Entourage 2008 Crashing on Preferences

[Dave_Tosti-Lane]

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

Hello - I've read the other messages relating to this. I have installed Office 2008 Student/Home edition.
All works well, Entourage works fine and connects to my email account fine.

Whenever I click on Preferences in the Entourage menu, Entourage immediately crashes. I have allowed it to send reports to MS on this several times now over the course of the day.

In reading the earlier messages, I saw your suggestion to try a different user, sure enough, when I created a new user and logged out/in as the new user, I was able to open Entourage and open the preferences panel.
This was without setting up my email account first - just canceling out of all the setup options and getting to the basic Entourage window.

Please don't say there is a troubleshooting note on this, because I've been there and all it says is "This is a rare problem, one user..." etc, with the suggestion to reinstall. I tried that - uninstalled and reinstalled - same problem exists.

So,given that Preferences DO work with the new user, what would your advice be as to getting them to work with my main user account? (I did not try setting up my exchange webmail account in the new user account - perhaps I should try that next?)

I am on 12.1.9(090516) ESD release
Leopard 10.5.7
Macbook Pro 2.53Ghz 4G ram

Thanks so much for any assistance you can offer.

Dave Tosti-Lane

 

[Diane Ross]

So,given that Preferences DO work with the new user, what would your advice be
as to getting them to work with my main user account? (I did not try setting
up my exchange webmail account in the new user account - perhaps I should try
that next?)

You can try rebuilding to see if that takes care of the problem. I would
wait until you have this Identity working before adding the Exchange
account.

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.

How to rebuild:

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

Note: if your database is very large, be sure to check how much free space
is on your HD first. The more free space you have the better your chance at
a successful rebuild.

Rebuilding a damaged database that exceeded size limit

<http://tinyurl.com/4s6qv3>

After you rebuild, I would like you to do these stress tests to verify that
it is good. I've seen rebuilds that were iffy and corruption showed back up
at a later date.

Stress test to verify your database.

1. Use the Database Utility to run 'Verify database'

1. Hold Option key down when launching Entourage to open the Database Utility.

2. Under File --> Export select Entourage archive (.rge) file (all items)

1. If this fails to complete, it indicates corruption
2. If the export completes, create a new Identity in Entourage and import that
file.
3. If the export and import of the .rge file completes, this indicates a good
database.

3. Export as MBOX files your messages using this script. Export folders as
MBOX files (includes subfolders)

1. The script will fail on the folder with the corruption
2. Place the script in the Script Menu Items folder in the Microsoft User Data
folder.
3. Select the script from the menu in Entourage and it will run.
4. It places a folder on the desktop named Entourage Archives. You can select
the desktop in the Finder in column view and watch as it creates the folders.

4. Make a copy in the Finder of your Identity. Using the Database Utility,
run rebuild on the copy. To open Database Utility, hold down the OPTION key
while starting Entourage. Sometimes the rebuild will damage the database so
running it on a copy keeps your data safe for the test.

1. You can trash the copy and the rebuild copy after you verify your database.

If your Identity passes all 4 tests, it's good.

Did I hear you say "aarrgghh"?

 

[Dave_Tosti-Lane]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I did check getting the email set up in the new user account, and was able to get it going fine without introducing a preferences crash. Then back in the original user account, I discovered that the preferences crash happened with 2004 as well - unfortunately, that led me to try uninstalling everything and trying a clean install of 2008, which didn't give me the option of entering the exchange domain info. (that info had correctly transferred in from 2004 on the original install of 2008)

So, I uninstalled again, and reinstalled 2004, which is now repopulating the database from the exchange account as I type. Once that is done, I'll try to see if the preferences still crash, and if so, I'll try running your database rebuild and stress tests on a copy of the identity as you suggest to see if I can get 2004 working without the crash before I do the re-install of 2008 again.

I also have 2004 running on my iMac, and it does not do the preferences crash there. This is leading me to think that there may be something odd afoot in the main user account on the laptop.

Thanks.
Dave Tosti-Lane

 

[Diane Ross]

I also have 2004 running on my iMac, and it does not do the preferences crash
there. This is leading me to think that there may be something odd afoot in
the main user account on the laptop.

I agree, the problem seems to be in your User's account if it's affecting
Office 2004 as well.

Applejack might be helpful in tracking down the problem.

<http://applejack.sourceforge.net/>

Troubleshooting Tools: AppleJack
<http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=2005041817191411>

 

[Dave_Tosti-Lane]

Hi Diane, thanks for the tip on Applejack.
I ran the full set of applejack utilities several times, and the problem persists.
I think I'm just going to live with it for now, because it still seems to work fine otherwise - actually, in 2004, it also would (still does) crash instantly on double-clicking or attempting to open an even in the calendar. 2008 does not seem to do this, so it's a step up anyway.

I would be glad to send error reports to anyone working on this one - just let me know where to send and I will run through the steps. I did just allow the system to send one to Apple on the most recent test, and it seems to me it has sent several to MS over the last day or two.

THanks for your help.

Dave Tosti-Lane

 

[Diane Ross]

I would be glad to send error reports to anyone working on this one

Only the top part of a log is useful for most of us. The forum has a limit
and will clip a log anyway. It takes a developer to read logs. This article
on the Safari 4 beta goes a little into logs and what to look for. The
Blamed Module and the Crashed Module are the ones to note.

Entourage and Safari 4 beta woes

<http://tinyurl.com/dh9sj4>