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OutLook Express Address Book

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9 replies

by computerusageco

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I have lost the address book for outlook express. How can I get it back. The entry is still in the Registry and the *wab file is in c:\windows\application data\ but no address book. The message I get is cannot open address book or it must be reinstalled. Hopefully I will not need to reinstall the entire Outlook Express.

9 replies

by syscokid

What happens if you click on File, Import, Address Book, and point to the .wab? Is that when you get the message "cannot open it"?

by khall3

You should be able to go to file-import-address book in your outlook express. All you would need to do is navigate to c:\windows\application data\microsoft\address book and select the wab file. Or in your case if you are showing the .wab in c:\windows\application data\ navigate there instead and select the .wab and hit ok.

by traversetek

MS Knowledge Base Article Q263837 is about reinstalling OE, but it also has a list of files that OE needs to operate properly( including wab.exe, wabfind.dll, and wab32.dll. Do a search on your system for each file. If any are missing, you can extract them from the CAB files.

Also, have you tried renaming .wab to .old, then changing the name of the .wa~ file to .wab?

If all the files are there, and both the current (.wab) and backup (.wa~) copies of the address book refuse to open, then the only choice I can think of is reinstalling OE, but it may just be that your address book got corrupted and is damaged beyond repair. Good Luck.

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