Entourage Won't Open After Reinstall

[geofftucker]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)
Processor: Intel
Email Client: pop

Entourage continued to crash on me multiple times a day after the Snow Leopard update (I had hoped that would help but it didn't).

I reinstalled Office for Mac 2008 and now I cannot get Entourage to open. It keeps giving me the error "This identity cannot be opened with this version of Entourage." Apparently the database is corrupted so I've done rebuilds on the two profiles I have on the machine. It still won't open.

The system wanted to run update for version 12.2 after I did the reinstall of Office but it wouldn't install. I thought I needed to backtrack on update versions to run them in order and see if that would fix it.

So I have downloaded the 12.0.1 update and I keep getting an error that says "A version of the software required to install this update was not found on this volume" when I select the machine's hard drive.

When I open any Office apps, I get the pop up error that the database might be corrupt (that's why I did the rebuilds).

I have restarted the machine - no luck.
I went through Time Machine to go back a few hours to when everything is fine but that doesn't restore the programs as they were.

How do I get this to work correctly? I normally have ZERO computer problems so this is very frustrating to figure out.

 

[Diane Ross]

I reinstalled Office for Mac 2008 and now I cannot get Entourage to open. It
keeps giving me the error "This identity cannot be opened with this version of
Entourage." Apparently the database is corrupted so I've done rebuilds on the
two profiles I have on the machine. It still won't open.

"This Identity Cannot Be Opened With This Version of Entourage"
This message usually means, for example, any Identity saved with a 12.1.0 or
later version will not open in 12.0.0 or 12.0.1. Since there was a database
format change in 12.1.0 (SP1), Entourage 12.0.0 or 12.0.1 cannot open a
database saved in the later version.

The system wanted to run update for version 12.2 after I did the reinstall of
Office but it wouldn't install. I thought I needed to backtrack on update
versions to run them in order and see if that would fix it.

Manually download the 12.2.0 updater install and restart. Manually download
the 12.2.1 updater install and restart.

You also need to delete the duplicate fonts installed making the original
Microsoft 08 fonts older and conflicting. For details see:

Troubleshooting Office for Mac with Snow Leopard

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2009/09/hot_topics_using_office_for_mac_with
_snow_leopard.html>

In case the above link does not work:

<http://tinyurl.com/ndmt4x>

 

[geofftucker]

Thank you for the help, Diane. I manually downloaded the 12.2.0 update, and when it ran I got the same message "A version of the software required to install this software was not found on this volume". The message also included a link to this page:

<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/help.m...rget=bee52d73-be77-4544-a5cd-402d9b56b9f41033>

If that link broke in this reply try this:
<http://tinyurl.com/5ga6ur>

I'm running through your link of other suggested fixes right now. I'll post those results when I have an update.

 

[Diane Ross]

Thank you for the help, Diane. I manually downloaded the 12.2.0 update, and
when it ran I got the same message "A version of the software required to
install this software was not found on this volume". The message also included
a link to this page:

There is a problem with a locked temp folder that is fixed by restarting.

If that doesn't solve the issue, see this page;

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/error/not_found.html>

 

[geofftucker]

I've gone through the various steps you suggested.

Finally I reinstalled Office in safe mode under a new account. It works, and then I tried to do an update to 12.1.0 but I got the same error "A version of the software..."

I did this using MAU. Does that make a significant difference compared to a manual download of the updates?

I am starting to think it's time to notate all my settings for my programs that work; export and back up everything; and do a clean install of Snow Leopard since I originally only did an upgrade. Then I'll reinstall all my apps.

 

[Diane Ross]

I did this using MAU. Does that make a significant difference compared to a
manual download of the updates?

It did for me. That's why I recommended doing the download updaters from
Mactopia in the troubleshooting article.

I am starting to think it's time to notate all my settings for my programs
that work; export and back up everything; and do a clean install of Snow
Leopard since I originally only did an upgrade. Then I'll reinstall all my
apps.

You can actually install Snow Leopard again over the initial install. I
would try that first.

 

[geofftucker]

If that doesn't work, how do I recover my Entourage database to import it into a fresh install if I do a clean install of the OS that wipes the hard drive?

Is it recoverable from Time Machine? If so, what file type am I looking for (e.g., .rge, .pst)?

Thanks

 

[Diane Ross]

If that doesn't work, how do I recover my Entourage database to import it into
a fresh install if I do a clean install of the OS that wipes the hard drive?

You need to save either the entire Microsoft User Data folder or the Office
2008 Identities folder. Your data is stored in the database file in your
Identity.

~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2008 Identities/Main Identity

Is it recoverable from Time Machine? If so, what file type am I looking for
(e.g., .rge, .pst)?

An .rge is an Entourage file type, but it's best to have your Identity. The
Entourage archive (.rge) file does not export your accounts and other
settings.

A .pst file is a Windows file type.

Your Time Machine backup could be corrupted. Sorry!

Using Time Machine to backup Entourage basics:

It's advised by the developers not to let Time Machine backup your Entourage
database. If the database is copied while being used, the backup could be
corrupt. You can set the Time Machine to exclude the Microsoft User Data
folder and create an iCal event to copy it over at night while not in use so
you get one backup daily in Time Machine.

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/01/alternative_method_to_use_entourage_
and_time_machine.html>

 

[geofftucker]

Hi Diane

Thanks again for the assistance. I bit the bullet today and wiped the hard drive and did a clean install of Snow Leopard. Then I did Office for Mac 2008, and it ran all the updates correctly. I did archive my Main Identity folder before I did the wipe.

Everything is running fine now except I still don't have a way to import the Entourage database that I archived off.

Is it possible to copy and paste it into my new identity in this clean install, and have Entourage open it that way?

I'm rather afraid to try without asking, considering all the drama this has caused.

Would appreciate any guidance you can offer.

Thanks

 

[Ed Kimball]

Hi Diane

Thanks again for the assistance. I bit the bullet today and wiped the hard
drive and did a clean install of Snow Leopard. Then I did Office for Mac 2008,
and it ran all the updates correctly. I did archive my Main Identity folder
before I did the wipe.

Everything is running fine now except I still don't have a way to import the
Entourage database that I archived off.

Is it possible to copy and paste it into my new identity in this clean
install, and have Entourage open it that way?

I'm rather afraid to try without asking, considering all the drama this has
caused.

Would appreciate any guidance you can offer.

Thanks

You should just be able to move the entire original identity folder into the
Office 2008 Identities folder (while Entourage is not running). If it is
named Main Identity, I would rename the current Main Identity folder to
something else before dragging the original one in. You can, if necessary,
use Switch Identity under the Entourage menu to change which identity
Entourage uses.

 

[geofftucker]

Thanks for the help, Ed. That pretty much worked. However, most of my emails from the past 2-3 months are missing. Is there any way to recover them?

Is that maybe a sign of how my Entourage had previously been crashing all the time? Maybe those backups were incomplete? My accounts came back, my address book appears to be fully intact.

I was not able to recover anything from my Time Machine (a Western Digital external drive, not Apple's Time Machine drive) so I reformatted it and began fresh, new backups with the clean install.

 

[Diane Ross]

Is that maybe a sign of how my Entourage had previously been crashing all the
time? Maybe those backups were incomplete? My accounts came back, my address
book appears to be fully intact.

You mentioned you 'archived off'. How did you archive? It sounds like your
export was incomplete since you are missing old emails. If you had the
original Identity that was causing all the problems, it's possible you can
recover in Snow Leopard.

I was not able to recover anything from my Time Machine (a Western Digital
external drive, not Apple's Time Machine drive) so I reformatted it and began
fresh, new backups with the clean install.

Using Time Machine to backup Entourage basics:

It's advised by the developers not to let Time Machine backup your Entourage
database. If the database is copied while being used, the backup could be
corrupt. You can set the Time Machine to exclude the Microsoft User Data
folder and create an iCal event to copy it over at night while not in use so
you get one backup daily in Time Machine.

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/01/alternative_method_to_use_entourage_
and_time_machine.html>