Member Avatar for pastorbarry

Hey guys, this is my first post here. I'm in a bind, because my computer crashed about a week ago and I'm trying to get all of my old data on my new machine. Thankfully most of my info was on a seperate server, and a friend was able to install the old HD on my new computer, but the one thing I haven't been able to recover is my Outlook Address Book. My old PC was running XP, while the new one is Vista and both were running Outlook 2007. I had a lot of addresses and mailing lists set up in there, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

-Barry

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by aidan29

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Seeing mail but an empty Address Book after opening an old .pst usually means Outlook is not treating the Contacts folder in that .pst as an address book. In Outlook 2007, verify the service and flag the folder:

  • Tools -> Account Settings -> Address Books tab. If "Outlook Address Book" is missing, click New -> Additional Address Books -> Outlook Address Book, then restart Outlook.
  • In the Navigation Pane, expand the opened .pst, right‑click its Contacts folder -> Properties -> Outlook Address Book tab -> check "Show this folder as an e‑mail Address Book" -> OK. The Address Book will now list those contacts.

If you still cannot find them, search the old drive for .pst and open each one to inspect its Contacts:

  • XP default: C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook*.pst
  • Vista default: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook*.pst

Only import if needed: File -> Import and Export -> Import from another program or file -> Personal Folder File (.pst) -> select only the Contacts folder to avoid duplicate mail.

Notes:

  • .pab was used by older Outlook versions; Outlook 2007 stores contacts in the .pst. If you do find a .pab, import it via File -> Import and Export -> Personal Address Book.
  • To restore Outlook 2007 autocomplete, copy the .nk2 file from XP
    C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\
    to Vista
    C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook\
    using the same profile name.

Recommended Answers

All 9 Replies

Member Avatar for bobbyraw

outlook saved all contact,email and email address in one file with the extentions .PST all you have to do is find that file on the old HDD save it to the new up and running HDD, then open out look and import the pst file, you will get back all the emails and contact that you had prior to the system crashing.

Member Avatar for zelkea

Pastorbarry,
Bobby is correct you have a couple of ways to complete this, one you can put the old hard drive in the new comp. Or you can purchase an external chassis like these for around 20 bucks http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010090092+1054119835+1053807123+1054207132&Configurator=&Subcategory=92&description=&Ntk=&srchInDesc= (these enclosures are compatible with ata and sata drives) and copy the data you off via USB.

Member Avatar for pastorbarry

Thanks for the help. I've tried doing that, and when I searched the old HD (which is installed in my new PC), I came up with 4 pst files. I opened each one by going to file - open - outlook data file and then selecting one. All I saw was old emails, though, and when I clicked on the address book in Outlook it was still empty. Am I missing something? Is there something else I need to to do import the address book? Any help is greatly appreciated!

-Barry

Member Avatar for zelkea

Barry,
Try doing a search on the old hard driver for *.pab. Older version of Outlook stored contacts in a seperate file. If you do find this you can import it via Outlook File->Import and Export->Import from another program or file->Personal Address Book-> then browse to the file.

AJZ

Member Avatar for pastorbarry

Ok, I tried that but I didn't get anything. Does it matter that this address book was originally done in Outlook 2000 and was synced to my Palm? I can't remember if the contacts originated in my Palm OS or in Outlook, either. Sorry, I'm really out of my element, here! :) Maybe there's a Palm extension I should search under?

Barry

Member Avatar for hughv

Select the pst file that's stored under your old account name and use the import feature.

Member Avatar for pastorbarry

IT WORKED! Thank you guys for all of your help.....YOU ARE LIFE SAVERS! I'll be adding positive feedback to all of you. Thanks again!

-Barry

Member Avatar for Suspishio

In this situation recommend use this utility-< Advanced Outlook Repair ,which to my mind is freeware,also it has many other features,program can help to restore a mailbox,stored on Microsoft Exchange Server or a file with *.pst extension,tool belongs to programs that view .pst,it will process any file,it is safe to work even with damaged files,will perform necessary actions, you can see a preview window,that shows recovered folder tree and emails in a preview mode,can convert your file to a file with *.pst extension, that follows the original structure,viewing pst files without Outlook is not usually needed on a regular basis.

".. which to my mind is freeware...". How about $249.99 as quoted on the link you gave? So, what "mind" would that be?

Member Avatar for aidan29

There are many freeware tools for recover lost emails, but not all of them work very fine. It all depends on how much money is worth your information.

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