my windows live mail starts to open but just hangs there saying "starting".

I tried to repair it in control panel to no avail.

I was going to uninstall and reinstall but I am afraid I will loose contacts and emails.

I can right click on Icon on bottom right side of page and send emails but cant see my inbox or other folders.

Can I create a back up before I uninstall.

Any ideas at all wouldd be helpful.