Lost identity?

M

Mike Haveron

Hi! I have a G3 iMac and Microsoft Office, and I appear to have lost
all my Entourage data. Apologies in advance for the long posting
below.

Some time ago I had an "end of the file was reached" message when
transferring to Entourage from Outlook Express and was told this meant
my database was corrupted. Tonight, while doing some exploring, I came
across the old OE Database, Database Cache, Mailing Lists and Messages
files. I decided to copy them into my Identities folder (suffixing
them with OE), thinking they might contain the lost OE info.

When I then tried to open Entourage, I initially got a message that it
could not open with that identity (unspecified). I then dragged the
four OE documents onto the desktop and opened Entourage again. This
time it opened up, but with all my addresses, emails and diary
appointments gone, and nothing but a welcome message from the
Microsoft Mac team!

Does this mean I've lost all my data? Or is it being held somewhere on
the disk?

In desperation I then tried to open Outlook Expess, and to my surprise
I got the following message:
"To use data from your previous version of Outlook Express, move or
copy the identities folder located in ... to the Outlook Express 5.02
folder ... and start Outlook Express again".

Is this message telling me I can now use the original data I had lost
when I first transferred to Entourage?

Apologies once more for the long posting. I hope I've given you enough
information.

Thanks in advance

Mike H
 
H

Hunter Donald \(MSFT\)

Hi Mike,

Did you create a backup of that OE data you tried to move? If not, what is
the size of the database and messages files that you have on the affected
machine? Once found, reply back, and I can help walk you through trying to
import the data.

--
Hunter Donald
Microsoft Exchange Client Server Infrastructure / Mac Messaging Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
Use of included script samples are subject to the terms specified at
http://www.microsoft.com/info/cpyright.htm

Please do not send email directly to this alias. This alias is for newsgroup
purposes only.
 
D

Diane Ross

Hi! I have a G3 iMac and Microsoft Office, and I appear to have lost
all my Entourage data. Apologies in advance for the long posting
below.
Click to expand...

Understanding where Entourage stores it's data is important. When Entourage
appears to have lost the identity, it's usually because the user has moved
the data to another location.

Select Switch Identity and see if your old identity is still listed. If it's
not there, then...

1. It's possible that Entourage is looking in the wrong location for your
MUD folder. You probably have more than one documents folder.

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

Open Entourage, create a new identity and name it something unique so you
can do a search on it and it will be the only thing that shows up.

Now do a search for this new identity. This will tell you where Entourage is
looking for Identities.

2. If a find does not locate your original Identity folder, it's possible
the OS has lost the path. If you have Disk Warrior use it. It would be a
good idea to run DiskFirstAid from the OS install CD.


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

Move the 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.

Switch Identities to view your 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, just drag each folder to the desktop. this creates an
MBOX file. Switch identities. Drag the MBOX files into the folder window of
Entourage.

Remember keep a backup of all data before deleting.
Some time ago I had an "end of the file was reached" message when
transferring to Entourage from Outlook Express and was told this meant
my database was corrupted. Tonight, while doing some exploring, I came
across the old OE Database, Database Cache, Mailing Lists and Messages
files. I decided to copy them into my Identities folder (suffixing
them with OE), thinking they might contain the lost OE info.
Click to expand...

You can't just copy over files from OE to Entourage. They need to be
imported.
When I then tried to open Entourage, I initially got a message that it
could not open with that identity (unspecified). I then dragged the
four OE documents onto the desktop and opened Entourage again. This
time it opened up, but with all my addresses, emails and diary
appointments gone, and nothing but a welcome message from the
Microsoft Mac team!
Click to expand...

You can't use Entourage to open OE's files.
Does this mean I've lost all my data? Or is it being held somewhere on
the disk?

In desperation I then tried to open Outlook Expess, and to my surprise
I got the following message:
"To use data from your previous version of Outlook Express, move or
copy the identities folder located in ... to the Outlook Express 5.02
folder ... and start Outlook Express again".
Click to expand...

I would move your OE data back and try to rebuild in OE before importing
into Entourage.
Is this message telling me I can now use the original data I had lost
when I first transferred to Entourage?
Click to expand...

Not until you import it.
Apologies once more for the long posting. I hope I've given you enough
information.
Click to expand...

No problem, the solutions to try are long too. :)
 
M

Michael Haveron

Hi Diane,

Apologies for taking so long to respond, but although I could read your
message, whenever I tried to post a reply I kept getting the message "Google
Groups does not currently support posting to
microsoft.public.mac.office.entourage". Don¹t laugh, but I¹ve only just
discovered I can get access through the Microsoft News Server (I hope!).
Here¹s hoping.


Thanks a lot for your full reply ­ much appreciated. I followed your advice,
but my identity (the same as my email address, and the only identity I have)
was in the right place, the Office X Identities folder.


Just to be certain of where Entourage was looking I created a new identity
anyway and searched for it. It too was found in the Office X Identities
folder. (I¹ve now deleted it)


Something did happen when I tried your suggestion of moving the OE data back
and trying to rebuild in OE. After moving the data back, I couldn¹t see any
way of rebuilding, so I opened Outlook Express (to access Help), fully
expecting to get the usual message that ³the end of the file was reached².
Instead, OE opened up and I was able to access my mailbox. But that¹s where
the good news ended ­ my inbox, address book, etc. were all empty! But
something must have changed to get rid of the Œend of file¹ message and
allow me to open OE.


Am I heading in the right direction? And do you know how I can rebuild OE?
If it¹s not essential, I think I¹d prefer to forget about OE and concentrate
on getting my Entourage mail and address book back. (By the way, I did use
Disk Utility from my Install disk but nothing serious was wrong. As for Disk
Warrior, I¹m afraid my version doesn¹t extend to OS X! )


Mike H
 
M

Michael Haveron

Hi Hunter,

I tried several times to reply to you on the 'Lost Identity?' thread using
the 'Post a follow-up' facility, but I kept getting the message "Google
Groups does not currently support posting to
microsoft.public.mac.office.entourage". Strange, given that's how I posted
my original message! Anyway, I've now ­ belatedly ­ discovered I can post
through the Microsoft News Server, so hopefully all will be well from now
on.


By the way, I forgot to mention in my original posting that my version of OS
X is 10.1 - just in case that has an influence on matters.


Regarding your reply: I'm not sure if this constitutes a 'backup', but I
dragged the OE files onto the desktop, where they still are. Pressing Cmd-I
shows 6.7MB for the Database file, and 25.6 MB for the Messages file. If you
mean did I back them up onto my Zip drive, then no, sorry, I didn't.


For what it's worth, the other two OE files I mentioned in my first posting
- Database Cache and Mailing Lists - are also on the desktop, as is an 8.7MB
Entourage Database file (which I dragged from my email address folder -
inside Office X identities - and which Entourage has now replaced in that
folder with a much smaller - 528 Kb - Entourage Database file).


I¹ve since put all these documents back in an Identities folder inside the
Outlook Express folder ­ which means I now have duplicates of those four
folders (differentiated by the OE suffix I attached to the files I dragged
to the desktop). Whatever has happened in the meantime, it seems I can now
get into Outlook Express ­ I got an Œend of file was reached¹ message before
­ but my address book and saved emails have all gone.


Apologies if I'm overloading you with info, but I'm not really sure what is
and is not relevant.


Mike H
 
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