Is 'Contacts' stored in the .PST? Or is it a separate file? I've never really understood how it works.
My .PST is stored server side, these days. But in the past when I used to keep my personal address book & .PST locally, I'd simply stick a copy of the PST on a shared network volume, then copy it back if need be. Pretty much in the way that Bob describes above.
I've never named my personal folder file anything other than outlook.pst, but it doesn't really matter what you do. Copy it off yourself, then copy it back and replace the default mailbox installed by outlook.
Definitely don't go down the route of import/export if you can avoid it, stick to a file copy & TOOLS>Services. And if you are using local .PAB's, don't forget to preserve them too.