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 ....." (what kind of files, what were the
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 .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.

"Karl Timmermans" wrote:

Jamies discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

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.?

"Brian Tillman" wrote:

Jamies discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

No, it's NOT what you should have done. Never use import/export to transfer
data from Outlook to Outlook.

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).

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.

"Gordon" wrote:

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...