I have four computers at home. All now run XP and one is the master. For example, its address book contains everyone that might be needed on any of the other machines. I keep the machines in sync with respect to the address book by making changes on the master machine and then copying its WAB file to the other machines. If I upgrade to Windows 7, how will I be able to synchronize contacts and groups? I can't find a file or files to copy andexport/import seems not topreserve groups.

Hi lenlyon, In Windows 7, there are several methods to keep the WAB file synchronized with other computers. For your reference, I have listed some below: Method 1: Share the Contacts folder and make it available offline ========= 1. Right click on the Contact folder in the master machine and then click "Properties". 2. On the "Sharing" tab, click "Advanced Sharing" button, check "Share this folder" and then click OK. 3. Click the "Share" button, add the user you would like to share the Contacts and then click OK. 4. Access the shared folder on other computers in the home group. 5. Right click the Contacts folder and then click "Always available offline". 6. Simply clicking "Sync" button on the Taskbar will synchronize the contacts in the Contact folder. After completing the above steps, the Contacts and Groups will be available on the shared computers even the computer is offline. For more information, please refer to File Sharing and Offline Files Enhancements and Make Files and Folders Available Offline. Method 2: Use Microsoft Office Groove ========= If Office Groove is installed, we can use it to synchronize the Contacts in your home group. Please refer to Office Groove 2007 Developer Portal and Do More with Microsoft Office Groove 2007. If you would like to know more information about Office Groove, please refer to 2007 Microsoft Office Suites Solution Center. Hope the above information helps. Regards, Linda

Thanks for the response. In method 1 you talk about the Contact folder, but what folder is this? I have user name Owner and expected my contacts to be in .. C:\Users\Owner\Contacts But that folder contains only Owner.contact (plus desktop.ini) and that file seems to be only about me. I have 500 contacts and a number of groups. Where are they?

Hi lenlyon, In Windows 7, Address Book has been replaced by Windows Contacts (the folder you mentioned), and Windows Live Essentials now contains Windows Mail (formerly Outlook Express). Therefore, if you have been using Outlook Express in Windows XP, you need to use the File/Export in Outlook Express to export the windows address book. You then need to import this file into the Windows 7 Contacts folder (C:\Users\Owner\Contacts) or Windows Live Mail. After that, please refer to the previous post to share the contacts. Thanks, Linda

Thanks again for working with me on this. Given your response, I have experimented some more and discovered that there are two separate sets of contacts .. (W7) C:\Users\Owner\Contacts (WL) C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Contacts I have some observations and some questions: I have an XP WAB file with about 500 people, 23 folders, and 17 groups. I can import these two ways .. (W7) Start, Owner, Contacts, R-Click, Open, Import (WL) Start, All Programs, Windows Live, Windows Live Mail, Contacts, File, Import Neither way will import my folders and both ways will import my groups. Thus, before upgrading to Windows 7, I will reorganize my XP address book using groups to replace folders. Now consider the people: W7 appears to import all of them correctly. WL, on the other hand, in quite a few cases, imports a persons email address and notes, but not their name! I can end up with correct WL contacts if I first import my WAB to W7, and then import my W7 contacts to WL. Conclusion: You have helped my solve my original problem and we can consider that answered. However, I believe I have found a problem with importing WAB by WL, and that should be fixed. If requested, I will provide Microsoft with my failing WAB file. Thanks again .. Len

I am glad to hear that the contacts can be imported to Windows 7 successfully. I have tested the issue you mentioned in Windows Live Contacts. I created a new group, a new contact, a new folder in Windows XP and then exported to the hard drive as "Address Book (WAB)". After importing to Windows Live Contacts in Windows 7, the folder was not displayed. However, the contact full name displayed properly. Regarding Windows Live contacts issue, I recommend you post a question on Windows Live Answers. Sincerely, Linda