Getting Old Messages onto New Computer

[outtacontext]

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

I have a new Mac and I'm trying to get my old messages, which are stored on my computer onto my new Mac. Here's my situation:

Aside from moving to a new computer I also have changed ISPs. With my new ISP I've set up an IMAP account with no problems.

However, with my old ISP I had a POP account and I have a number of old emails that were stored on my computer. I'd like to be able to have access to them on my new computer but am having problems getting them into Entourage.

I moved my Microsoft User Data folder to my Documents folder on my new computer but that didn't seem to do the trick.

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

I have a new Mac and I'm trying to get my old messages, which are
stored on my computer onto my new Mac. Here's my situation:

Aside from moving to a new computer I also have changed ISPs. With my
new ISP I've set up an IMAP account with no problems.

However, with my old ISP I had a POP account and I have a number of
old emails that were stored on my computer. I'd like to be able to
have access to them on my new computer but am having problems getting
them into Entourage.

I moved my Microsoft User Data folder to my Documents folder on my
new computer but that didn't seem to do the trick.

You've done the correct thing, which is to copy your Microsoft User Data
folder to your new computer. Be sure it's in exactly the same place on
your new computer compared to your old computer.

Then, in Entourage select Entourage menu --> Switch Identity. You may
need to select your old identity so that you're using the recently
copied folder of stuff. It may be called "Main Identity" or something
else if you ever renamed it.

Hope this helps!

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>

 

[outtacontext]

I tried that but it didn't work.

 

[Ed Kimball]

I tried that but it didn't work.

Can you be more precise when you say it didn't work? What happened when you
tried to open the identity that you copied over from the other computer?
(You did copy the entire identity and not just the database, right? And you
did put it inside Microsoft User Data>Office 2008 Identities in your home
folder?)

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

Can you be more precise when you say it didn't work? What happened when you
tried to open the identity that you copied over from the other computer?
(You did copy the entire identity and not just the database, right? And you
did put it inside Microsoft User Data>Office 2008 Identities in your home
folder?)

And you're copying a MUD from Entourage 2008 on your old computer to
Entourage 2008 on your new computer, right? You're not trying to upgrade
at the same time? That won't work.

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>

 

[Ed Kimball]

And you're copying a MUD from Entourage 2008 on your old computer to
Entourage 2008 on your new computer, right? You're not trying to upgrade
at the same time? That won't work.

Good point. In this case, the OP would have to IMPORT instead of Switch
Identity, right?

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

Good point. In this case, the OP would have to IMPORT instead of Switch
Identity, right?

Yeppers.

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>

 

[outtacontext]

Okay, now I'm lost. MUD? OP?

Here are the steps I took in trying to move my info from one computer to the next:

Initially, I copied the Microsoft User Data folder into my user's document folder. I created my new IMAP account (that's working fine, although every time it checks for new mail it makes a sound. CAN I TURN THAT SOUND OFF?). This mail shows up in my Inbox under my Named Acct in the left pane of Entourage.

Below that, under "On My Computer" I have another Inbox, etc. On my old computer my 100s of old messages from my old (and no longer active) POP account) showed up. These were messages that I had pulled down from my old POP account and were essentially archived on my computer. And these are the emails I'd like to be accessible in my new iteration of Entourage.

Instead, in addition to new mail showing up in my IMAP account at the top of the left pane, it also is appearing in my ON MY COMPUTER inbox as well. This didn't happen the last time.

I understand the IMAP account at the top of the left pane is directly connected to my IMAP account, showing me what's on the mail server. And the ON THE COMPUTER inbox is somehow pulling that down onto my computer (not sure I want that to be honest).

I simply want my old emails from my old POP account to be on my computer.

Now that that's all been said, after William told me to go to Switch Identities I did. All that showed up was my MAIN identity. Nothing else. So when I said "nothing happened" I double clicked on the Main identity and it brought me back to Entourage as it was. Nothing changed.

I also exported the .rge file from my old computer's Entourage, moved it over to my new computer and opened it up. A new folder appeared in the left pane under ON MY COMPUTER called Main Identity.rge. But when I click on it no email shows up in the right part of the screen.

Okay, so that's where I am. Could you please explain what I should do now? Thanks for all your help.

 

[Ed Kimball]

Okay, now I'm lost. MUD? OP?

Here are the steps I took in trying to move my info from one computer to the
next:

Initially, I copied the Microsoft User Data folder into my user's document
folder. I created my new IMAP account (that's working fine, although every
time it checks for new mail it makes a sound. CAN I TURN THAT SOUND OFF?).
This mail shows up in my Inbox under my Named Acct in the left pane of
Entourage.

Below that, under "On My Computer" I have another Inbox, etc. On my old
computer my 100s of old messages from my old (and no longer active) POP
account) showed up. These were messages that I had pulled down from my old POP
account and were essentially archived on my computer. And these are the emails
I'd like to be accessible in my new iteration of Entourage.

Instead, in addition to new mail showing up in my IMAP account at the top of
the left pane, it also is appearing in my ON MY COMPUTER inbox as well. This
didn't happen the last time.

I understand the IMAP account at the top of the left pane is directly
connected to my IMAP account, showing me what's on the mail server. And the ON
THE COMPUTER inbox is somehow pulling that down onto my computer (not sure I
want that to be honest).

I simply want my old emails from my old POP account to be on my computer.

Now that that's all been said, after William told me to go to Switch
Identities I did. All that showed up was my MAIN identity. Nothing else. So
when I said "nothing happened" I double clicked on the Main identity and it
brought me back to Entourage as it was. Nothing changed.

I also exported the .rge file from my old computer's Entourage, moved it over
to my new computer and opened it up. A new folder appeared in the left pane
under ON MY COMPUTER called Main Identity.rge. But when I click on it no email
shows up in the right part of the screen.

Okay, so that's where I am. Could you please explain what I should do now?
Thanks for all your help.

MUD = Microsoft User Data folder
OP = Original Poster, i.e., you.

To turn off the sound, use Entourage>Preferences>Notification.

I suspect that you have somehow created a rule that copies mail from your
IMAP account to the On My Computer Inbox. Check under Tools>Rules>IMAP
Another possibility is that the account is set up both for IMAP and POP,
which can be done for some ISPs. If that is the case, delete or disable the
POP account.

I'm not sure how to get back all your messages from your POP account on your
old computer. You could try dragging them to the desktop from your old
computer, copying them to the desktop of your new computer, and dragging
them into the Inbox On My (new) Computer. I haven't tried this myself, so I
can't guarantee it will work.

Good luck.

 

[Diane Ross]

Initially, I copied the Microsoft User Data folder into my user's document
folder. I created my new IMAP account (that's working fine, although every
time it checks for new mail it makes a sound. CAN I TURN THAT SOUND OFF?).
This mail shows up in my Inbox under my Named Acct in the left pane of
Entourage.

Below that, under "On My Computer" I have another Inbox, etc. On my old
computer my 100s of old messages from my old (and no longer active) POP
account) showed up. These were messages that I had pulled down from my old POP
account and were essentially archived on my computer. And these are the emails
I'd like to be accessible in my new iteration of Entourage.

In Entourage 2008 there is new behavior for listing folders. The Default
account your IMAP account is now on top of the folders "On My Computer".

Folders "On My Computer" is for your POP accounts.

I also exported the .rge file from my old computer's Entourage, moved it over
to my new computer and opened it up. A new folder appeared in the left pane
under ON MY COMPUTER called Main Identity.rge. But when I click on it no email
shows up in the right part of the screen.

Did you toggle the folder open. It will show the folder structure as
subfolders.

 

[outtacontext]

Diane, yes, I toggled the imported .rge folder open. There was nothing in it.

Ed, I tried moving emails from one computer to another and it works. However, it resets the date to today's date, which is something I'd like to avoid.

And, I believe you were right. I did set up a POP account, in addition to the IMAP and probably what was drawing the emails in. Thx.

 

[outtacontext]

I've done a little sleuthing and found the following: if you drag an Entourage folder to the desktop it will create an MBOX file that can be brought back into another instance of Entourage (it won't bring subfolders but there are a number of scripts on the net for bringing them with (see: <http://www.barryw.net/scripts/)>.

This script site also has a script for eliminating duplicates.

 

[Ed Kimball]

Diane, yes, I toggled the imported .rge folder open. There was nothing in it.

Ed, I tried moving emails from one computer to another and it works. However,
it resets the date to today's date, which is something I'd like to avoid.

The DATE RECEIVED is the date that Entourage saw the message. For most
purposes, DATE SENT is more useful.

And, I believe you were right. I did set up a POP account, in addition to the
IMAP and probably what was drawing the emails in. Thx.

You're welcome. Glad that seems to have solved the problem.

 

[outtacontext]

Yes, the page I found these scripts on also mentioned the SENT date to be more important. Thx.

 

[Diane Ross]

(it won't bring subfolders

There is a script that does bring over subfolders.

Export folders as MBOX files (includes subfolders)
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/downloads/scripts/jolly/Make_MBOX.zip>

 

[outtacontext]

Just to report: all went well. I was able to eliminate duplicate emails and create an MBOX file of my old archived email. Importing it into my new instance of Entourage went successfully.

Thanks all!~