No order to names in “Select Recipients†in “New Messageâ€

[Bob]

How do I restore the display to the way it was with the “To:†button in New
Message to display all 600 contacts normally as last-name-first in
last-name-alphabetical-order?

Before I reformatted HD and reinstalled Vista in end of February 2010, I
open Windows Mail, open New Message, click “To:†button, the names of my 600
contacts were displayed last-name-first in last-name-alphabetical-order.
Completely normal display order, the same as the whole world does it, and
the way I want it displayed. I reformat HD and reinstall Vista and
reinstall all my stuff from backups. Now when I click “To:†button in New
Message, some contacts are displayed first-name-first and some contacts are
displayed last-name-first. Last-name-first and first-name-first are
displayed all together in first-and-last-name-alphabetical-order at the same
time. You can imagine how chaotic the display looks. Why did it do that?
How do I return it to normal?

Background info: Desktop AMD 4400+ 64X2 4GB memory 320GB HD Acer
(AM3100-U3201A) purchased new February 2008 -- 32-bit MS Vista Home Premium
SP2 -- MS auto updates on. Comcast ISP 12mbps service W\ Motorola SURFboard
SB5101 Cable Modem. D-Link DWA-552 Xtreme N Desktop PCI Adapter with D-Link
DIR-615 Wireless N 300 Router.

More background info: Before I got my Vista box I used Outlook Express (OE)
in WinXP. I kept all my contacts in OE as my master contact list. I use MS
Outlook 2002 for calendar and contacts only. The reason is to sync calendar
and contacts to my Ipaq rx3115 Pocket PC. I used OE for email and not MS
Outlook 2002. When I made changes to my contacts, I would do it in OE as it
was my master contact list. When I accumulated enough changes to my
contacts I needed to update my Pocket PC. I connect my Pocket PC and sync
it, then while connected delete all contacts in MS Outlook 2002 which also
delete all contacts in my Pocket PC. Then I import all contacts from OE
which would put them all in my Pocket PC at the same time. This is a little
cumbersome but it worked in XP without any problems that I can recall. I
switched everything over from my XP box to my Vista box when I purchased it
in February of 2008. I keep all my contacts in Vista Contacts/Windows Mail
as my master contact list. I use the same procedure to keep my contacts
synced between Vista Contacts/Windows Mail to MS Outlook 2002 and then to
Pocket PC. Importing is (and has only been) one-way from OE/Windows Mail to
MS Outlook 2002 then synced to Pocket PC. Never once I changed the
importing direction. The display of contacts to that point in time were
normal as said above. In end of February 2010, the restoring of Vista must
have done something to my contacts. MS Outlook 2002 displays contacts
normally but that does not help me for email since I use Windows Mail for my
email.

Contacts in MS Outlook 2002 display normally (last name first in
last-name-alphabetical-order). If I deleted all the contacts in Vista
Contacts and then import them back from Outlook 2002 into Vista
Contacts/Windows Mail, would that make it display normal? I have never done
importing/exporting in that direction before.

Thank You for your Help!!
Bob

 

[Guest]

How do I restore the display to the way it was with the "To:" button in
New Message to display all 600 contacts normally as last-name-first in
last-name-alphabetical-order?

Before I reformatted HD and reinstalled Vista in end of February 2010, I
open Windows Mail, open New Message, click "To:" button, the names of my
600 contacts were displayed last-name-first in
last-name-alphabetical-order. Completely normal display order, the same as
the whole world does it, and the way I want it displayed. I reformat HD
and reinstall Vista and reinstall all my stuff from backups. Now when I
click "To:" button in New Message, some contacts are displayed
first-name-first and some contacts are displayed last-name-first.
Last-name-first and first-name-first are displayed all together in
first-and-last-name-alphabetical-order at the same time. You can imagine
how chaotic the display looks. Why did it do that? How do I return it to
normal?

Background info: Desktop AMD 4400+ 64X2 4GB memory 320GB HD Acer
(AM3100-U3201A) purchased new February 2008 -- 32-bit MS Vista Home
Premium SP2 -- MS auto updates on. Comcast ISP 12mbps service W\ Motorola
SURFboard SB5101 Cable Modem. D-Link DWA-552 Xtreme N Desktop PCI Adapter
with D-Link DIR-615 Wireless N 300 Router.

More background info: Before I got my Vista box I used Outlook Express
(OE) in WinXP. I kept all my contacts in OE as my master contact list. I
use MS Outlook 2002 for calendar and contacts only. The reason is to sync
calendar and contacts to my Ipaq rx3115 Pocket PC. I used OE for email
and not MS Outlook 2002. When I made changes to my contacts, I would do
it in OE as it was my master contact list. When I accumulated enough
changes to my contacts I needed to update my Pocket PC. I connect my
Pocket PC and sync it, then while connected delete all contacts in MS
Outlook 2002 which also delete all contacts in my Pocket PC. Then I
import all contacts from OE which would put them all in my Pocket PC at
the same time. This is a little cumbersome but it worked in XP without
any problems that I can recall. I switched everything over from my XP box
to my Vista box when I purchased it in February of 2008. I keep all my
contacts in Vista Contacts/Windows Mail as my master contact list. I use
the same procedure to keep my contacts synced between Vista
Contacts/Windows Mail to MS Outlook 2002 and then to Pocket PC. Importing
is (and has only been) one-way from OE/Windows Mail to MS Outlook 2002
then synced to Pocket PC. Never once I changed the importing direction.
The display of contacts to that point in time were normal as said above.
In end of February 2010, the restoring of Vista must have done something
to my contacts. MS Outlook 2002 displays contacts normally but that does
not help me for email since I use Windows Mail for my email.

Contacts in MS Outlook 2002 display normally (last name first in
last-name-alphabetical-order). If I deleted all the contacts in Vista
Contacts and then import them back from Outlook 2002 into Vista
Contacts/Windows Mail, would that make it display normal? I have never
done importing/exporting in that direction before.

Thank You for your Help!!
Bob

Too late at night here for a full answer, but click on Tools, then
Windows Contacts to start the program you'll probably need to do
this. For a first try, click on the header of the column labelled Name
to order to see a few of the other orders in which the names can be
displayed.

Robert Miles