I recently upgraded to 10.6.7

My Address Book went from over 2,000 entries to 347. Then last week it appeared with over 68,000 entries, of course, so many of them being duplicates. I am trying to clean up so I can then sync my iPhone and iPad.

It had happened with the 10.6.6 upgrade as well. Thankfully I had a recent backup/archive of my AB, so I was able to start over. A lot changed for me since then and I am looking to ensure I have no problems.

Any suggestions as to how this can be avoided in the future will be greatly appreciated.