How to find and import BCM contacts into Outlook?

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Guest

I uninstalled BCM, which resulted in all my contacts moved into BCM to be
deleted (pretty much all!!). I have a backup of the PST and would like to
import them into Outlook. Is there a way to do this? -- I would assume that
since this is an add-on to Outlook, that the data should be stored in PST?!
But when I try to import, I do not see the Business Contacts folder to import
from.

If I have lost my contacts, I am surely never touching this stupid BCM
software again! Any feedback would be highly appreciated.
 
BCM stores its data in a database, not in a .pst file. You will not be able
to access your BCM data until you reinstall the program. Once you do that,
you can export to a .csv file or try dragging back to your Contacts folder.
 
When BCM is uninstalled it leaves its SQL Server database behind on
your harddisk.

You can access BCM's database with SQL tools and export your data to a
file that you can later import into Outlook or Excel, or you can
reinstall BCM, reconnect to your old BCM database, and then drag your
Business Contacts and Accounts to the Outlook Contacts folder.
 
I searched for *.mdf and *.ldf files on my computer, which I understand are
SQL Server database files? I did not find any on my computer, so I am not
sure where these might be. I had backed up my computer just last night, and I
searched in the backups as well.
 
Even if I reinstall BCM, where should I look for the database files? What are
their extensions?
 
I reinstalled BCM and that did the trick! Thanks for all the responses.

For the benefit of others who may face a similar problem, I uninstalled BCM
because I started getting the database engine connect problems reported by
others. The resolution offered on online help and elsewhere did not help --
although I have a single user laptop with administrative rights, adding
myself as an authenticated user to the BCMUsers group did not work.
Obviously, an uninstall and install is the "brute force" solution to this
problem.

As it turns out, BCM does NOT delete user data during install, as rightly
pointed out by the Luther and Sue. This data is in SQL Server database files
with extensions *.mdf and *.ldf, and I found it under my "..\Local
Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Business Contact Manager" directory.
 
I have LDF/MDF files on a back up storage drive and cannot find how to get
them into my c: drive. Running "BCM Restore" looks for msbcm files. But I'm
not able to convert the LDF/MDF files. Any help?
 
Hi Rex

Try this.
1. Go into BCM and create a new database. That database needs to match the
name of the .MDF file. So if the MDF file is named "MyBusiness.MDF", create
a new BCM Database with that name

2. Stop the MSSQL$MICROSOFTSMLBIZ Server by going to Start > Run >
services.msc and selecting the MSSQL$MICROSOFTSMLBIZ service
3. Copy the original .mdf & .ldf files over the blank database. They should
be in the following location
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Business Contact Manager

4. Start the Server again (see step 2)
5. Restart BCM and see if you can access your data

Hope this helps!

--
Regards,

Larry, [MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
 
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