how to import emails into Entourage

[drcboston]

I am trying to recover downloaded emails from an old hard drive that I
just replaced. It "crashed", or at least wouldn't boot up, though I am
able to open files on it. It contains 3 weeks worth of emails that are
not on my current hard drive since I hadn't backed up in that long.

I've finally located the email accounts (users - my name - documents -
Microsoft User Data - Office 2004 Identities), but the Entourage
Import procedure won't allow me to select the folder to import, nor do
the folders containing the email account names contain a "messages"
file. I do have a seperate folder simply named "Identities" that has
folders named "messages", but they can't be selected either, and not
all my identities are listed, so I think this folder is outdated.

thanks, in advance,
david

 

[Diane Ross]

I am trying to recover downloaded emails from an old hard drive that I
just replaced. It "crashed", or at least wouldn't boot up, though I am
able to open files on it. It contains 3 weeks worth of emails that are
not on my current hard drive since I hadn't backed up in that long.

I've finally located the email accounts (users - my name - documents -
Microsoft User Data - Office 2004 Identities), but the Entourage
Import procedure won't allow me to select the folder to import, nor do
the folders containing the email account names contain a "messages"
file. I do have a seperate folder simply named "Identities" that has
folders named "messages", but they can't be selected either, and not
all my identities are listed, so I think this folder is outdated.

Import in Entourage does not allow import from the same version.

You can import from an older version to a newer version.

OE to Entourage 2001
OE to Entourage X or Entourage 2004
Entourage 2001 to Entourage X or Entourage 2004

You cannot import from a newer version to an older version. e.g. Entourage
2004 to Entourage X, Entourage X to OE or Entourage 2001 using Entourage.

You cannot import from the same version of Entourage. e.g. Entourage 2004 to
Entourage 204, Entourage X to Entourage X or Entourage 2001 to Entourage
2001.

However, you can import with other methods.

I suggest moving the Identity folder named "Main" by default to the
Microsoft User Data folder/Office 2004 Identity folder. Be sure to rename so
it doesn't overwrite. You can rename in the Finder.

Open Entourage and Switch Identity
You can then export as a .rge file or drag message folders to the desktop as
MBOX files.

Switch back to your new Identity
You can Import under File the .rge file
Or you can drag in the MBOX files from the desktop

You didn't mention contacts or other data. The .rge file can bring over all
data files. Just check what you want to export.

For more help see:

Backup Your Data: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/backup.html>

Move/Transfer from Another Computer:
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/move.html>
--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
One of the top five MS Entourage resources listed on the Entourage Blog.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/entourage/>