Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Windows Mail contacts gone

by A.L. Jan 2, 2008 10:21PM PST

Dell Inspiron 1420
Windows Vista home premium
Memory 2 GB
Intel core 2 duo 1.50 GHz
Avast anti Virus
Playing with my laptop last night and congratulating myself on a whole day with out an error message. Went into "Contacts" and the folder was empty, could not believe my eyes, after trying various things, and I have backed up regularly (system could not retrieve backup)I did a system restore, good, my contacts reappeared but that messed up my AVG 7.5. It just caused the computer to freeze,I uninstalled AVG and installed Avast and now everything seems to be running smoothly again.
So what happened, where did all my contacts go? any one else encounter this? Usually when something goes wrong I kind of know why but this came out of the blue and I find it unnerving. Ann

Discussion is locked

2 Posts

- Collapse + Expand Details

- Collapse -

Maybe a backup system is needed.

by r. proffitt Forum moderator Jan 3, 2008 1:51AM PST

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/65fbffa9-0ba5-45d8-a60f-ded4e86f01de1033.mspx notes how to export them so you can have a spare.

No, I can't explain where they went but I learned years ago that backup is something we do somewhere else than in a car.

- Collapse -

Back up

by A.L. Jan 3, 2008 4:20AM PST

Thanks Bob, I did have a backup but got an error message when I tried to restore the files.
Enough is enough, I called Dell, read them a list of my error messages,after trying numerous things it was suggested I restore the computer back to factory settings, desperate, I agreed.
To make a long story short, the computer is running lots better and even with everything re-installed I have 18GB more memory reported then I did when I bought it.Go figure!!!!
I notice a lot of performance improvements, no more black screens, no more blue screens, no more reports of programs that have stopped working...I think I'm on the mend. Ann

Back to Windows Vista forum