I booted up Entourage and my e-mail, contactsand calendar info is all gone.

[Jay]

It is as if i have booted up Entourage for the first time. everything is gone. this is crazy. since i am new to Mac OS, i don;t know where those files would be stored so i dont know how to find them.

 

[Diane Ross]

It is as if i have booted up Entourage for the first time. everything is
gone. this is crazy. since i am new to Mac OS, i don;t know where those
files would be stored so i dont know how to find them.

Entourage expects the folder to be in your Documents folder. For OS X users,
that's the Documents folder in your User's folder. When Entourage opens in a
new blank Identity, it's usually User error. Most likely you have
accidentally moved your Microsoft User Data folder. Hopefully, you have not
deleted the file. If you have deleted the trash, it's gone. Sorry!

Select Switch Identity (under Entourage in the Menu bar) and see if your old
identity is still listed.

To find your old database, search for "Microsoft User Data" (without the
quotes).

If you have not used a new identity in Entourage, then copy the entire
Microsoft User Data folder to the correct location.

Fix if you have more than one Microsoft User Data Folder...

Move the entire identity folder you want to use to the Office Identities
folder that Entourage is recognizing. Your identity is named "Main" by
default. Be sure to rename one so you do not overwrite. Your identity folder
can contain more than one identity. Switch Identities to view your old mail.
If you have not used the new identity, delete it. If you have used it and
want to combine the new mail with your original database, drag each folder
to the desktop from one identity. This creates an MBOX file. Switch
identities. Drag the MBOX files into the folder window of Entourage.

You can delete the old folder after you are satisfied with the transfer.

Sometimes updating software (including the OS) can cause problems where
files go missing. See this link for help finding 'lost' files.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/troubleshoot/crashes.html#crash15>

 

[Paul Barnard]

No I don't believe this is user error. It has happened to me a couple of times today. All Calendar and contact information just disappears. I think Entourage has a number of problems still to be worked out. In my case a Shutdown and relaunch brought my information back.

 

[Diane Ross]

No I don't believe this is user error. It has happened to me a couple of
times today. All Calendar and contact information just disappears. I think
Entourage has a number of problems still to be worked out. In my case a
Shutdown and relaunch brought my information back.

Someone else mentioned contacts disappearing for a bit then re-appearing. It
seems to be related to Sync Services. Not sure what is actually happening.

 

[Lordiska]

It happens to me and I find Dian Ross was right!!

Thanx Diana!!!

Tou save my life!!

 

[bioscibob]

I had the same issue. Somehow the Microsoft User Data file ended up in the Trash after a routine sorting of my Inbox. Thankfully I had not emptied the Trash and found it after reading Diane Ross' post. Thanks Diane!! You saved me having a complete meltdown this weekend!

 

[Diane Ross]

I had the same issue. Somehow the Microsoft User Data file ended up in the
Trash after a routine sorting of my Inbox. Thankfully I had not emptied the
Trash and found it after reading Diane Ross' post. Thanks Diane!! You saved me
having a complete meltdown this weekend!

Glad I could help. Now take this as a sign that you need to do backups. I
have a tutorial that creates a chronological backup of Entourage that can be
used by Tiger and Leopard users. It¹s much like Time Machine. This way you
can make backups daily so if you do loose your data you won¹t loose it all.

Entourage and Time Machine (creates chronological backup of Identity can be
used by both Tiger and Leopard)

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/01/entourage_and_time_machine.html>

Alternative method to use Entourage and Time Machine (this creates a once
daily backup for Time Machine)

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/01/alternative_method_to_use_entourage_
and_time_machine.html>

 

[David]

If I upgrade from entourage 2004 to 2008 will I keep my contact info? I am afraid of losing all of my info...

 

[Diane Ross]

If I upgrade from entourage 2004 to 2008 will I keep my contact info? I am
afraid of losing all of my info...

Is this a new topic or have you lost your data?

Before doing any major upgrade it's always best to duplicate your data. I
have seen reports where data seemed to be missing but was jut slow to show
up. I do advise that you disable sync services first before importing into
Entourage 2008. Leopard Sync Services have been buggy and you might want to
leave it off until the next update.

 

[EasilyConfused]

After downloading updates to iCal a few months ago, I say and watched all my dates and appointments disappear from the Entourage calendar. Fffft! Gone! I couldn't find it anywhere. Instead, I bit the bullet, disconnected the sync between the two calendars and have lived happily without iCal!

 

[Jamie]

I had the other disappearing contacts problem (i.e., unrelated to the User file). It turns out that, when you set up sync services, if you choose the delete entourage info option, it keeps that setting forever. So every time entourage polls Apple's Address Book for changes (around every 5 minutes or so), it dutifully deletes all your entourage contacts and then adds them again from address book. Obviously, Entourage should only do the delete sync the first time, so hopefully it will be fixed in the future.

In the meantime, what you need to do before setting your sync options is to delete all your contacts and events then, when you enable sync services, choose the "combine" option.

 

[jiajia]

I have just installed Entourage 2008, replacing Entourage 2004. On install, my mail and contact information transferred over but my Entourage 2004 calendar items did not import -- or rather they did momentarily and then disappeared before my eyes. I have tried to manually export the calendar items from Entourage 2004 and then reimport them into Entourage but the same thing keeps happening and I get an "unknown error 16008" message and the MSFT Daemon then advises that it has encountered a problem and shuts down my calendar, and/or freezes all Entourage applications. Possibly related, prior to installing Entourage 2008, I was cleaning up iCAL which I don't use, and deleted a calendar called "Entourage" that I had set up long ago in hopes of syncing both calendars and my handheld. I'm wondering if this is some kind of weird syncing problem. Any suggestions?

 

[sbcrair]

I just experienced the same problem as the first one above. However, it appears my database is intact in the right place, just when I try to have Entourage open it, it doesn't recognize it as a full database and tries to get me to start all over. I try switching identities, and it doesn't recognize the database...what gives? The name of the file is "Database - (my name on my Mac)", and the Finder says that it's a Microsoft Entourage database, and it's in my Main Identity folder...how can I get Entourage to recognize it??

 

[sbcrair]

Definitely not a blank database (about 2GB). My email rebuilt itself through Sync (with my MacBook), but without all the saved emails. The database is there (right where it's supposed to be), but Entourage just doesn't recognize it. I've tried rebuilding the database, and that did no good. Good thing I have a backup of all those emails. I reimported them...hopefully they'll stay there this time.

 

[Diane Ross]

Definitely not a blank database (about 2GB). My email rebuilt itself through
Sync (with my MacBook), but without all the saved emails. The database is
there (right where it's supposed to be), but Entourage just doesn't recognize
it. I've tried rebuilding the database, and that did no good. Good thing I
have a backup of all those emails. I reimported them...hopefully they'll stay
there this time.

How are you syncing? Entourage databases do not sync. They overwrite the
entire thing when "sync" is set up.

If you are using Entourage on a laptop and desktop, one of the easiest ways
to stay in sync is to use an IMAP account. Most of the other options are a
PITB.

Options for syncing can be found here:

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

 

[sbcrair]

Hmmm...I'm synching the Entourage address book with Address Book. I couldn't figure out how the email settings were changing otherwise, so I assumed that my .mac sync was changing everything on my iMac. If that's not the case, then I don't know what's happening at all. As of right now, Entourage email is back...I'm going to turn off .mac sync for email, calendar, etc., and I'll see what happens.

 

[Diane Ross]

Hmmm...I'm synching the Entourage address book with Address Book. I couldn't
figure out how the email settings were changing otherwise, so I assumed that
my .mac sync was changing everything on my iMac. If that's not the case, then
I don't know what's happening at all. As of right now, Entourage email is
back...I'm going to turn off .mac sync for email, calendar, etc., and I'll see
what happens.

You might be happier with this backup option:

Creates a time-machine-like backup:

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2008/01/entourage_and_time_machine.html>

 

[Tony_Shields]

Hi

My 3 year old iMac just crashed (two weeks after my extended Applecare expired!) I have been able to export my database from my iMac to my MacBook Pro (in Target Boot Mode) I can't get my transferred database recognised by the MacBook Pro however.....

Any hints?

Thanks Tony Shields

 

[William Smith]

Hi

My 3 year old iMac just crashed (two weeks after my extended
Applecare expired!) I have been able to export my database from my
iMac to my MacBook Pro (in Target Boot Mode) I can't get my
transferred database recognised by the MacBook Pro however.....

Hi Tony!

Please start a new thread rather than adding your question to another
person's thread, even if your problem is similar. More people are likely
to see it.

Thanks!

--

bill

William M. Smith, Microsoft Interop MVP - Mac/Windows
Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>

 

[Tony_Shields]

Thanks for the advice, Bill

Have never posted before and not sure how to start a new thread

Tony