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HELP!!!

I got a virus about a week ago and had to do a system reinstall, for some reason I cannot reinstall my address book into Outlook express; I tried to go through the File tab on Outlook E. clicking on Import, Address book, E Drive, and when I click on Address Book, I get a message that says “An Error accrued during the import progress. The import progress could not be completed.” Can anyone help?

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Fedele

What virus did you contract, Fidele?

Did you run a virus checker on your system after you rearchitectured it?

Is the address book corrupt from whatever you picked up?

Do you have a backup address book?

Try reinstalliing OE.

Try reinstalling your OS again after a hard drive reformat if everything else you try fails.

I don't use OE because of its virus/trojan/worm ineptitude.

When you get it fixed, ALWAYS keep some protection running in the background.

I wish I could help more, Fidele, but Tony has master knowledge of these issues.

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Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

Fedele, if you did a restore, your version of Outlook may have been newer then the one you have now when you exported it initially. Make sure you have the latest outlook express as Allen said. there are several utilities out there to convert Windows Address books. Get one that will convert it to a .CSV (Comma seperated values file) and try importing it that way if the version upgrade doesn't work.

Alan,

Thanks for responding to my plea!


"What virus did you contract, Fidele?"


I don’t know what Virus I conceived if any, but I called Tec advice and they referred me to Sony because it was a software problem and the software was installed from the factory. Sony charged me for their help because it is older than three months, after trying to solve the problem for about twenty minutes they gave up on me and recommended a system reinstall, and charged me anyway!


"Did you run a virus checker on your system after you rearchitectured it?"


I did not have more than the insignificant, that I found to be the case when it was too late, virus check that comes installed on the PC. I have since purchased, installed and updated Norton Utilities.


"Is the address book corrupt from whatever you picked up?"


I do not think that the Address Book is corrupt, as it was backed up some time before I had a problem.


"Try reinstalliing OE."


Outlook Express was surly reinstalled when I did the System reinstall, no?

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Fedele

Hi Tony,

Thank you also for coming to my aid!

I used the original CD’s that came with my system to re install, wouldn’t everything still be compatible? If not where would I get updates for Outlook Express, or the converter for the “CSV” File?

Thank you Guys for your help, I will await your response with baited breath!!!

PS. My system is a…
Sony Vaio, approx 12 months old.

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Fedele

Fedele, I just did this job for someone and their system had Outlook Express 4 on the CD, even though it was upgraded to 5.5 before the restoration. If they backed up files in version 5.5 and then I restored to version 4, then their may be a formatting problem and an error could occur on import. The best thing to do is upgrade OE to the latest version as well as Interent Explorer. While your at it, you should get ALL of the security updates for windows as well. go to http://windowsupdate.com

If that doesn't solve your problem, try converting the address book to a CSV file with this utility and then importing it in that format:
http://www.webattack.com/get/dawn.shtml

"Outlook Express was surly reinstalled when I did the System reinstall, no?"

Yes. An older, expected to be ok, address book ‘should’ work with the new OE installation. Tony gave you the right tips.

The Operating System is which windows? [moot point by now]

“. . .Import, Address book, E Drive,”

You have a lot of drives on your PC. Consider saving your address book, after you repopulate it, to a floppy for restoration.

Please keep us informed of your progress, Fedele.

Tony, I'm going to visit then bookmark those URLs. One can never be too safe in today's cyber-world.

<hr>
“. . . after trying to solve the problem . . . they gave up . . . and charged me anyway!”

I hate it when they do that, and there should be a punishing law against it. Microsoft attempted once and never again will they get the opportunity.


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Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

Allen,

People should visit windowsupdate.com at least once a week to make sure all the security holes for that week are filled up!

The reason these worms are successful is because they are exploiting Windows pathetic security. It is highly unlikely that I will ever get a worm because I am constantly updating my virus scanner as well as windows and IE. Very important to maintain this stuff.

OK, here we go,

I managed to get my address book back where it belongs but could not do it your way, I had to do it the long way by copying and pasting one at a time I’m afraid. I don’t think that I have yet enough knowledge to pull of a, what seemed to be, relatively easy task. I hope that you guys are not two disappointed with me, as I did try before I gave in.

I did as you told me Tony and went to the windows download site and downloaded the whole page; it took a while. After a fare amount of time, a fare amount of restarts, and a fare amount of patients, I finely had my PC up to date and was feeling quite good and proud of myself. I tried to import the address book once more, failed, same error. I downloaded the utility that you recommended and converted my address book to a CSV file, with a little help, same thing!

So thanks once again for your help and I’m sure that we will be talking about the next problem in the not too distend future.

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Fedele

Sorry Fedele. I knew the update would take a while, you had to cover a whole years worth of changes. It's good that you did it, now try to take a little time each week to stay on top of it. You'll find your chances of propagating another worm will be slim. As for the address book... i'm stumped. If you had a succesful export to CSV file, you should not have had a problem importing it. There is nothing special about that format, it's simply a text file. wierd man....

No need to apologize, I appreciate the help, without people like you and Alan willing to help out I wouldn’t have an idea where to start, at least I played around with new things and gained a little knowledge toward my next challenge!

Thanks once again Tony

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Fedele

No wonder we didn't see you last night,
Fedele. and really wish I could have been of better assistance.

It is interesting why a comma-delimited file would not load.

Tony's right about keeping up on this stuff. It's like "Why't I just turn on my computer and use it without having to do all this extra stuff that I really don't understand."



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Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

What I still don't understand is who’s got the infected computer.

1] I have auto and manual Norton virus updates frequently.

2] Lately have been getting email with virus attachments from persons I frequently correspond with and naming familiar subjects that appear congruous topics of discussion.

3] As I open the mail Norton catches the virus and quarantines it.

So the question: Is my PC infected? If so how, and why?

If not, where in hell are those infected messages originating from?



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Van Canna

No, Van, your pc is not the infected one. Norton would let you know. If you are in doubt, let Norton run on your entire system overnight. It can’t fix or repair Klez, or even quarantine as it advertises it cannot do. However it looks like Norton simply deletes the offender. The latest, like so many for the past number of years , likes to infect Microsoft address books, makes up its own messages ,and sends them out with the host is unaware. I’ve noticed that the email I receive comes from those who have not sent it to me. I have no more to offer on this at the present time.

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Allen Moulton from Uechi-ryu Etcetera

Strange stuff. It infects microsoft address books, but whose books?

If it infects my book, then isn't my PC infected?

Sorry about the questions but this stuff stumps me no end.

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Van Canna