vanished account

[Dolphy]

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

Help-
When I turned on my Mac this morning, Entourage was as if new. All my emails, folders, address book, etc is gone. I tried to switch identities but there is no other. The Microsoft user Data folder is in "Documents" as mentioned in similar posts. I moved some stuff around and threw away a few things yesterday. But nothing related is in the trash now. When I open the MUD folder, there is a sub-folder named "Entourage Script Menu Items" which is empty.
What should I do?

 

[Dolphy]

Ed- Thanks for the response. The "Main Identity folder is there where you said it would be.There are four sub-folder within: database, mailing lists, rules, and signatures. Opening any of those only gives me the start-up Entourage, without any of my stuff. I really need that stuff!
Any further ideas?
Thanks again - Will

 

[Dolphy]

Sorry to say, but I am barely computer literate-
What do you mean by "the path"? How do I check that? Or change it?
Will (AKA Dolphy)

 

[Dolphy]

Ed- It seems to be the correct pathway and all. But when I open Main identity- Still the new, start up version.

 

[Ed Kimball]

Ed- It seems to be the correct pathway and all. But when I open Main identity-
Still the new, start up version.


Inside Microsoft User Data you should have a folder called Office 2008
Identities. Inside that should be your identity folder, usually called "Main
Identity". If it's not there and not in your trash, do a search for it.

[/QUOTE]
What appears to have happened is that you moved or deleted the old identity.
When you launched Entourage this morning, which helpfully (in it's opinion)
created a new one.

You need to find the old one. If you moved it, it may be elsewhere on your
computer. Do a search in the finder for "Main Identity". If you find one,
put it back in place of the one that is currently there.

If you don't find one, I sure hope you have a backup somewhere.

 

[Diane Ross]

What appears to have happened is that you moved or deleted the old identity.
When you launched Entourage this morning, which helpfully (in it's opinion)
created a new one.

You need to find the old one. If you moved it, it may be elsewhere on your
computer. Do a search in the finder for "Main Identity". If you find one,
put it back in place of the one that is currently there.

If you don't find one, I sure hope you have a backup somewhere.

This is a very common mistake. Users move the Microsoft User Data folder and
Entourage creates a new blank one.

This is probably the most important thing you need to know about Entourage.
How else can you backup your data if you don't know where it is?

 

[Diane Ross]

What do you mean by "the path"?

Wikipedia is your friend:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_(computing)>

For example this is the path for Main Identity folder.

~/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2008 Identities/Main"

The ~ indicates YOUR USER folder.

Reading this...look in your Documents folder inside the Microsoft User Data
folder. There you will find your Office 2008 Identities folder that contains
your Identity called Main by default.

Apple includes an icon for path for Finder windows. You can also add the
path bar to a Finder window.

Paths help you find nested files in folders.

I have a glossary of terms used in Entourage and the OS that mainly have to
do with email. Check there for help with a term you might not understand.
You indicate you are a newbie. It's is your responsibility to start
learning. If you try to find an answer on your own first, you will learn
things along the way. If you can't find an answer then ask for help.

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

I advise you to join one of the general Mac mailing lists. Read all of the
messages and along the way you will learn from others and the problems they
are having. You will get to know members of the group and will have a place
that will give you support as well as teach you. The Mac-L and OSX list are
two excellent lists.

You¹ll find links for the Mac-L and OSX list on Suggested Links:

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/links.html>

MacOSXHints forums are also excellent for getting help for general Mac
issues:

<http://www.macosxhints.com/hintsfaq/index.php>