Help! I can't import my contacts to Outlook 2007.

[Guest]

Okay, here is my situation. My computer was very unstable for the last few
weeks. Sudden crashes loss of work etc. As a result I had to reinstall my
Windows XP. Before doing this I was able to back up a lot of my information.
I backed up all of my contact information on a disk. I now have office 2007
installed and cannot import my contact information. When I go to do an
import, the import wizard tells me my files are not compatible. I then went
to where I saved my information and noticed that the contacts were saved as a
..txt file. I am not sure that I had an option to save them any other way.
My question is, how do I go about converting this file into a recognizable
file that Outlook will read. I have tried to open this file in Excel but
there are questions regarding how to open this file that I don't understand.
I believe when I saved the file, I saved them with a semicolon or: to
separate the values. Each time I try to delineate this option when opening
the file in Excel it doesn't seem to open correctly. Is there any way to
convert this file so I can import it into my Outlook contacts. I have been
racking my brains and trying the numerous things but none seem to work.
Please help, I have hundreds of contacts that have taken years to compile and
I can't upload them.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

Exactly how did you "back up" your Contacts? All you needed to do is make a
copy of your Outlook data file, then open that file in the new installation.
You would never export Contacts to a different format to back them up.

 

[Guest]

All I did was open the inport/export wizard in outlook and exported the
contacts to a cd. Thats it. I didnt try to change the format. When I tried to
import them, that is when I realised that the were in a .txt format. Is there
any kind of conversion utility or software that i can use to get these
contacts inported back in?

Exactly how did you "back up" your Contacts? All you needed to do is make a
copy of your Outlook data file, then open that file in the new installation.
You would never export Contacts to a different format to back them up.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Okay, here is my situation. My computer was very unstable for the last
few
weeks. Sudden crashes loss of work etc. As a result I had to reinstall
my
Windows XP. Before doing this I was able to back up a lot of my
information.
I backed up all of my contact information on a disk. I now have office
2007
installed and cannot import my contact information. When I go to do an
import, the import wizard tells me my files are not compatible. I then
went
to where I saved my information and noticed that the contacts were saved
as a
.txt file. I am not sure that I had an option to save them any other way.
My question is, how do I go about converting this file into a recognizable
file that Outlook will read. I have tried to open this file in Excel but
there are questions regarding how to open this file that I don't
understand.
I believe when I saved the file, I saved them with a semicolon or: to
separate the values. Each time I try to delineate this option when
opening
the file in Excel it doesn't seem to open correctly. Is there any way to
convert this file so I can import it into my Outlook contacts. I have
been
racking my brains and trying the numerous things but none seem to work.
Please help, I have hundreds of contacts that have taken years to compile
and
I can't upload them.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

No. Do you still have your original data file or a backup?
If not, you can probably convert this file to a CSV fine in Excel and import
that.
In the future, remember you never export Outlook data to back it up. Only
export it if you need to convert it for some other program to use. Now you
see why.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

All I did was open the inport/export wizard in outlook and exported the
contacts to a cd. Thats it. I didnt try to change the format. When I tried
to
import them, that is when I realised that the were in a .txt format. Is
there
any kind of conversion utility or software that i can use to get these
contacts inported back in?

Exactly how did you "back up" your Contacts? All you needed to do is make
a
copy of your Outlook data file, then open that file in the new
installation.
You would never export Contacts to a different format to back them up.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Okay, here is my situation. My computer was very unstable for the last
few
weeks. Sudden crashes loss of work etc. As a result I had to
reinstall
my
Windows XP. Before doing this I was able to back up a lot of my
information.
I backed up all of my contact information on a disk. I now have office
2007
installed and cannot import my contact information. When I go to do an
import, the import wizard tells me my files are not compatible. I then
went
to where I saved my information and noticed that the contacts were
saved
as a
.txt file. I am not sure that I had an option to save them any other
way.
My question is, how do I go about converting this file into a
recognizable
file that Outlook will read. I have tried to open this file in Excel
but
there are questions regarding how to open this file that I don't
understand.
I believe when I saved the file, I saved them with a semicolon or: to
separate the values. Each time I try to delineate this option when
opening
the file in Excel it doesn't seem to open correctly. Is there any way
to
convert this file so I can import it into my Outlook contacts. I have
been
racking my brains and trying the numerous things but none seem to work.
Please help, I have hundreds of contacts that have taken years to
compile
and
I can't upload them.

 

[Guest]

Hi - I have had the same problem. Did you manage to resolve your issue as I
am struggling. I backed up my complete hard drive and assumed that the
contacts would be there. Problem is that I do not know where to find them
now. I hope you have had some luck.

All I did was open the inport/export wizard in outlook and exported the
contacts to a cd. Thats it. I didnt try to change the format. When I tried to
import them, that is when I realised that the were in a .txt format. Is there
any kind of conversion utility or software that i can use to get these
contacts inported back in?

Exactly how did you "back up" your Contacts? All you needed to do is make a
copy of your Outlook data file, then open that file in the new installation.
You would never export Contacts to a different format to back them up.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Okay, here is my situation. My computer was very unstable for the last
few
weeks. Sudden crashes loss of work etc. As a result I had to reinstall
my
Windows XP. Before doing this I was able to back up a lot of my
information.
I backed up all of my contact information on a disk. I now have office
2007
installed and cannot import my contact information. When I go to do an
import, the import wizard tells me my files are not compatible. I then
went
to where I saved my information and noticed that the contacts were saved
as a
.txt file. I am not sure that I had an option to save them any other way.
My question is, how do I go about converting this file into a recognizable
file that Outlook will read. I have tried to open this file in Excel but
there are questions regarding how to open this file that I don't
understand.
I believe when I saved the file, I saved them with a semicolon or: to
separate the values. Each time I try to delineate this option when
opening
the file in Excel it doesn't seem to open correctly. Is there any way to
convert this file so I can import it into my Outlook contacts. I have
been
racking my brains and trying the numerous things but none seem to work.
Please help, I have hundreds of contacts that have taken years to compile
and
I can't upload them.

 

[Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]]

No. You do not have the same problem. As long as you did not export your
data then you will be fine. The file you need is your Personal Folders file
(*.pst) It's where all the mail, calendar, contacts etc are stored.

Take a look at these pages for info on Outlook data backup or transfer:
http://www.slipstick.com/config/backup.htm
http://www.howto-outlook.com/Howto/backupandrestore.htm
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010771141033.aspx


--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

Hi - I have had the same problem. Did you manage to resolve your issue as
I
am struggling. I backed up my complete hard drive and assumed that the
contacts would be there. Problem is that I do not know where to find them
now. I hope you have had some luck.

All I did was open the inport/export wizard in outlook and exported the
contacts to a cd. Thats it. I didnt try to change the format. When I
tried to
import them, that is when I realised that the were in a .txt format. Is
there
any kind of conversion utility or software that i can use to get these
contacts inported back in?

Exactly how did you "back up" your Contacts? All you needed to do is
make a
copy of your Outlook data file, then open that file in the new
installation.
You would never export Contacts to a different format to back them up.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Okay, here is my situation. My computer was very unstable for the
last
few
weeks. Sudden crashes loss of work etc. As a result I had to
reinstall
my
Windows XP. Before doing this I was able to back up a lot of my
information.
I backed up all of my contact information on a disk. I now have
office
2007
installed and cannot import my contact information. When I go to do
an
import, the import wizard tells me my files are not compatible. I
then
went
to where I saved my information and noticed that the contacts were
saved
as a
.txt file. I am not sure that I had an option to save them any other
way.
My question is, how do I go about converting this file into a
recognizable
file that Outlook will read. I have tried to open this file in Excel
but
there are questions regarding how to open this file that I don't
understand.
I believe when I saved the file, I saved them with a semicolon or: to
separate the values. Each time I try to delineate this option when
opening
the file in Excel it doesn't seem to open correctly. Is there any
way to
convert this file so I can import it into my Outlook contacts. I
have
been
racking my brains and trying the numerous things but none seem to
work.
Please help, I have hundreds of contacts that have taken years to
compile
and
I can't upload them.

 

[Guest]

I have restored ALL my contacts. If you want to know how, let me know.
Otherwise, happy hunting.

Hi - I have had the same problem. Did you manage to resolve your issue as I
am struggling. I backed up my complete hard drive and assumed that the
contacts would be there. Problem is that I do not know where to find them
now. I hope you have had some luck.

All I did was open the inport/export wizard in outlook and exported the
contacts to a cd. Thats it. I didnt try to change the format. When I tried to
import them, that is when I realised that the were in a .txt format. Is there
any kind of conversion utility or software that i can use to get these
contacts inported back in?

Exactly how did you "back up" your Contacts? All you needed to do is make a
copy of your Outlook data file, then open that file in the new installation.
You would never export Contacts to a different format to back them up.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Okay, here is my situation. My computer was very unstable for the last
few
weeks. Sudden crashes loss of work etc. As a result I had to reinstall
my
Windows XP. Before doing this I was able to back up a lot of my
information.
I backed up all of my contact information on a disk. I now have office
2007
installed and cannot import my contact information. When I go to do an
import, the import wizard tells me my files are not compatible. I then
went
to where I saved my information and noticed that the contacts were saved
as a
.txt file. I am not sure that I had an option to save them any other way.
My question is, how do I go about converting this file into a recognizable
file that Outlook will read. I have tried to open this file in Excel but
there are questions regarding how to open this file that I don't
understand.
I believe when I saved the file, I saved them with a semicolon or: to
separate the values. Each time I try to delineate this option when
opening
the file in Excel it doesn't seem to open correctly. Is there any way to
convert this file so I can import it into my Outlook contacts. I have
been
racking my brains and trying the numerous things but none seem to work.
Please help, I have hundreds of contacts that have taken years to compile
and
I can't upload them.