Best Practices and Restoring, after a difficult Rebuild?

M

Mark W

I've been having some problems with Entourage X for Mac (v. 10.1.4)
with my G3 running OS 10.3.9. I didn't know anything about compacting
or rebuilding an Entourage database within my e-mail client, but after
searching and reading through postings with this group, I've come to
realize that one should do that on a regular basis. So one question
I've got is, how often should one rebuild? Or how do you determine
when to rebuild?

I ended up with a seriously huge database file within my Microsoft User
Data folder, and not enough room on my boot drive (total 10GB, no
available). I had been regularly deleting e-mail, but I gather that is
not how to economize on space. Maybe someone could explain how
Entourage functions, such that the files get so huge.

For a while I was getting an Error Message (-50), saying that
Rebuilding Failed. I tried a number of suggestions gathered from this
group, and eventually was able to do an Advanced Rebuild. Within my
Microsoft User Data folder, I had three database files, two of which
were about 2, almost 3GB each. The three files are called 'Database',
'Database (Rebuild)', and 'Old Database'. I moved the whole folder to
another partition with plenty of room, and then I trashed one the two
big database files. So now I have a bit more room on my boot drive.

I launched Entourage, and it opened, which was great, because it had
not opened for the last day or so. Unfortunately, it opened with a
brand new account. I would like to know how to access some of my old
mail, and all of my old e-mail addresses. Or perhaps another of
putting it, how does one restore from a backup?
 
M

Mickey Stevens

I've been having some problems with Entourage X for Mac (v. 10.1.4)
with my G3 running OS 10.3.9. I didn't know anything about compacting
or rebuilding an Entourage database within my e-mail client, but after
searching and reading through postings with this group, I've come to
realize that one should do that on a regular basis. So one question
I've got is, how often should one rebuild? Or how do you determine
when to rebuild?
Click to expand...

You shouldn't rebuild on a regular basis if you aren't experiencing
problems, because it doesn't prevent corruption. However, if you are
experiencing symptoms of database corruption, then you should rebuild.

Here's what Jud Spencer [MS] said:
"There is a small benefit to compacting regularly. Entourage maintains
internal sort tables. Those sort tables are optimized on a compact.

However, you should only choose the rebuild option if your database is
damaged. Many people believe that rebuilding your database will protect you
from future corruption. That just isn¹t the case."
I ended up with a seriously huge database file within my Microsoft User
Data folder, and not enough room on my boot drive (total 10GB, no
available). I had been regularly deleting e-mail, but I gather that is
not how to economize on space. Maybe someone could explain how
Entourage functions, such that the files get so huge.
Click to expand...

Rebuilding the database is also the only way to compress it. The database
functions similarly to the hard drive on your computer. When you delete a
file, it's not actually erased from the computer's hard drive; the space is
simply marked to be overwritten. Therefore, no more free space is really
generated, but instead old files are overwritten when the time comes. The
only way to truly create free space from these deleted files is to use an
optimization/defragmentation utility.

In the case of the Entourage database, you must rebuild the database to
reclaim disk space. In Entourage 2001 and Entourage X, do a Typical
Rebuild. In Entourage 2004, there is an option to "Compact" in the
Microsoft Database Utility.
For a while I was getting an Error Message (-50), saying that
Rebuilding Failed.
Click to expand...

Because the rebuild process keeps the original file in case something goes
wrong, the rebuild can require up to twice the disk space of the original
database file. If that's not available, problems can occur. If you have
more room on your other partition, I would recommend moving the "Microsoft
User Data" folder to your other partition (which it sounds like you've
already done), and then Command-Option-dragging it back to its original
location to create an alias.
I tried a number of suggestions gathered from this
group, and eventually was able to do an Advanced Rebuild. Within my
Microsoft User Data folder, I had three database files, two of which
were about 2, almost 3GB each. The three files are called 'Database',
'Database (Rebuild)', and 'Old Database'. I moved the whole folder to
another partition with plenty of room, and then I trashed one the two
big database files. So now I have a bit more room on my boot drive.

I launched Entourage, and it opened, which was great, because it had
not opened for the last day or so. Unfortunately, it opened with a
brand new account. I would like to know how to access some of my old
mail, and all of my old e-mail addresses. Or perhaps another of
putting it, how does one restore from a backup?
Click to expand...

Once you've done what I suggested earlier, open Entourage, and go to
Entourage > Switch Identity. See if you can open your identity.

This tutorial on my site talks more about the database. You might find it
useful.
<http://home.earthlink.net/~mickey.stevens/tutorials/rebuilddatabase.html>
 
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