Why can you not open WLM? It runs fine here in W10, and that would offer the easiest way to export Contacts to vCards (.vcf files). I did find a method for converting the contacts.edb file to a csv file, but it is more complex.

I have a dual boot on my old dell XPS Lx701 laptop. I was still using Live Mail2011 in windows7 for my emails when the program failed to start. Despite a few hours on to microsoft I failed to solve the issue of the program not starting so I went to Thunderbird in my Windows 10 partition. I do not want to purchase a program to convert the address book which is 'trapped' inside my disfunctional windowslive program as I'm not convinced that any of them would transfer the information in a form which would be readable to me. I was hoping that someone would have had experience of this. I am stuck because WLM2011 is no longer supported by microsoft and they will not supply a download of WindowsLiveEssentials which I was told I needed to re-install the program. I of course wish now that I had migrated to another email program before this but I was happy with WLM as I was familiar with its working and was not aware that support for it had ended making the erroneous assumption that as it was bundled with windows7 that it would be supported until Jan 2020. I've tried the nirsoft solution which you kindly suggested but the files did not appear when I selected the contacts,edb file. I appreciate your help here and feel that my contacts must be 'locked' in the unresponsive program. Any other suggestions would be welcome. Thank you

Microsoft may not supply the installer on its own site anymore, but the link in my first reply does. See if you can re-install WLM in Win7, or failing that, install it in W10 and transfer the WLM data from W7 to W10.

https://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/E-mail/E-mail-Clients/Windows-Live-Mail.shtml

Solved!!! Thankyou very much, I downloaded WindowsLive Essentials from majorgeeks installed LiveMail from it into Win 10, deleted the contacts file from the users/microsoft/Windows Live/ Contacts and pasted the 'contacts' file from the win 7 folder tree. Then I was able to install 'more functions for address book' as an add-on for Thunderbird and then import the address book from WinLive after having exported it to my desktop in Vcard format. So thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help.