XCLN: Instant Messaging Contact List Cannot Be Accessed from Another Computer (271952)

SUMMARY

When you add your contacts to the Exchange Instant Messaging Service list on one workstation, and then move to another workstation and log on to Instant Messaging, you cannot access your contact list.

In addition, if you remove Instant Messaging, or reload the operating system on your workstation, the same issue occurs after you reinstall Instant Messaging.

MORE INFORMATION

This issue occurs because Exchange Instant Messaging is different from MSN Instant Messaging. With MSN Instant Messaging, the contact list is stored on a Hotmail server; you can access this list when you log on from any location. In Exchange Instant Messaging, the user's contact list is read from the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Exchange\Messenger\Profiles\ http://im_domain/instmsg/aliases/alias/contacts

NOTE: The above registry key is one path; it has been wrapped for readability.

In this example, im_domain is replaced by the corporate Instant Messaging domain that is configured during the Exchange 2000 Instant Messaging Virtual Server Setup. Aliases are also replaced with the current user's mailbox alias name.

To keep your contact list intact, and to move it to another computer, use Regedit.exe or Regedt32.exe to back up this registry key to a .reg file. When you log on to any computer in a different work station (verify that the computer has Exchange Instant Messaging installed), and run the .reg file, your contact list is imported to that computer.