Merge Identities

[Anglofrog]

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

As a newbie to Entourage I made the error of ending up with 2 Entourage identities which are almost identical. I want to merge the two and cherry pick which pieces of data I want to delete, which to keep.
I have searched the forum but not found anything which matches my need.
Any suggestions gratefully received by an old timer(mid seventies)with 30 years of Gates based PC experience, trying to get his head into the current century!!

 

[Michel Bintener]

You can't merge identities. However, you can export one identity
(File>Export, Items to an Entourage archive) and import it into the other
(File>Import). You will then need to proceed manually and get rid of the
data that is duplicate or that you do not want to have in your new identity.
You can also use scripts to get rid of duplicate items; post back if you
need help in that particular area.

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

As a newbie to Entourage I made the error of ending up with 2 Entourage
identities which are almost identical. I want to merge the two and cherry pick
which pieces of data I want to delete, which to keep.
I have searched the forum but not found anything which matches my need.
Any suggestions gratefully received by an old timer(mid seventies)with 30
years of Gates based PC experience, trying to get his head into the current
century!!

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:mac (Entourage & Word)

*** Please always reply to the newsgroup. ***

 

[Diane Ross]

I have searched the forum but not found anything which matches my need.

How to manually move your data.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/install/manual_install.html>

To get rid of duplicates use one of the scripts to remove duplicates.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq_topic/duplicates.html>

 

[Anglofrog]

Many thanks Diane for the prompt and effective reply. I have one minor aspect of the merging to overcome, the original identity was synchronized with MAC Address Book. Even though I have removed the synchronization in Identity ONE -then restarted my machine, I am unable to install synchronization on Identity 2. I get a message saying the synchronization is till in use in spite of removing the tick in the Address Book box in Synch Services in Entourage Preferences.
I'd appreciate any guidance
Gratefully
Brian the Anglofrog

 

[Diane Ross]

Many thanks Diane for the prompt and effective reply. I have one minor aspect
of the merging to overcome, the original identity was synchronized with MAC
Address Book. Even though I have removed the synchronization in Identity ONE
-then restarted my machine, I am unable to install synchronization on Identity
2. I get a message saying the synchronization is till in use in spite of
removing the tick in the Address Book box in Synch Services in Entourage
Preferences.

Entourage only allows one Identity to select sync. Turn it off in the other
Identity THEN you can select.

Glad things are working again for you.

Happy Holidays!

 

[Anglofrog]

hello Diane, I am still at a loss to know what to do next. I have removed the synch in my unwanted identity, in fact i have merged the date with the identity I continue to use. However I continue to get the message that synch is in use by another
programme and I am unable to tick the necessary box.
Just for the record I have removed both Apple Mail and Thunderbird to ensure there is no synch. with a non MS programme
What next?
Brian

 

[Diane Ross]

hello Diane, I am still at a loss to know what to do next. I have removed the
synch in my unwanted identity, in fact i have merged the date with the
identity I continue to use. However I continue to get the message that synch
is in use by another
programme and I am unable to tick the necessary box.
Just for the record I have removed both Apple Mail and Thunderbird to ensure
there is no synch. with a non MS programme

Log out/in of your User. Hold Shift key down when logging in. Now open
Entourage and see if you can set the preference.

No other Identities in Entourage to check?

Options:

Let's test to see if it's your Preferences.

1) Move your Identity folder to the Shared folder.
2) Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the
New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching.
3) Drag from Shared to the new User's Document folder. (it copies so be sure
to set it to work Offline so you don't accidentally download messages)
4) test for the problem
[remember to move your Identity from Shared back to your regular User's
Document folder or Entourage will create a new blank one and give you a
heart attack. ]

If it goes away then it's a preference in your regular User's. There are
many Microsoft .plist files. The easiest one to check is the Microsoft
folder in your User's Library Preferences folder. Move this folder to the
desktop. Entourage will create a new one. You'll have to make your choices
again.

Let me know what you find.

 

[Anglofrog]

Having moved to a single Identity, I found that on the MS User data/Office 2008 Identities, there were 10 copies of a folder labelled Back Up.Recognising that i had just moved to a single Identity these seemed to be redundant. So after noting the most recent back up , I removed all the rest. Bingo I am now able to put the vital tick in the Synch box.
I apologise for the less than scientific approach to the problem solution but maybe your group of Entourage specialists may glean something from this exercise
Seasonal greetings
brian

 

[Diane Ross]

aving moved to a single Identity, I found that on the MS User data/Office 2008
Identities, there were 10 copies of a folder labelled Back Up.Recognising that
i had just moved to a single Identity these seemed to be redundant. So after
noting the most recent back up , I removed all the rest. Bingo I am now able
to put the vital tick in the Synch box.
I apologise for the less than scientific approach to the problem solution but
maybe your group of Entourage specialists may glean something from this
exercise

Thanks for posting your solution. Not only did you solve your problem, but
you cleared up a lot of space used with the backups.

Happy Holidays!

 

[John Palmer (palmcomp]

When exporting the information from one identity and importing it into another to merge the two, I noticed that the folders from the exported identity did not appear after importing into the other identity. Only the inbox messages seemed to come along. Is this normal?

Thanks
John

 

[Diane Ross]

When exporting the information from one identity and importing it into another
to merge the two, I noticed that the folders from the exported identity did
not appear after importing into the other identity. Only the inbox messages
seemed to come along. Is this normal?

How are you importing? What method did you use to export?

See these movies for dealing with MBOX and .rge files.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/video/index.html>

 

[John Palmer]

I am using MS Office 2004 for Mac. I exported using the export feature, items to an Entourage archive, all items, selected all types and saved the .rge file to the desktop. I then switched to the other identity and selected import, using the .rge file on my desktop.

The movies you referenced look helpful in figuring a way to get the old folders into the other identity. I also understand that the actual account settings have to be set up manually in order to retrieve new emails etc.

Thanks
John Palmer