Entourage archive problem

[Ruby Foo]

I back up my mail by exporting it to an archive and then importing it
to Entourage on another Mac that I keep only as a backup. This has
worked successfully for years.

Today I got an error that said:

"Import Incomplete
There was a problem saving one of your messages. You Office database
may be damaged. Start the Database Utility to verify your database."



It said "Import Incomplete" even though I was exporting at the time.

The database checked out ok but I rebuilt it anyway. Same problem. I
never used Apple Mail but tried importing all my mail into it - just in
case Entourage became unusuable or the database corrupted. The import
seemed to work fine.

The only thing I've done that might have affected Entourage is I
selected all mail with attachments and deleted the attachments.


My version is ME 2004 for Mac 11.2.3 on OS X 10.4.6

 

[lakingsgeek]

Getting the same error. Tried to archive for the first time and it
would give me that error. Database Utility doesn't seem to help.

 

[Diane Ross]

Getting the same error. Tried to archive for the first time and it
would give me that error. Database Utility doesn't seem to help.

Since the export to .rge file completed and Apple Mail imported, it would
appear that your mail is OK. I can understand your concern and believe it
would be prudent to take steps now to be sure you have a clean database
while your data is accessible.

I suggest duplicating the Identity and rename it to "Archive" for example.
Now open the original Identity and use a Mail view for mail older than 60
days. Select these messages in the Mail view and delete them.

Try the export to .rge file and see if you get the error. If not, then you
have a backup Identity for reference and your last 60 days of mail. If you
error persists, try 30 days and test. Keep reducing mail until you don't get
an error. You can always drag in messages from the archive database if you
have pruned too many for your daily use.

If this is successful, you have a clean database without the agony of
setting up a completely brand new Identity.

Let me know how this goes.

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
The Entourage Blog lists the EHP as one of the top five Microsoft Entourage
resources.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>