Thank you. Ignorance is not bliss! I did the following: open
OutlookFileOpenOutlook data filemy documentsdbl L click on the contacts
backup icona new view pops up with a folder list on it's L side My Contact
BackupContacts. I'm embarrased to say how long the last few steps took but
success is success. I then tried opening the CD I thought I had loaded the
backup contacts onto with Outlook open but run into my previous problem of
bieng asked to choose the program I want to open this file and not being
successful with any of the options. Any suggestions? Korine

"Russ Valentine [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You never open PST files from Windows Explorer.
You open them in Outlook.
File Open Outlook Data File.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
"Korine" wrote in message
...
I followed the Office online instructions to "create a backup copy of my
Contacts" The backup file is visible in My Documents. But when I try to
open
the file I"m told that "Windows is attemping to open a file of type "
office
data file" (.pst) I then select "open with" and several prompts later
reach
"Windows needs to know what program created it" and I am asked to select
"the program that created it" from a list. The first four selections a
Microsoft Office Excel, Office Publisher , Office Word and Office Document
Reader. I have tried all four of these and am unable to view the backup
file. With Excel data is visible but not is a readable format. With Word
all I see are geometric shapes! I also tried 3 or 4 other programs in a
secondary list and they did not open the file either.
What program created the backup file and how do I open my backup file? My
goal is to save the back up file to a CD.