The "contact list", as you call it, is not in a separate file. It's in the
same file as all your other Outlook data like Calendar, Inbox, Tasks, and so
on. See this for default file locations: http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm
I am in a similar situation. I have a backup of my system partition (made with NTbackup). Does anyone know how to restore the contacts folder from there?