I can't get onto my iCloud account... How do I get my contacts back??

Question

So I had a working iCloud account that I had accessed online before, and have since dropped and smashed the screen of my iPhone 4. This stopped the entire left hand side of the screen working and I am getting a replacement on household insurance (as my warranty has expired). The exact same day as the screen broke (3 days ago) was the last time it backed up to iCloud, and I have since been unable to access the iCloud account, and can no longer back anything up to it either (although I can connect to my laptop and access photos etc). I've tried calling apple support but they want to charge me £25 for advice- and I'm a student. I have backed up to my laptop which appeared successful through itunes (though I have no idea where anything has backed up to), and all I want is my contacts. I tried the suggested route Computer\users\(username)\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup\ but there is no AppData folder.
I cant even screenshot the contacts as if I go into one I'll be stuck on that!
Oh and it's not the connection- my mums iCloud account still works a treat from the same computer.
WHY ISN'T iCLOUD WORKING FOR ME??
Thanks for any responses! Maddie x

Answer 1

You can check iTunes to see if your backup is listed there.  To do this on a PC, open iTunes and go to Edit>Preferences>Devices and look at the backups list.  This will show the available backups to restore to.
With a little effort, you may also be able to use an app to back up your contacts using the right half of your screen.  Download the app My Contacts Backup in iTunes, then sync it to your phone.  If the app icon is place on the left side of your screen, using iTunes to move it to the right half of your screen so you can tap it.  Then launch the app, and use it to back up your contacts as an attachment to an email (the backup button extends to the right half of the screen so you should still be able to tap it.)  Send the email to yourself (you can address the email to yourself by tapping the "+" button and navigating to your contact).  If you can manage to do this, you can later open the email on your replacement phone and tap the attachment to import the contacts back to your phone.
You may not be able to back up to iCloud because more damage was done to your phone when you dropped it than just the broken screen.