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General discussion

backup Outlook express address book

Nov 17, 2004 3:22AM PST

How do I backup Outlook Express address book onto a floppie disk? I use Microsoft Outlook as my email but the Outlook Express address book is on my task bar and I use it constantly.I have tried to copy it but it only backs up the program but not the names and address. I use Windows XP Home. Thanks for your help and expertise.

Discussion is locked

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Re: backup Outlook express address book
Nov 17, 2004 3:31AM PST

go to Search/Find and Files/Folders, and type in *.WAB and click Find Now. In the window that shows up with the results, right click the files in case you have various users and with a floppy disk in the drive, choose SEND TO: FLOPPY

All done.......

TONI

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Re: backup Outlook express address book
Nov 17, 2004 9:52AM PST

Toni, thanks for the help. I would like to burn this address book to a CD. (if this if possible) in with My Document folder when I back My Documents to CD. do I use the same method?

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Re: backup Outlook express address book
Nov 17, 2004 7:59PM PST

What people refer to as a normal "backup" isn't what I do. When I want to 'backup' my stuff, I just open my burner program (EZCD Creator). EZCD has two different burner programs.....one for movies and one for data/music. Using the DATA program in Creator Classic, I browse at the top to open subfolders (I have three harddrives broken up into partitions to keep my stuff organized) until I reach the My Documents folder and then burn that whole folder to a CD. I also have created new folders on a separate partition (same one that is holding My Documents) called 11-18-04OLDMAIL, 11-17-04OLDADDY, 11-17-04OLDFAVS, and 11-17-04OLDQL.

Prior to a burn, I go to Search, and type in *.dbx which then gives me all the mail and mail folders in one window, then I click Edit, Select All, and right drag everything to the OLDMAIL folder......this gives me a current copy of everything in my OE account and the folder has the current date so I know when I had done the last 'backup'. I do this for each of the folders I created.

So.......I choose the My Documents and all four of the folders I created with the most current backups of my mail, addybook, favorites, and quicklaunch.....and add them all to the project I want to burn, and using a dvd type disk because it will hold 4.7GB of DATA, I do the burn.

I use DVD-R disks because they are the most reliable for me....even though I can't erase them and rewrite like you can with a DVD-RW. I would rather not take the risk that if I have to use a disk in another computer that it won't be seen or something happened. It's easier on my sense of well being to have a sure thing in my hand than worry that I've saved a couple of pennies trying to be frugal and found out that I've lost everything.

If you don't have as much data to fit on a dvd type of media, and can fit everything you have to save on a regular 700MB cdr or cdrw disk, make sure you use the GOLD/GOLD or GOLD/GREEN type finish. The silver/blue used to be very popular and I have quite a few blanks still here, but I have found that the newer cdrom on the market just can't see anything on the blue ones anymore (or I get lucky and get ONE out of ten to be seen and I've immediately made a copy of it to gold/gold and tossed the blue ones).

The blue disks are still out there on the shelves waiting for unsuspecting souls to buy them up so they are on sale ALOT to get rid of them, but you are running a big risk with them now.

DVD media is dark PURPLE so don't confuse the blue with the purple.....

TONI

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Re: backup Outlook express address book
Nov 17, 2004 11:35PM PST

That's interesting Toni. I've got a stack of 50 CD-R's that look silver to me that I bought the same time that I bought this particular computer wich was April 1st,this year. I used 7 of them for the Compaq recovery and some others for music, pictures, backup, etc. My computer has no trouble reading those although, thankfully I had not had a need to use the recovery ones. LOL I hope if I ever DO need them,I sure hope the computer will be able to read them. Compaq only lets you create those discs ONCE. I've got about 20 blanks left but I will buy the gold ones the next time.

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my older cdroms
Nov 18, 2004 12:38AM PST

and my older cd players can actually see the blue disks still, but in order to copy them to new gold ones, I had to disconnect my Plextor dvd burner and hook up an older cdrom temporarily in order to use my also older but still installed second cdr-w burner cdrom. There were some blue cd's that my Liteon cdrw burner device couldn't see, even though it saw most of them, so it wasn't reliable enough to just use the one drive for the copying. It was simpler to hook up an older plain jane cdrom as a slave to it temporarily, put the blue one into that drive so it could be seen and then use the Liteon to do the copying/burning to gold.

This all has something to do with the newer lasers being put into the new cdr-w devices because more and more of them are actually dvdrom/cdr-w combo units which can view a dvd movie, but not burn one (reader only), and still have a burner device for data and music.

Wondering since I already have a dvd-rw that actually burns dvd movies, if the new dual layered dvd-rw devices and the disks that go with them that hold nearly 9GB of info instead of the current 4.7GB.....will those newer dual layered devices be able to see/read/copy correctly the current standard disks? Getting verrrrrry nervous thinking about having to now copy all of my 2000 movie library to different media........LOL

TONI

TONI

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Re: my older cdroms
Nov 18, 2004 1:12AM PST

I'm going to continue using the rest of the blanks that I have because SO FAR I have had no problems. LOL
I have a CD-RW and a DVD-ROM (which I have only used once to watch a movie). I use the CD-RW drive to burn CD's. I buy my supplies at Best Buy because they have excellent warantees, I bought the computer there too. They have one Tech guy there in particular that is very good so I will ask him the next time I'm there. It will take me a while to use up what I have left anyway. Thanks again for your advice Toni. Grin

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always keep a spare
Nov 18, 2004 1:50AM PST

older cdrom on the shelf that you know is able to read the blue disks....that way you should be able to make new copies of them later down the road to new media if you have to.

While you're talking to the guy get his opinion about the new dual layered dvd burners and the media that goes with them and see what his thoughts are about them being able to see 'older' burned media types. I would be interested in the feedback.

TONI

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Re: always keep a spare
Nov 18, 2004 2:05AM PST

I will try to remember that Toni but it might be a couple of months before I get back over that way LOL. I have not even bought a stand alone DVD player for movies yet for two reasons, I have about 300 VHS movies that I'm NOT going to throw away. plus I've been waiting for the price to go down and the speed to go up on the DVD player/recorders, which will happen soon if it hasn't already. I don't do that much CD burning myself except for backups and an occasional Music CD or a game for friends.

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Either ....Or....
Nov 17, 2004 5:10AM PST

You can use Toni's procedure to make a backup of the Address Book or the procedure below works also. (I find this procedure a little easier to "Import" between other e-mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook, but it's not a big thing, either way.)

Open Outlook Express. Click on "File" in the upper left, choose "Export", then choose "Address Book". At the next window, highlight the "Text File(Comma Separated Values) selection, then click on the "Export" button. At the next window, click on the "Browse" button and give the file a name like "MyContacts", click on "Save", then follow the prompts to save the .csv file.

The import/export process is much the same in Outlook or Outlook Express.

Hope this helps.

Grif

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Re: Either ....Or....
Nov 17, 2004 7:32AM PST

I'm curious here Grif or Toni. I've got Outlook Express with XPSP2. When I have Outlook Express open, if I open the address book and go to file/export, one of the options is "address book (WAB)" and I can scroll and export it to anywhere I want such as a floppy, CD or whereever. Does that actually transport the original address book and take it out of Outlook Express or is it just a copy. I occasionally ship a copy of "My Favorites" to "My Documents" and put a copy of the whole "My Documents" folder into a a CD which also includes all my pictures so I have a backup. Those are just copies so I assume the same would hold true for the address book but wanted to ask before I tried it. I just reread my question, i hope it makes sense LOL

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Re: Either ....Or....
Nov 17, 2004 7:46AM PST

Hope you don't mind me butting in here roddy.

Export usually only copies. It doesn't Export in the "take it out of the country" definition.

Mark

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Re: Either ....Or....
Nov 17, 2004 7:55AM PST

Thanks Mark, I was pretty sure but I didn't want to try it without asking someone for sure LOL. Of all the years that I have had computers, I never had one that was new enough that everything worked on it so some of the basic stuff is still new to me. My first computer was so old that all it had was a floppy which didn't work anyway. My second one had a CD ROM but not a burner and the floppy didn't work on that one either. This one has a floppy, a CD-RW and a DVD-ROM and they all actually work on it. LOL

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Export and Send To
Nov 17, 2004 8:26AM PST

for Windows both have the same meaning.....COPY.....and I'll be damned if I know why it can't just SAY SO.....even for the Registry items.

The only issue I have with the Export command is with the Favorites folder.....in older versions of Windows (I have two computers now, one with XP and one with W98SE), trying to export Favorites only gave me the default Windows installed links and none of my own, so I stopped using Export completely with Favorites. Now I just open the folder and drag the entire contents (Edit, Select All) to another folder I call OLDFAVS with the right mouse button and COPY HERE for safe keeping.

Some people have tried dragging the folder itself to another location and wound up having an empty Favorites when they got on the net.....because the FOLDER is a system file and once it's copied somewhere else, even a floppy disk, the folder copies to the new location as the new system folder location and is dead in the water at its original location. Mind boggling, but true....and the only way to fix it before was in DOS.......LOL

TONI

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Re: Export and Send To
Nov 17, 2004 8:51AM PST

What I do when I want to back up my favorites, etc. I got to My computer/C drive/documents and settings. I highlight "favorites" and click on file/send to/my documents. Then I send a copy of the entire "My Documents" folder to CD using edit/select all/file/send to/CD. It sounds long and drawn out but only actually takes a couple of minutes, including burning the CD. Now that I know I can Export (Send to)my address book also, I will add that to my backups from now on. I've got a lot of pictures in the folder too, the entire "My documents" folder has 102MB in it. That's almost as much as you have on your Quick Launch bar Toni. Grin

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Still got you beat
Nov 17, 2004 9:53AM PST

My My Documents folder has 603MB in it....but that also includes my website and My Pictures (I moved the My Documents folder to another partition for safekeeping and burn it to cdrw frequently as I have too many years of forum tips to take the chance of losing them. That and not having QuickLaunch would cause me to jump into the tub and slit my wrists. LOL)

TONI

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Re: Still got you beat
Nov 17, 2004 10:05AM PST

Give me time, this particular computer is only 8 months old, I may catch you eventually LOL. I've got 130 websites on favorite now and a bundle of Forum tips in a draft folder in my e-mail program too so I can copy and paste easily and I don't lose them that way. I think everybody has ther own way of doing things. Knock on wood, I haven't misplaced anything YET. LOL I've got the hard drive drive out of my old computer in this one and it is a "G" drive now with just games on it so I don't them them mixed up with anything else LOL.

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Re: Export and Send To
Nov 17, 2004 9:22PM PST
Some people have tried dragging the folder itself to another location and wound up having an empty Favorites when they got on the net.....because the FOLDER is a system file

1. Start "TweakUI v1.33" (click and download if wanted) by clicking Start, Control Panel, TweakUI.

Note: Depending on version the TweakUI version, click the General tab and find the section Special Folders, or either the My Computer tab.

2. Click the down arrow at the Folders: window and highlight an item to change location for, click the button titled "Change Location", and make the selection wanted.
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Hello, my friend
Nov 17, 2004 11:08PM PST

It's really great to see you still floating around and taking care of me as usual. The step you mention is one that I continuously forget is available...I need to put up a sticky note or something to remind me as my senior moments are beginning to come more frequently, I think. Thanks

TONI

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backup Outlook express address book
Dec 22, 2004 2:11AM PST

hello,
I had the same problem but recently I downloaded a program named "MENA Address Book Guardian" at http://www.files32.com and it did a great job. The program also hides the address book.

Good luck.