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Solve : outlook contacts recovery?

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my old pc went belly up (was running windows xp) so went and bought another one.
Got my new pc home (which runs vista premium) and loaded it with microsoft office and set up OUTLOOK email accounts etc ok, BUT i really need the contacts list from my old pc.
I removed the HDD from old pc and mounted it as an ext HDD and can access it etc
but when i try to get into it to look at the contacts i need, it only opens the outlook on my new pc.

so in summary... i have outlook loaded in 2 places , new pc and old pc (Ext HDD).
it will only open outlook on new pc but my distribution list are on old HDD....HELP.
Did you ever export ALL your old Outlook to a .pst file? If so, do a search on the old hard drive (or wherever you exported it) and do an import on your new install of O.

Alan <>< No, I have not done anything with it, its just sitting on my old HDD, (mounted as an ext drive)
how would I export it ? (you can see i'm no computer whizzkid ...)

thanksTo see these files you will have to make sure you are showing hidden/system files. You can find your old files in the following locations. Most will import straight into your new Office install. Since your old install was XP, those are the locations you'll want to look in.

Outlook file locations:
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Personal Folders file (.pst)

Including archive .pst files.

Windows Vista drive:\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Windows Server 2003 drive:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

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Offline Folders file (.ost)

The .ost file is SYNCHRONIZED with the items on the server running Microsoft Exchange. Because your data remains on the Exchange server, you can recreate this .ost file on your new computer without having to back up the .ost file.

Windows Vista drive:\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 drive:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
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Personal Address Book (.pab)

Windows Vista drive:\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 drive:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook

Note Personal Address Books (.pab) are no longer supported by Office Outlook 2007. When you upgrade to Office Outlook 2007, you are prompted to import any .pab file into Contacts. If you choose not to import the .pab file, you can import it later by using the Import and Export command on the File menu.
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Offline Address Book (.oab)

Windows Vista drive:\user\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook

Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 drive:\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook
thanks for the info quaxo

will try this over the WEEKEND and let you know how it goesdidn't seem to work, however i think i've made a bit of mess..
when you go to the properties of the file it looks like i asked it
to open in microsoft info path instead of micosoft outlook..how do i change it backQuote from: smacko on December 17, 2007, 01:55:58 AM
didn't seem to work, however i think i've made a bit of mess..
when you go to the properties of the file it looks like i asked it
to open in microsoft info path instead of micosoft outlook..how do i change it back

Normally, for these Outlook files in the file associations, there is no specified program to open them with, only the information of what type of file it is. If you tried to open it, it probably asked you what program to try to open them with and it sounds like you've selected the wrong program.

Actually, you shouldn't open these directly, you should import them into directly Outlook (File menu -> Import and Export).yes thats what i've done - selecetd wrong prog.
is there (an easy) way of getting it back to outlook as OPPOSED to infopath as it currently is.

when i click on the properties of the file and select change, it does not give me
the option of outlook....

ps thanks for your help on thisActually, it wasn't MEANT to have any program associated with it in the 'Opens with' part. The only way to return it to that state would be to delete the current association and recreate it manually. However, you could also just change the 'Opens with' program to Outlook.exe located in your MS Office directory, depending on where you installed it. Since it's not in that list, you'll have to click the Browse button and locate Outlook.exe yourself. That would at least correct the problem of it trying to open in the wrong program. Whether or not it will actually work properly, I'm not sure. I've never tried associating that file with Outlook.

To permanently add the contents of those files to Outlook though, you'll need to import them as I described before.However, you could also just change the 'Opens with' program to Outlook.exe located in your MS Office directory, depending on where you installed it. Since it's not in that list, you'll have to click the Browse button and locate Outlook.exe yourself.

How ...exactly would i do this.

I did import the files as you instructed and they opened up no problem, great.

( i may not need to change them back to outlook as it WORKED, but it would be nice to know).

again

many thanks


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