WinMail Contacts lists don't match

[Jan :\)]

Hi all, Vista Ultimate SP2 32 bit

I have a rather odd situation, or at least for me, as I have never seen this
problem before. The Contacts list in the To dropdown list in the Create
mail windows does not match the Contacts list when I click on the Contacts
icon on the toolbar of the WinMail window.

The names in the To list are listed with the last name first, which I never
do, at least, not by intent. There are also names in the To list that are
not in the correct Contacts list, and some that are in the correct Contacts
list but not in the To list. There are some of the names from the Messenger
that I never send emails to so I don't know how they are getting in that
list. It really is irksome to start to send an email and click on the To
tab in the email window and the name I want is not listed in that list, but,
is in the regular Contacts list, I I have to type in the whole thing, or
take the time to look up the name in the correct list and copy past the addy
to the To bar in the email.

I have deleted every contacts list I can find except the one that is the
right one that I want to use, including the Messenger (which I uninstalled
and deleted folders), Hotmail and any others I could find. But, the
incorrect list is still showing up in the To list. I don't see any place to
delete this list and/or replace it with the correct one, or even change the
way the name are listed with the first name first.

Where is the WinMail looking for the To contacts? It is obviously not
looking in the Contacts list. How do I change it for the correct one? I
have looked in all User folders (AppData Local, Local Low, Roaming, etc.),
program files, and nothing seems to get rid of it.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Jan

 

[slk759]

The To: list is actually pulling from a separate list of email addresses.
It is part of the registry and only holds 29 addresses - the last 29 you've
used / typed in. This is a programmatic thing that you don't have control
over.

 

[Jan :\)]

Hi slk759... ok, thank you for the heads-up on where the list is and how it
works. However, there are names in that list that I have never sent an email
to, but, they were in my Messenger Contacts list, and I have never sent an
email from Messenger. So...how do they get into my email Contacts list? Is
there a way to delete the list in the Registry and start over? The
unnecessary names are just cluttering up the list of the Contacts I want to
email.

Jan

 

[Jan :\)]

Thanks VistaRookie. That helped. Now to get rid of the errant names.

Jan

 

[Jan :\)]

No, it is not the auto-complete, that I am aware of. Using the Name bar did
allow the names to be set to first names first as I prefer, and I don't know
how they got set the other way unless I somehow unknowingly ticked the Name
bar at some point and did not notice the change at the time. So that I will
watch in the future.

Some of the names in that list are not good and I want to remove them, but,
there seems to be no way to do that.

Thank you for your time and help.

Jan

 

[Jan :\)]

Thanks you! I'll give this a try.

Jan

You're welcome. Try this utility. See if that helps.

'Utility to clear recently used email addresses in Windows Mail'
(http://tinyurl.com/66zmzy)




--
VistaRookie

10% of my brain lives with me. The other 90% can be found
here:
'*Google*' (http://www.google.com)
Posted via http://www.vistaheads.com

 

[Jan :\)]

I closed WinMail, downloaded the utility, unzipped it, followed the
instructions to run it, deleted the entire list in the window, and clicked
Exit. The To list names are still there. I followed the instructions to
clear the autocomplete names and the To list of names is still there.

That is one hard list to kill!

Jan

 

[Jan :\)]

Hi VistaRookie,

I did try the code you provided and it said it completed successfully, but,
the names are still all there in the To list.

Thank you for your patience and help.

Jan

 

[Jan :\)]

Well...I'm no expert, but, sort of an Advanced user. I'll try the steps you
have outlined in the morning and let you know what I find. I find it
incredible that this list can be so elusive, or that MS would not create a
means to edit the list or delete it. That should be a user option. I am
wondering that if I deleted the user account and recreated the account if I
would still have the same list show up in the To list. That I should not
have to do just to get rid of the names.

I will post back with the results of my hunting trip.

Jan

Hi Jan,

One last attempt, otherwise, I'm sorry to say, I don't
know where they could hide.

Make sure you have a system restore point in case
anything goes wrong with the procedure I am outlining
below.

A direct way to open up System Restore is to go to:
Start->Run-> type "rstrui.exe" (no quotes) click OK.
Or you can access it from (classic view)
Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools.

Go to Start->Run. Type in "regedit" (no quotes). That
is your registry editor. Pick out one unique name. Say
it is John Doe but type it as it appears in the TO: field.
Probably run together as one word. i.e. johndoe

In Regedit->Edit->Find.
Type or paste the name (as it appears in the TO: field).
See if it can find anything. See if all the rogue names
appear there. I don't know your expertise? If you are
comfortable with the registry - right click that key in
the right panel and choose delete.

If not, post the complete path to where you found the
name(s).

You can visually see the path in the status bar at the
bottom of the registry window. Please provide the
correct path if you find any names. For example, the
path to those auto completes was:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Mail\
Recently Used Addresses.

Actually, if you do find the names, I'd be curious to see
just where they hide. If possible, please post the
registry path.

 

[Jan :\)]

'k...I've been doing some searching and hunting and found no names listed
using the Find or visually in the Registry. I found nothing under the
Recently Used Addresses. I did find some files in the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft/Windows Live Contacts. There are two
folders in that folder:

Database
C:\Users\<username>\Contacts\<username>@hotmail.com\
C:\Users\<username>\Contacts\<username>@hotmail.com\shadow\

Me
C:\Users\<username>\Contacts\<username>@hotmail.com\

I don't know what they are for, or if they are what may be feeding the To.

This is the only thing that I have been able to find in the registry. It
seems that all this stuff is somehow connected and one feeds the other.

Jan

Well...I'm no expert, but, sort of an Advanced user. I'll try the steps
you have outlined in the morning and let you know what I find. I find it
incredible that this list can be so elusive, or that MS would not create a
means to edit the list or delete it. That should be a user option. I am
wondering that if I deleted the user account and recreated the account if
I would still have the same list show up in the To list. That I should
not have to do just to get rid of the names.

I will post back with the results of my hunting trip.

Jan

 

[Jan :\)]

Hi...I am using only Windows Mail. I did at one time some time back have
Windows Live Mail and had Hotmail as a POP 3 account for that one. But, I
don't have anything 'Live' installed anymore, the last thing was the
Messenger and I uninstalled that to see if that would eliminate the list. I
don't have Hotmail as a POP3 for Windows Mail as that is an account for beta
testing purposes only, I don't use it for any regular email messages. I
deleted the few Contacts I had listed in the Hotmail as well, none of which
was on the To List.

So, right now all I have is the Windows Mail. I tried contacting MS support
and all they did was give me links to sites that give you basically the same
information you did to delete the auto-complete list which does not get rid
of the list.

Now...it's not just wanting to get rid of the names in the list, but, a
determination to find where the heck the dang list is hidden. It is just a
list of names for gosh sakes, not a ingot of gold at Fort Knox! )

Jan

Jan,

Verify what you are using, please. Is it Windows Mail?
Windows Live Mail? Or do you have BOTH running?

Are you using Hotmail as a POP3 account for one or both?

 

[Gary VanderMolen [MVP]]

As far as we know, there is no separate list of contacts when you click
on 'To'. That list should be generated from your regular contacts.

--
Gary VanderMolen, Microsoft MVP (Mail)
Microsoft MVP Program: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Hi...I am using only Windows Mail. I did at one time some time back have
Windows Live Mail and had Hotmail as a POP 3 account for that one. But, I
don't have anything 'Live' installed anymore, the last thing was the
Messenger and I uninstalled that to see if that would eliminate the list. I
don't have Hotmail as a POP3 for Windows Mail as that is an account for beta
testing purposes only, I don't use it for any regular email messages. I
deleted the few Contacts I had listed in the Hotmail as well, none of which
was on the To List.

So, right now all I have is the Windows Mail. I tried contacting MS support
and all they did was give me links to sites that give you basically the same
information you did to delete the auto-complete list which does not get rid
of the list.

Now...it's not just wanting to get rid of the names in the list, but, a
determination to find where the heck the dang list is hidden. It is just a
list of names for gosh sakes, not a ingot of gold at Fort Knox! )

Jan

 

[Jan :\)]

I thought that too, but, that is not the case in my To list. As I said in
my original message, there are names in that list that are not in the
regular Contacts list, and several names in the regular Contacts list that
are not in the To list. I often check the regular Contacts list for names
that are no longer good, or that I no longer want to have in the list and
delete them. However, some of the names that have been deleted from the
regular Contacts list are still in the To list. Plus...in the beginning I
deleted all the names in the regular Contacts list and the To list still
displayed the same list of names. So, it would seem that the two lists are
not the same. At least not in my WinMail.

Jan


As far as we know, there is no separate list of contacts when you click
on 'To'. That list should be generated from your regular contacts.

--
Gary VanderMolen, Microsoft MVP (Mail)
Microsoft MVP Program: http://mvp.support.microsoft.com

Hi...I am using only Windows Mail. I did at one time some time back have
Windows Live Mail and had Hotmail as a POP 3 account for that one. But, I
don't have anything 'Live' installed anymore, the last thing was the
Messenger and I uninstalled that to see if that would eliminate the list.
I
don't have Hotmail as a POP3 for Windows Mail as that is an account for
beta
testing purposes only, I don't use it for any regular email messages. I
deleted the few Contacts I had listed in the Hotmail as well, none of
which
was on the To List.

So, right now all I have is the Windows Mail. I tried contacting MS
support
and all they did was give me links to sites that give you basically the
same
information you did to delete the auto-complete list which does not get
rid
of the list.

Now...it's not just wanting to get rid of the names in the list, but, a
determination to find where the heck the dang list is hidden. It is just
a
list of names for gosh sakes, not a ingot of gold at Fort Knox! )

Jan

 

[Jan :\)]

Thank you, and your analysis of where the names may came from sits with my
own thoughts at this point. That there are names on the To list that I have
never sent emails to from WinMail but have from hotmail led me in that
direction of thought. I keep a copy of my regular user Contacts updated on
my backup hard drive which is separate so in case something happens to the
drive the OS is on I won't lose them. I also put the names from this updated
backup list in the user Contacts folder when I do a new install. It says in
one of the links that I was given by MS to delete the list that I can
highlight a name in the To dropdown list and delete it from there. However,
with the number of names, doing it one at a time would take a very long
time. But, I guess if there is no other way I will have to look at that as
time allows.

I try the Search of the hard drive the OS is installed on as you suggested
and see what turns up. If I find anything I'll post back with the results,
if nothing turns up, then I'd say we have gone as far as we can on this one.

In case you or anyone else might be interested, here are the links for the
sites that the MS support rep provided in our conversation on this issue. I
don't have the Vista 64 bit installed, but, I guess they will work on either
version.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/170569-windows-mail-custom-title-bar-name

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...g-autocomplete-entries-in-windows-vista-mail/

Thank you so much for all your time and effort to assist, I truly appreciate
it.

Jan

Jan...

Based on the new information you supplied about previous
email/email clients you used to have, I am going to take a
guess at a sequence of possible events that might have
occurred to cause this. I think the unwanted names may
have originated from WLM and/or Hotmail.

I use neither and have no experience with them.

Contacts, most likely are not going to be treated exclusively,
as part of an email program. Uninstalling WLM and/or Hotmail
probably left behind the contacts that you don't want.

Even if the contacts were exclusive to WLM/Hotmail, when
you uninstall a program with Windows, in the normal way,
almost ALWAYS there are parts left behind. I think I can
count on one hand the number of programs that truly
uninstalled EVERYTHING that they put on my hard drive.
And I have installed/uninstalled somewhere around 1,000
programs throughout the years. Normally it doesn't cause
a problem and people never realize how much junk is left
behind.

Why or how they merge with your current contacts list is
unknown. Where they are hiding is also unknown (to me).
They may still be somewhere in the registry. Or maybe
somewhere on your hard drive.

Since you did your best with the registry, let's try the
hard drive. Search your entire C:\ drive for one of the
names and see if something turns up. Again be sure to
search in the way the address appears. i.e. john doe
may be run together as one word: johndoe.

Now the problem you are going to have is that most
likely you will use the Windows search program. I
stopped using that because regardless of telling it to
search for ALL files, it will not show you ALL files. The
program I use is no longer available. So, you will have
to hope something turns up.

Be sure to go to advanced and check off everything
related to searching your drive for hidden programs, etc;
In addition to searching for johndoe, try searching for
the word "contact."

If you do find something, I'd like to see where they were
hidden. If nothing turns up, sorry, I am out of ideas.

Hi...I am using only Windows Mail. I did at one time some time back
have Windows Live Mail and had Hotmail as a POP 3 account for that one.
But, I don't have anything 'Live' installed anymore, the last thing was
the Messenger and I uninstalled that to see if that would eliminate the
list. I don't have Hotmail as a POP3 for Windows Mail as that is an
account for beta testing purposes only, I don't use it for any regular
email messages. I deleted the few Contacts I had listed in the Hotmail
as well, none of which was on the To List.

So, right now all I have is the Windows Mail. I tried contacting MS
support
and all they did was give me links to sites that give you basically the
same
information you did to delete the auto-complete list which does not get
rid
of the list.

Now...it's not just wanting to get rid of the names in the list, but,
a
determination to find where the heck the dang list is hidden. It is
just a
list of names for gosh sakes, not a ingot of gold at Fort Knox! )

Jan

in
message

 

[slk759]

Jan - I was reading through your posts again and this caught my eye . . . .
.. you said you "found nothing under the Recently Used Addresses" - do you
mean the registry key, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
Mail\Recently Used Addresses is completely empty? Or do you see a list of
binary code in the right side pane? If you see the binary list, double
click on one of them (pick one that has a letter in the "name" column).
This opens that specific enty and in the "Value data" box - at the far
right - you should see the name "cryptically entered" and "wrapped" -
similar to this (hope my formatting holds up):

C.I.N.D.
Y...L.A.
S.T.N.A.
[email protected].
M.A.I.L.
...C.O.M

Ex. (e-mail address removed). Those are the entries you have to delete if
you see them, now that it's been described exactly what to look for. I
didn't know if you were expecting to see very straightforward names / email
addresses and since they aren't presented that way, had dismissed this as
not being the data you needed to delete.

'k...I've been doing some searching and hunting and found no names listed
using the Find or visually in the Registry. I found nothing under the
Recently Used Addresses. I did find some files in the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft/Windows Live Contacts. There are two
folders in that folder:

Database
C:\Users\<username>\Contacts\<username>@hotmail.com\
C:\Users\<username>\Contacts\<username>@hotmail.com\shadow\

Me
C:\Users\<username>\Contacts\<username>@hotmail.com\

I don't know what they are for, or if they are what may be feeding the To.

This is the only thing that I have been able to find in the registry. It
seems that all this stuff is somehow connected and one feeds the other.

Jan

 

[Jan :\)]

Hi slk759....at the time that I responded and said there was nothing in that
folder was after I had used the 'Utility to clear recently used email
addresses in Windows Mail'
(http://tinyurl.com/66zmzy) that VistaRookie had suggested earlier and it
had deleted all the files in that folder and the only thing in there was the
Default file at the time that I responded. I had not sent any emails
between the time I used the utility and when I rechecked the Registry folder
at that time. There are now 8 files listed in that folder, but, none are
people in my Contacts list, and they are not showing up in the To dropdown
list.

So...I dunno....I'm totally stumped at this point. It is not a dire problem,
but, it is a PITA. I just thought I could at least edit the list, but, it
seems I gotta find the list before I can edit it. And that appears to be
like searching for hens teeth.

Jan

Jan - I was reading through your posts again and this caught my eye . . .
. . you said you "found nothing under the Recently Used Addresses" - do
you mean the registry key, HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows
Mail\Recently Used Addresses is completely empty? Or do you see a list of
binary code in the right side pane? If you see the binary list, double
click on one of them (pick one that has a letter in the "name" column).
This opens that specific enty and in the "Value data" box - at the far
right - you should see the name "cryptically entered" and "wrapped" -
similar to this (hope my formatting holds up):

C.I.N.D.
Y...L.A.
S.T.N.A.
[email protected].
M.A.I.L.
..C.O.M

Ex. (e-mail address removed). Those are the entries you have to delete if
you see them, now that it's been described exactly what to look for. I
didn't know if you were expecting to see very straightforward names /
email addresses and since they aren't presented that way, had dismissed
this as not being the data you needed to delete.