old system survived. We now have it attached externally to the new system.
> Before the crash, we also made a nightly Win 7 backup to an external disk but that may have only been My Documents and not all
> her USER accounts.
>
> I was able to fire up WLM and find all the email messages on the old disk but the contact list with over 1500 contacts seems to
> be missing.
>
> My question is HOW do I get the contacts from either the old RAID disk or
> the backup disk into her WLM?
>
> TIA,
>
> Tom
>
>

Then does the long answer mean they are lost ... even though the data are on
external disks? Wow, I miss the simplicity of OE and the .wab address
book.

Tom


"Gary VanderMolen [MVP]" <> wrote in message
news:...
> The short answer is that if you had configured Windows Live Mail to
> sign in to a Live ID, those contacts would be waiting for you at
> http://contacts.live.com, and the first time you started your new copy
> of Windows Live Mail, it would automatically sync those contacts.
>
> --
> Gary VanderMolen, Microsoft MVP (Mail)
> Microsoft MVP program: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
>
>
> "Tom Brown" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> My wife recently upgrade her RAID-1 system to Win 7 Professional. Some
>> gremlin fried one of the disks and also the motherboard so we rebuilt the
>> system with a new motherboard, hard disk, and processor (and a bigger
>> power
>> supply) and a fresh install of Win 7. I assumed that all her data
>> (including
>> WLM emails and contacts) would be safe since one of the RAID disks from
>> the
>> old system survived. We now have it attached externally to the new
>> system.
>> Before the crash, we also made a nightly Win 7 backup to an external disk
>> but that may have only been My Documents and not all her USER accounts.
>>
>> I was able to fire up WLM and find all the email messages on the old disk
>> but the contact list with over 1500 contacts seems to be missing.
>>
>> My question is HOW do I get the contacts from either the old RAID disk or
>> the backup disk into her WLM?
>>
>> TIA,
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>

That's unbelievable to me that I have multiple copies of the Contacts.edb
file all over the place and can't use one of them. The reason I didn't sign
onto the Live ID (and apparently get an offline backup) is that I didn't
want to be bugged by friends and contacts on Windows Messenger. I'm usually
too busy to chat online. Although I apparently didn't understand all I know
about that, It seemed like that is a reasonable option.

But, I do appreciate all the detailed expert help here. Here is what I have
found in trying to replace the current contacts.edb (with only two or three
contacts) with an old copy (with 1500 contacts) .

I went into the registry and found the WL Contacts database showing that it
should be in C:\Users\Chris\Contacts\Default folder and the file (Data) has
the cryptic
name beginning with {5a83f674-e65 .....}. Unfortunately, there is not even
a DEFAULT folder under the
C:\Users\Chris\Contacts folder. By the way, I am configured to show hidden
and system files and folders.

Also, when I go into WLM and select IMPORT on either one of my Win 7
machines, I only see MESSAGES and not
CONTACTS so there is no way to import anything into Contacts even if I had a
good .csv file. What am I missing?

My wife is absolutely frantic that she has lost her entire business contact
list at a very critical time. Any help appreciated.

Tom




"...winston" <> wrote in message
news:...
> It is unlikely that you will be able to recover them if not backed up to a
> *.csv file or automatically saved on line.
>
> WLM and WLMsgr use the same contact database. For WLM two modes of
> contacts are available...online and offline. For each mode WLM saves its
> contacts to a file called contacts.edb. The Windows registry provides
> pathname and the name of the contact folder containing the contact
> database(contacts.edb).
>
> Since this is a new install, the registry would not contain the
> path/folder of your prior contact file...though the file may be present on
> your old disk.
> Search for Contacts.edb..if you find it, you may be able to replace the
> current contacts.edb with the old(ymmv)....your only effort after
> replacing and attempting to open Contacts in WLM(if successful) should be
> to export your contacts to a CSV file(nothing else).. Once exported,
> delete the entire Contacts folder.
>
> This registry key(on your current machine)
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\Database
> ..shows a path name and also the numerical name of the contact folder on
> your current install
>
> Note: If you are now using a Live ID, you will see multiple path names.
> The path name in the registry if not using a Live ID shows as
> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\Contacts\Default\ and the data value to the
> right contains the WLM generated numerical name of the folder
> (e.g.{ecbcb863-385a-4308-96e7-94082c67f7ce})
> - The contact folder name shown in the registry should be seen(for lack of
> a better word) a junction since it points to your user profile...i.e the
> contact folder actually resides elsewhere but Windows is smart enough to
> know where....the actual contact folder resides at:
> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live
> Contacts
>
>
> As noted above, replacing a current contacts with a previous may create
> unpredictable results and subsequent corruption....fortunately one can
> easily recover from this short term tweaking by deleting the Contacts
> folder subfolders and WLM will glady recreate them with a new numerical
> name, update the registry..
>
> If you are succesful in exporting your contacts to a csv file(after
> manually replacing contacts.edb with an earlier version)...ensure you
> close WLM, delete the contacts folder, open WLM to recreate the folder and
> registry values prior to importing from the csv file.
>
> Good luck...as noted..ymmv...proceed at your own risk...but your efforts
> may save some retyping. If not comfortable with looking in the registry or
> the above process....your only option is to reenter all contact data. In
> the future backup your contacts or consider using a Live ID to ensure they
> are automatically backed up online.
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> ...winston
> ms-mvp mail
>
> "Tom Brown" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> My wife recently upgrade her RAID-1 system to Win 7 Professional. Some
>> gremlin fried one of the disks and also the motherboard so we rebuilt the
>> system with a new motherboard, hard disk, and processor (and a bigger
>> power
>> supply) and a fresh install of Win 7. I assumed that all her data
>> (including
>> WLM emails and contacts) would be safe since one of the RAID disks from
>> the
>> old system survived. We now have it attached externally to the new
>> system.
>> Before the crash, we also made a nightly Win 7 backup to an external disk
>> but that may have only been My Documents and not all her USER accounts.
>>
>> I was able to fire up WLM and find all the email messages on the old disk
>> but the contact list with over 1500 contacts seems to be missing.
>>
>> My question is HOW do I get the contacts from either the old RAID disk or
>> the backup disk into her WLM?
>>
>> TIA,
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>

See Winston's response for the long answer. As you can see, it is not a
simple matter. I've already been saved once already (when my laptop was
stolen), by having my contacts automatically backed up online.

--
Gary VanderMolen, Microsoft MVP (Mail)
Microsoft MVP program: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com


"Tom Brown" <> wrote in message news:...
> Then does the long answer mean they are lost ... even though the data are on
> external disks? Wow, I miss the simplicity of OE and the .wab address
> book.
>
> Tom
>
>
> "Gary VanderMolen [MVP]" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> The short answer is that if you had configured Windows Live Mail to
>> sign in to a Live ID, those contacts would be waiting for you at
>> http://contacts.live.com, and the first time you started your new copy
>> of Windows Live Mail, it would automatically sync those contacts.
>>
>> --
>> Gary VanderMolen, Microsoft MVP (Mail)
>> Microsoft MVP program: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
>>
>>
>> "Tom Brown" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> My wife recently upgrade her RAID-1 system to Win 7 Professional. Some
>>> gremlin fried one of the disks and also the motherboard so we rebuilt the
>>> system with a new motherboard, hard disk, and processor (and a bigger
>>> power
>>> supply) and a fresh install of Win 7. I assumed that all her data
>>> (including
>>> WLM emails and contacts) would be safe since one of the RAID disks from
>>> the
>>> old system survived. We now have it attached externally to the new
>>> system.
>>> Before the crash, we also made a nightly Win 7 backup to an external disk
>>> but that may have only been My Documents and not all her USER accounts.
>>>
>>> I was able to fire up WLM and find all the email messages on the old disk
>>> but the contact list with over 1500 contacts seems to be missing.
>>>
>>> My question is HOW do I get the contacts from either the old RAID disk or
>>> the backup disk into her WLM?
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>>
>>

Not sure what connection you are drawing with having contacts
backed up online, and being bugged via Messenger.
I'm not bugged via Messenger because I don't have it installed.
If you need to keep Messenger installed, I'm sure there are Messenger
experts who can advise you how not to be bugged by unwanted
IM's.

--
Gary VanderMolen, Microsoft MVP (Mail)
Microsoft MVP program: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com


"Tom Brown" <> wrote in message news:...
> That's unbelievable to me that I have multiple copies of the Contacts.edb
> file all over the place and can't use one of them. The reason I didn't sign
> onto the Live ID (and apparently get an offline backup) is that I didn't
> want to be bugged by friends and contacts on Windows Messenger. I'm usually
> too busy to chat online. Although I apparently didn't understand all I know
> about that, It seemed like that is a reasonable option.
>
> But, I do appreciate all the detailed expert help here. Here is what I have
> found in trying to replace the current contacts.edb (with only two or three
> contacts) with an old copy (with 1500 contacts) .
>
> I went into the registry and found the WL Contacts database showing that it
> should be in C:\Users\Chris\Contacts\Default folder and the file (Data) has
> the cryptic
> name beginning with {5a83f674-e65 .....}. Unfortunately, there is not even
> a DEFAULT folder under the
> C:\Users\Chris\Contacts folder. By the way, I am configured to show hidden
> and system files and folders.
>
> Also, when I go into WLM and select IMPORT on either one of my Win 7
> machines, I only see MESSAGES and not
> CONTACTS so there is no way to import anything into Contacts even if I had a
> good .csv file. What am I missing?
>
> My wife is absolutely frantic that she has lost her entire business contact
> list at a very critical time. Any help appreciated.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
>
> "...winston" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> It is unlikely that you will be able to recover them if not backed up to a
>> *.csv file or automatically saved on line.
>>
>> WLM and WLMsgr use the same contact database. For WLM two modes of
>> contacts are available...online and offline. For each mode WLM saves its
>> contacts to a file called contacts.edb. The Windows registry provides
>> pathname and the name of the contact folder containing the contact
>> database(contacts.edb).
>>
>> Since this is a new install, the registry would not contain the
>> path/folder of your prior contact file...though the file may be present on
>> your old disk.
>> Search for Contacts.edb..if you find it, you may be able to replace the
>> current contacts.edb with the old(ymmv)....your only effort after
>> replacing and attempting to open Contacts in WLM(if successful) should be
>> to export your contacts to a CSV file(nothing else).. Once exported,
>> delete the entire Contacts folder.
>>
>> This registry key(on your current machine)
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\Database
>> ..shows a path name and also the numerical name of the contact folder on
>> your current install
>>
>> Note: If you are now using a Live ID, you will see multiple path names.
>> The path name in the registry if not using a Live ID shows as
>> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\Contacts\Default\ and the data value to the
>> right contains the WLM generated numerical name of the folder
>> (e.g.{ecbcb863-385a-4308-96e7-94082c67f7ce})
>> - The contact folder name shown in the registry should be seen(for lack of
>> a better word) a junction since it points to your user profile...i.e the
>> contact folder actually resides elsewhere but Windows is smart enough to
>> know where....the actual contact folder resides at:
>> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live
>> Contacts
>>
>>
>> As noted above, replacing a current contacts with a previous may create
>> unpredictable results and subsequent corruption....fortunately one can
>> easily recover from this short term tweaking by deleting the Contacts
>> folder subfolders and WLM will glady recreate them with a new numerical
>> name, update the registry..
>>
>> If you are succesful in exporting your contacts to a csv file(after
>> manually replacing contacts.edb with an earlier version)...ensure you
>> close WLM, delete the contacts folder, open WLM to recreate the folder and
>> registry values prior to importing from the csv file.
>>
>> Good luck...as noted..ymmv...proceed at your own risk...but your efforts
>> may save some retyping. If not comfortable with looking in the registry or
>> the above process....your only option is to reenter all contact data. In
>> the future backup your contacts or consider using a Live ID to ensure they
>> are automatically backed up online.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ...winston
>> ms-mvp mail
>>
>> "Tom Brown" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> My wife recently upgrade her RAID-1 system to Win 7 Professional. Some
>>> gremlin fried one of the disks and also the motherboard so we rebuilt the
>>> system with a new motherboard, hard disk, and processor (and a bigger
>>> power
>>> supply) and a fresh install of Win 7. I assumed that all her data
>>> (including
>>> WLM emails and contacts) would be safe since one of the RAID disks from
>>> the
>>> old system survived. We now have it attached externally to the new
>>> system.
>>> Before the crash, we also made a nightly Win 7 backup to an external disk
>>> but that may have only been My Documents and not all her USER accounts.
>>>
>>> I was able to fire up WLM and find all the email messages on the old disk
>>> but the contact list with over 1500 contacts seems to be missing.
>>>
>>> My question is HOW do I get the contacts from either the old RAID disk or
>>> the backup disk into her WLM?
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>>
>>

Tom,
I mentioned this previously...

<qp>
- The contact folder name shown in the registry should be seen(for lack of a better word) a junction since it points to your user
profile...i.e the contact folder actually resides elsewhere but Windows is smart enough to know where....the actual contact folder
resides at:

C:\Users\<windows logon name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts

</qp>

One can not import the contacts.edb file..it can only be copied and as noted(ymmv)

To export to a csv file and to import contacts from a csv file, one has to go to Contacts and its menu
- Control Shift C or click on the Contacts button(lower right) to access the Contact app and its menu, then click
File/Import/Comma Separated Values

--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

"Tom Brown" <> wrote in message news:...
> That's unbelievable to me that I have multiple copies of the Contacts.edb
> file all over the place and can't use one of them. The reason I didn't sign
> onto the Live ID (and apparently get an offline backup) is that I didn't
> want to be bugged by friends and contacts on Windows Messenger. I'm usually too busy to chat online. Although I apparently didn't
> understand all I know about that, It seemed like that is a reasonable option.
>
> But, I do appreciate all the detailed expert help here. Here is what I have
> found in trying to replace the current contacts.edb (with only two or three
> contacts) with an old copy (with 1500 contacts) .
>
> I went into the registry and found the WL Contacts database showing that it
> should be in C:\Users\Chris\Contacts\Default folder and the file (Data) has the cryptic
> name beginning with {5a83f674-e65 .....}. Unfortunately, there is not even a DEFAULT folder under the
> C:\Users\Chris\Contacts folder. By the way, I am configured to show hidden
> and system files and folders.
>
> Also, when I go into WLM and select IMPORT on either one of my Win 7 machines, I only see MESSAGES and not
> CONTACTS so there is no way to import anything into Contacts even if I had a good .csv file. What am I missing?
>
> My wife is absolutely frantic that she has lost her entire business contact list at a very critical time. Any help appreciated.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
>
> "...winston" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> It is unlikely that you will be able to recover them if not backed up to a
>> *.csv file or automatically saved on line.
>>
>> WLM and WLMsgr use the same contact database. For WLM two modes of
>> contacts are available...online and offline. For each mode WLM saves its
>> contacts to a file called contacts.edb. The Windows registry provides
>> pathname and the name of the contact folder containing the contact
>> database(contacts.edb).
>>
>> Since this is a new install, the registry would not contain the
>> path/folder of your prior contact file...though the file may be present on
>> your old disk.
>> Search for Contacts.edb..if you find it, you may be able to replace the
>> current contacts.edb with the old(ymmv)....your only effort after
>> replacing and attempting to open Contacts in WLM(if successful) should be
>> to export your contacts to a CSV file(nothing else).. Once exported,
>> delete the entire Contacts folder.
>>
>> This registry key(on your current machine)
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\Database
>> ..shows a path name and also the numerical name of the contact folder on
>> your current install
>>
>> Note: If you are now using a Live ID, you will see multiple path names.
>> The path name in the registry if not using a Live ID shows as
>> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\Contacts\Default\ and the data value to the
>> right contains the WLM generated numerical name of the folder
>> (e.g.{ecbcb863-385a-4308-96e7-94082c67f7ce})
>> - The contact folder name shown in the registry should be seen(for lack of
>> a better word) a junction since it points to your user profile...i.e the
>> contact folder actually resides elsewhere but Windows is smart enough to
>> know where....the actual contact folder resides at:
>> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live
>> Contacts
>>
>>
>> As noted above, replacing a current contacts with a previous may create
>> unpredictable results and subsequent corruption....fortunately one can
>> easily recover from this short term tweaking by deleting the Contacts
>> folder subfolders and WLM will glady recreate them with a new numerical
>> name, update the registry..
>>
>> If you are succesful in exporting your contacts to a csv file(after
>> manually replacing contacts.edb with an earlier version)...ensure you
>> close WLM, delete the contacts folder, open WLM to recreate the folder and
>> registry values prior to importing from the csv file.
>>
>> Good luck...as noted..ymmv...proceed at your own risk...but your efforts
>> may save some retyping. If not comfortable with looking in the registry or
>> the above process....your only option is to reenter all contact data. In
>> the future backup your contacts or consider using a Live ID to ensure they
>> are automatically backed up online.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ...winston
>> ms-mvp mail
>>
>> "Tom Brown" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> My wife recently upgrade her RAID-1 system to Win 7 Professional. Some
>>> gremlin fried one of the disks and also the motherboard so we rebuilt the
>>> system with a new motherboard, hard disk, and processor (and a bigger
>>> power
>>> supply) and a fresh install of Win 7. I assumed that all her data
>>> (including
>>> WLM emails and contacts) would be safe since one of the RAID disks from
>>> the
>>> old system survived. We now have it attached externally to the new
>>> system.
>>> Before the crash, we also made a nightly Win 7 backup to an external disk
>>> but that may have only been My Documents and not all her USER accounts.
>>>
>>> I was able to fire up WLM and find all the email messages on the old disk
>>> but the contact list with over 1500 contacts seems to be missing.
>>>
>>> My question is HOW do I get the contacts from either the old RAID disk or
>>> the backup disk into her WLM?
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>>
>>

Winston and Gary,

Thanks for the help. All's well that ends well and am back in business.
Thankfully, I was able to restore my contacts. But, I do still have a few
questions.

Winston said "It is unlikely that you will be able to recover them if not
backed up to a *.csv file or automatically saved on line." That's what
really had me panicked since I had not done a backup or gone online with
Live ID but I was able to copy the contact.edb from my nightly backup
external disk to the correct folder. Actually, it didn't work the first few
times when I only copied the contacts.edb file but when I copied all the
files in that backup folder, it restored the 1300 contacts. Phew!!! It
seems to be fine and not acting unpredictably.

But, you said "Once exported, delete the entire Contacts folder" and also
"ensure you close WLM, delete the contacts folder, open WLM to recreate the
folder and registry values prior to importing from the csv file."

I'm a little nervous about doing that so I want to be sure I have it right.
Please specify in more detail which folders I need to delete? Are you
talking about the entire C:\Users\<windows logon
name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts? Or, are you saying to
leave that folder alone and delete all it's cryptic subfolders? I also see a
folder in the Contacts folder named the same as my email address and also a
desktop.ini file.

Thanks again for the help,

Tom

"...winston" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Tom,
> I mentioned this previously...
>
> <qp>
> - The contact folder name shown in the registry should be seen(for lack of
> a better word) a junction since it points to your user profile...i.e the
> contact folder actually resides elsewhere but Windows is smart enough to
> know where....the actual contact folder resides at:
>
> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live
> Contacts
>
> </qp>
>
> One can not import the contacts.edb file..it can only be copied and as
> noted(ymmv)
>
> To export to a csv file and to import contacts from a csv file, one has to
> go to Contacts and its menu
> - Control Shift C or click on the Contacts button(lower right) to access
> the Contact app and its menu, then click File/Import/Comma Separated
> Values
>
> --
> ...winston
> ms-mvp mail
>
> "Tom Brown" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> That's unbelievable to me that I have multiple copies of the Contacts.edb
>> file all over the place and can't use one of them. The reason I didn't
>> sign
>> onto the Live ID (and apparently get an offline backup) is that I didn't
>> want to be bugged by friends and contacts on Windows Messenger. I'm
>> usually too busy to chat online. Although I apparently didn't understand
>> all I know about that, It seemed like that is a reasonable option.
>>
>> But, I do appreciate all the detailed expert help here. Here is what I
>> have
>> found in trying to replace the current contacts.edb (with only two or
>> three
>> contacts) with an old copy (with 1500 contacts) .
>>
>> I went into the registry and found the WL Contacts database showing that
>> it
>> should be in C:\Users\Chris\Contacts\Default folder and the file (Data)
>> has the cryptic
>> name beginning with {5a83f674-e65 .....}. Unfortunately, there is not
>> even a DEFAULT folder under the
>> C:\Users\Chris\Contacts folder. By the way, I am configured to show
>> hidden
>> and system files and folders.
>>
>> Also, when I go into WLM and select IMPORT on either one of my Win 7
>> machines, I only see MESSAGES and not
>> CONTACTS so there is no way to import anything into Contacts even if I
>> had a good .csv file. What am I missing?
>>
>> My wife is absolutely frantic that she has lost her entire business
>> contact list at a very critical time. Any help appreciated.
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "...winston" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> It is unlikely that you will be able to recover them if not backed up to
>>> a
>>> *.csv file or automatically saved on line.
>>>
>>> WLM and WLMsgr use the same contact database. For WLM two modes of
>>> contacts are available...online and offline. For each mode WLM saves its
>>> contacts to a file called contacts.edb. The Windows registry provides
>>> pathname and the name of the contact folder containing the contact
>>> database(contacts.edb).
>>>
>>> Since this is a new install, the registry would not contain the
>>> path/folder of your prior contact file...though the file may be present
>>> on
>>> your old disk.
>>> Search for Contacts.edb..if you find it, you may be able to replace the
>>> current contacts.edb with the old(ymmv)....your only effort after
>>> replacing and attempting to open Contacts in WLM(if successful) should
>>> be
>>> to export your contacts to a CSV file(nothing else).. Once exported,
>>> delete the entire Contacts folder.
>>>
>>> This registry key(on your current machine)
>>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\Database
>>> ..shows a path name and also the numerical name of the contact folder on
>>> your current install
>>>
>>> Note: If you are now using a Live ID, you will see multiple path names.
>>> The path name in the registry if not using a Live ID shows as
>>> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\Contacts\Default\ and the data value to
>>> the
>>> right contains the WLM generated numerical name of the folder
>>> (e.g.{ecbcb863-385a-4308-96e7-94082c67f7ce})
>>> - The contact folder name shown in the registry should be seen(for lack
>>> of
>>> a better word) a junction since it points to your user profile...i.e the
>>> contact folder actually resides elsewhere but Windows is smart enough to
>>> know where....the actual contact folder resides at:
>>> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live
>>> Contacts
>>>
>>>
>>> As noted above, replacing a current contacts with a previous may create
>>> unpredictable results and subsequent corruption....fortunately one can
>>> easily recover from this short term tweaking by deleting the Contacts
>>> folder subfolders and WLM will glady recreate them with a new numerical
>>> name, update the registry..
>>>
>>> If you are succesful in exporting your contacts to a csv file(after
>>> manually replacing contacts.edb with an earlier version)...ensure you
>>> close WLM, delete the contacts folder, open WLM to recreate the folder
>>> and
>>> registry values prior to importing from the csv file.
>>>
>>> Good luck...as noted..ymmv...proceed at your own risk...but your efforts
>>> may save some retyping. If not comfortable with looking in the registry
>>> or
>>> the above process....your only option is to reenter all contact data. In
>>> the future backup your contacts or consider using a Live ID to ensure
>>> they
>>> are automatically backed up online.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> ...winston
>>> ms-mvp mail
>>>
>>> "Tom Brown" <> wrote in message
>>> news:...
>>>> My wife recently upgrade her RAID-1 system to Win 7 Professional. Some
>>>> gremlin fried one of the disks and also the motherboard so we rebuilt
>>>> the
>>>> system with a new motherboard, hard disk, and processor (and a bigger
>>>> power
>>>> supply) and a fresh install of Win 7. I assumed that all her data
>>>> (including
>>>> WLM emails and contacts) would be safe since one of the RAID disks from
>>>> the
>>>> old system survived. We now have it attached externally to the new
>>>> system.
>>>> Before the crash, we also made a nightly Win 7 backup to an external
>>>> disk
>>>> but that may have only been My Documents and not all her USER accounts.
>>>>
>>>> I was able to fire up WLM and find all the email messages on the old
>>>> disk
>>>> but the contact list with over 1500 contacts seems to be missing.
>>>>
>>>> My question is HOW do I get the contacts from either the old RAID disk
>>>> or
>>>> the backup disk into her WLM?
>>>>
>>>> TIA,
>>>>
>>>> Tom
>>>>
>>>>
>>>

To import contacts from a csv file into WLM you need to open the Contacts
view first. Then when you select File - Import you will be given the option
to import from a csv file.

"Tom Brown" <> wrote in message
news:...
> That's unbelievable to me that I have multiple copies of the Contacts.edb
> file all over the place and can't use one of them. The reason I didn't
> sign
> onto the Live ID (and apparently get an offline backup) is that I didn't
> want to be bugged by friends and contacts on Windows Messenger. I'm
> usually too busy to chat online. Although I apparently didn't understand
> all I know about that, It seemed like that is a reasonable option.
>
> But, I do appreciate all the detailed expert help here. Here is what I
> have
> found in trying to replace the current contacts.edb (with only two or
> three
> contacts) with an old copy (with 1500 contacts) .
>
> I went into the registry and found the WL Contacts database showing that
> it
> should be in C:\Users\Chris\Contacts\Default folder and the file (Data)
> has the cryptic
> name beginning with {5a83f674-e65 .....}. Unfortunately, there is not
> even a DEFAULT folder under the
> C:\Users\Chris\Contacts folder. By the way, I am configured to show
> hidden
> and system files and folders.
>
> Also, when I go into WLM and select IMPORT on either one of my Win 7
> machines, I only see MESSAGES and not
> CONTACTS so there is no way to import anything into Contacts even if I had
> a good .csv file. What am I missing?
>
> My wife is absolutely frantic that she has lost her entire business
> contact list at a very critical time. Any help appreciated.
>
> Tom
>
>
>
>
> "...winston" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> It is unlikely that you will be able to recover them if not backed up to
>> a
>> *.csv file or automatically saved on line.
>>
>> WLM and WLMsgr use the same contact database. For WLM two modes of
>> contacts are available...online and offline. For each mode WLM saves its
>> contacts to a file called contacts.edb. The Windows registry provides
>> pathname and the name of the contact folder containing the contact
>> database(contacts.edb).
>>
>> Since this is a new install, the registry would not contain the
>> path/folder of your prior contact file...though the file may be present
>> on
>> your old disk.
>> Search for Contacts.edb..if you find it, you may be able to replace the
>> current contacts.edb with the old(ymmv)....your only effort after
>> replacing and attempting to open Contacts in WLM(if successful) should be
>> to export your contacts to a CSV file(nothing else).. Once exported,
>> delete the entire Contacts folder.
>>
>> This registry key(on your current machine)
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\Database
>> ..shows a path name and also the numerical name of the contact folder on
>> your current install
>>
>> Note: If you are now using a Live ID, you will see multiple path names.
>> The path name in the registry if not using a Live ID shows as
>> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\Contacts\Default\ and the data value to the
>> right contains the WLM generated numerical name of the folder
>> (e.g.{ecbcb863-385a-4308-96e7-94082c67f7ce})
>> - The contact folder name shown in the registry should be seen(for lack
>> of
>> a better word) a junction since it points to your user profile...i.e the
>> contact folder actually resides elsewhere but Windows is smart enough to
>> know where....the actual contact folder resides at:
>> C:\Users\<windows logon name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live
>> Contacts
>>
>>
>> As noted above, replacing a current contacts with a previous may create
>> unpredictable results and subsequent corruption....fortunately one can
>> easily recover from this short term tweaking by deleting the Contacts
>> folder subfolders and WLM will glady recreate them with a new numerical
>> name, update the registry..
>>
>> If you are succesful in exporting your contacts to a csv file(after
>> manually replacing contacts.edb with an earlier version)...ensure you
>> close WLM, delete the contacts folder, open WLM to recreate the folder
>> and
>> registry values prior to importing from the csv file.
>>
>> Good luck...as noted..ymmv...proceed at your own risk...but your efforts
>> may save some retyping. If not comfortable with looking in the registry
>> or
>> the above process....your only option is to reenter all contact data. In
>> the future backup your contacts or consider using a Live ID to ensure
>> they
>> are automatically backed up online.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ...winston
>> ms-mvp mail
>>
>> "Tom Brown" <> wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> My wife recently upgrade her RAID-1 system to Win 7 Professional. Some
>>> gremlin fried one of the disks and also the motherboard so we rebuilt
>>> the
>>> system with a new motherboard, hard disk, and processor (and a bigger
>>> power
>>> supply) and a fresh install of Win 7. I assumed that all her data
>>> (including
>>> WLM emails and contacts) would be safe since one of the RAID disks from
>>> the
>>> old system survived. We now have it attached externally to the new
>>> system.
>>> Before the crash, we also made a nightly Win 7 backup to an external
>>> disk
>>> but that may have only been My Documents and not all her USER accounts.
>>>
>>> I was able to fire up WLM and find all the email messages on the old
>>> disk
>>> but the contact list with over 1500 contacts seems to be missing.
>>>
>>> My question is HOW do I get the contacts from either the old RAID disk
>>> or
>>> the backup disk into her WLM?
>>>
>>> TIA,
>>>
>>> Tom
>>>
>>>
>>

--

Roy Smith
Windows 7 Home Premium