Lost Contacts

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Dave T - 21 Aug 2004 13:29 GMT

I lost my entire contact list, except the two groups I had. I had been
working with winfax pro trying to import a different contact list, which is
still there. I had an older version of the contacts on a second computer
which is networked and it is gone also.
Thanks

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Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] - 21 Aug 2004 17:53 GMT

Describe more accurately and completely what you did, what version of
Outlook you are using, and what information store you are using. Outlook
does not use groups and it is not clear what you mean by "Contact list."

Signature

Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

>I lost my entire contact list, except the two groups I had. I had been
> working with winfax pro trying to import a different contact list, which
> is
> still there. I had an older version of the contacts on a second computer
> which is networked and it is gone also.
> Thanks

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Dave - 21 Aug 2004 18:13 GMT

I am using Office XP on my main computer and Office 2000 on my second
computer in my home office. I have three of the little roladex icons in the
left pane. One master contains all of my contacts. The other two contain
several different groups of business contacts.
About 4 months ago I made one of these so I could send a mass fax using
winfax pro. It worked good, however I was unable to get the modem to work on
my secondary machine that I used last time so I was trying to use the main
machine. I was trying both importing and exporting without any luck, so I
gave up. I then discovered that my main contacts were not there. The only
thing that shows is two other groups that I send email /
Thanks for any ideas and help you can give

> Describe more accurately and completely what you did, what version of
> Outlook you are using, and what information store you are using. Outlook
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> > which is networked and it is gone also.
> > Thanks

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Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] - 21 Aug 2004 18:25 GMT

So by "groups," you actually mean Contact subfolders, then, right? And what
you did had nothing to do with WinFax Pro, itself, right?
You should not use importing and exporting to transfer data between
different installations of Outlook. It's just a good way to lose data.
Since the data is already in Outlook's native format (PST file), just open
the PST from one installation in the other to transfer data.
There is no clue here what you did when you tried importing and exporting.
Nothing you could have done would have deleted data from the source PST
file, however. Make sure you make frequent backups of your PST files.

Signature

Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

>I am using Office XP on my main computer and Office 2000 on my second
> computer in my home office. I have three of the little roladex icons in
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>> > which is networked and it is gone also.
>> > Thanks

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Dave - 21 Aug 2004 21:05 GMT

You are correct. I have subfolers in my main Contacts, that are still there.
These I used to send emails to a group etc. But I also had set up two
separate Folders (rolodex) with other contacts, for example I had all of my
staff in one and all area police departments in another.
The only thing it had to do with Winfax is that is what I was working on
when they vanished. When I did this before, (4 months) I exported the
information from the DEPARTMENT Subfolder which is still fine, to excell and
saved as a CVS, which I then imported to Winfax. Everything worked great
before, but this time when I went back to Outlook that main contact folder is
empty except for the two groups I use for email.
As a possible save, I do have an old PST file on the second computer, that I
could possible restore and then somehow transfere the address I need, but I
am a little gun shy now!

> So by "groups," you actually mean Contact subfolders, then, right? And what
> you did had nothing to do with WinFax Pro, itself, right?
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> >> > which is networked and it is gone also.
> >> > Thanks

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Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] - 22 Aug 2004 01:00 GMT

You're losing me again. What do you mean by "Folders (rolodex)"? What is the
difference between these and Contact subfolders?

Signature

Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

> You are correct. I have subfolers in my main Contacts, that are still
> there.
[quoted text clipped - 61 lines]
>> >> > which is networked and it is gone also.
>> >> > Thanks

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Dave - 22 Aug 2004 01:29 GMT

Sorry, I am not up on the proper terms for some of this. See If I can
explain it this way. On the left panel of my desk top, there is the folders
with the icons, for example the Calendar has a calendar icon. I also have
three that look like "roladex". The first one is named "Contacts" That had
inside it two sub-folders, one had emails that I regularly forwarded jokes
etc. the other was my special staff that I contacted by emails daily. That
is the folder that is gone, EXCEPT those email groups are there. Below that
Folder I had two more contact folders, one was called "Staff" and it had all
the Staff addresses etc. The other was called "Departments" that I used as a
fax list. That was the one I was trying to import, when all my troubles
began.
Hope this clears up the structure a little
Thanks again for your thoughts and help

> You're losing me again. What do you mean by "Folders (rolodex)"? What is the
> difference between these and Contact subfolders?
[quoted text clipped - 63 lines]
> >> >> > which is networked and it is gone also.
> >> >> > Thanks

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Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] - 22 Aug 2004 02:04 GMT

Let's blow away the Outlook Bar and just use Folder List so we can get a
more accurate view of your actual Folder hierarchy. (View > Folder List).
Then tell me what really has changed and how.

Signature

Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

> Sorry, I am not up on the proper terms for some of this. See If I can
> explain it this way. On the left panel of my desk top, there is the
[quoted text clipped - 100 lines]
>> >> >> > which is networked and it is gone also.
>> >> >> > Thanks

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Dave - 22 Aug 2004 13:43 GMT

Here is how it looks:
+ {Icon} Archive
+ {Icon} Archive
+ {Icon} Archive
+ {Icon} Outlook Today -[Personal Folders]
WHEN I CLICK ON THE PLUS SIGN BESIDE OUTLOOK TODAY I GET:
+ {Icon} Calendar
+ {Icon} Contacts
WHEN I CLICK ON THE PLUS SIGN BESIDE CONTACTS I GET:
{Icon} Departments
{Icon} Staff
WHEN I CLICK ON THE {ICON} BESIDE CONTACTS I GET:
The two "distribution lists" ONLY. This is where my main
addresses was at.
WHEN I CLICK ON THE {ICON} BESIDE DEPARTMENTS OR STAFF I GET:
The complete address informations as I always have.

Hopefully this explains it better, sorry I am note a little more computer
knowledgeble.

> Let's blow away the Outlook Bar and just use Folder List so we can get a
> more accurate view of your actual Folder hierarchy. (View > Folder List).
[quoted text clipped - 104 lines]
> >> >> >> > which is networked and it is gone also.
> >> >> >> > Thanks

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Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] - 22 Aug 2004 23:14 GMT

Just so we speak the same language here, "Department" and "Staff" are
Contact subfolders, not distribution lists.
Are you saying that these Contact subfolders now contain the Contacts that
used to reside in your main Contacts Folder, or are the Contacts that used
to reside in your main Contacts folder now missing? If it's the latter, and
those Contacts didn't end up moved to some other folder (like Deleted
Items), then they are gone and you need to look for a backup file.

Signature

Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

> Here is how it looks:
> + {Icon} Archive
[quoted text clipped - 149 lines]
>> >> >> >> > which is networked and it is gone also.
>> >> >> >> > Thanks

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Dave - 22 Aug 2004 23:39 GMT

That is correct. they are Contact Subfolders, But they do not contain ALL of
the same names THE CONTACTS THAT USE TO RESIDE IN THE MAIN FOLDER ARE NOW
GONE! I have looked in the delete folder and they are not there, so you are
probably right I need to find a back up.
Thanks Again

> Just so we speak the same language here, "Department" and "Staff" are
> Contact subfolders, not distribution lists.
[quoted text clipped - 156 lines]
> >> >> >> >> > which is networked and it is gone also.
> >> >> >> >> > Thanks

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Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook] - 23 Aug 2004 00:03 GMT

...and remember the advice I posted earlier: "You should not use importing
and exporting to transfer data between different installations of Outlook.
It's just a good way to lose data."

Signature

Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]

> That is correct. they are Contact Subfolders, But they do not contain ALL
> of
[quoted text clipped - 190 lines]
>> >> >> >> >> > which is networked and it is gone also.
>> >> >> >> >> > Thanks

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