Backing up entourage data

G

gwh

Hi everyone,

Up to this point I used to retrieve all my emails on my iMac with
entourage. I plan to now use my MacBook to download my mail with
entourage but want to keep copies of the emails on my iMac also.
Apparently all my mail is stored in a folder called Microsoft User
Data - this folder also containing other folders including two called
Office 2004 Identities and Office X Identities.

Can someone tell me if either of these two folders, ie., Office 2004
Identities or Office X Identities, contain my backed up emails that I
can transfer from my MacBook to my iMac from time to time?

Appreciate any help offered
 
J

jack

Hi -
It's your Office 2004 Identities folder that you want to back up/
transfer.
Definitely a good idea to back that one up from time to time, no
matter what.
-Jack
 
G

gwh

Thanks for the info.

I noticed that within this 2004 Identities folder there are four
files: Database, Mailing Lists, Rules and Signatures. Where are all
the individual email messages and attachments that I've saved over the
years? Since I'll be backing up all the emails/attachments from
entourage on my MacBook so I can combine them with the ones on my
iMac, I don't want to overwrite the data that's already on my iMac. If
I copy, say the Mailing Lists file from my MacBook to the iMac, won't
this overwrite what's already there on the iMac?
 
B

Barry Wainwright [MVP]

The database contains all the mail and a lot of other 'stuff' as well.

If you want to combine the two databases, copy the whole identity folder
over (it's called "Main Identity" by default). Give the folder a new name
(Identity 2?), and put the folder in the "Office 2004 Identities" folder.

Now, start entourage and select 'Switch Identity' from the Entourage menu
and select 'identity 2'. Then choose 'export' from the file menu and export
everything to an entourage archive. Switch back to your original identity
and import it all back in to the new identity. You then have a bit of a task
on your hands sorting out duplicates, but there are a variety of scripts
available at scriptbuilders.net to help with that problem.
 
J

jack

Thanks for the info.

I noticed that within this 2004 Identities folder there are four
files: Database, Mailing Lists, Rules and Signatures. Where are all
the individual email messages and attachments that I've saved over the
years? Since I'll be backing up all the emails/attachments from
entourage on my MacBook so I can combine them with the ones on my
iMac, I don't want to overwrite the data that's already on my iMac. If
I copy, say the Mailing Lists file from my MacBook to the iMac, won't
this overwrite what's already there on the iMac?
Click to expand...

I'm not a techie, so I'll do my best to explain, but your Entourage
needs all four of those files to run. ALL your messages/attachments/
sent mail are contained within the "database" file - but you can't
just look into this and pluck them out as files - it's not how it
works.
If you copy this identities folder and put it on your other computer,
you are making an identical copy - the one you open up on the second
computer will look exactly like the first one - same mailing lists,
same folders, same signatures, same rules.
Where it gets dangerous is that if you start with the same database on
both computers, the incoming mail on one will only stay on that
computer unless you 1) save each mail as an individual file, then
import them on your other computer, 2) forward them to your other
computer (maybe using a different mail address) or 3) take a full copy
of your database after each session and then copy it into the
Microsoft User Data folder on your other computer every time.
Otherwise, you'll start running into problems where mails end up on
one or other computer and you lose track of them.
I'm sure there are some smart ways around this problem - I think you
can hook up your computers over a network - even remotely - I don't
know how. You can decide that you'll only use a webmail application
for one computer, then the Entourage for the other - thus, when you
first get the mail in Entourage, it will download all the mails in
your webmail inbox. Or you could use something like gmail for one
computer and just forward the relevant ones to your main computer.
Hope this somehow helps! - Jack
 
D

Diane Ross

Up to this point I used to retrieve all my emails on my iMac with
entourage. I plan to now use my MacBook to download my mail with
entourage but want to keep copies of the emails on my iMac also.
Click to expand...

I suggest that you change your mail from POP to IMAP. This way all of your
mail is kept on the server so there will be no back and forth trying to sync
up your mail.

As you can see from all of the suggestions you've received syncing Entourage
databases can be a real pain.
 
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