When I open any app it says there is a problem with the database and use
database utility to rebuild it.
However, when I open the database utility there is no database listed in the
window to rebuild.
What can I do?
Let's do some steps to determine where the problem is located.
1) Log out/in from your User and hold Shift key down when logging in. This
quits all startup items including hidden ones. (see end of message on
clarification on terms User and Identity)
2) in System Preferences open your login items in the Account pane. Make
sure there is only one Microsoft Database daemon. If there is more than one,
delete all. Entourage will create a new one for you later.
3) Move the entire Microsoft User Data folder from Documents to your Desktop
and rename it "Old Microsoft User Data folder."
4) Open Entourage. It will create a brand new Microsoft User Data folder and
a new blank Identity.
You should have no problems with Entourage opening or any of your other
Office applications. Open each to test.
€ If you do have a problem, create a new User in System Preferences and
switch Users to see it Office applications open in a new User's account.
€ If everything is working successfully....
1) Quit Entourage
2) Go to the desktop and drag your Main Identity from the Microsoft User
Data folder. It's located in the Office 2008 Identities folder. Drag this
folder to the Office 2008 Identities folder. It will overwrite the new blank
Main Identity so you should rename one. I suggest you rename the one on the
desktop to "Old Main."
3) Open Entourage, then use "Switch Identities" under Entourage in the Menu
bar and select "Old Main."
Does it work now? If no, then drag your "old main Identity" to Shared so you
can have it available to test in the new User's account. Switch User's and
drag from shared to see if it works in the new User's account.
......Let's be clear about the terms User, Identity and Account.....
An identity is a complete personality of Entourage, containing (preferences,
account settings.
A User is a term used by the Mac OS. The terms Identity and User are often
confused. Creating a new User in System Preferences is a good way to test in
a clean environment.
Entourage stores your data in an Identity, and the Mac OS creates Users.
Your identity is named "Main" by default. It is located in the Microsoft
User Data folder. Creating a new Identity is a good way to test your
database to see if corruption is the problem.
Each identity can have (almost) any number of accounts. Each account is
associated with a distinct email address than can be used to send and/or
receive mail, but all mail is stored in the same database, all calendar
events are common to all the accounts, all notes & contacts are shared.
You can have multiple accounts in Entourage. Examples: POP, IMAP, Hotmail,
Gmail, AOL, Exchange, news accounts.
