Notes are missing from all database backups -everything else is okay though

[Pope7]

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

One of the users I support deleted a very critical note. I'd warned the user before to not store important things in Entourage notes, seeing as the developers put a huge "Delete" button at the top of the toolbar right beside the "New Note" button, but have never provided an "Undelete" option.

From a UI standpoint, that button should be about 4 inches to the right of the "My Day" icon, and it should have a verification dialog box.

Sorry, I digress...

Well, the worst happened and the user deleted a highly important note.

The computer is backed up (not with TimeMachine, but rather another backup solution). Previously I had to retrieve a deleted note for the user, and I had no problems. I rolled to a backup, loaded the identity, and retrieved the notes.

But this time...

1.) I made a backup of the current Identity.
2.) I restored a previous version of the identity.
3.) I opened the backup and everything is as it should be, except there are no notes. Contacts and e-mails are correct, but the notes are missing.

I've tried backups from September, October, November, and December - all of them are like this.

 

[Diane Ross]

From a UI standpoint, that button should be about 4 inches to the right of the
"My Day" icon, and it should have a verification dialog box.

You can move the icons in Entourage 2008's tool bar now. You can also
customize and add icons.

Use Contextual menus a.k.a. right-click (The Entourage Help Blog)
<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2009/01/use_contextual_menu.html>

In case the above link does not work:
<http://tinyurl.com/cbn45y>

Currently in Entourage 2008 neither notes nor tasks are synched to Exchange
servers. As for workarounds: you could save your notes as e-mail drafts and
store them in a mail folder that you have created for that purpose. Mail
messages and folders are synched to the server, and you can use the same
formatting options for both notes and e-mail messages.

Now for a real solution. There is a public beta for Entourage 2008 Exchange.
Tasks, Notes and Categories are included when syncing with Exchange.

Entourage for Exchange Web Services Beta goes live! (The Entourage Help
Blog)
<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2009/01/entourage_for_exchange_web_services_
beta_goes_live.html>

<http://tinyurl.com/88ad7a>

--
Diane
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://tinyurl.com/bzcrjy> <-- Entourage mailing list
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/entouragehelp>

 

[Pope7]

I appreciated the information, but this does not solve the problem or explain why notes would be missing from the Main Identity's backup databases.

The fact that notes aren't kept on the server is fine with me and is something I've long been aware of.

I'm trying to figure out this:

Why are the notes completely missing from backup databases?

If this note is retrievable, I need to recover it. There is either a potential bug in Entourage or a potential bug in the software we use to backup data, and I need to know which.

 

[Diane Ross]

I appreciated the information, but this does not solve the problem or explain
why notes would be missing from the Main Identity's backup databases.

Are you saying a separate backup of the Entourage database does not contain
notes? Can you explain exactly how you backup? This is not normal behavior.
Entourage stores everything in the database so excluding notes doesn't make
sense.

Have you done a custom search in Entourage to see if you can find the note?

It sounds like the note is gone.

--
Diane
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://tinyurl.com/bzcrjy> <-- Entourage mailing list
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/entouragehelp>

 

[Pope7]

Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying.

We use Mozy Backup Pro (not the home version), and it runs on a daily backup. On the machine in question, I can restore backups as far back as September.

Previously this user lost a note, and I had Mozy revert to a previous backup of the database, and I was able to get the note.

This time I followed the same process, and none of the database backups contained the notes.

September - This is the backup I used to restore the previous note. The notes are now missing from this database, even when freshly downloaded.

October - This database contains no notes, but it does contain all e-mails through October, all calendar events.

November Backup - This database contains no notes, but it does contain all e-mails through Novermber (and none after), all calendar events.

Rinse and repeat that description for December and January.

And when I say the notes are missing, I don't mean the note I'm trying to retrieve is missing. I mean "Out of 200 notes, none of them are in the database."

I find this strange, because they should be in the database, and the database verifies as being healthy and not corrupt.

 

[Diane Ross]

Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying.

I'll ping some folks and see what I can find out.

--
Diane
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://tinyurl.com/bzcrjy> <-- Entourage mailing list
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/entouragehelp>

 

[Pope7]

Thank you!