All I want to do is to sync Entourage_on_Mac1 to and from Entourage_on _Mac2 all the time!

[herojig]

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

Hi all, first time caller but been searching in vain for a solution to keep two macs synced in the Entourage space. I usually kill the Daemon and do copies of the entire user folder but this is not a sync, it's just a copy. I need to do a true sync between the 2 computers that keeps the same emails, contacts, events, etc. uptodate on both computers. Both are macs and both systems are identicle, ie. Leopard/Entrourage 12.1.0. How hard can this be?!?
thx,
herojig

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi herojig,

based on my limited understanding, it is actually quite hard to do. Have you
considered moving from POP to IMAP, or perhaps Exchange? IMAP would allow
you to access the same e-mail account from different computers. As for your
contacts or events, there are a number of ways to share them across
computers (using Entourage's Sync Services and iCal/Address Book); none of
these solutions is very straightforward, though, and you are bound to lose
some information (categories, links).

The best solution might be to use Exchange 2007, in combination with the new
Entourage Web Services beta. If you are interested in any of these
solutions, post back.

In the meantime, don't forget to send your feedback to Microsoft; click on
Help>Send Feedback about Entourage.

 

[herojig]

Hi Michel, thx for that! Yes I want to preserve EVERYTHING, projects, files, links, the whole shebang. But that's a lot of acronyms to do something that seems like it should be really simple. So tell me about Exchange 2007 and Entourage Web Services beta...is it free? I get all my mail from POP (gmail accounts) so this should be simple enough. The hard part is all the other stuff...thx again for ur help!!!
jigs

 

[Michel Bintener]

Hi jigs,

Exchange accounts are normally found in businesses. They can also be used by
individuals, but they are generally paid-for. You mention Gmail, though,
which is good (provided that you are willing to live with some drawbacks):

* you can configure Gmail as IMAP, meaning that you can access your emails
from different computers. See here:
<http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=78799> or here:
<http://tinyurl.com/2fk5hm>

* you can synchronise iCal to Google Calendars, and Entourage with iCal (via
Sync Services). See here for the instructions:
<http://www.google.com/support/calendar/bin/answer.py?answer=99358#ical>
or here: <http://tinyurl.com/56byzz>

* you can synchronise Entourage's contacts to Address Book, and Address Book
to Google Mail. See here for the instructions:
<http://lifehacker.com/393855/enable-google-contact-sync-without-an-iphoneip
od-touch> or <http://tinyurl.com/5uf5lo>

Once you've set this up, enable Sync Services in Entourage's preferences on
both machines, and you should be able to synchronise your data across
various machines. Note that there are some drawbacks to this solution, as
some information is not preserved between iCal/Address Book and Entourage,
above all categories and links.

If you are willing to pay for a more complete solution, you might want to
consider an e-mail provider who offers Exchange accounts. I have no
experience with those, though, so it might be better to wait for someone
knowledgeable to join this discussion.

 

[Diane Ross]

first time caller but been searching in vain for a solution to keep two macs
synced in the Entourage space.

As Michel mentioned, IMAP is a good option, but if you want to stay with POP
then you might consider this option.

Use an external drive for Microsoft User Data folder with alias in Documents
folder.

One user explains how they use this method:

I keep my Microsoft User Data folder on an external pocket firewire drive (a
large capacity USB thumb-drive will suffice if both machines have USB 2.0)
and just keep aliases to it in my Documents folder of all the machines I use
Entourage on (laptop, desktop and occasionally other machines I sit down in
front of for a few hours). Works like a charm and gives me an identical
environment on every machine.

You must quit the Microsoft Database daemon in order to eject the drive.
--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
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>

 

[herojig]

first time caller but been searching in vain for a solution to keep two macs
synced in the Entourage space.

As Michel mentioned, IMAP is a good option, but if you want to stay with POP
then you might consider this option.

Use an external drive for Microsoft User Data folder with alias in Documents
folder.

One user explains how they use this method:

I keep my Microsoft User Data folder on an external pocket firewire drive (a
large capacity USB thumb-drive will suffice if both machines have USB 2.0)
and just keep aliases to it in my Documents folder of all the machines I use
Entourage on (laptop, desktop and occasionally other machines I sit down in
front of for a few hours). Works like a charm and gives me an identical
environment on every machine.

You must quit the Microsoft Database daemon in order to eject the drive.
--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
Entourage Help Blog
YouTalk Twitter: follow
[/QUOTE]

Diane, thanks for that! I like the idea in theory that user has...external drive! I do that all the time with FinalCut Pro projects...but in practice on try #1 here is what happened:
1) copied the Ms User Data dir to flash drive (tried to quit the Daemon but it would not, so gave up on that part)
2) created an alias, deleted the dir on laptop, and copied the alias to laptop's documents folder.
3) fired up Entourage but it wanted to verify the DB
4) Verification failed, and it would not rebuild, said: ERROR: Corruption opening database [4363:""]
5) So I copied the folder back to the laptop and deleted the alias, restarted the machine, restarted Entourage, and after a few tries at rebuilding the database (as prompted) it worked.
Now I have a fresh DB that's 1/3 the size and a backup, and the new one seems to be the same - all is well. BUT not so sure about this idea!
Jigs

 

[herojig]

Well, when i tried a USB drive that i use all the time for this kinda transfer, it worked. U just have to kill the daemon as mentioned before the drive is ejectable. I guess I should try and write an action script that closes Entourage, kills the deamon process, and ejects the drive in one click. Then i just have to remember to plug the drive into the other machine and that also means I have to carry the external drive with me everywhere I go. I sure wish the flash drive worked, as battery time is an issue here in Nepal. We only have 4 hours of electricity per day now. So a flash drive would use less power, but I think perhaps it's the format of the flash drive? cheers,
jigs

 

[Diane Ross]

I guess I should try and write an action script that closes Entourage, kills
the deamon process, and ejects the drive in one click.

Create an Automator workflow. Add action "eject disk" under Files and
Folders. See this example:

<http://tinyurl.com/ceau8a>

Use these two scripts:

tell application "Microsoft Entourage"
quit
end tell

tell application "Microsoft Database daemon" to quit

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
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>

 

[herojig]

thx again Diane! i created a workflow that just kills entourage, then the daemon, then ejects the drive. works great! i uploaded it here in case anyone needs:

<http://www.extreme-nepal.com/forumboards/Eject> Mail Drive.workflow.zip

ps.been using this solution for a day or so and changed machines about 1/2 dozen times, and it works for me. nice low-tech solution for keeping entourage synced.

 

[Diane Ross]

Thanks for sharing! I'll get it posted on the Entourage Help Page soon for
download.

 

[herojig]

ur welcome Diane. that one is a great tip. any idea if MS will ever fix the right way? i think apple mail has sync no? so a desktop and a laptop user can have the same mail & settings on both machines? seems like a logical request. cheers!

 

[Diane Ross]

ur welcome Diane. that one is a great tip. any idea if MS will ever fix the
right way? i think apple mail has sync no? so a desktop and a laptop user can
have the same mail & settings on both machines? seems like a logical request.
cheers!

That's what IMAP accounts are for.