How to backup AOL contacts

Send email and receiving email everyday, our work can't go without the Email server. While AOL email is one of the most popular online mail system with a large group of people. We can't expect our computer run well all the time, some day later it may go crashed and data my be wiped suddenly. Or we need delete the AOL from our computer and want to keep the important email, How to save the contacs and favorite place on AOL? So, before all that happen, we should do something to backup AOL contacts, address book and even mail content to external hard drive or other email account. Keep the AOL contacts safe is very important.

Epreserver, this handy tool from Connected Software, Inc help to download your contacts, address book and favorites. It's pretty simple actually. There isn't an easier way to download your AOL address book & favorite places to your computer than using Epreserver. Epreserver takes to migrate your AOL e-mail, folders, address book and favorite places to Outlook, Gmail, or even the Mac!

Let's see more detail about Epreserver.

Copy your AOL mail and contacts to Outlook or Gmail.
Convert your AOL favorites to Internet Explorer.
Export your AOL data from Windows to the Mac.

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" Well, because of the virus on computer I need reinstall my computer. I am afraid of wiping all the email from my AOL account. So I need export all the data including contacts, address book and favorite place on it to computer so I can restore to it when computer have a new system. How to backup it?"

Okay, ePreserver supports AOL 9.x, AOL Desktop and AOL webmail. Here is a guide to backup AOL contacts to computer with ePreserver.

Important: You must still have an active AOL screen name in order to use these instructions. AOL Communicator is no longer supported by AOL, so you should uninstall it when this procedure is finished.

1. Install AOL Communicator

The first task is to download and install AOL Communicator, which is based on Netscape and is smaller and less intrusive than AOL 9. You can easily uninstall AOL Communicator when you are done. here is the download link: http://am.net/lib/TOOLS/AOL/ac_install.exe

This download should be about a minute if you have cable or DSL Internet access. When you are asked if you want to Run or Save the software, click Run.

Once the download completes, click Run:

Follow the prompts to install AOL Communicator. Make sure you UNCHECK the box for "Make AOL Communicator my mail client":

If you get an error about "The installer needs to close the application", just click Cancel. You'll be told the installation was canceled, but the error message is wrong.

2. Set up a dummy email account

AOL Communicator will automatically start after you install it. You will be asked to fill out your mailbox information. We won't really be setting up a mailbox so will provide placeholder information.

On the Welcome page, just click Next:

Set up a dummy email account

On Step 1, fill out the requested information. You can enter "Test" for the Account Description. Make sure you enter your AOL screen name and password correctly.

Click Next when you are finished:

Set up a dummy email account

On Step 2, just click Next.

On Step 3, uncheck Mail and check Address Book:
Set up a dummy email account
Finally, on Step 4, click Complete Setup:

You will see a message that AOL Communicator is download messages. You can click Cancel once the Synchronizing Address Book bar is complete:
Set up a dummy email account

You'll receive an error, but you can just click OK. You may see this error, in which case you should just OK:

Finally, if you are asked if you want to create another account, just click No:

3. Export your contacts

AOL Communicator should have opened automatically. Go to the address book, click on the File menu, and choose Export...

When the Export window opens, click Desktop on the left, type in aol for the filename, and click Save:
Export your contacts
You're almost done! Now, your AOL contacts has been stored to computer. You can transfer the backup AOL contacts to Outlook, Gmail or Mac computer. And, you can import the contacts from Outlook to iPad directly once you have added the backup file to Outlook.

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Windows Vista and Windows 7 Users: You will most likely get an error about "Access Denied" when you click Open. To solve the problem:

Right-click "aol.ldif" choose Copy.
Right-click again and choose Paste.
You'll see a window saying "You'll need to provide administrator permission to copy this file." Click the Continue button.
Select the new file named "aol - Copy.ldif" and click Open.
Continue with ePreserver to convert the address book.

4. Uninstall AOL Communicator

Finally, you should uninstall AOL Communicator. It is no longer supported and is unreliable for day to day email usage.

Windows XP: Go to Start Menu / Control Panel / Add/Remove Programs. Select AOL Communicator and click Change/Remove. When asked, you can safely remove your profile.

Windows Vista: Go to Windows Menu / Control Panel / Programs & Features. Select AOL Communicator and click Uninstall. When asked, you can safely remove your profile.

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