Vista - Lost WLM Contacts During Upgrade

How did you upgrade ?
- web online install, offline full version install, Microsoft Update, other


And the prior program used before upgrading was ?
- OE, Windows Live Mail, Outlook

Were the contacts backed up as a *.csv file ?

Are the contacts also for a Hotmail type account(hotmail.com, live.com, msn.com) Live ID?
- If so, are the contacts visible at http://contacts.live.com

Is the same Live ID (email address/password) used to sign-in to Windows Live when using WLM ?

--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

"jyc1958" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message news:a2e430b84fe98529df0103ea3d61b858@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

"jyc1958" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:a2e430b84fe98529df0103ea3d61b858@xxxxxx-gateway.com...Here's what I wrote about this a few months ago:
<quote>
If you're still on XP, you have run into a fault in the upgrade
process. Your contacts are probably still there on your system, in a
folder called %userprofile%/Contacts/Default. But they are in a
format (either .Contact or .WindowsLiveContact) that can't be used,
except to view them in WLMail. If you do this (double-clicking may
work, otherwise right-click and select Windows Live Mail), you have
a button at the bottom of the window to Add contact. If there are
not too many, this is an easy way to get them into the latest
version of WLMail. If you have lots of them, the process is drearily
long. I don't know of an easier way than
1. Uninstall Windows Live Essentials using Add or Remove Programs
2. Reinstall WLMail v. 12 from
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en
3. Copy the Default folder from %userprofile%/Contacts to
%userprofile%/Local Settings/Application Data/Microsoft/Windows Live
Mail/Contacts/
4. Start WLMail and make sure you're not signed in with a Live ID
5. Open the Contacts window and check that your contacts are all
there
6. File > Export to CSV
7. Reinstall Windows Live Essentials as you did before
8. In WLMail | Contacts, File > Import > from CSV

This is not a problem for Vista users, because the
%userprofile%/Contacts folder is an integral part of the OS. This is
not the case in XP, but this fact got forgotten by the people
writing the upgrade code.

Someone else may be along with a better solution... in the meantime,
good luck!
</quote>

I can't remember having seen a better solution since then...
--
Noel

Hi,
Thanks to those who replied to my message. I was using WLM (never sign-in to Hotmail or MSN) in Win XP. I was not able to back-up anything. Upgrade was done when I received a pop-up message that a new and ugraded version available.
As of this email I still can't get back all my contacts.
Regards,

I gather that you upgraded from WLM version 12x to the latest version 14x, and your 'Default' Contacts (contacts accrued when not signed in to Windows Live in WLMail) failed to import to the new version.

First to understand (to a degree) why this happened.

Version 14x of WLMail uses a different storage mechanism and location for WLMail's Contacts. The new method stores them within a database (outside of WLMail's Message Store), so they are not accessible outside of WLMail. However, the old method stored them as individual files.

Sadly, the transfer of the old Contact's Store to the new one has been known to fail (rarely) or else not display in the current version of WLMail (14.0.8064.0206). We are uncertain of why this occurs, but my first suspect is interference by an Antivirus program during the upgrade.

Now, your old Default Contacts should still be in place in WLMail's Message Store* in a sub-folder called 'Default' in a folder called 'Contacts'. There you will find your individual contact files with a .contact file extension (back up this Contact Store now).

In XP you won't be able to open these files, or import them into WLMail 14x, since they are opened by Windows Contacts in Vista. However, you can read some of the information in a .contact file by opening it with a text editor such as NotePad.

If you follow Noel's advice and uninstall the current version of WLEssentials and reinstall WLMail 12x, you should find your old contacts back in WLMail. You can then export them for later importing if necessary after upgrading to WLMail 14x (or 15x if you wait another month or two, or three).

Otherwise, if you used Outlook Express before converting to WLMail, your OE Contacts will still be in Windows Address Book, and you can import them into your current version of WLMail.

--
Cheers,
Peter.R
(Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 with IE7 & Windows Live Mail 2009 14.0.8064.0206)
"There are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Shakespeare

"jyc1958" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message news:7f0a2012cdc2bc91dd1f0882213bee86@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

Since you're referring to your Windows Live Messenger contacts, it would be appropriate if you'll get in touch with their support team for proper assistance needed. Here are the steps to do this:

1.Go to Choose your version of Windows Live Messenger or MSN Messenger
2. Click on the version of messenger that you're using.
3. On the left panel click any FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) link.
4. On the lower right corner of the page click “Get more help”
5. Click “Get support”
6. Complete the e-form and then click Submit.


Or you can visit Windows Live Help Windows Live Technicians Will Help You With Your Problem

*WLMail's Message Store is a directory named 'Windows Live Mail'. The path to the Message Store, in its default location involves a hidden folder, so ensure that "Show hidden files and folders" is checked under Folder Options in Windows Explorer. To find the location of your message store, go to Tools->Options...->Advanced [tab]->Maintenance->Store Folder.

The default Message Store location in XP is:

%userprofile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail
(C:\Documents and Settings\[UserName]\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail)

--
Cheers,
Peter.R
(Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 with IE7 & Windows Live Mail 2009 14.0.8064.0206)
"There are more things in Heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." - Shakespeare

"Peter.R" <Peter.R@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:uBqu#pX$JHA.4984@xxxxxx

Not necessarily so...

In WLM/WLMsgr ...the contacts reside in two places...
a. Web(contacts.live.com) for a Live ID
b. Local(Windows Live hidden folder) same folder used for WLM and WLMsgr with different subfolders for a Live ID or the default
account.

Since WLMsgr requires a Live ID then WLM would sync during sign-in with the web(a), then locally update (b).
WLMsgr does not require a Hotmail account only an email address registered as a third party Live ID.

Thus windowslivehelp.com(Hotmail) may not be the best source if ID related...it might be better to start with:

Windows Live ID Support
https://support.live.com/eform.aspx?...lid&ct=eformts
https://account.live.com/helpcentral...=en-us&lc=1033
1. Scroll to and click on 'How can I reset my password' or click any item in the Faq list
2. Look in the lower right and click on the option 'Get More Help'
3. Wait till the page loads, then click on 'Get Support'
- the eform should now load


--
...winston
ms-mvp mail

"DrInternet" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message news:f63060149aff45f9576cc6c1682ddc26@xxxxxx-gateway.com...