However, the database file on my computer is over 22 GB! Why such a large
difference, and what is contributing to the other 20+ gigs of space that is
taking over my hard drive??
Are you storing messages under folders "On My Computer" and deleting those
from the server? If the messages have a lot of attachments, this could
account for the differences.
In addition, when you delete messages from Entourage the space is reused.
The database will be left with 'wasted' space in it every time you delete
something. However, this is not generally all bad, since the wasted space is
used up with new data as it is added. This way, over a period of time
(assuming that you are deleting stuff as you go) the database will probably
reach an optimum size, after which the stuff you delete is roughly equal to
the stuff you add, and no further growth takes place.
If you need to recover the wasted space on your hard disk, you will have to
do a 'typical' rebuild to compact the database. This will create a compacted
version of the database without the wasted space. You will then have to
manually delete the backup copies of the original database that the rebuild
process creates AFTER you are happy the new one is OK.
Warning: Make a duplicate in the Finder first as additional backup. A
rebuild does make a duplicate, but sometimes in the process the original and
backup get merged resulting in total disaster. It's rare but it happens.
Since your database is so big, it's very likely the rebuild will have
problems. Not only do you need a lot of extra drive space to rebuild, I
suggest 300 GB or more free to rebuild your huge database. What I might
suggest instead of a rebuild is to use the current database as an archive
and start a new Identity. Exchange accounts only are pretty easy to set back
up.
--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page <
http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
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http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
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