Contacts don't show up when selecting members for a distribution l

[KK]

Hi, just moved my outlook contacts, inbox, etc. to a new computer with
Outlook 2003. I have established my contact book as the OAB and it shows up
when I draft emails. When I try to select members for a distribution list, I
get a message "The address book could not be displayed. The contacts folder
associated with this address list could not be opened; it may have been moved
or deleted...." I checked outlook help for a fix but could not find
anything. Any ideas?

 

[K. Orland]

Did you set your contacts to be used as an address book?

Open the folder list, right-click on Contacts and click on the Outlook
Address Book tab. Check the box Show this folder as an email Address Book.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP - Outlook]]

Hi, just moved my outlook contacts, inbox, etc. to a new computer with
Outlook 2003. I have established my contact book as the OAB and it shows up
when I draft emails. When I try to select members for a distribution list,
I
get a message "The address book could not be displayed. The contacts folder
associated with this address list could not be opened; it may have been
moved
or deleted...." I checked outlook help for a fix but could not find
anything. Any ideas?

DLs are peculiar items. They break easily if they get moved to other folders.
How did you "move" your Outlook data to the other PC? It's likely that you'll
need to recreate the DL manually, but were I in your position, I'd try to use
alternate methods of specifying multiple addressees, like categories, rather
than DLs.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Error message sounds more like a problem with failure to configure the
Contacts Address Book rather than the DL.

 

[KK]

I am not an expert but I later found an article that said that you can manage
directories through the tools/e-mail accounts/view or change directories. I
did that and then highlighted the desired file, hit change and found two
files called contacts. After running a back up, I remembered that when I go
the error message, I could access a populated contact file from the dialog
box. I just deleted the entry in the email account directory management area
that corresponded to the unpopulated "contacts" entry. Problem solved. So,
at the end of the day, I probably ported the contacts file over incorrectly.

Thanks for all of your help!

Error message sounds more like a problem with failure to configure the
Contacts Address Book rather than the DL.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

DLs are peculiar items. They break easily if they get moved to other
folders. How did you "move" your Outlook data to the other PC? It's
likely that you'll need to recreate the DL manually, but were I in your
position, I'd try to use alternate methods of specifying multiple
addressees, like categories, rather than DLs.