Problem with Entourage 2004 - Entourage constantly crashes

[William Smith]

Hi Diane,

I've de-installed and re-installed Office and applied all updates.
Entourage still crashes but I figured out a way to avoid the crashes. If
I do not connect to the exchange server when I initially open Entourage
and connect to it after the initial synch, it does not crash.

My current problem now is that Entourage does not connect and sync
when I connect through VPN. The VPN says connected but Entourage does
not connect to sync. I checked my settings and I have 2 accounts- one
for home which is a pop account and one for work. The VPN address is the
same one as the POP. Have I been connecting through the POP all along? I
thought POP does not sync Entourage calendars and is only for mail?? Why
did it connect to VPN before and not now??

Hi Julia!

I've read your past messages and I suggest that you completely remove
your Exchange account from Entourage (you won't lose any messages
because they're still on the server) and then create your account again.
This will require that all your messages get resynchronized from the
server, so it may take a while.

If you're unable to connect while using VPN then I suspect you're using
your front-end Exchange Server's Outlook Web Access (OWA) address and
not the back-end address of the Exchange Server where your account
resides. While at work, always use a backend server address. (You may
need to get that address from your Help Desk or if they're unhelpful be
sure to post back. I can give you instructions for finding your server
addresses from Windows.)

Hope this helps!

--

bill

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

 

[julia]

Hi Bill,

I'm having trouble connecting from home,not work. It looks like I previously used the VPN to log onto a POP account for Entourage. The POP account has a different host address than the one at work. For some reason when I open entourage at home it looks for the exchange address and not the POP account like it used to. The POP account is selected as the default address. The VPN says its connected using the POP account host but the entourage is not searching to sync with the POP address but the exchange address.

Let me know if you need to know anything else.

Thanks!
Julia

 

[John ff.]

Issue with Entourage Calendar aspect of program. If I try to enter a recurring event the entire program crashes and restarts (with a kind, report event to MS; which I have done each time).

Any guesses why a recurring event is not welcome in the program while a single event is happy?

 

[Diane Ross]

Issue with Entourage Calendar aspect of program. If I try to enter a recurring
event the entire program crashes and restarts (with a kind, report event to
MS; which I have done each time).

Any guesses why a recurring event is not welcome in the program while a single
event is happy?

Testing in a new User will quickly tell you if the problem is system wide or
if it¹s your User¹s folder that contains the problem.

Go to System Preferences --> Create a New User in Accounts. Switch to the
New User by logging out/in or use Fast User Switching. Test Office there.

If the problem went away, then test your User account:

Troubleshooting Your User Account for a Problem

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/troubleshoot/test_user.html>

 

[mishelle]

Hii have a macbook running os x and i have entourage installed and it started with the issue of crashing upon opening but that has changed now it opens and now i get an error that says could not chnage to that identity (unknown error -5000 ) then i press okay and get a popo up window asking me to select my idnetity i choose main and it gives the same error it will not let me rename make a new one or delete the one that is there any ideas? i have installed this program and uninstalled and reinstalled and i have even formated my hd and reinstalled my os
and this still comes up
agggggg.
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Diane Ross]

Hii have a macbook running os x and i have entourage installed and it started
with the issue of crashing upon opening but that has changed now it opens and
now i get an error that says could not chnage to that identity (unknown error
-5000 ) then i press okay and get a popo up window asking me to select my
idnetity i choose main and it gives the same error it will not let me rename
make a new one or delete the one that is there any ideas? i have installed
this program and uninstalled and reinstalled and i have even formated my hd
and reinstalled my os
and this still comes up
agggggg.
(e-mail address removed)

Error -5000

Messages with an attachment creates Error -5000

Attachments are stored in the Entourage Temp folder inside the Microsoft
User Data folder. This is where Entourage is trying to save the file before
it opens. Check the permissions on this folder.

Owner Access: Read Write
Group Access: Read only
Others: Read only
You can delete the Entourage Temp folder, and Entourage will create a new
one when launched.

If this doesn't work....

In the Finder, go to your Microsoft User Data folder in Documents. Move the
Main Identity to the desktop and rename it Old Main Identity. Now, launch
Entourage and it will create a new Main Identity that should work.

Make sure you have updated Entourage or you will get the error

"This Identity Cannot Be Opened With This Version of Entourage"

This message usually means, for example, that Entourage is at 11.0, but the
saved database was saved in Entourage 11.3.3. Since there was a database
format change in there, Entourage 11.0 cannot open a database saved in
Entourage 11.3.3.

Updaters needed for Entourage 2004. I would skip 11.4. Many users are having
problems with this one and it mainly a security updater.

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/downloads/mactopia_dl.html>

 

[Patricia]

Diane, thank you so, so much - I read through your messages and found what I needed to get me out of my Entourage mess. I really appreciate your help.

Patricia

 

[Diane Ross]

Diane, thank you so, so much - I read through your messages and found what I
needed to get me out of my Entourage mess. I really appreciate your help.

Thanks for letting me know your problem is solved, but it helps me know what
to suggest when I know exactly what solved your problem. Thanks!!

 

[Patricia]

Diane: Each time I opened Entourage it tried to send an email that was hung up in my outbox. When tried sending it originally, Entourage had locked up. I quit Entourage and tried a couple of times again, even rebooted, but it would immediately freeze because I had it set for automatic send/receive.

Despite having the word 'corrupt' show up when I tried to open an information page for Entourage, I suspected it was the email, not the program, that was corrupted. But didn't know how to disable the auto-retrieve.

You had replied above to another poster to hold down the shift key while Entourage loaded. I did, which bypassed the automatic download function. That allowed me to delete the email, and that fixed the problem.

I learned a second lesson that I thank you for. The original email had come in from an e-store I have done business with for several years, so I had no qualms about allowing the images with the info I needed to appear. (I have 'download pictures' set for manual download.) So. From now on, when I reply to one of these, I will copy and paste the subject line plus salient info into a new e-mail that I initiate.

Thank you again, I can't believe my good fortune at having you and this forum during my search for info.

With regards -Patricia

(another post follows)

 

[Patricia]

I'm not sure this will be of any value to anyone, and you've probably covered it already, but just in case ...

During the hours between the freeze and finding you, I ran a general search for the name of one contact. Very often when I get an email in from a client, I copy and paste the entire thing (to/from/when included) into a word document. I knew I could at least locate some addresses that way, even though the rest - addresses, phones, personal info, etc. - would not appear. However ...

One return was an Entourage page with the word 'Contact' on the icon.

I dragged and dropped a copy of the icon to the desktop, but clicking on it tried to open Entourage. So I tried adding the extension .txt, clicked and a text page opened. The info from my address book was nestled in a lot of junk/artifact, but it was indeed there - email addresses, phones, snail mail addresses, everything I had entered. I did the same for all of them.

I located the folder it was in, and that contained a page for every listing in my address book. (There was also a folder with a copy of almost every email I had ever sent. Whoa! I dragged and dropped a copy of that, too.)

I retrieved and pasted each bit of info into a word doc, but I don't see it as wasted time - I now have a hard copy of my contacts (which I should have been keeping anyway) and a reminder to update it regularly.

Thanks again, Diane.

-Patricia

 

[Diane Ross]

I retrieved and pasted each bit of info into a word doc, but I don't see it as
wasted time - I now have a hard copy of my contacts (which I should have been
keeping anyway) and a reminder to update it regularly.

You can export under File in the Menu bar your contacts as a text file or as
a tab delimited file that will open in Excel.

I use an Automator action and iCal to do this for me automatically once a
week.

Follow the steps in this tutorial but do it for contacts instead of your
Identity.

Make a time-machine-like backup:

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

 

[Diane Ross]

Thank you again, I can't believe my good fortune at having you and this forum
during my search for info.

Thanks YOU for your feedback. This is how we learn what to suggest to other
users. I'm glad I was able to help.

 

[sailingnanc]

Diane,

I wonder if you can help me as well. I also had Entourage crashing after i bought the new OFFICE for Mac to run on my new MacBook. It crashed repeatedly. I took it to the Genius Bar and they reloaded the OS (not Leopard) and it seems to work ok. The problem is that i get a rules error message whenever mail comes in, because i had to delete a folder it's looking for. I had to delete it because when trying to set up a basic rule (actually easy to do in Outlook!) for incoming mail to go into a specific folder, i had all incoming mail going into that folder! I tried changing the rule, but that didn't work,so ultimately i had to delete the folder. Thus the error msg on all incoming mail, looking for that folder. How do i stop this?
Help!

 

[Diane Ross]

I wonder if you can help me as well.

First, it's always best to start your own thread. You get better results
this way. Just remember for future postings.

I also had Entourage crashing after i
bought the new OFFICE for Mac to run on my new MacBook. It crashed repeatedly.
I took it to the Genius Bar and they reloaded the OS (not Leopard) and it
seems to work ok.

Always give details of what version of Office and the OS you are using.
Often different version have different solutions. This includes the OS.

Are you still crashing?

The problem is that i get a rules error message whenever
mail comes in, because i had to delete a folder it's looking for. I had to
delete it because when trying to set up a basic rule (actually easy to do in
Outlook!) for incoming mail to go into a specific folder, i had all incoming
mail going into that folder! I tried changing the rule, but that didn't
work,so ultimately i had to delete the folder. Thus the error msg on all
incoming mail, looking for that folder. How do i stop this?
Help!

Did you delete the rule?

What type of account? ( POP, IMAP, Exchange )

I have a rules lesson, but need to expand on it for the different types of
accounts. Let me know if you need further help. Remember Categories are your
friends when creating rules.
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/rules/example/rule002.html>

How to create a custom rule:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/rules/custom.html#create_new>

For examples of rules to help get you started see:

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

 

[Helene_Barker]

I receive an email that will occasionally close Entourage I am unable to open them so I can delete them. I would like to get rid of them. Any suggestions?
I've read some of the post and non seem to have this problem.
Helene

 

[Diane Ross]

I receive an email that will occasionally close Entourage I am unable to open
them so I can delete them. I would like to get rid of them. Any suggestions?
I've read some of the post and non seem to have this problem.

Try holding Shift key down when opening Entourage. This allows Entourage to
launch without crashing in situations like this. You could then turn off
Preview Pane and check the server looking for the suspect message.

More on how:
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/troubleshoot/crashes.html#crash2>

 

[mikemac]

Hi -

Im using Entourage 2004 with Leopard.. Recently Entourage will only work upon restart then crash...The menu is active but no mail window. It seems like Entourage is running and downloading emails...just cant see them in a window..

I've rebuilt database...no luck.

Any help would be great!

M.

 

[Diane Ross]

Im using Entourage 2004 with Leopard.. Recently Entourage will only work upon
restart then crash...The menu is active but no mail window. It seems like
Entourage is running and downloading emails...just cant see them in a window..

I would test Entourage in a new User. You can move your Microsoft User Data
folder to the Shared folder. After you create the new User in System
Preferences drag from Shared to Documents. Now open Entourage. What happens?

How did you install Leopard?

There are 3 types of installs:

1. Upgrade Mac OS X (the default upgrade method)*
2. Archive and Install
3. Erase and Install

* Just because it's the default doesn't mean it's the best option.

This page describes what each method does:

Options to Install Leopard
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq_topic/leo_options.html>

 

[Richard_D_Jones]

Thanks for all the useful advice above, I have worked my way through it and sorted out my current (totally locked out of Entourage) problem, plus some of my long–standing (rogue e-mails that caused crashes) problems.

My concern is that I'm running Office v.X (I think I bought it around 2002) on OS Tiger 10.4, so not Office 2004 on Leopard, that all the thread has been about. My questions:

1. Are there any specific tips regarding Entourage v.X?

2. I have over 2.1 Gb in my Entourage database, and have been wondering if that might be causing problems. Can someone let me know if I shouldn't be concerned about that, or if I should, a straightforward way of dealing with it, please?

3. Are there any updates available for Office v.X anywhere? Or should I be upgrading to Office 2004? Or maybe v.X was more stable than 2004 appears to be?

 

[Diane Ross]

Thanks for all the useful advice above, I have worked my way through it and
sorted out my current (totally locked out of Entourage) problem, plus some of
my long–standing (rogue e-mails that caused crashes) problems.

My concern is that I'm running Office v.X (I think I bought it around 2002) on
OS Tiger 10.4, so not Office 2004 on Leopard, that all the thread has been
about.

Exactly why you never hijack a thread. You found similarities in the
original question, but when you want to ask about your problem you need to
start your own thread. I'm not sure what your problem is.

My questions:

1. Are there any specific tips regarding Entourage v.X?

First tip I have is to upgrade. It is End of Life software. Many
improvements in database since Office X.

2. I have over 2.1 Gb in my Entourage database, and have been wondering if
that might be causing problems. Can someone let me know if I shouldn't be
concerned about that, or if I should, a straightforward way of dealing with
it, please?

Entourage X has a 4 GB limit on the Database file (there is no Messages
file), and you will be warned as you near the limit. As you finally get
close enough, it will force you to compact your database. You'd have to work
really hard to lose data with Entourage X.

3. Are there any updates available for Office v.X anywhere?

Google search is your friend. The Entourage Help Page is a great place to
find answers.

You¹ll find the last update to Office X here. It's a combo updater including
all previous updates.

Or should I be
upgrading to Office 2004? Or maybe v.X was more stable than 2004 appears to
be?

It's Office 2008 that people are talking about having problems. I still
suggest you upgrade to Office 2008 and get the Home & Student version. It
does not contain Exchange but I doubt you need that. It's about $130 at
Amazon. An upgrade to your Office X is $205. That would require you have the
old version installed or have the CD to prove ownership every time you had
to re-install.