All Windows Live Mail contacts disappeared!

CathYacht -  
 bob -
Hello,

I am a professional and I have around 750 contacts... Since yesterday, my contacts have disappeared!! The only possibility, although I don't see a causal relationship, is that I slightly reorganized my hard drive. My latest backup on an external disk indeed shows a "contacts" database in .edb format, but it is completely unreadable and not exportable... Would an expert have any ideas???

Thank you!
Catherine

Configuration: Windows 7 / Internet Explorer 8.0

9 answers

  1. pasthou Posted messages 11309 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   1 523
     
    ..have you tried performing a system restore from
    the Windows restore points...?

    @+
    pasthou
    0
    1. CathYacht
       
      I'm unfortunately not tech-savvy enough to play around with a system restore... and on top of that, I wouldn't know where to start.
      Catherine
      0
  2. pasthou Posted messages 11309 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   1 523
     
    ..yet you specify...."I'm a pro" ;=))

    @+
    pasthou
    0
  3. CathYacht
     
    Sorry, I wasn't clear; I'm a professional, so my schedule is not for my friends but for my clients, etc. So it's not funny at all!
    0
  4. pasthou Posted messages 11309 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   1 523
     
    ..you have to be careful with the words you use.

    Why don't you want to do a system restore...? It could solve your problem....
    What is your ISP...?

    @+
    pasthou
    0
  5. bernard63 Posted messages 7 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   2
     
    Hello,
    To restore your system to a previous state, click on:
    "Start", then "All Programs", then "Accessories", then "System Tools", and finally select "System Restore".
    Afterward, follow the suggested procedure.
    0
    1. glg29 Posted messages 29751 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   4 582
       
      Hello CathYacht,
      There is a procedure in Windows Live Mail that allows you to restore deleted contacts, have you tried it?
      On another note, regarding the question asked by pasthou, whom I greet by the way, about your ISP (Internet Service Provider), it's strange that you replied Windows Live Mail!!!
      @+
      0
    2. glg29 Posted messages 29751 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   4 582
       
      Furthermore, and it's no small thing 750 contacts, you should use export which would allow you to save the entire database in a file with a 'csv' format extension, on a little corner of your hard drive!!!
      Everyone does as they wish, it's not an order!!!
      Best regards.
      @+
      0
  6. pasthou Posted messages 11309 Registration date   Status Member Last intervention   1 523
     
    ..no Windows Live Mail is your email client.
    Your Internet Service Provider
    >>>[Orange, Free, Laposte, ..etc]

    If you don't want to restore, try to recover your address book located at this address:

    * C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts\{ca6799bb-f513-47a7-9c0b-ed741f516189}\DBStore

    * If there are several subfolders of the type « \{ebe6d5d8-abc8-4748........... » in the folder « \Windows Live Contacts\ », you need to select the latest one.

    >>>> Copy to a USB drive the files present in \DBStore, namely

    * contacts.edb
    * contact.pat
    * dbstore.ini
    * edb.chk

    Windows Live Mail must be closed, otherwise the copy will be prohibited.

    >>>>> You should try to reinstall your address book on another computer
    with Windows 7 and WLM....

    * Go to the dbstore folder and copy the files from the USB drive there (they will replace the existing ones)

    @+
    pasthou
    0
  7. CathYacht
     
    Thank you Pasthou for the information, I will follow your instructions and keep you updated
    my ISP is OVH
    CathYacht
    0
  8. bob
     
    I too had lost all my contacts when installing wlmail 12!! They reappeared like magic when I logged into wlmessenger!!
    While searching, I found it!!!
    The path:
    PC ; C ; Programs ; Windows Live ; Mail ; Contacts!!!! They are there!!! :)
    I just have to go into wlmail, contacts (bottom left), import as CSV and give it the path!!!! I recovered the 141 contacts lost for 3 months!!!
    Yes and no actually, since when I logged in with the wlMessenger icon in wlmail I had them, but it’s easier this way!!
    0