Instant messaging contacts are the ones who will be shown as Online to you in your contact list when they sign in to Messenger service. Non-instant messaging contacts are regular contacts who will be shown as regular address book entries, they are passive contacts, you cannot see them Online and chat with them.
Also I noticed one thing concerning Messenger's Export contact option, it says "Save
instant message contacts" so it warns that it will only save those ones, not regular ones, even if you "Show all contacts" like Chris4 said above.
Also
quote:
Originally posted by ahmetgns
If you and/or your colloeagues use non-Microsoft e-mail address(es), so cannot access Windows Live Hotmail, then make all contacts instant-messaging contacts by Editing them (you have to type an email in "Instant message address" area and tick the option "Use with Windows Live Messenger"). Then your colleagues can import that CCT file which you exported with Windows Live Messenger's interface.
I noticed that this is just wrong. Because even if you tick the "Use with WLM" option for a contact, if s/he is not a registered Windows Live address, then it will not still be added to CCT file.
But even if your accounts are non-Microsoft, you can sign in on some programs other than Messenger which supports retrieving Windows Live Contacts. There is one I know; Windows Live Mail. You can sign in with that program and export contacts to a CSV file again and your colleagues can import that file by signing in on that same program. So I think all contacts including non-instant ones will be imported now. You can download Windows Live Mail from
http://get.live.com/
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