Vista - Importing .wab files

Hi folks,
This is my first time on this newsgroup, it came highly recommended.
I know very little about computers so bear with me as I tell you a sad tale.
A good friend just upgraded computers, she went from Win-98 to Vista Home, I
am trying to be helpful and supportive and told her we could (export) the
..wab files (address book) onto a CD in her 98 machine and import them into
her new Vista machine. However, I am unable to determine how to import the
files into Vista. Is there a simple way to do this?
Thanks,
Steve

"Esteban" <swanasek@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:n9ori.25105$RX.6441@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
> Hi folks,
> This is my first time on this newsgroup, it came highly recommended.
> I know very little about computers so bear with me as I tell you a sad
> tale. A good friend just upgraded computers, she went from Win-98 to Vista
> Home, I am trying to be helpful and supportive and told her we could
> (export) the .wab files (address book) onto a CD in her 98 machine and
> import them into her new Vista machine. However, I am unable to determine
> how to import the files into Vista. Is there a simple way to do this?
> Thanks,
> Steve
>
>
In Vista she will use the Mail program called simply Mail. Open it and in
the File Menu chose Import, you will then go through dialogs to chose the
flie from you CD. I hope you use a RW CD!!



--
Ian

Just copy the .wab file from the CD to a temporary folder on the Vista
computer.
Open Windows Mail,
File - Import - Windows Contacts - Windows Address Book file
navigate to the folder where you copied the file



"Esteban" <swanasek@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:n9ori.25105$RX.6441@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
> Hi folks,
> This is my first time on this newsgroup, it came highly recommended.
> I know very little about computers so bear with me as I tell you a sad
> tale. A good friend just upgraded computers, she went from Win-98 to Vista
> Home, I am trying to be helpful and supportive and told her we could
> (export) the .wab files (address book) onto a CD in her 98 machine and
> import them into her new Vista machine. However, I am unable to determine
> how to import the files into Vista. Is there a simple way to do this?
> Thanks,
> Steve
>

open windows mail (that is the replacement for outlook express) and go to
file>import> address book


"Esteban" <swanasek@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
news:n9ori.25105$RX.6441@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
> Hi folks,
> This is my first time on this newsgroup, it came highly recommended.
> I know very little about computers so bear with me as I tell you a sad
> tale. A good friend just upgraded computers, she went from Win-98 to Vista
> Home, I am trying to be helpful and supportive and told her we could
> (export) the .wab files (address book) onto a CD in her 98 machine and
> import them into her new Vista machine. However, I am unable to determine
> how to import the files into Vista. Is there a simple way to do this?
> Thanks,
> Steve
>

"Lano DeMentar" <NospamLanoDeMentar@eatit.com> wrote in message
news:46ae1906@newsgate.x-privat.org...
> open windows mail (that is the replacement for outlook express) and go to
> file>import> address book
>
>
> "Esteban" <swanasek@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message
> news:n9ori.25105$RX.6441@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
>> Hi folks,
>> This is my first time on this newsgroup, it came highly recommended.
>> I know very little about computers so bear with me as I tell you a sad
>> tale. A good friend just upgraded computers, she went from Win-98 to
>> Vista Home, I am trying to be helpful and supportive and told her we
>> could (export) the .wab files (address book) onto a CD in her 98 machine
>> and import them into her new Vista machine. However, I am unable to
>> determine how to import the files into Vista. Is there a simple way to
>> do this?
>> Thanks,
>> Steve
>>

Thanks for all the great help folks.
Ian, thanks for pointing out the fact that I used the wrong CD. I will get
a CD-RW and give it another try.
Steve

OK, so what if you do this and all it does is import the wab file into the Contacts file as an entire file? Without actually giving access tot he contacts.

I now have the wab file in my contacts folder as if it was a single contact.

When I click on it is gives me the message box (you are about to import windows adress book contacts) so I click Ok even though its supposedly already imported them once (or 50 times at this stage) and it gives me a message box (your contacts have been imported from your previous location and format into your windows contact folder) yet nothing has changed!

The contacts are still not imported and all that is the same wab file. Unaccesable.

I have just attempted the procedure you posted using a portable hard drive (I backed up my entire old computer) as well as the wrong CD. In both instances it's as though the WAB file I am importing is empty ?? I used the proper protocol to back it up and when veiwed on my old computer I see all the files but not on Vista. It's like it defaults to the more current WAB. What am I doing wrong?

Export the Address Book on the old system as a "Comma Separated Variable"
file, (*.csv). Import the file to the new .Wab

--
Use the "Ratings" feature. It helps the new users.
Please use the Communities guidelines when posting.
http://www.microsoft.com/wn3/locales...help_en-us.htm
Mark L. Ferguson MS-MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Mark.Ferguson

"Ambertru" <guest@xxxxxx-email.com> wrote in message
news:c50f65300fe51d596ed7c13892101167@xxxxxx-gateway.com...

That was pretty cool Mark. All those quotes stacked on top of each other like that.
I'm not real sure that it's gonna help me transfer my WAB from my old XP to my new Vista Home Premium though.

Anyway, that is what I am trying to do as well. Get my contacts from one computer, (OS), to another.

So I gonna try to use a flash drive to pull them over.

I did a search on the XP computer for .wab.
The search found the address book files in this location: C:\Documents and Settings\Owner\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\Owner.wab

It found two icons. A little address book with the word "Owner" next to it, and another icon that says "Owner.wab~ ". (That icon is one of those square icons with an image of a microsoft window in it..the kind that if you try to open it, it says Windows cannot open this file...and you have to choose a program to open it. I dont know that that icon is called, but you all know what I'm talking about, right?)

I dragged, or drug, both of those icons into one of my flash drive folders, and it copied them into the folder.
(By the way, when I double click on the little address book icon, it opens up my actual contact list, the actual address book contacts as it appears in my Outlook Express.)

I created a folder in my Documents folder here on my Vista computer, and I'm gonna drag both icons over and into that folder.

Now, before I go any further, will someone tell me.....

1. Is this the correct thing to do?
2. Is this the correct folder to put them in, or does it matter where I drag them, what location I drag them to?
3. Do I then use my Windows Mail Import/Export wizard to try and bring my addresses over and into my Windows mail program?
4. Have I made this much more complicated than I needed to? HA.

So, before I try and open, or import those two icons, (applications?), will one of you fine people let me know if I'm doing this correctly?

Mark, you can divide my post up into a bunch of quotes if you want. That would be fun. I suppose. (Kidding)

Thank you in advance for reading, and replying to my query.
Peace
Russell

I just wanted to add that I used the Import link in my Vista Windows Mail, to bring all of my contacts over to this email program.

I used a flash drive to get the WAB files out of my XP computer (described in my previous post), and I took the files, or the WAB book and dragged it into a folder that I created in my Documents folder here in my Vista computer.
I named that folder WAB.

Then I opened my Windows mail program, went to File, went to Import, clicked on Windows Contacts, clicked on Windows Address Book File, and navigated to my WAB file, clicked on the Owner icon that was the only icon showing in my WAB folder, (even tho I had moved both Icons over from my XP computer), and all of my contacts automatically began to load into my email program.

When the transfer was complete, a box popped up informing me of this, and also told me that some contacts could not be transferred.
But as I look thru my contacts here in my vista mail program, I dont see any missing contacts.
I had a bunch of them, so I could be wrong. But ALL of my personal, freinds, buddies, family, etc., email addresses are here.

Hope this helps someone get it done
Later
Russell