Export/Import addressbook

[Bill]

I'm not a Outlook user, but I'm an IP pro trying
to help someone that is.

My client has an XP Home SP2 system with
Office 2002 Pro installed. Apparently, Outlook
doesn't keep its addressbook in a Windows
Addressbook (wab), as does Outlook Express.
Also, it appears that there's a distinction to be
made between Outlook's address book (whatever
that is) and its "Contacts" folder.

The task at hand is to copy one user's addressbook
to another on the same system. I.e., there are two
users on the machine. One has a complete set of
contacts/names & e-mail addresses that we want
to copy to the other user.

I exported the "Contacts" folder from one user
to a csv file and then imported it to the second
user. That seemed to work okay. However, it
isn't at all clear how to accomplish the same thing
for the addressbook.

1) Is there in fact a distinction to be made between
the contacts folder and the addressbook? ( I
intuitively wouldn't expect there is.)

2) Is there a separate path to be taken to export/
import the addressbook? If so, can someone
please point me to that?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Bill]

I looked at the "Contacts" property sheet and found
the option to use contacts as the addressbook. I
"applied" that and restarted Outlook. Yet, when I
attempt to open the addressbook via the toolbar
icon, I get the usual message:
"The address list could not be displayed. The contacts
folder associated with this could not be opened: it may
have been moved or deleted or you do not have permissions.
Bla, Bla, Bla.

I think that at least answers question 1) in my original
post, but still not there.

Bill

 

[Brian Tillman]

I looked at the "Contacts" property sheet and found
the option to use contacts as the addressbook. I
"applied" that and restarted Outlook. Yet, when I
attempt to open the addressbook via the toolbar
icon, I get the usual message:
"The address list could not be displayed. The contacts
folder associated with this could not be opened: it may
have been moved or deleted or you do not have permissions.
Bla, Bla, Bla.

You have an incorrect Contacts folder reference in the mail profile.

My client has an XP Home SP2 system with
Office 2002 Pro installed. Apparently, Outlook
doesn't keep its addressbook in a Windows
Addressbook (wab), as does Outlook Express.

That depends on the installation mode of Outlook 2000. In Internet Mail
Only mode, OL 2000 does share the Windows Address Book with Outlook Express,
but you can change a property in WAB (Tools>Options) to cause it to use the
Outlook Contacts folder as its data source. If Outlook 2000 is installed in
Corporate/Workgroup mode, then Outlook does not use the Windows Address
Book. Instead it uses the Contacts folder of the delivery location PST
(Personal Folders file) and the Outlook Address Book is a view of that
Contacts folder that displays only those Contacts that have electronic
addresses (e-mail or FAX). Click Help>About to see what mode you're using.
I suspect C/W mode.

Also, it appears that there's a distinction to be
made between Outlook's address book (whatever
that is) and its "Contacts" folder.

Not exactly. As I described, the Outlook Address Book contains no data
itself, but is a view of all the Contacts folders that have been enabled as
address books.

The task at hand is to copy one user's addressbook
to another on the same system. I.e., there are two
users on the machine. One has a complete set of
contacts/names & e-mail addresses that we want
to copy to the other user.

You can't copy the address book, since it contains no data, but you can copy
or share the Contacts data if they are separate users. See
http://www.slipstick.com/outlook/olshare1.htm . To transport the contacts
data from one PST to another, just open both PSTs in the same Outlook
instance, open the source PST, select all the entries with CTRL-A, and
clicfk Edit>Copy to Folder, specifying the other contacts folder as the
destination. When done, close the original PST by right-clicking its root
and choosing Close.

I exported the "Contacts" folder from one user
to a csv file and then imported it to the second
user. That seemed to work okay. However, it
isn't at all clear how to accomplish the same thing
for the addressbook.

Avoid exporting and importing whenever possible. It loses data.

1) Is there in fact a distinction to be made between
the contacts folder and the addressbook? ( I
intuitively wouldn't expect there is.)
Covered.

2) Is there a separate path to be taken to export/
import the addressbook? If so, can someone
please point me to that?

No need to export/import. Copy as I described or share.

 

[Bill]

Thanks Brian,
I'm sure your explanations will be enough to sort things out.
I'll forward your post to my clients Inbox and drop by there
later today to implement.

I'll post back again with whatever might be useful information
after I've finished.
Bill

 

[Bill]

Brian,
Because I couldn't seem to copy the "Contact" folder
from one user to the other via the method you suggested, I
instead copied the PST file from user 1's to user 2's using
copy/paste in Windows Explorer. That essentially replaced
the export/import operation of yesterday.

The only remaining item that mystifies me is the seemingly
automatic creation of four references to the data source
for the user's addressbook via the addressbook icon
on the toolbar. The first of the four is entitled "Outlook
Addressbook" and the remaining three are all entitled
"Contacts". The first two of the three "Contacts" are
invalid, while the 3rd is valid and I set it to the default
so the user would get the correct view when clicking
on the icon.

I attempted to delete/remove the invalid references,
but they returned upon a 2nd look. The reference to
the "Outlook Addressbook" simply displays an empty
addressbook, i.e., not a view based on the Contacts
folder.

Bill

 

[Bill]

See my post "WRONG thing to do" dated 10/31.

Brian,
Because I couldn't seem to copy the "Contact" folder
from one user to the other via the method you suggested, I
instead copied the PST file from user 1's to user 2's using
copy/paste in Windows Explorer. That essentially replaced
the export/import operation of yesterday.

The only remaining item that mystifies me is the seemingly
automatic creation of four references to the data source
for the user's addressbook via the addressbook icon
on the toolbar. The first of the four is entitled "Outlook
Addressbook" and the remaining three are all entitled
"Contacts". The first two of the three "Contacts" are
invalid, while the 3rd is valid and I set it to the default
so the user would get the correct view when clicking
on the icon.

I attempted to delete/remove the invalid references,
but they returned upon a 2nd look. The reference to
the "Outlook Addressbook" simply displays an empty
addressbook, i.e., not a view based on the Contacts
folder.

Bill

 

[Brian Tillman]

Because I couldn't seem to copy the "Contact" folder
from one user to the other via the method you suggested, I
instead copied the PST file from user 1's to user 2's using
copy/paste in Windows Explorer. That essentially replaced
the export/import operation of yesterday.

You can damage your mail profile that way. Never overwrite one PST with
anther of the same name.

The only remaining item that mystifies me is the seemingly
automatic creation of four references to the data source
for the user's addressbook via the addressbook icon
on the toolbar. The first of the four is entitled "Outlook
Addressbook" and the remaining three are all entitled
"Contacts". The first two of the three "Contacts" are
invalid, while the 3rd is valid and I set it to the default
so the user would get the correct view when clicking
on the icon.

I attempted to delete/remove the invalid references,
but they returned upon a 2nd look. The reference to
the "Outlook Addressbook" simply displays an empty
addressbook, i.e., not a view based on the Contacts
folder.

Click Tools>E-mail Accounts>View or change existing directories or address
books>Next. Select Outlook Address Book and click Change. Remove the
invalid references there.