completely lost with live mail need help

  I need a how to that will help me negotiate live mail. My outlook express dissapeared when it was installed. The lay out is proving nearly impossible for me to work with. I lost all my contacts, and If live mail is able to save them I dont know how or where they go. Outlook saved everyone I emailed for me and gave me a place to keep them and delete later at my discretion. I don't understand the way it saves multiple emails together or how to open them properly. to make matters worth it wont stay open long enough to even send a email. it keeps crashing within a few seconds of opening up. I have tried to delete and reinstall it but i cant get that to happen either. Please help me out of this nightmare