Database Rebuild Causing Emails to be recognised as folders

F

f4connect

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel
Email Client: Exchange

Has anyone seen this problem? A database rebuild turns my incoming emails into folders that I can't read. It's a pretty large database file: 6.72gb

All new incoming mail is now folders that I have to delete and I can't get the mail back, and I can't open entourage at all because it will turn these messages into folders as soon as it tries to sync with our exchange server.

Any ideas?

Cheers
Simon
 
D

Diane Ross

I have forwarded this to a developer that is working on the problem. Right
now they are not able to reproduce so can't fix it.

For Exchange accounts we do not recommend that you rebuild. Just create a
new Identity in Entourage and let it sync back up. Let me know if this has
screwed up the info on the server.
 
R

RI_TM

I've just experienced this same thing. Friday evening I got a message from
Entourage that I had a corrupt message, and I should rebuild. I let the
rebuild run until Saturday morning, and then then a re-sync began.
Unfortunately it wasn't until Sunday afternoon that I noticed the lack of
emails in the inbox, and a string of folders under the inbox icon in the
folder listing instead. Each had the subject line, the ".eml". All are
unreadable. These were apparently being created locally, and synced back to
the Exchange server, overwriting the entire contents of my account, including
contacts, calendar events, and email messages. I created a new identity to
receive new email going forward, but now apparently need to look to either
restore the local copies of my content by converting, or restore my server
content from a backup.
 
D

Diane Ross

If you look at what you quoted, you would see it's not recommended to
rebuild Identity for Exchange accounts. Create a new Identity and let it
sync back up. It's possible you screwed up the messages on the server and a
backup from the server will need to replace your messages.
 
R

RI_TM

Yes, I discovered this thread after the issue had already occurred, and I was
looking for a way back out of the situation. I also noted that a cause or fix
was not indicated, and wanted to report that I have experienced the same
issue.

I not sure how well it's stated in the help, dialogs, or the database
utility that rebuilding is not recommended when working with Exchange
accounts. It was actually Entourage itself that recommended the rebuild.

I'm still looking at ways I might re-export some of my historical info back
into a usable form, without losing it all.

Thanks.
 
R

RI_TM

And, yes, this did cause content on the server to be overwritten and lost
during the sync.
 
D

Diane Ross

RI_TM said:
And, yes, this did cause content on the server to be overwritten and lost
during the sync.
Click to expand...

Did the server have backups?

As far as Entourage giving the warning, it's one of those things that needs
to be fixed or clarified. Just like not mentioning moving the Identity or
Microsoft User Data folder. I bet I've answered that question thousands of
time when the user opened up in a blank Identity and panicked. I've tried to
get basics added to the Welcome message, but it's fallen on deaf ears.

Without knowing why kind of backups you have, I'm not sure what to suggest
for recovery. We'll do our best to help with more details.
 
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