Selective Archiving with Exchage 2003

[pnoble]

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

In order to make space on my MacBook Air HD, I want to archive 2007 mail which is currently in a separate master folder (with 2007 inbox and sent as sub folders) so that the messages are retrievable, searchable and readable in the future, should the need arrive.

In Outlook this was a simple matter and I could and did store each year's email over the past ten years as an archived file on our Exchange Server and elsewhere.

Also, come the end of 2009, I will need to Archive 2008 messages.

I do don't see any way to selectively archive messages by date - or folder for that matter. (When I switched from Windows to Mac I was able to unarchive 2007 mail onto my Mac, hence the separate folder(s)).

Paul

 

[Adam Bailey]

I do don't see any way to selectively archive messages by date - or folder
for that matter. (When I switched from Windows to Mac I was able to unarchive
2007 mail onto my Mac, hence the separate folder(s)).

It may be as simple as dragging a folder to the desktop, which will
create a text mbox file.

Also see <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/database/archive.html>.

 

[pnoble]

Can a text mbox file be searched and read by Entourage? Can it be reintegrated into Exchange? I would be surprised if this was the case.

Also, FYI, I only have a 2GB left on my HD. I think creating an mbox file requires more space to back up on the desktop first. Or maybe one can drag to an external disc?

 

[Diane Ross]

Can a text mbox file be searched and read by Entourage?

No.

Can it be reintegrated
into Exchange? I would be surprised if this was the case.

You can import an MBOX file back into Entourage. You can then copy the
messages back to your Exchange folders.

If you just drag an MBOX file to the folder list, it does nothing, but if
you drag to a subfolder of the Inbox, it will import the messages. You can
also use the File --> Import --> contacts or message from a text file -->
import messages from an MBOX-format text file.

 

[pnoble]

Diane,

Do you recommend MBOX versus archiving? Is there any way with Entourage to keep email accessible but on an external disc with the back up remaining on Exchange Server? Or accessible via Exchange Server? My Air HD is full. A year's email fills around 10GB.

Paul

 

[Diane Ross]

Do you recommend MBOX versus archiving?

Both have benefits. See the articles I reference at the end for details.

Is there any way with Entourage to
keep email accessible but on an external disc with the back up remaining on
Exchange Server? Or accessible via Exchange Server? My Air HD is full. A
year's email fills around 10GB.

An option you might want to consider, is keeping your Identity folder on an
external drive. Considering the size of your mail, I would go with a FW
pocket drive.

One user explains how they use this method:

I keep my Microsoft User Data folder on an external pocket firewire drive (a
large capacity USB thumb-drive will suffice if both machines have USB 2.0)
and just keep aliases to it in my Documents folder of all the machines I use
Entourage on (laptop, desktop and occasionally other machines I sit down in
front of for a few hours). Works like a charm and gives me an identical
environment on every machine.

You must quit the Microsoft Database daemon in order to eject the drive.

Another option would be to move your older mail to Gmail and get a pro
account. This way you can access the mail from anywhere you are. Set it up
as IMAP and set it up so you don't cache older messages on your Identity.

Links:

Options for end of year archiving
<http://tinyurl.com/9dvamb>

This article goes over the merits of the different file types that can be
used for backup:

<http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/2009/02/backup_individual_items.html>

Optimize Entourage to better work with Exchange

<http://tinyurl.com/56ea7k>

Hope this will get you started.