Address Book is empty after iSync & Hot Sync

Hi,
I have a Treo 650 and use iCal & Address Book instead of the recommended Palm Desktop. I was having trouble with the iCal retrieving information from the Treo, but after HotSyncing & iSync, was able to get the info updated. But now all the contacts in my phone are gone. The catagories are there, but no info. Not only that, but my address book is empty. I never backed up the info. Do you know where I can find the information hidden on my hard drive?
Thanks,
Robert.

If you have not subsequently attempted to synchronize, you can attempt to restore your Address Book contacts by locating the AddressBook.data.previous file here:
Macintosh HD:Users:<username>:Library:Application Support:AddressBook
If you drag the AddressBook.data file to the trash, you can then rename the AddressBook.data.previous file AddressBook.data and launch the Address Book.
As you've discovered, you need to periodically back up your contact and calendaring data, which you can easily do simply by selecting the appropriate Back Up… option under the File menu in the Address Book and iCal.

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I'm seeking assistance to solve a mystery that just occurred without any sort of warning. I attempted to place a call on my (don't laugh BB 8700) and was amazed to see nothing in my address book? I downloaded updated Desktop Manager and went through the drill of backing up and did so several times, but nothing shows up in my address book on the device. I know that there are addresses on the SimCard, because after all of the backing attempts, some of the addresses I had entered in my phone now appear in my Outlook address book. All of the other functions seem work fine---e-mail, phone, text, etc. So absent any sort of knowledge on matters such as this I can only assume that the address book function/app on the device had been compromised somehow.
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Thanks,
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i just had the exact same experience last night. however, when i synced with .mac it emptied my .mac book as well (i have it set to sync both - not overwrite .mac)
I have a total backup that I have been keeping for months using backup - so I guess I will have to resort to that - I looked around in the application library for a history file or something ond only found 2 data files both of which were quite small. (20kb)
The only addresses that show up in my empty book are the apple company and my card.
The only thing I can point to is mail and address book hung a few days back and I had to force quit.
i would really like to know - I almost had my wife giving up her paper address book this year after the big christmas card season - now without trust - that is going to take a long while to get her back to it

Why have my Address Book contacts disappeared after uploading to iCloud?

I am using my MacBook Pro w/OSX Lion.
After having many, many problems with contacts, calendars and bookmarks in MobileMe, migrating to iCloud, encountering a huge mess of duplicates and even completely missing contacts I decided to start over. So I disabled the iCloud account on all Macs and IOS devices. I then ensured all contacts, calendars and bookmarks were deleted from the MacBook Pro. I then used the Address Book export I'd made just prior to the migration from Mobile Me to iCloud and imported this onto my MacBook Pro. I've completely gone though the Address Book and removed or merged duplicates and cleaned up all contacts with detail. I backed up my Address Book again at this point. I then logged into iCloud.com using my original Apple User ID (NOT the MobileMe/me.com account which I'm going to vacate) and ensured that there were no contacts in the cloud and I deselected the default calendars here as well. My intention was/is to begin by starting small and deal only with the MacBook Pro Address Book and iCloud Contacts. So after I confirmed there is no data in the cloud I go into the MacBook Pro System Preferences > iCloud > Account Details ensuring I was signed out of the me.com user and entered my original Apple ID I've had since I started using iTunes many years back. I quit the browser and the Address Book and verified the non me.com user was saved under the System Preferences. I then selected Contacts under these iCloud System Preferences and I was asked If I wanted to merge my contacts with those in the cloud. Because there were no contacts in the cloud I selected yes. The spinning indicator indicated that the upload was occurring. Now, there are no contacts in the cloud and the Address Book contacts are missing. Thinking that my doing the Address Book backup may have removed all the data from the Address Book, I deselected Contacts in the iCloud System Preferences, reimported the backup into Address Book that I'd just done, confirmed the contacts I just imported appear in Address Book and I reselect Contacts in the iCloud System Preferences and again I get the spinning indicator. Again, there are no Contacts in the cloud and the contacts are missing from Address Book.
What the heck am I doing wrong? I've simplified my original attempt with iCloud by concentrating my efforts to just contacts AND I'm only using the MacBook and the iCloud cloud and I've still got problems. I thought this approach would narrow down where the issue lies and allow me to monitor the process more easily but I seem to be worse off than before I'd tried to resolve the initial migration problems because now I have no contacts.
I'm new to Macs so if you have a solution, please help and please give specifics because I'm still learning the structure and don't understand a lot of the acronyms and jargon.
Thanx

If you have a back up file, I'd try turning off iCloud contact syncing on all macs from system preferences > iCloud –
DONE
as well as any secondary accounts from system preferences > mail, contacts and calendars –
DONE (this was confusing but I figured out that you meant System Preferences > Mail, Contacts & Calendars which is what you said in lowercase. For some reason without the capital letters I didn't clue in that Mail, Contacts and Calendars was an icon option under the System preferences and so I overlooked it multiple times. I see your use of "secondary account" which I note used also as a term in the User Tip link you referred me to view. Although, I still don't understand what this 'secondary' account is, I'm not interested in any secondary accounts because I've got my hands full with just iCloud for now. I did delete all accounts under the Mail, Contacts & Calendars).
If you have any iOS devices I'd do the same on those as well. –
DONE (not even introducing other Macs or IOS devices to the equation until I get the iCloud and MacBook syncing contacts correctly)
I'd log into iCloud.com and check my Address Book was empty and empty it if necessary –
DONE (it was empty already)
and then delete all contacts from every Address Book on every device
         DONE
Then I'd turn Address Book syncing back on –
DONE (This assuming that by ‘turn back on’ you mean System Preferences > iCloud and check marking the box next to Contacts)
and import my contacts from the backup file –
DONE (This assuming that by ‘import my contacts’ you mean importing the previously exported Address Book back up file back into the Address Book. I see contacts listed in the Address Book when I did this.)
No syncing seems to happen at this point?
you might also take a look at this User Tip, to ensure you understand the differences between the different accounts in Address Book before adding the contacts back.
         I did read this but understand is probably not an accurate term for my interpretation of what I read. I get that On My Mac will not sync with what is in the cloud and iCloud will sync with the cloud. In Address Book under the single head red ribbon I see neither account heading that is mentioned. I also was not asked at the time of import to select which ‘account’ I’d like the contacts setup under.
A) If there is no indication as to what Address Book account the contacts fall under, how does on find this out?
User Tips states
Your Address Book when synced with iCloud will have more than one account.
     My assumption is that I'm not synced with iCloud if I don't see either account option listed. I also would think that if I'm not synced and thus don't have more than one account then perhaps the All Contacts default to an On My Mac account but don't reflect an account heading of 'On My Mac’ as seen on the screen shot of the User Tips example.
Furthermore, User Tips also states
Default Account
Your 'default'account is set in address book preferences > general (the option is only displayed if you have more than one account).
         It would seem relevant to list which account your defaulted to even if you do not have more than one account because elsewise how are you supposed to know which account it is setup under?
B) How do you change which ‘account’ your contacts are setup under if they are under the wrong account?
         Assuming again that my contacts are ‘On My Mac’, then how do I move them to the ‘iCloud’ account of which is not listed?
C) Will any of this be affected by groups?
The five listings under All Contacts are groups that I set up as a sort of invitation list (so Christmas cards is one I’d probably setup this time of year). Although this question is secondary I would like to confirm that my interpretation of groups is accurate. I understand groups to be a sort of tagging of selected contacts from All Contacts but that the contacts in these groups are not duplicates to those in All Contacts. Is this correct? I ask because the User Tips states
To quickly duplicate a contact, drag it to your desktop, navigate to 'Groups', select the account you wish to duplicate to, double click the contact on your desktop.
            When reading this tip, I interpret that dragging and dropping contacts from All Contacts into a group would be similar to what is suggested in this tip which would indeed ‘duplicate’ the contact. I did drag and drop when I setup my groups so I’m concerned I duplicated the contacts in Address Book. I do not see two copies of the same contact under All Contacts though.
By the way, don't take it personally –
I don't, I have reading difficulties galore and am happy to accommodate if I can. I hope this is better. Helping you helps me if you're not struggling to read when thinking about the solution.
Thanx

Address Book Contacts disappeared after accepting Mac/Intel update

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thanks
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MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Hi,
I saw this happening various times, although not neccessarily connected to software updates...
Close your Address Book with Command+Q (if open). Then in the Finder go to /Users/youruser/Library/Application Support/Address Book
There you will find (among other files):
AddressBook.data
AddressBook.data.beforesave
AddressBook.data.previous
Move the first (.data) to your Desktop and rename the one with ".previous" to AddressBook.data
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If you're done, you can delete AddressBook.data from your Desktop. This was just moved there so that you can rename the other.
Björn

HT1267 I have been unable to sync my address book on my IPHONE, trying to sync the changes, I erased address book from my phone. I seem unable to re-establish the address book from my Mac on my phone! Please help!! thanks

I have been unable to sync my address book on my IPHONE, trying to sync the changes, I erased address book from my phone. I seem unable to re-establish the address book from my Mac on my phone! Please help!! thanks

Try the .Mac Sync forum - its probably more appropriate to your issue.
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=957

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Immediately after upgrading to Leopard I had received a massive VCard from my coworkers, which I promptly added to my Address Book. Weeks later I'm digging around in Address Book and I see only about 10% of my old addresses. ***?!
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• How can I get the contacts that Previous Recipients sees to appear in Address Book again?

"The ones with the v-card icon are already supposed to be in addressbook, and so, the button goes gray."
Yah. But they don't appear in Address Book anymore.
Something I noticed, in Users>Home>Library>Application Support>Address Book there is "AddressBook.data" and "AddressBook.data.previous". Might the ".previous" version be where my old contacts are residing? Might there be a way to pry them out and merge them into the other file?
Hmm.

MY TREO 650 INFO is erased on Palm when using ISYNC & Hot Sync Manager Help

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OK. I signed into my Icloud account on my computer and just the basics
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In reading I had to Photo stream from my camera roll. It sounds like I
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For the benefit of other users, it would still be great if you guys would tell us how you resolved the situation....
Meanwhile, I found a solution on another Apple-related forum.... A user there had the same symptoms, and after a bunch of trial-and-error with an extremely knowledgeable guy who was walking the user through various steps, this was the result:
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Morning.
I've installed a clean MacOS X 10.6.8 installation from the scratch. I've found in the Address Book my own visit card and Apple's visit card. Then I've set to sync with my MobileMe account. After that I've set that MobileMe synchronization should replace all items on my local Address Book with the item stored in my MobileMe address book.
The result is: The items previously shown in Address Book disappear. The Address Book is completely empty. But in ~/Library/Application Support/Addressbook all the contacts are stored in the database and all the images as well. This is what ls -al has found:
drwx------   4 rafv staff      306 2 Feb 21:05 .
drwx------+ 24 rafv staff      850 2 Feb 10:17 ..
-rw-------@ 1 rafv staff    12292 2 Feb 21:08 .DS_Store
-rw-------   1 rafv staff       10 2 Feb 21:05 .database.lockN
-rw-r--r--   1 rafv staff 2439168 2 Feb 10:23 AddressBook-v22.abcddb
-rw-r--r--   1 rafv staff      328 8 Jan 15:15 Configuration.plist
drwx------   2 rafv staff      918 2 Feb 10:13 Images
-rw-r--r--   1 rafv staff    24576 2 Feb 10:23 MailRecents-v4.abcdmr
drwx------   2 rafv staff    56032 2 Feb 21:05 Metadata
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Thanks in advance and kind regards, Friedrich

Over the last few months I've had entries disappear - just one or two here and there. For a long time, I thought I was imagining things. But today I went to make some calls to my family and I did a search for the family last name. Only two cards came up... about 16 cards were missing. There's no way I deleted these. Fortunately, Time Machine saved me, but I didn't find the cards until about a week back, so they've been gone for a while (guess I don't call the family often enough).
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Hi
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Address Book is empty after iSync & Hot Sync

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