Itunes cannot read my phone...need help please

[babafly]

I just purchased a new 3GS to replace my original iphone, I think it is a first gen, but not sure. I updated itunes as I hadn't done that in a while and then plugged in my iphone to sync to update contacts so I could transfer those to the new phone. I've only ever done that once and cannot remember what I did to get them there, they are stored in outlook 2007.
I think I ended up updating the software on my phone as well yesterday which had not been done in quite some time. Anytime in the past I've tried updating I end up with major issues of things not working and since I am not too tech savvy I avoid updates as I don't know how to fix problems when they happen and they always seem to. This time was no exception...
Itunes could not read my phone or something to that effect and said I had to restore which I did thinking I was going to lose everything without a current backup. My phone screen would only open up to a message telling me that I needed to sync with itunes so resoring seemed the only choice I had.
I did the restore, thankfully not losing my contacts or pictures.
Basically itunes is not able to read my phone now. I only want to sync my phone with outlook or something of the like to save the contacts I have added to my phone, most of which are not saved anywhere except the phone.
May I get some suggestions on where or what program to use to sync/store my contacts and pictures(if possible) so that I can then transfer them to the new phone with no losses.
I have a pc which uses windows vista, I do have outlook 2007 in that as well.
I would need a step by step instruction as well if anyone could help with that.
Thanks for reading and hopefully this all made sense.

[Hondamaker]

I'm sure you know this, but make sure you have the latest update of iTunes. Re-update it if you can, or uninstall then reinstall and update iTunes, then reboot your pc. Windows will always be notorious for making you reboot to get things installed totally. I hope this helps.

[babafly]

I should have mentioned that I did try updating and when the phone still wasn't recognized I unistalled itunes and reinstalled so it is the most up to date version. I did restart the computer too.
My new Iphone is recognized in itunes no problem. I just need to find a way to get these contacts into the new phone without doing it the old fashioned way...one by one.