Can't upgrade from v.X to 2004

[bsoudi]

I'm trying to upgrade from vX to 2004 and it's not working. When I go
through the set-up assistant, it says it can't find my vX indentity and all
the components of that identity are grey-ed out.

Now I am trying to rebuild my vX database and it hangs at preparing to
rebuild (cancel button doesn't even work!).

Any help? THanks, in advance.

P.S. Yes, I am just four years late doing this...I took advantage of all
the upgrade rebates to move to 2008. But I'm probably going to wait a while
before going to 08 because I've heard from a lot of people the lack of
migration to the docx format. Man, if I send attachments to clients they
can't open, they'll be mad! Sure, I could use the converter, but I used to
do that hassle when I was using AppleWorks -- that was why I moved to Mac
office in the first place.

 

[Diane Ross]

I'm trying to upgrade from vX to 2004 and it's not working. When I go
through the set-up assistant, it says it can't find my vX indentity and all
the components of that identity are grey-ed out.

Now I am trying to rebuild my vX database and it hangs at preparing to
rebuild (cancel button doesn't even work!).

Where is your Entourage X Identity located? The setup assistant is looking
in your Microsoft User Data folder inside your Documents folder. You can
have both the Entourage X Identity folder and the Entourage 2004 Identity
folder inside the MUD folder.

If you can open your Entourage X Identity and the rebuild fails, you can
use the MBOX method to salvage your mail and contacts.

Any help? THanks, in advance.

P.S. Yes, I am just four years late doing this...I took advantage of all
the upgrade rebates to move to 2008. But I'm probably going to wait a while
before going to 08 because I've heard from a lot of people the lack of
migration to the docx format. Man, if I send attachments to clients they
can't open, they'll be mad! Sure, I could use the converter, but I used to
do that hassle when I was using AppleWorks -- that was why I moved to Mac
office in the first place.

I rarely use Word, but I believe you have the option on how you can save
messages. Ask on the Office newsgroup. There are a bunch of Word MVPs on
that list.

microsoft.public.mac.office

You can use Entourage to access the newsgroups. Much better than using
Google's web interface.

How to subscribe to the Microsoft newsgroups

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/support_options/subnews.html>

For Office questions, the following newsgroups off support:

microsoft.public.mac.office.entourage
microsoft.public.mac.office
microsoft.public.mac.office.word
microsoft.public.mac.office.powerpoint
microsoft.public.mac.office.excel

Please note these newsgroups are not active. DO NOT POST on these groups. I
have no clue as to why Microsoft continues to list these groups.

microsoft.public.office.mac.entourage
microsoft.public.office.mac.

 

[bsoudi]

Diane, Thanks.

The User Data files are in documents/Microsoft user Data/Office X
Identities/Main User. I even navigated directly to it from the Assistant to
no avail.

While it won't rebuild the database and I must force quit it, I CAN access
Entourage. I just hope I can find a way to migrate easily -- more than just
messages and contacts. I want my accounts, signatures, rules, quick
correct, custom dictonary, categories/colors etc. to come with me. I really
hope I don't have to rebuild everything.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Diane Ross]

While it won't rebuild the database and I must force quit it, I CAN access
Entourage. I just hope I can find a way to migrate easily -- more than just
messages and contacts. I want my accounts, signatures, rules, quick
correct, custom dictonary, categories/colors etc. to come with me. I really
hope I don't have to rebuild everything.

I would duplicate your Identity in case something goes wrong while you are
getting your data out. This way you will have an Identity you know will
open.

The custom dictionary can be copied from the file in preferences. I suggest
making screen shots of your Accounts. This will help if you ever need to
start from scratch. Be sure to include the password in the name when you
save it for easy access.

I haven't tired it with different versions, but the rules, sigs, Mailing
List Manager files can be copied over to a new Identity in the Finder. You
will probably have to reset the destination folder, but this is much quicker
than having to start over from scratch.

Category colors seems to change from one version to the next. You might need
to adjust those manually after you get set up.

It might help to try rebuilding on a larger drive. See this article on
rebuilding an Entourage X Identity:

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2007/09/rebuilding_a_damaged_database_that_e
xceeded_size_limit.html>

Any other suggestions?

Try Paul Berkowitz's Export Import script. It's shareware, but very much
worth the cost. It does have a demo but it's limited.

Export-Import Entourage (shareware)

<http://scriptbuilders.net/files/exportimportentourage1.3.10.html>

As a side note: Entourage 2004 has a new export feature. It will export your
data as an Entourage archive file (.rge) This get almost everything. It's
smaller and very quick and easy to do.