How do I import old address book from bad imac to new imac

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How do I import old address book from bad imac to new imac

Old iMac bit the dust and I purchased a new one last month. I had Geek Squad back up all my old info and move it to new machine. When I open Address Book I have no addresses there.

I've tried to locate my old address book on the back up but can't seem to import or copy any info over to new machine.

imac, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 17, 2010 4:18 PM

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Answer 1

satcomer

Level 4

1,539 points

Dec 17, 2010 4:42 PM in response to MLIndy99

Well the Mail accounts info is actually kept in /YourHardDrive/Users/YourUserName/Library/Mail/. Did "Geek Squad" (they are NOT geeks, just Windows only "geeks") back up that folder?

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Answer 2

babowa

Level 9

78,109 points

Dec 17, 2010 5:43 PM in response to MLIndy99

If you still have access to your old Mac, the Addressbook card info files are here:

Users -> Library -> Application Support -> Addressbook -> Metadata

I checked on mine and that Metadata folder contains all my addresses.

So, if you can get to that on your old Mac, you could just copy that entire folder to an external and then copy/place it into the very same location on the new Mac.

Message was edited by: Barbara Daniels1

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Answer 3

MLIndy99 Author

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Dec 18, 2010 3:49 AM in response to babowa

Thanks, Barbara, but no luck. I do have the Metadata files and copied them to new machine in same folder but nothing shows up in Address Book when I open it,=.

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Answer 4

babowa

Level 9

78,109 points

Dec 18, 2010 9:08 AM in response to MLIndy99

Well, unfortunately, that sounds as though the "geek" squad had no idea what they were doing.

Is the old Mac usable at all? If so, can you open Addressbook on it? If you can, highlight one address. Go to Edit -> choose Select All. Go to File -> Export -> choose Export Group vCard. You'll get a file icon on your desktop. Copy that to an external and then to new Mac. Open Addressbook there and choose Import.

That would be my last idea on how to recover that (short of directing some well deserved anger at the so called geek squad!).

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Answer 5

FrankG23

Level 1

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Feb 25, 2011 9:22 AM in response to babowa

My friend has the same issue. His old mac died and can not start, he got a new Mac with upgraded OS and has all of his metada files.
What does the MAC support team have to say about this issue? It looks like the only way to recover your address book from a busted MAC is to have Backed up your cards with the address book back up utility. That means every time you create a new card, you have to backup. In other words use the address backup utility or else loose you cards, you wont be able to load them in your new address book.
Copying metadata files should do the trick. My guess is the actual cards are stored in Memory, not in hard drive and the metadata files reference and or point to memory.
Is there a way MAC support steps in on this issue?

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Answer 6

Zeidan

Level 1

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Jun 23, 2011 7:17 AM in response to MLIndy99

I just ran into the same problem, but i got it working.

my MBP's hard drive started failing yesterday so i replaced it, and hooked my old drive to a usb enclosure.

i followed babowa's steps and that didnt work. u need to the entire "Address Book" file from application support.

at first it wouldnt allow me to replace "Address Book" on my new drive i did the following.

1. duplicate "Address Book" file on the old drive.

Users -> Library -> Application Support -> Addressbook

2. copy it into Users -> Library -> Application Support. (do not remove "copy" yet)

3. Delete the "Address Book" file from application support.

4. Remove "copy" form the duplicate file name.

hope that helps. even tho the thread is 6 months old

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Answer 7

babowa

Level 9

78,109 points

Jun 23, 2011 8:31 AM in response to FrankG23

Is there a way MAC support steps in on this issue?

If you would like Apple support, you'd have to contact them; if you are under warranty, they will gladly walk you through the steps necessary (if not, they'll still do it for a fee).

FWIW, this is not Apple support; these forums are user to user and people volunteer their time to help.

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Answer 8

Pondini

Level 8

38,863 points

Jun 23, 2011 4:32 PM in response to babowa

babowa wrote:

If you still have access to your old Mac, the Addressbook card info files are here:

Users -> Library -> Application Support -> Addressbook -> Metadata

I think you need to copy the whole AddressBook folder, not just the enclosed Metadata folder. The other files there contain the index to the contacts in the Metadata folder, as I recall.

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Answer 9

babowa

Level 9

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Jun 23, 2011 4:56 PM in response to Pondini

You are most likely correct - I don't know though if the original OP still has a problem or not; the thread suddenly got resurrected with instructions so I found the Feb. post which I had missed completely for some reason...

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