[SOLVED] Select Recipients Win7 Live Mail - By Last Name

Some of mine are last name first and some are fist name first, it is just how I happen to think of someone. A close friend is always first name first, and a person to whom I send the occasional e mail is last name first, but shows in exactly the same way all the time. I could rearrange all mine so that there is uniformity, but am happy with the way things are. If I did arrange them all as last name first then that is how they would always present.

Just to show that there really is no problem if settings are OK. I have rearranged my contacts list. Attachments below show exactly what is listed in the actual contacts list, and also what i see when I write an e mail and select who to send it to.

Dear fredb58,
In XP I used Outlook Express, but when getting Windows 7 recently I started using Windows Live Mail (WLM), in All Programs, in the Start menu. It gave me the same problem as you describe and here is the fix that worked for me:
1) In the list of "Mail, Calender, Contacts, Feeds, Newsgroups (this list is at the bottom left of the WLM window for me, but might be elsewhere in your window depending on how you have your view configured), choose Contacts.
2) In my window there is now a list of all the contacts I have, and, for me at least, the surnames are the first column and this list was, and still is, sorted on these surnames. Click the Home tab at the top (in my window it is the only one but that might vary depending on settings). In the menu that appears, find the View section.
3) The View section should contain an item "Sort by". Click on that item, and you should see two options, "First name" and "Last name". I expect that in your case your "First name" option is selected. Of course, click on "Last name". Now, when you go back to Mail instead of Contacts, and start a new email message and click on the "To" button, the list of contacts that appears should have surnames in the first column and be sorted on that column.
Please let us know if that does not work for you.
It's disappointing that one has to go to the main contacts list to find the switch that sorts the "To" rendition of that list. That switch does not even affect the main contact list. There seems to be no apparent need for the swith in that place, and the place it ought to be is in the window that opens when you click on "To". If anyone (maybe from Microsoft?) could explain this apparent anomaly, I would appreciate it.

fs39 - You are correct and that was what solved my problem. Thank you for responding. I too was on Outlook Express with XP. Got Live Essentials 2011 with my (this) first Win7 - had no background sound etc so ripped it out and loaded Live Essentials 2009. The menus are not so pretty as Live Essentials 2011 (and Live Mail2011) but just as functional.
Thanks again.