Re-using Contacts/PAB file

[JohnB]

A user had to have Windows XP re-installed. Outlook 2003, POP3 email. I
saved the PST file and the PAB file.

- Re-installed Windows.

- Setup Outlook, and imported the old PST. Set the old PST as the default
file, and removed the mailbox/PST that was created when I initially setup
Outlook.

- Found instructions on the net on importing the PAB file for her Contacts.
Everything seem to go ok, it appeared to import, gave the status bar going
across the screen, but when it was done, no Contacts.

I thought maybe the profile was corrupt. Deleted the profile, created a
new one, and imported again. Same thing, no Contacts. Tried it on another
computer. Same thing.

Her Contacts were working fine. The only thing that was done was to copy
the PAB file from one computer to another. What am I missing here? Is
there another way to some how export the Contacts that are in this PAB file?

Thanks.

 

[Roady [MVP]]

Contacts have not been stored in a pab-file for several versions. Most
likely the contacts were stored in the Contacts folder all along and the
pab-file that the user had was empty.

You should not have imported from the original pst-file. Simply reconnect to
it in Outlook via;
File-> Open-> Outlook Data File...

That is of course assuming that you backed up the original pst-file and not
created an export and did not select to export the Contacts folder as well.

 

[JohnB]

You should not have imported from the original pst-file. Simply reconnect

to it in Outlook via;
File-> Open-> Outlook Data File

I used the term "imported" but yes... this is actually the steps I used.

And yes, I just copied the original PST to the network, and then after
re-installing Windows, copied it back to the default folder for Outlook.

If Contacts weren't stored in the PAB, then shouldn't they have been in the
PST?

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]]

I used the term "imported" but yes... this is actually the steps I used.

And yes, I just copied the original PST to the network, and then after
re-installing Windows, copied it back to the default folder for Outlook.

That does nothing to reconnect the PST to the mail profile. Outlook doesn't
automatically open PSTs stored in that directory.

If Contacts weren't stored in the PAB, then shouldn't they have been in the
PST?

Yes. Did you look in the Contacts folder? What do you see when you click the
Contacts folder in the Navivgation pane?

 

[JohnB]

That does nothing to reconnect the PST to the mail profile. Outlook

doesn't automatically open PSTs stored in that directory.

I realize that. I was answering Roady's comment about "not exporting". I
did not export the mailbox. I copied it to a server, re-installed Windows,
copied it back to the default local folder, and THEN used the steps in
Roady's post.

Yes. Did you look in the Contacts folder? What do you see when you click
the Contacts folder in the Navivgation pane?
--

I didn't look in her contact folder before re-installing Windows. I
couldn't. But after re-installing and windows, and following the above
mentioned steps, her Contacts folder is now empty.

 

[DL]

Having set up Outlook if you then copied to the default folder you will
likely have corrupted the data file, assuming it was named outlook.pst, in
overwriting the origonal.

 

[JohnB]

No I didn't do that either. I left the original. Also renaming the old one
to outlook1.pst, copying it to the default location, and then making it the
default data file.