Cannot delete some email from Entourage

[Josleen]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel
Email Client: imap

Certain emails have a weird symbol in front of them and cannot be deleted or junked. Sometimes they are Spam emails, sometimes not.

Any ideas on how to delete them? Any help will be appreciated.

 

[Diane Ross]

Certain emails have a weird symbol in front of them and cannot be deleted or
junked. Sometimes they are Spam emails, sometimes not.

This sounds like a sign of database corruption. Under File --> Export select
the default action to export as Entourage archive (.rge) file all items. For
your test you could only do messages.

If it fails, this is a good sign you have corruption.

How to rebuild:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/rebuild.html>

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.

Hope this helps!

 

[Josleen]

Thanks so much for your reply. I was able to export the archive .rge file.

Do you think I should rebuild the anyway, or is there another clue to this mysterious bug?

Your help is very much appreciated.
Josleen

 

[Diane Ross]

Thanks so much for your reply. I was able to export the archive .rge file.

This is good.

Do you think I should rebuild the anyway, or is there another clue to this
mysterious bug?

Not yet. Let's do one more test.

Create a new Identity (Under Entourage in the Menu bar, select switch
Identities. Click on new )

When the new Identity opens, don't bother to set up account info. Just
cancel out.

Under File --> Import select the .rge file. It will show up in the folder
list as xxxxx.rge.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/video/Import_rge/index.html>

Toggle the folder open and find the problem emails that will not delete. Try
deleting messages in the new Identity.

Do they delete now? If yes then you might consider using the new Identity
rather than going back to the one with corruption.

If no, then we can try rebuilding.

BTW, I've only seen one case where an Entourage archive file (.rge) would
not import. In that case I had to use MBOX files to get the mail over.

Rebuilds should only be done when absolutely necessary. A successful rebuild
does not always fix the problems, but allows the Identity to open. Rebuilds
can make the problem worse. A lot depends on your hardware and space
available when you rebuild.

Another solution would be to see if Apple Mail can import your Entourage
Identity. Delete the message in Mail then import back into Entourage.

Let me know what the testing shows.

 

[Josleen]

On 8/1/09 7:56 AM, in article (e-mail address removed)9absDaxw,

:
Hi Diane,

Thanks for the quick response. I switched identities (didn't have to create a new one), and lo and behold the undeletable messages were GONE.

I don't understand it at all, so I'll wait to see if it happens again on the identity I switched to.

Thanks so much for that great idea. Why did it work?

Best,
Josleen

 

[Diane Ross]

Thanks for the quick response. I switched identities (didn't have to create a
new one), and lo and behold the undeletable messages were GONE.

I don't understand it at all, so I'll wait to see if it happens again on the
identity I switched to.

Thanks so much for that great idea. Why did it work?

No idea. Quitting and restarting applications and/or your computer is one of
the first things to try when troubleshooting. Switching Identities must have
flushed something in your current Identity, but that's just a guess. Just be
thankful they are gone.

Since the File export as Entourage archive (.rge) file is so quick and easy,
I suggest you periodically do this to check the health of your database. I
find it quicker than doing the Database Utility verify.