Entourage X - Can't Do Typical Rebuild - Not Enough Disk Space - But Have Lots of Space!

[msrebnik]

Hope someone can please advise....

Needed to rebuild database yesterday...

Kept getting messages that there was not enough room on disk....

I moved a bunch of stuff to another hard drive, have 30.7 GB free out
of 58GB....
So, I would think that's enough free space to rebuild...

Meanwhile, after not being able to do Typical Rebuild, I did Advanced
Rebuild and it did it. However, got message at end of process that I
should now do Typical Rebuild.

Have tried that several times, but I still get error message at end of
process "Not enough room on disk"....

I checked and my Database file is now at 4GB. old one that I deleted
was only 3.8GB, so it grew using Advanced Rebuild.

I know that 4GB is maximum for a database....

What do I do now to fix this????

Thanks for any help!!

 

[Diane Ross]

Needed to rebuild database yesterday...

Kept getting messages that there was not enough room on disk....

I moved a bunch of stuff to another hard drive, have 30.7 GB free out
of 58GB....
So, I would think that's enough free space to rebuild...

Meanwhile, after not being able to do Typical Rebuild, I did Advanced
Rebuild and it did it. However, got message at end of process that I
should now do Typical Rebuild.

Have tried that several times, but I still get error message at end of
process "Not enough room on disk"....

I checked and my Database file is now at 4GB. old one that I deleted
was only 3.8GB, so it grew using Advanced Rebuild.

I know that 4GB is maximum for a database....

What do I do now to fix this????

Try deleting this preference file in your User's --> Library Preferences:

com.microsoft.OfficeNotifications.plist

Another option to check: Bad RAM.

Run a cache cleaner. Go to Version tracker and search for "cache cleaner".
There are several listed. <http://www.versiontracker.com/>

If these options don't solve your problem and it IS your database, then you
need to salvage your data and start in a new Identity.

When you do a rebuild, Entourage creates a backup. I suggest going back to
the original database and export your data. You'll need to remove "old" from
the names and move out the newer files, so Entourage can access the
originals.

Entourage X: "Old Database Cache" and "Old Database"

See this page for options to backup your data.
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/backup.html>

Paul Berkowitz's Export-Import scripts are worth the money as it makes the
process much easier.

ScriptBuilders <http://scriptbuilders.net/>
--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>

 

[msrebnik]

Thanks for you help. Diane. Really appreciate it!

Please see my comments below responding to your suggestions....

Hopefully, you (or someone else) can help further...

Thanks,

Mark

On 4/8/07 7:51 AM, in article (e-mail address removed),

Try deleting this preference file in your User's --> Library Preferences:

com.microsoft.OfficeNotifications.plist

Did this already...

Another option to check: Bad RAM.

According to TTP, RAM is OK....

Run a cache cleaner. Go to Version tracker and search for "cache cleaner".
There are several listed. <http://www.versiontracker.com/>

Ran cache cleaner & retried rebuild, still get same error message, not
enough room....

If these options don't solve your problem and it IS your database, then you
need to salvage your data and start in a new Identity.

When you do a rebuild, Entourage creates a backup. I suggest going back to
the original database and export your data. You'll need to remove "old" from
the names and move out the newer files, so Entourage can access the
originals.

Entourage X: "Old Database Cache" and "Old Database"

Ummm..... I'm in trouble now.... ;-(

deleted the old database yesterday thought I needed as much space on
HD as possible.... ;-(

Trying demo of FileSalvage right now to see if I can recover that
file....

See this page for options to backup your data.
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/backup.html>

Paul Berkowitz's Export-Import scripts are worth the money as it makes the
process much easier.

ScriptBuilders <http://scriptbuilders.net/>

I have Paul's scripts, but I assume that I need to use it on the old
database file??

 

[Diane Ross]

I have Paul's scripts, but I assume that I need to use it on the old
database file??

Not necessarily. It's definitely worth a try. When you said the database was
getting larger this indicates that things did not go as expected. That's why
I suggested going back to the original.

BTW, you NEVER throw away the original until you are satisfied with the
rebuild. I do understand that you were trying to free up room, but I'm
guessing you have other files that could have been trashed without problems.
I ran across a neat little application that you might find useful in cases
like this. Disk Inventory X. It shows the sizes of files and folders in a
special graphical way called "treemaps". If you've ever wondered where all
your disk space has gone, Disk Inventory X will help you to answer this
question. Best of all it's free.

<http://www.derlien.com/>

Let me know how the recovery goes.
--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>

 

[Diane Ross]

Ummm..... I'm in trouble now.... ;-(

deleted the old database yesterday thought I needed as much space on
HD as possible.... ;-(

Trying demo of FileSalvage right now to see if I can recover that
file....

It is extremely difficult to retrieve data that has been trashed. Good luck
in your efforts.

BTW, one more thing to eliminate. Drag your Microsoft User Data folder to
your Shared folder. Create a new User in System Preferences. Log out/in to
your new User. Move the Microsoft User Data folder from shared to your new
User's Document folder. Now open Entourage with the option key held down and
see if rebuilding works in the new User. If it does, then it's a problem in
your User's folder.

Remember that the move from Shared actually copied the MUD folder so you'll
need to copy over the fixed one if you're successful.

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>

 

[ArchiMark]

On 4/8/07 8:53 PM, in (e-mail address removed),

"(e-mail address removed)" <[email protected]> wrote:

[Snip]

Trying demo of FileSalvage right now to see if I can recover that
file....

It is extremely difficult to retrieve data that has been trashed. Good luck
in your efforts.

Thanks....that program FileSalvage only looks for certain specific
file formats...so no good for this situation...
Looking for other file recovery apps now...

BTW, one more thing to eliminate. Drag your Microsoft User Data folder to
your Shared folder. Create a new User in System Preferences. Log out/in to
your new User. Move the Microsoft User Data folder from shared to your new
User's Document folder. Now open Entourage with the option key held down and
see if rebuilding works in the new User. If it does, then it's a problem in
your User's folder.

OK, did that....very interesting what I noticed now in MUD
folder....besides the 4GB Database file there's another database file
called 'Database Rebuild' which is 3.96GB.

I'm wondering whether this is an incomplete rebuild file and thus
relates to getting the error messages or could this be an OK rebuild
file and should try using it or ???

Unfortunately, when I tried to do the rebuild as the new User I got
error message that I don't have permission to do this...I assume that
this is because I must have installed Entourage for just my other user
account, right??
Anyway to change the permission for this or would I need to reinstall
Entourage again??

Remember that the move from Shared actually copied the MUD folder so you'll
need to copy over the fixed one if you're successful.

Right, Diane...will remember that...

Thanks again for your help!!!

Mark

 

[Diane Ross]

OK, did that....very interesting what I noticed now in MUD
folder....besides the 4GB Database file there's another database file
called 'Database Rebuild' which is 3.96GB.

That's your backup file. You can remove "rebuild" and exchange it for the
database file that was rebuilt.

I suspect that you are experiencing the 4GB limit on rebuilding. Did you
ever get a warning on size? Shortly after Entourage X was released one of
the updates included the warning on reaching the 4GB size limit. If you
hadn't upgrade you wouldn't get the warning.

I'm wondering whether this is an incomplete rebuild file and thus
relates to getting the error messages or could this be an OK rebuild
file and should try using it or ???

Defiantly try.

Unfortunately, when I tried to do the rebuild as the new User I got
error message that I don't have permission to do this...I assume that
this is because I must have installed Entourage for just my other user
account, right??
Anyway to change the permission for this or would I need to reinstall
Entourage again??

It's possible just setting the new User as having Admin privileges you can
open the file. If not, do a Get Info on your folders in your regular user
to see what the permissions are set for and compare to the new User's MUD
folder.

My Microsoft User Data folder and all enclosing folders and files:

Owner: diane (shows locked if you need to change click on the lock, change
then lock)
Access: Read & Write
Group: diane
Access: Read only
Other: Read only

-
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>

 

[ArchiMark]

Thanks once again, Diane, for all your help....it really makes a
difference!!!

As usual, see my comments below next to yours...

Mark

That's your backup file. You can remove "rebuild" and exchange it for the
database file that was rebuilt.

OK, did that but still having problem with trying to rebuild using
Entourage as other user...so, just tried this as my usual user...

Now, good news and bad news..... ;-)

The good news is that rebuld process worked on that file, but not
doing Typical Rebuild, only Advanced Rebuild...

The bad news is that I looked at the resulting Database file and it's
only 25.8MB !!!!

Was able to open up Entourage now and saw that it seems my contacts
and calendar is OK I think...but only see email in main inbox through
July 2005!!! Don't see emails in my subfolders, although all my
folders are present......

Other bad news is that so far none of the file recovery apps will find
Entourage X database files.... I checked with ProSoft Engineering
support regarding Data Rescue II. But it only works on database files
starting with Entourage version 11 and Entourage X is at version 10
from what I see....

;-(

Anyone know of a file recovery app that would recover an Entourage X
database file????

I suspect that you are experiencing the 4GB limit on rebuilding. Did you
ever get a warning on size? Shortly after Entourage X was released one of
the updates included the warning on reaching the 4GB size limit. If you
hadn't upgrade you wouldn't get the warning.

Yes, I think you're right....but I never saw any warnings regarding
size!...I had upgraded Entourage once before as I recall and upgraded
it again yesterday when I discovered a recent update....

Defiantly try.

I did....see above...

It's possible just setting the new User as having Admin privileges you can
open the file. If not, do a Get Info on your folders in your regular user
to see what the permissions are set for and compare to the new User's MUD
folder.

My Microsoft User Data folder and all enclosing folders and files:

Owner: diane (shows locked if you need to change click on the lock, change
then lock)
Access: Read & Write
Group: diane
Access: Read only
Other: Read only

Will try again....although I think I really need to find a way to
retrieve that file I deleted.....

 

[Diane Ross]

Anyone know of a file recovery app that would recover an Entourage X
database file????

See Drive Savers. It is VERY expensive though and no guarantee that a
rebuild will work if you can reclaim that file.

Yes, I think you're right....but I never saw any warnings regarding
size!...I had upgraded Entourage once before as I recall and upgraded
it again yesterday when I discovered a recent update....

It's possible you updated too late.

It's possible you mentioned it, but can you open Entourage with a database
that was rebuilt? If you get that backup (since you just did the rebuild you
should have it) you can drag the messages to the desktop.

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>

 

[ArchiMark]

See comments below, Diane....

Thanks!!!!

Mark

See Drive Savers. It is VERY expensive though and no guarantee that a
rebuild will work if you can reclaim that file.

<http://www.drivesavers.com/>

Don't remind me about DriveSavers....they're great, but I spent a lot
of money on them some years ago when I had a hard drive crash with all
my business stuff on it......got a $1200 tape drive after that
one...only problem is that it has SCSI interface not USB or FW.... ;-(

I was asking if there's a program I can get to do it myself similar to
Data Rescue, FileSalvage, etc....

Is there any chance that Microsoft can fix this?? or help with it???
don't mind the $35 for the call if they can help...but somehow I doubt
it...

It's possible you updated too late.

Probably, just my luck....

It's possible you mentioned it, but can you open Entourage with a database
that was rebuilt? If you get that backup (since you just did the rebuild you
should have it) you can drag the messages to the desktop.

Don't quite understand....

The only database that opens with Entourage now is the one that I just
rebuilt this evening, but is only 25.8MB out of 3.8GB (prior to all
this mess...) and missing almost 2 years of email..... ;-(

 

[Diane Ross]

I was asking if there's a program I can get to do it myself similar to
Data Rescue, FileSalvage, etc....

None that I am aware of.

Is there any chance that Microsoft can fix this?? or help with it???
don't mind the $35 for the call if they can help...but somehow I doubt
it...

They don't do data rescue.

Don't quite understand....

The only database that opens with Entourage now is the one that I just
rebuilt this evening, but is only 25.8MB out of 3.8GB (prior to all
this mess...) and missing almost 2 years of email..... ;-(

It's just getting a big confusing over what has been tried. Just wanted to
see if the database that you rebuilt could be opened but was only exhibiting
problems.

You have no backups in two years?

It's possible not to discover corruption and you could be backing up a
corrupt file. This is why you should keep an archive and/or snapshot of
older backups just in case.

Snapshot: This is most useful when you have inadvertently backed up a file
that is damaged or unreadable, but say two weeks ago was fine. With the
snapshot feature you can go back in time to a session where the file is
undamaged and replace it.

See my tips on backups using FolderOrgX to save snapshots.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/backup.html#folderorg>

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>

 

[ArchiMark]

Thanks again, Diane....see comments as usual below....

Mark

None that I am aware of.

Oh well....

They don't do data rescue.

I didn't actually mean that they would do the rescue...just wondered
whether they have any method to deal with this other than what I've
been trying....grasping for straws, I guess....

It's just getting a big confusing over what has been tried. Just wanted to
see if the database that you rebuilt could be opened but was only exhibiting
problems.

I see...

You have no backups in two years?

Well, I have gotten a lot lazier about this since I stopped my own biz
and took a job elsewhere....will check though and see what I can
find....

It's possible not to discover corruption and you could be backing up a
corrupt file. This is why you should keep an archive and/or snapshot of
older backups just in case.

Snapshot: This is most useful when you have inadvertently backed up a file
that is damaged or unreadable, but say two weeks ago was fine. With the
snapshot feature you can go back in time to a session where the file is
undamaged and replace it.

See my tips on backups using FolderOrgX to save snapshots.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/backup.html#folderorg>

Great suggestion, Diane!

Will check it out....

 

[ArchiMark]

Forgot to ask in my last post regarding another idea (maybe silly
idea...)....

Would there be any chance of rebuilding the 4GB Database file if I
bought the current MS Office suite???

Just wonder if it would have a better chance of dealing with this
large file than the version I have now installed....

Anyway, just a thought....

Mark

 

[Diane Ross]

Forgot to ask in my last post regarding another idea (maybe silly
idea...)....

Would there be any chance of rebuilding the 4GB Database file if I
bought the current MS Office suite???

Entourage 200 would first have to import the data. That might not be
possible. You can download the demo and test it there. If it doens't work
you are only out your time and energy.

Just wonder if it would have a better chance of dealing with this
large file than the version I have now installed....

If you open the database file in a text editor, it's possible that you could
erase some of the data and save the file. Now that the file is smaller, it's
a remote possibility that Entourage could then rebuild. This is something I
just pulled out of thin air and AFAIK no one has ever tried this to make a
database small enough to rebuild, but since you are grasping for any
solution, it's not a huge one to try.

If you look at the bottom of this page you'll get some idea of what you
might find.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/corrupt.html>


--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>

 

[ArchiMark]

Diane, the Eagle has landed!!!!!!!!!

I decided what the heck and bought MS Office:Mac 2004 upgrade on my
way home from work today....

I said a little prayer and crossed my fingers while going through
install process and watched while it worked on importing my
identity....took about a half hour and then voila! installer went on
to next steps in install process....just finished install....

Opened up Entourage 2004 and voila! there was almost all my emails
(through 3/29/07...) !!!!!!!!

All my folders are intact, rules, accounts, etc.....

So far in my quick check, some sub-folders are completely empty, no
emails, but emails are in some of the sub-folders and main Inbox is
full of emails through 3/29/07.....

So not perfect but a lot better than the puny 25.8MB database
version.... ;-)

Also, FWIW, I did call my buddies over at DriveSavers and was on the
phone for a bit with them...not real good news regarding potential to
recover that other database file. They said that Entourage database
files are quite tricky to retrieve and very easily damaged if trashed
in OSX...so unless you shutdown computer right after deleting file you
don't have good odds of retrieval they said, but they were willing to
try if I wanted....

So, did the math and figured that it was worth a shot by trying
upgrading to Entourage 2004....seems to have paid off....

Think I'll be making regular backups of the database file now......
learned my lesson.... ;-)

Diane, again, I can't thank you enough for all your diligent help,
advice and support through this disaster....couldn't have done without
you!!!!

You're the best!!!

Mark

 

[Diane Ross]

Think I'll be making regular backups of the database file now......
learned my lesson.... ;-)

Sadly, it's a lesson we all usually learn the hard way.

Diane, again, I can't thank you enough for all your diligent help,
advice and support through this disaster....couldn't have done without
you!!!!

You're the best!!!

I'm glad I could help.

See the Entourage 2004 Upgrade FAQs. It will help you with the transition
and point you to some of the new features like custom arrangements that you
might overlook at first.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/2004.html>

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/get_started/index.html>

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/get_started/thread.html>
--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>

 

[ArchiMark]

Will check out those FAQs....

Thank You!!

Mark