Importing contacts

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jamies
  • Start date Start date
J

Jamies

I saved the root file of my contacts in Outlook 2003 in other words the base
files which were 80MB or so, and then moved them to another computer. When I
moved these files to the new computer my contacts have disappeared but my
mail is there. Is there any way of getting them back? I have now purged the
original PC, so can't access that. Does anyone know which file the contacts
should be stored in so i can just copy that file, as it maybe on the backup.
 
You need to clarify the following:

#1) "saved the root file for my contacts" (saved how to where as what?)
#2) "When I moved <these files>....." (what kind of files, what were the
<file extensions> of those files?)

In general, all primary contacts, email etc is contained in <1> file with a
..PST extension. If you have a backup of your Outlook files - you should have
access to what you require (that is of course, it was a true backup) by just
opening the <backup> .PST file in your new Outlook config. If it is current,
change your default PST file to the backup, close (and delete) the new
default PST file that was created if it doesn't contain any new info.

Karl
___________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - Importer 1.3 / DataPorter 2.0 / Exporter
"Power contact importers/exporters for MS Outlook '2000/2007"
http://www.contactgenie.com
 
I copied the .pst file to my usb pen but to know avail, all that was inside
was the emails. No contacts, why? What am I doing wrong.
 
Jamies said:
I copied the .pst file to my usb pen but to know avail, all that was
inside was the emails. No contacts, why? What am I doing wrong.
Click to expand...

Did you use export/import anyhere in the process? When you say "no
contacts", did you open the Contacts folder and look? Were you displaying
the Folder List view so that you could see all folders?
 
No I did not export or import the contacts. I know that is what I should
have done, but at the time I just copied the Outlook files, thinking that
this should copy all of my contacts. I looked in the contacts folder and
there was nothing there.

What do i do to recover my contacts in this situation.?
 
Jamies said:
No I did not export or import the contacts. I know that is what I
should have done,
Click to expand...

No, it's NOT what you should have done. Never use import/export to transfer
data from Outlook to Outlook.
but at the time I just copied the Outlook files,
thinking that this should copy all of my contacts. I looked in the
contacts folder and there was nothing there.
Click to expand...

If there was nothing in the Contacts folder after you copied the file, then
there must have been nothing in the file to copy. Go back to the original
PST and start over.
 
To echo Brian's response - importing/exporting is DEFINITELY not the
approach to take when moving Outlook data from one computer to another.
Absolutely no need for it.

If, in fact, your contact folder is empty in your backup PST file, then it
would appear, unfortunately, that the backup was taken prior to any data
being entered and never updated. Contact data would not just get "lost" or
"deleted" - there is no other place where contact data is stored.

If you follow Brian's suggestion of viewing all folders via the "Folder
List" and it results in you finding an empty Contact folder, you are
regrettably out-of luck unless you find another more current backup file.

Karl

PS - A golden rule everyone should follow when migrating data - NEVER delete
anything "original" (unless you have a "verified" backup in place) until the
data migration process has been successfully completed barring circumstances
that make that impossible (be that for Outlook or anything else unless you
truly wish to experience the tenacity of Murphy's Law).

___________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - Importer 1.3 / DataPorter 2.0 / Exporter
"Power contact importers/exporters for MS Outlook '2000/2007"
http://www.contactgenie.com
 
Jamies said:
If importing/exporting is not the correct approach, then why does
Microsoft
advocate it at:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA011053931033.aspx

What should I do, as there is conflicting approaches on the web.
Click to expand...
There's a lot of mis-information on the MS websites - for example, the
system requirements for Windows XP STILL show the minimum RAM as 128 MB when
it's common knowledge that it runs like treacle unless you have 512MB - it
just seems that MS publishes this stuff and then doesn't bother to update it
when received wisdom says it's rubbish!

The recommended way to transfer contacts is to copy the pst file (with
Outlook closed) to the new machine. Do NOT overwrite any existing file. Then
in Outlook do File-Open-Outlook Data File and copy the contacts from the old
folder to the new....
 
Thank you all for your help, but your suggestions have not helped me yet. I
have tried importing the .pst file, tried copying the .pst file and all that
is imported is the contacts. Any other suggestions? In the 21st century why
can't Outlook be simple to copy the files that you need like in Word? And
then replace the generated .pst file. Yours muddled.
 
Jamies said:
Thank you all for your help, but your suggestions have not helped me yet.
I
have tried importing the .pst file, tried copying the .pst file and all
that
is imported is the contacts. Any other suggestions? In the 21st century
why
can't Outlook be simple to copy the files that you need like in Word? And
then replace the generated .pst file. Yours muddled.
Click to expand...

It IS simple, as long as you are moving the same TYPE of pst file.
In other words, if you are moving a new Unicode format pst file (the default
type in Outlook 2003 and 2007) from one machine using 2003 to another
machine using 2007, for example, you can just designate the moved file as
the default mail delivery location and there is no need to copy any data at
all.

If however you are moving a non-Unicode pst file to a version of Outlook
that uses Unicode pst files as default, although new versions of Outlook can
certainly open, read and write to, the old 97-2002 format pst files, there
are certain advantages in using the new format, not least that you do not
get caught by the 2GB pst file size trap! In this case, you DO need to open
and copy the data.

Hope that makes that a bit clearer!

In your case I need to ask you another question:
In what version of Outlook was the pst file you are trying to move created,
what size does Windows Explorer report that it is, and do you still have a
copy of it?
 
I meant to say that all that was imported was everything bar the contacts,
not the contacts themselves. The mail was imported fine but not contacts.
 
Jamies said:
I meant to say that all that was imported was everything bar the contacts,
not the contacts themselves. The mail was imported fine but not contacts.
Click to expand...

Are you sure? have you clicked on the Contacts button? You might find there
are TWO contacts folders there - the default and the imported...
 
Jamies said:
The Outlook version is 2003 and the size of the file is 79000kb.
Click to expand...

Then what I suggest, is to create a new mail profile, (control
Panel-mail-Profiles) , then go to Control Panel-Mail-Data Files, ADD the
file you have copied to your new computer, set that as the default delivery
location (in the same dialog box) and REMOVE the default file created by the
new Profile.
then when you open Outlook, you should see all your data there including our
contacts, with all distribution lists (if you had any) intact.
 
I am sure, only no contacts plus an error message when I click on it. "The
address lsit could not be displayed. The contacts folder associated with
this address list couold not be opened; it may have been moved or deleted,
or you do not have permissions..."
 
Jamies said:
I am sure, only no contacts plus an error message when I click on it. "The
address lsit could not be displayed. The contacts folder associated with
this address list couold not be opened; it may have been moved or
deleted,
or you do not have permissions..."

"Gordon" wrote:
Click to expand...

That's one of the things that can happen with importing. See my last post
about a new mail profile....
 
Mail and contacts are contained in one single PST file so it is impossible
to not have contacts included if the same PST file is opened. Simply can't
happen provided that the contact folder you are referring to is the Default
Contact folder and not one contained in another PST file. If your backup PST
file is not a simple copy then its anyone's guess as to what exactly was
"exported" to the backup PST.

Re: why does MS advocate importing/exporting?

Not sure I'd use the term "advocate" versus "reference" but to quote a
phrase I've posted here previously "just because you can, doesn't mean you
should". Whether importing/exporting PST2PST should still be available is
topic that can be easily debated by many but right now would be of little
value - not sure how many would suggest it to be a feature that should
remain (can assure you that we have more than passing experience when it
comes to importing/exporting Outlook data and have yet to encounter a
scenario where PST2PST would be the process "of choice"). Absolutely no need
to "import/export" anything when moving Outlook data from one machine to
another. Copying the PST file(s) is all that is required - for most people,
that would mean only one PST file unless additional ones have been
specifically and explicitly created by the owner.

Re: OAB error - suggest you create a new profile and add the OAB to it as
per Gordon's suggestion

When referencing that no contacts are included, you have specifically
"opened" up the "contact folder" contained in the same PST file as your
email, correct? And that is where your contacts were originally stored? If
no contacts are contained in the contacts folder in the backup PST file -
simply means that none were ever there to begin with. Opening the PST file
in another Outlook installation will not cause them to be deleted.

Karl
___________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - Importer 1.3 / DataPorter 2.0 / Exporter
"Power contact importers/exporters for MS Outlook '2000/2007"
http://www.contactgenie.com
 
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