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Click on the links below:
Sharing the Windows Address Book
Import your old Address Book
Backup E-mail Addresses
Sharing the Windows Address Book
Warning, this tip uses the Registry editor - only change what I say below. If you change anything else you could wreck Windows. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Log on as the user with the address book that is to be shared.
Left click Start, left click Run, type REGEDIT and left click OK
Navigate through the Registry tree structure to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\W ab File Name
Write down the location of the WAB file in the (Default) entry. It will be something like:
C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\UserName.wab
Log on as the other user who wants to use the shared address book and open REGEDIT as above. Navigate to the same place as before. Double click the entry for (Default) and change it to match the entry for the first user. (You will probably only have to change UserName in the above example.)
Changes made by either user will now appear in their shared address book.
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Import your old Address Book
When upgrading, people quite frequently (and sensibly) install their old hard disk as a slave in their new computer (or they get me to do it for them). This prevents their data being misappropriated when they dispose of the old computer and enables them to find that vital document that they didn’t think they needed.
The most common thing that they want is to recover their old address book.
This is simple, providing that you can find the old address book before you start.
Search the old disk for files ending .wab If the old disk is now d:\ then the file that you want is usually at d:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\UserName.wab
Having established the address of the old address book, open the new address book (Start, All Programs, Accessories, Address Book)
Left click on File, Import, Address Book (WAB)...
Navigate to the location of the old address book and left click on Open.
The old address book will be imported. While you have it open, clear out some old entries. Or look up some old friends!
And whilst you think of it, make sure that you add the new address book to your backup regime - you do have one don’t you?
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Backup E-mail Addresses
If you use Hotmail, Googlemail, Yahoo or a similar on-line e-mail service then you don’t need to backup - all your addresses are stored securely on the mail servers.
But if you use Outlook Express your e-mail addresses are stored in the Windows Address Book on your own computer so they need backing-up in case of disaster.
The Windows Address Book is a program in it’s own right (usually to be found by going through Start, All Programs, Accessories, Address Book).
But it is usually opened by clicking the Addresses button in Outlook Express.
When you have the Address Book open, left click on File then on Export then on Address Book (WAB)...
A box will open to let you choose where you want to save a copy of your Address Book and what you want to call the copy.
I suggest you save it in My Documents and give it a name like “Addresses24_09_07”. (But if you include the date like I did, DON’T use special characters like slash (/) or full stop (.) (“period” in American).)
If the copy is in your My Documents folder then you will back it up when you do your regular backup. You do a regular backup don’t you?
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