We have Windows 7 and use Windows Live Mail for E Mail. Today for no apparent reason our contacts are messed up. My wife had a lot of them separated into different groups. One group that had 43 contacts may have only 8. All the groups have less than they bare supposed to. What could have happened?
Windows 7 E Mail contacts dissadeared
- Thread starter WilliamP
- Start date
Hi,
There are a number of things that you could try. Have you attempted to rollback your Windows to a point in time before your WLM contacts got scrambled with SYSTEM RESTORE? If not, you should first backup all your Library folders to external media in order to avoid irretrievable data loss!
Things that could cause this problem would most likely be:
1.) Virus/malware infection
2.) Windows registry corruption in networking files from a newly installed program or Windows update
3.) Hardware failure such as a faulty Hard Drive or RAM stick(s)
If System Restore fixes your problem, you are set to go!
If it doesn't work, you should start with #1, and use your built-in AV program to scan/remove any found viruses. Yes, there are viruses that specifically attack E-mail programs including WLM. Next, visit piriform.com and download the free MALWAREBYTES antispyware program. Scan/remove any found spyware viruses. Reboot and check your WLM. If the problem is fixed, you encountered a virus and have fixed it.
Problems from #2 can often be repaired using System Restore. However, if that repair fails more aggressive software repairs might be required if WLM program is corrupted. Take a look here: How do I re-index Storage Folders in Windows Live Mail under Win 7?
If this doesn't repair your WLM, you might need to uninstall and reinstall the program. Make certain prior to doing this that you completed the recommended backup first.
More aggressive software repairs, if needed require Hardware Testing first, since a computer running Windows7 are now quite old-8 years old. If you have never replaced the hard drive in that computer since you bought it, it is highly likely that the hard drive is failing or has failed. Repairing or reinstalling W7 will not fix a problem due to failed hardware.
Hard drives in modern computers are not designed to last more than 3 years in desktop PCs, and only 2 years in laptops. 
If you decide to do hardware testing yourself, you can then attempt more aggressive software repairs such as W7 reset or reinstatllation. Take a look at my free TROUBLESHOOING GUIDE here to assist with these tasks: Windows 10 - Unclickable Task Bar
Let us know how you get on,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
There are a number of things that you could try. Have you attempted to rollback your Windows to a point in time before your WLM contacts got scrambled with SYSTEM RESTORE? If not, you should first backup all your Library folders to external media in order to avoid irretrievable data loss!
Things that could cause this problem would most likely be:
1.) Virus/malware infection
2.) Windows registry corruption in networking files from a newly installed program or Windows update
3.) Hardware failure such as a faulty Hard Drive or RAM stick(s)
If System Restore fixes your problem, you are set to go!
If it doesn't work, you should start with #1, and use your built-in AV program to scan/remove any found viruses. Yes, there are viruses that specifically attack E-mail programs including WLM. Next, visit piriform.com and download the free MALWAREBYTES antispyware program. Scan/remove any found spyware viruses. Reboot and check your WLM. If the problem is fixed, you encountered a virus and have fixed it.
Problems from #2 can often be repaired using System Restore. However, if that repair fails more aggressive software repairs might be required if WLM program is corrupted. Take a look here: How do I re-index Storage Folders in Windows Live Mail under Win 7?
If this doesn't repair your WLM, you might need to uninstall and reinstall the program. Make certain prior to doing this that you completed the recommended backup first.
More aggressive software repairs, if needed require Hardware Testing first, since a computer running Windows7 are now quite old-8 years old. If you have never replaced the hard drive in that computer since you bought it, it is highly likely that the hard drive is failing or has failed. Repairing or reinstalling W7 will not fix a problem due to failed hardware.
Hard drives in modern computers are not designed to last more than 3 years in desktop PCs, and only 2 years in laptops. If you decide to do hardware testing yourself, you can then attempt more aggressive software repairs such as W7 reset or reinstatllation. Take a look at my free TROUBLESHOOING GUIDE here to assist with these tasks: Windows 10 - Unclickable Task Bar
Let us know how you get on,
<<<BIGBEARJEDI>>>
That's unfortunate!
Chances are it's #2 or #3 on my list of probable causes of failure then. Did you try the re-index folders repair link I gave you yet?
Another thing you can do is to login to the webmail version of your E-mail via your ISP provider. Say you have Cox, Verizon, or Charter as your ISP. They all have webmail you can access through any browser connected to the Internet. You can login into your wife's E-mail account, if she has a different E-mail account than you do (and you don't share a single E-mail address!), and look at her Contacts. You should be able to export her Contacts to excel or .csv file, and then print out the list of Contacts on a printer. Once you've repaired your WLM using the methods I gave you above, you can reinstall WLM and import the contacts using the WLM file import facility to restore them. If that doesn't work, you can re-enter them manually into the WLM contacts applet one at a time using the printed hardcopy list as created above. (could take her awhile, especially if she has more than 250 contacts). This gives you at least 2 methods to get her Contacts back.
P.S. Don't forget to re-enable (turn back on) your System Restore if you have to reset or reinstall your W7 so you don't have to repeat this whole thing all over again. W7, W8x, and W10 none of them enable System Restore by default *you have to physically go in there and check it's enabled from time to time and that's it's indeed creating Restore Points properly*.
Let us know how you get on.
<<<BBJ>>>
Chances are it's #2 or #3 on my list of probable causes of failure then. Did you try the re-index folders repair link I gave you yet? Another thing you can do is to login to the webmail version of your E-mail via your ISP provider. Say you have Cox, Verizon, or Charter as your ISP. They all have webmail you can access through any browser connected to the Internet. You can login into your wife's E-mail account, if she has a different E-mail account than you do (and you don't share a single E-mail address!), and look at her Contacts. You should be able to export her Contacts to excel or .csv file, and then print out the list of Contacts on a printer. Once you've repaired your WLM using the methods I gave you above, you can reinstall WLM and import the contacts using the WLM file import facility to restore them. If that doesn't work, you can re-enter them manually into the WLM contacts applet one at a time using the printed hardcopy list as created above. (could take her awhile, especially if she has more than 250 contacts). This gives you at least 2 methods to get her Contacts back.
P.S. Don't forget to re-enable (turn back on) your System Restore if you have to reset or reinstall your W7 so you don't have to repeat this whole thing all over again. W7, W8x, and W10 none of them enable System Restore by default *you have to physically go in there and check it's enabled from time to time and that's it's indeed creating Restore Points properly*.
Let us know how you get on.
<<<BBJ>>>
