OL2000: (IMO) Windows Address Book Entries No Longer Available After Outlook Setup

View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q196438

NOTE: These procedures only apply if you have installed Outlook with the Internet Mail Only option. To determine your installation type, click About Microsoft Outlook on the Help menu. If you have the Internet Mail Only option installed, you see "Internet Mail Only".

For information about the differences between Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Outlook Express e-mail clients, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

257824 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/257824/EN-US/ ) OL2000: Differences Between Outlook and Outlook Express

SYMPTOMS

After you install Microsoft Outlook, your Windows Address Book entries are no longer available.

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CAUSE

You are using a different profile or logon name than the one used when the Windows Address Book file was created; therefore, the Outlook setup program cannot find a Windows Address Book file to convert to Outlook.

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RESOLUTION

Find the old Windows Address Book file and manually export its entries, and then import the Windows Address Book entries into Outlook.

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MORE INFORMATION

When a Windows Address Book file is created, it is given a name in the following format:

<user name>.wab

where <user name> is the name of the Windows Address Book user.

The Active Setup program attempts to find a Windows Address Book file with a name matching that of the current profile or logon name. If the Active Setup program finds a match, it gives you the option of converting the Windows Address Book entries to Outlook contacts. If it does not find a match, no Windows Address Book entries are converted.

To recover your Windows Address Book entries, you must find the old Windows Address Book file and export its entries to a Comma-Separated Values file. You can then import the Comma-Separated Values file into Outlook.

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To Find and Export the Windows Address Book File

Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files Or Folders.
In the Named box type, *.Windows Address Book, and then click Find Now.
Double-click the Windows Address Book file in the Search Results window to open the Address Book program. If more than one Windows Address Book file is listed, use the file name, size, and date, to determine the correct file.
On the File menu, point to Export, and then click Other Address Book.
Select Text File (Comma Separated Values) and then click Export.
Type in a path and name for the file to be exported, and then click Next.
Select the fields you want to export, click Finish, then click OK, and then click Close.

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To Import the Comma-Separated Values File into Outlook

On the File menu, click Import And Export.
Select Import from another program of file, and then click Next.
Select Comma Separated Values (Windows)and click Next.
Type or browse to the name of the new Comma-Separated Values file created above.
Select the desired option for handling duplicate records and then click Next.
Select the folder into which you wish to import the database records, click Next, and then click Finish.

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REFERENCES

For additional information, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

196215 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196215/EN-US/ ) : OL2000: How to Import Addresses from Outlook Express

195975 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/195975/EN-US/ ) : OL2000: (IMO) Addresses Missing After Upgrade

196210 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/196210/EN-US/ ) : OL2000: ErrMsg Windows Address Book is Missing

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