Why can't I import a list of contacts from msn

First off, what client are you using? aMSN, Pidgin, Miranda IM? The client should automatically download your buddy list from the server, bur if you wish to import a custom one, I only know how to do so for Pidgin. To do so, follow this:

1. Download the Purple Plugin Pack
2. Extract the .zip (PeaZip, 7-Zip, Windows utility).
3. Find listhandler.dll(?), and copy it to PidginPortable\App\Pidgin\plugins
4. Restart Pidgin.
5. Click Tools, then Plugins and activate the List Handler plugin.
6. Restart (I think) Pidgin, and go to the Tools menu, you should see an option at the end their regarding contact lists.
7. Go from there, I think it's a simple import.

Unfortunately I only know how to do this for Pidgin. I'll move this to the appropriate forum once you specify whether this is client-specific, or regarding all clients.

Hope that helped.

Like Patrick, I agree we need some clarification on what you're attempting to do.

You may need to use Open Office's Calc program to edit your contacts in CSV format. I created a Howto video for the American Cancer Society last year on how to get people's contacts from Hotmail into ACS's Convio system. You could do something similar to "transcode" your contacts into the correct format for importing (if the target program can accept CSV files as contact lists.)

Here's the video:

http://renttopwn.com/acs/videos/