I access the same email account from multiple locations, and over time there
are slight differences in the contact email lists.

I have in the past put the .pst file on a flash drive, transferred it to the
new machine, and use the "Open Outlook Data File" function to successfully
move Outlook around.

If I just want to move the contacts, do I still move the entire .pst file?

I would imagine I would open the second file, after making sure it has a
different .pst file name and a different "name" for the personal folder.

Then open the contacts in the second folder, and do a copy/paste operation
to get the contacts I wanted into the "primary" file? Followed by closing
the secondary .pst file and ultimately deleting it?

My idea is that after one or two tries, I'd have a master contact list which
I could then distribute as needed.....

I'm sorry, I have a feeling I'm making this way too complicated, but I just
don't want to fool with the third party programs......

TIA