Stump the PC Club is a free tech-advice column written by members of the North Orange County Computer Club, which has been in existence since 1976. Visit the club’s site at noccc.org. And don’t forget to stop by the Gadgetress’ home for the PC Club, at ocregister.com/link/pcclub, to find out how to ask a question and read past answers.

This is Part 2 of a 2-part article. Part-1, at “Windows 7 e-mail survival kit, Part 1,” addressed how to transfer your Outlook Express e‑mail messages and contacts to a computer running the new Windows 7 operating system. This article addresses how to transfer your messages and contacts from Vista’s Windows Mail to a PC running Windows 7.

The transfer: Vista to Windows 7 mail

If you haven’t already done so, you need to download and install the free Windows Live Mail from download.live.com. Be sure to uncheck any additional programs that you do not want to install. You can signup for a free Live ID, but you don’t need one to download the software. You will have to know how to configure your e-mail account with your Internet provider and you must know your User ID and password.

There are many options for Windows 7 but this article will concentrate on migrating from the free Windows Mail to the free Windows Live Mail. You have several other choices in addition to using Windows Live Mail and can read more about it in a previous article at “Will Windows 7 force you to change your e-mail program?“  To begin, follow these steps:

Step 1: Save your existing messages

1. Start  your Vista PC. Plug in an external hard drive or flash storage drive.

2. Create a folder on the external hard drive to store the exported e-mail messages. You could call it “Old Mail.”

3. Open Windows Mail and click File, Export, Messages.

4. Select Microsoft Windows Mail and click Next.

5. Click the Browse button and locate the “Old Mail” folder you created in Step 2 and click Next. If you encounter problems with this step, export the messages to any folder on your hard drive, and then copy them to an external drive from there.

6. Select “All folders” in the next screen and click Next.

7. Click Finish.

Step 2: Save your contacts

1. Open Windows Mail and click File, Export, Contacts.

2. Select CSV (Comma Separated Values) and click Export.

3. Click the Browse button and locate the “Old Mail” folder you created on your external hard drive.

4. Enter a file name such as “Vista contacts” and click Save.

5. Click Next.

6. Place a check in the First Name and Last Name boxes and click Finish.

7. Click OK and Close.

** Make sure everything is safely on your external drive before upgrading to Windows 7. **

Step 3: Import mail to Windows Live Mail

1. Plug the drive with the saved Identities folder into the PC with Windows 7.

2. Start Windows Live Mail.

3. Select File, Import Messages.

4. Select Windows Mail.

5. Click the Browse button and locate the “Old Mail” folder on the External drive where you exported your Vista messages.

6. Expand the folder until you see Local Folders and click Next.

7. In the next Window select All folders or Selected folders. If you choose Selected folders, you can use your Control key to select multiple folders.

8. The messages from Windows Mail will now be in Windows Live Mail in folders labeled Storage folders. These folders can be dragged around or renamed as appropriate.

Step 4: Import contacts to Windows Live Mail

1. On the PC with Windows 7, start Windows Live mail.

2. Plug the drive with the saved Vista contacts into the PC with Windows 7.

3. Click the Contacts icon at the bottom to open the Contacts window.

4. Click File, Import, Comma Separated Values (CSV).

5. Navigate to the external drive where you saved your Address Book.

6. Select the file and click Open.

7. Click Next and Finish.

~Ed Schwartz, NOCCC member. View his Web site at www.edwardns.com.

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