When using Outlook Express a message appeared asking whether the computer should default to Outlook Express. I thought this would create a shortcut, making future email access easier. Instead, I seem to have lost all the contacts in my Address list. How can I get them back? The computer is running Windows XP.

When you say the ‘address list’ I assume you mean the Address Book accessible through Outlook Express. It is certainly a strange scenario you have described, where the contacts have been lost. The message that appeared was likely asking whether you want to use Outlook Express as the default email client, and should not have had any affect on the address book.

Windows allows you to create multiple address books, so it is possible the address book containing all your contacts is still present, but just not set as the default. To test this theory, open Outlook Express and then click the ‘Addresses’ button to open the address book. You should see two panes in the Address Book window. In the right-hand pane, the contacts for an address book will be displayed. In the left-hand pane, the different address books are listed. If you cannot see a left-hand pane listing the address books go to the ‘View’ menu > ‘Folders and Groups’. Now, try selecting a different address book in the left-hand pane and check whether the right-hand pane displays your address list. If you find the address book containing all your contacts then it seems that the default address book has changed and is displaying a blank address book. So, we need to change the default to the address book containing all your contacts. This is a tricky process, and involves a registry hack to tell Outlook Express which address book file should be used as the default.

A simpler solution is to move all your contacts from the other address book into the new default address book. To do this, highlight all the contacts in the address book and then drag the selection onto the current default address book. However, before completing this procedure I strongly suggest you backup the address book containing all your contacts, in case something goes horribly wrong. You can do this by selecting the relevant address book, and then going to the ‘File’ menu > ‘Export’ > ‘Address Book’. Save the address book to a memorable place, and click Save. This will export the address book as a .WAB (Windows Address Book) file. Should you ever need to access this backup copy, you can simply double-click the exported WAB file and it will automatically open in the Address Book application.

However, should the missing address book not be present in the Address Book window, its location is a real mystery. The next solution is to search your hard drive for WAB files. Each address book is contained in a WAB file, so if it is still on the computer then there should be a file for the address book. Go to the ‘Start’ menu > ‘Search’. Search for ‘All files and folders’. For the ‘File name’, type ‘.wab’ (without the quotes, but make sure you have a leading period) and for the ‘Look in select ‘Local Hard Drives’. Expand ‘More advanced options’ and enable ‘Search system folders’, ‘Search hidden files and folders’, and ‘Search subfolders’. Also, make sure the type of file is set to ‘(All files and folders)’. Click ‘Search’ and wait for results to appear. Once the search has finished, you should see a list of WAB files. Each of these represents one address book. Double-click each WAB file to open the address book and look at the contents. If you find the address book containing all your contacts, copy this address book to a memorable location (e.g. the Desktop). Then, open Outlook Express and the Address Book. In the menu, select ‘File’ > ‘Import’ > ‘Address Book (WAB)’. Select the address book you just backed-up (e.g. on the desktop) and click Open. This should import the addresses back into the active address book.