How do I get my address book back after reinstalling W10?

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  1. Posts : 410
    Windows 10 home Version 22H2 (OS Build 19045) and Windows 11 on laptop
       #1

    How do I get my address book back after reinstalling W10?


    I recently reinstalled Windows 10 which deleted most of my programs. I reinstalled Mozilla Thunderbird which is my email client but now find that my contacts list is empty. How can I get it back? I have two Gmail accounts and one Hotmail account. I checked my browser-based Gmail account and contacts are missing there also.

    I checked my laptop where Windows was not reinstalled thinking to export from there and import to my desktop. No addresses there either.

    How can I get my contacts/address book back?
    Last edited by lbeck; 01 Feb 2019 at 07:47.
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  2. Posts : 9,788
    Mac OS Catalina
       #2

    If your contacts did not sync with the email servers, they are gone.
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  3. Posts : 410
    Windows 10 home Version 22H2 (OS Build 19045) and Windows 11 on laptop
    Thread Starter
       #3

    I have a Macrium back up. Is it possible to retrieve my contacts from a previous saved backup file or image?
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  4. Posts : 245
    W10 Home Version 21H1 Build 19043.1055
       #4

    I'd check the Thunderbird settings first to see why you lost your web based Gmail contacts.
    I don't use Thunderbird so perhaps one of the guru's here that does could comment.

    Whenever I've clean installed W10 I've never lost anything cloud based, it just syncs back to whatever re-installed apps need it.
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  5. Posts : 42,964
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #5

    Hi, are you referring to the address book stored in your Thunderbird profile? If so, and if your Macrium image includes you profile folders, then there is plenty of help on the forum for you to search and find how to retrieve it.

    Starter:
    Where do i find the address book for thunderbird? | Thunderbird Support Forum | Mozilla Support
    Moving address books between profiles - MozillaZine Knowledge Base

    You can simply use Google:
    Where is my Thunderbird profile folder stored?

    To retrieve a file from a disk image:
    https://www.howtogeek.com/226436/how...etrieve-files/

    Note:
    - a proper clean install of Windows by booting from bootable installation disk will erase all partitions forming part of Windows.
    - an upgrade or in-place upgrade repair, started (e.g.) by booting up, logging in, mounting the iso and running setup.exe keeps all progs and data and most settings. There are tutorials for both these and much more.
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  6. Posts : 410
    Windows 10 home Version 22H2 (OS Build 19045) and Windows 11 on laptop
    Thread Starter
       #6

    These more recent posts give me hope. I'll pursue the suggestions and recommendations.

    I was surprised also that my address books disappeared from both my desktop and laptop. I assumed as mentioned that reinstalling Windows would leave my data in place and especially anything on some cloud-based server that isn't even my hardware.

    Thanks for your help.
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  7. Posts : 42,964
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #7

    a. Clean installing Windows using a boot disk and booting from it gives you a blank clean Windows with no user data, no accounts.

    b. Upgrading Windows or repairing it with an iso of the same build by logging and mounting the iso and running setup.exe - and in-place upgrade or repair install- keeps all user data and installed programs.

    If you have clean installed Windows, you would need to set up access to any cloud server accounts again.
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  8. Posts : 410
    Windows 10 home Version 22H2 (OS Build 19045) and Windows 11 on laptop
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Thanks for your help on this. I used the "Fresh Start" options from "Windows Defender Security Center". See the attached screen capture. That option said that I would keep all my personal files and some applications.

    So where am I?

    If I need to "set up access to any cloud server accounts" will I be able to retrieve my address books? If not - the Windows message is misleading and has caused me much more grief than anticipated by allowing the clean install to continue.How do I get my address book back after reinstalling W10?-fresh-start-screen.png
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  9. Posts : 42,964
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #9

    Hi, I wouldn't regard that as misleading.

    Start with the major clue: a clean installation. Clean = nothing but what is Windows- and always has meant that. Nothing added, nothing extra. You'd just have apps that come with Windows- anything you've installed is removed.Now note that personal files are kept- data. But as Thunderbird will have been removed, and the data is pertinent to that program, that message alone doesn't make it clear what happens to your profile files. Nor would you expect a succinct message to speak about such detail.

    Indeed, for MS, this is a pretty clear message- some are gobbledegook (very unclear/misleading).Given that you can find out where your profile folder was, you can look there and check. And you can hopefully retrieve it from your image.

    I don't know if Fresh Start creates Windows.old- you can have a look. If so you may be able to retrieve your profile folder from there:
    hi, i had to reset my laptop and it deleted Thunderbird ... i reinstalled it no problem but where are my emails? | Thunderbird Support Forum | Mozilla Support

    As for access to cloud services- depends how you accessed them. Browser? App? Downloaded and installed program? If by browser, that won't change.

    A fresh start is not a clean install. A clean install would leave you with no data and no user account.

    Fresh Start Windows 10 | Tutorials
    compare
    Clean Install Windows 10 | Tutorials
    and
    Repair Install Windows 10 with an In-place Upgrade | Tutorials
    and
    Refresh Windows 10 | Tutorials
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  10. Posts : 410
    Windows 10 home Version 22H2 (OS Build 19045) and Windows 11 on laptop
    Thread Starter
       #10

    I was able to retrieve an image file from Macrium. I'm trying to select a program file to retrieve my address books and find some files that look promising but of too recent a date. See the attached screenshot. I feel that if I select e.g., the abook.mab file (towards the bottom of the image) that I may overwrite an important file. But there are lots of older files.

    Advice on how to proceed?

    ThanksHow do I get my address book back after reinstalling W10?-2019-02-04.png
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