Disappearing Address Book

Hi, I've been using iMacs for 4 years now and I am a little embarrassed by this problem.

A few weeks ago I was working too quickly on the computer and somehow managed to accidentally drag the Address Book icon; making it the icon for the Applications directory. I managed to "remove" the Address Book icon to the Trash and it reappeared on the Tool Bar. All was well, I thought.

I have found I rarely use Address Book as it tends to work intuitively anyway. Also, my Contacts directory on my iPhone provides much the same service. So when I went to the Address Book icon, on the Tool Bar today, I receive the announcement "You can't open the application Address Book because it is in the Trash. - To open this application, move it from the Trash."

Trash is set to empty every 4 weeks and there's no trace of Address Book's files.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Where were these icons? What do you mean by "Tool Bar"? Unfortunately, that term gets thrown around loosely and people use it to refer to different things.

Missing Address Book

I'm sorry, I meant the Dock. I have the Address Book icon on the Dock, where it was originally, but when I click on it I get the message mentioned.

Your Address Book data is probably fine, since it's stored separately. If you're getting the message that Address Book is in the trash, why in Spock's name haven't you moved it back to the Applications folder?

missing Address Book files

'cos it's over a month since it went into the Trash and Trash has cleared it.

You can download an app called Pacifist and use it to extract Address Book from your installation CD. You do have the disc, right?

I have the disc, carefully filed under "All Things Apple". I'll try this, much appreciated & thanks.

If you're still getting the message that your address book is in the trash, it may possibly actually still be in the trash (since it would likely need user permission to actually be deleted). Have you double-checked?

There doesn't appear to be any sign of it. Although it must exist somewhere because it still intuitively provides address info when needed; which is part of the reason why I didn't use it for a month.

I'm going to be away for a couple of days, then I can give it my undivided attention. I'll let you know, thanks again.

Excellent essay by the way.