First it may not be possible to import from outlook express to Windows mail. Thou very similar there are differences in the two. Most likely file extension problems.
You could send the most important stuff to yourself. This is easy to do, just address it to yourself and send. Do you have a dual boot of the two OSs?
If your trying to recreate your address book check with your on line email provider. You can import the address book from an on line source. At least you can from Yahoo.
Maybe with a little more information I might be able to assist you further. Sorry no one assisted you sooner. I'll help as much as I can.
I have my outlook express on my old drive in a case connected externally to my new HP laptop.
I think I have copied over the file on to the desktop of Vista. Do I need special software to import all the data?
Thanks for any help

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic