[Rivera42]

Please see edit to Post #14.

I copied wab32.dll, but that didn't help.

sfc /scannow found something missing somewhere, but didn't say what it was. I got the usual message about files Windows needs must be copied to the dll cache. When prompted for the Windows disc, I clicked "retry" hoping sfc would accept my mounted iso of the CD instead of making me dig out the real one, and since I wasn't notified further, I'm assuming that it worked.

Address Book in OE6 continues to produce error messages as described.

[throoper]

Check that all the files in the C:\Program Files\Outlook Express folder are NOT marked Read Only.
Just to be clear, are you having problems with OE itself, or is it only when doing anything with the address book?
If only the Address Book, you may be able to reinstall it running the wab50.inf located in the folder C:\Windows\INF.

Edit: After verifying the files are not marked Read Only, try reregistering the wab32.dll by clicking Start>Run>type regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\wab32.dll">OK. Include the quotes and note the space between 32 and C:\.

[Rivera42]

So far as I can tell, this only affects AB. OE loads properly, but in fairness I should mention that I haven't tried to send any test emails from it.

Nothing in the folder is marked read-only.

Can I just copy & paste your red text in the Run dialog?

[throoper]

Originally Posted by Rivera42

Nothing in the folder is marked read-only.

Can I just copy & paste your red text in the Run dialog?

Hold off on doing that re-register.
Take a look in C:\Program Files\Common Files\System and see if the following files are present.
WAB32.DLL
WABRES32.DLL
DIRECTDB.DLL

Check them to be sure they are not Read Only.

[Rivera42]

The checkboxes for read-only are all blank for those files.

[throoper]

My apologies. Right idea, right file, wrong location.
In the folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\System, delete the wab32.dll (it should be replaced with a fresh copy by WFP).
Click Start>Run>type wab /a (note the space between the b and /)>OK. Let me know if the address book will open.
If it does not open, do the same with the wabres32.dll.

[Rivera42]

I'm guessing that wab32res.dll is the same as wabres32.dll as you've written it. I wasn't sure but it makes more sense than to assume they're two discrete files.

Instead of deleting the specified files altogether, I dragged them into a backup location "just in case." File Protection replenished them in \Common Files\System as you said it would.

Performing the above steps did not solve the problem. First I get the usual "address book is not your default vcard viewer" check that always comes up (I've elected not to skip that check as it gives me the option of doing). Then I get the "an error occurred while attempting to open the Address Book file" message. I click OK and it goes away.

[throoper]

You guessed right that I typed it wrong.

I've gone back and reread everything and I have a question or 2.
In the folder C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book, you said you have an administrator.wab file that opened a blank address book. But you can't Import into it?
Did you try Importing the CSV file you found?
Can you manually add addresses to it?

Also in that folder, was there a file that was just FILE (no extension) and if there is, is there anything in it if opened with Notepad?

I would normally say to just reinstall the Address book and/or OE, but as you had problems with sfc /scannow, I suspect you'll have similar problems with a reinstall.
If you don't have updated source files, the install will likely fail and you risk trashing something else, such as OE or IE.

[Rivera42]

I can import csv files, I can edit contact information, but any .wab Address Book at any location on my computer inevitably freezes and has to be alt-F4'd. In the folder you specified, there was only Administrator.wab, no other files at all, including Administrator.wab~.

[throoper]

At this point I would say your only option to get it working is to try to reinstall the Address Book (and possibly OE).
In the C:\WINDOWS\inf folder, locate the wab50.inf and right click it. On the menu select Install. You'll likely be asked for your Windows CD.

As you don't use OE and have T-bird installed, have you tried simply Importing the CSV into that?

[Rivera42]

Originally Posted by throoper

You'll likely be asked for your Windows CD.

On this PC my Windows CD is Dell OEM. Is this going to be a problem?
PS: I've been thinking about reinstalling Windows on this PC altogether. I'd consider holding off on that until we fix this issue, because I'm curious to see if it can be fixed.

Originally Posted by throoper

As you don't use OE and have T-bird installed, have you tried simply Importing the CSV into that?

It works...sort of. It puts my data into the wrong fields. I used a csv from Outlook Express and a csv from Google Contacts. Each wound up with its own sub-heading in the T-bird address book, and I've got things like people's phone numbers in the home address field, or their address in the phone number field.

[throoper]

Originally Posted by Rivera42

On this PC my Windows CD is Dell OEM. Is this going to be a problem?
PS: I've been thinking about reinstalling Windows on this PC altogether. I'd consider holding off on that until we fix this issue, because I'm curious to see if it can be fixed.

It should have your installation files and should work, but, you also shouldn't have had a problem with sfc /scannow. One way to find out.
As long as you're considering a reinstall of Windows, you can be fairly ruthless trying to repair the Address Book.

It works...sort of. It puts my data into the wrong fields. I used a csv from Outlook Express and a csv from Google Contacts. Each wound up with its own sub-heading in the T-bird address book, and I've got things like people's phone numbers in the home address field, or their address in the phone number field.

Oh Yea!!! You have to use the Move Up / Move Down to align the fields.
Thunderbird has 36 columns and OE only has 19. I have no idea how many Google has.
It can be a little confusing lining things up, but it works well.

If you have Excel, you might find it easier to Export a new, blank CSV from T-bird (New>List, that will give you the correct column headers), then copy and paste the columns from the OE and Google CSV's into the correct T-bird CSV columns.

[Rivera42]

Originally Posted by throoper

...you might find it easier to...copy and paste the columns from the OE and Google CSV's into the correct T-bird CSV columns.

Copy each vertical column and paste into the spreadsheet version of the csv, or copy each horizontal row and paste? Or do I go in and manually change the column headers? It seems to me that each provider uses different headings, as I learned the hard way when I tried to import a T-Mobile Address Book csv into GMail. What a pain that was.

I thought any contact management application would support a standardized format but I'm finding this isn't the case. What I'd hoped to do was start with GMail Contacts (having temporarily abandoned hope of starting on my PC with an Outlook address book), export from there in csv format, and import those into my T-Bird, T-Mobile, and/or OE Address Books. Since the csv files have different columns or categories for contact data, I am having trouble with this.

When I can get one of my .wab address books to stay open long enough without the freeze-and-crash, I can export (via Bluetooth) individual vCards to my mobile device, and the information displays correctly in my address book. However, I find that it doesn't work the other way around. If I send a vCard from the device to the PC, Outlook Express only shows me the first number or email address listed, along with the contact name. If I save the vCard to a folder location, however, and then view it using Windows Live Mail (the desktop app) all the information is correct.

[throoper]

Copy and paste the vertical columns.
If you make a new list in T-bird with no information and Export it as a CSV, you'll get the column headers already filled in in the correct position.
Then just copy the columns from the OE and Google CSV files and paste them into the appropriate column in the T-bird CSV.
For example: OE has Home Phone as column K. That would be pasted into the T-bird column H, which is T-birds position for Home Phone.

I know what you mean about nothing being standardized. That would make things simple, but take all the fun out of trying to work around it.