having Problem Copying Entourage to New Drive

[darrylray]

I just installed two 80GB internal drives to replace the two 40GB
internal drives that I have in my PowerPC G4 dual 500 mhz Mac running
OS 10.3.9.

I copied everything from the main internal hard drive to an external
80GB drive using a program called SuperDuper. I also did this over the
weekend too using a program called Carbon Copy Cloner and I ran into
the same problem. Here's what happened:

I then booted from the 80GB external drive to make sure that everything
had copied successfully and that I had an identical copy of the main
drive. Everything was exactly the same.

I then installed the two internal drives with the intention of copying
everything from the external 80GB drive to each of the 80GB internal
drives. Just to make sure everything was still O.K. on the 80GB
external drive, I booted from it and opened Entourage. All of the
messages and folders that had been there just a minute before were now
gone, and folders and messages from July 2005 were in its place.

What happened? How do I get the current database of folders and
messages working on all three drives? Where are the current messages
and folders stored on the hard drive?

Thanks!

 

[Diane Ross]

What happened? How do I get the current database of folders and
messages working on all three drives? Where are the current messages
and folders stored on the hard drive?

~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2004 Identities/your identity

Entourage expects the folder to be in your Documents folder. For OS X users,
that's the Documents folder in your User's folder.

To find your old database, search for "Microsoft User Data" (without the
quotes).

If you have not used a new identity in Entourage, then copy the entire
Microsoft User Data folder to the correct location.

Fix if you have more than one Microsoft User Data Folder...

Move the entire identity folder you want to use to the Office Identities
folder that Entourage is recognizing. Your identity is named "Main" by
default. Be sure to rename one so you do not overwrite. Your identity folder
can contain more than one identity.

Switch Identities to view your old mail. If you have not used the new
identity, delete it. If you have used it and want to combine the new mail
with your original database, drag each folder to the desktop from one
identity. This creates an MBOX file. Switch identities. Drag the MBOX files
into the folder window of Entourage.

You can delete the old folder after you are satisfied with the transfer

 

[darrylray]

Dianne:

I have two Office Folders in my Microsoft Users Data folder . One is
labelled "Office 2004 Identities", and the other is labelled "Office X
Identities". If I open each folder there is another folder inside
labelled "Main Identity". If I switch the two folders around, and then
try to launch Entorage, it won't load because it says that "Entourage
cannot access your data. To attempt to fix the problem, rebuild your
database".

The folders seem to be in the correct location in the Documents folder.

 

[Diane Ross]

I have two Office Folders in my Microsoft Users Data folder . One is
labelled "Office 2004 Identities", and the other is labelled "Office X
Identities". If I open each folder there is another folder inside
labelled "Main Identity". If I switch the two folders around, and then
try to launch Entorage, it won't load because it says that "Entourage
cannot access your data. To attempt to fix the problem, rebuild your
database".

The folders seem to be in the correct location in the Documents folder.

Office 2004 cannot open an Office X Identity. You have to import the data
from the Office X Identity into Office 2004.

You can only switch a main identity created by the same version of Office.
Hope this is clear.

 

[darrylray]

Diane:

What I don't understand is why there is even a folder labelled Office
2004 on my system in the first place since I'm running Office X with
Entourage 10.1.4? Was it left over for some reason when I upgraded from
OS 9 to OS X? Can I trash that folder so I only have an Office X folder
in the Microsoft User Data folder? Which folder is actually holding all
of my current messages - Office X or Office 2004?

Thanks!

 

[Barry Wainwright [MVP]]

Diane:

What I don't understand is why there is even a folder labelled Office
2004 on my system in the first place since I'm running Office X with
Entourage 10.1.4? Was it left over for some reason when I upgraded from
OS 9 to OS X? Can I trash that folder so I only have an Office X folder
in the Microsoft User Data folder? Which folder is actually holding all
of my current messages - Office X or Office 2004?

Thanks!

If you are running office vX then your data is in the Officw vX Identity
folder. If you are running Office 2004 then the data will be in the Office
2004 Identity folder.

If the mac came with the Office 2004 test drive this will have created the
Office 2004 identity folder.

Check the modification dates and sizes of the 'database' file.

 

[darrylray]

Barry:

Thanks for the clarification and the suggestion to check the size of
the folders. The database file stored inside the Main Identities folder
inside the Office X Identities folder is much larger than the same file
in the Office 2004 folder. So, let's assume that it contains my current
messages and folders. But for some reason Entourage doesn't seem to be
looking at it.

Here's what I did as a test: I created a folder called "Hiding
Database" and transferred the entire Office 2004 folder to it and then
buried it in a list of other innocuous folders outside the Documents
folder where Entourage would normally look for it. That just left the
Office X Identities folder in the Documents folder. I restarted the
system and launched Entourage, and just like before, all of the old
messages and folders appeared. There is only one Identity on the
system. When I go to "Switch Identities" there is only a Main Identity
that appears.

What is going on? No matter what I do, it seems that the system is
stuck on using this old database and can't find the current database.

 

[Diane Ross]

Here's what I did as a test: I created a folder called "Hiding
Database" and transferred the entire Office 2004 folder to it and then
buried it in a list of other innocuous folders outside the Documents
folder where Entourage would normally look for it. That just left the
Office X Identities folder in the Documents folder. I restarted the
system and launched Entourage, and just like before, all of the old
messages and folders appeared. There is only one Identity on the
system. When I go to "Switch Identities" there is only a Main Identity
that appears.

Your Office X folder has to be inside the Microsoft User Data folder.

See path here;

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/path/ent_db.html>

If you are still having trouble finding where the database Entourage is
opening is located, create a new user and name it something unusual. Then do
a search in the Finder for your new folder.

Move the entire identity folder you want to use to the Office Identities
folder that Entourage is recognizing. Your identity is named "Main" by
default. Be sure to rename one so you do not overwrite. Your identity folder
can contain more than one identity.

 

[darrylray]

Diane:

Somehow a friend and I were able to get things straightened out. My
question: If I'm running OS 10.3.9 and have an Office X folder with an
Office X Identities Database in it, why is the system using an Office
2004 folder with an Office 2004 Identities Database as the database for
Entourage 10X?

 

[Diane Ross]

Somehow a friend and I were able to get things straightened out. My
question: If I'm running OS 10.3.9 and have an Office X folder with an
Office X Identities Database in it, why is the system using an Office
2004 folder with an Office 2004 Identities Database as the database for
Entourage 10X?

Do you have a file named "Database Cache" inside your Office 2004 Identities
folder?

Is it possible that you are running the test drive version of Office 2004?
Look under Entourage in the menu bar and select "About Entourage".