[chasg]

Hi All,

I'm helping a friend with an Entourage problem. He's running a copy of entourage X (10.1.1) on a Snow iMac running OSX 10.3.5 (plenty of RAM, HD space).

I reinstalled Office, removed the .plist file, zapped PRAM etc.

Took a while, but I've isolated a particular message in the Sent Mail folder that is causing some serious problems with Entourage (screen is not refreshing when scrolling, buttons don't work and I keep getting an error that states "That action could not be completed. Mail error").

I first isolated the errors by removing the database file in Identities (Entourage then started to work). I put the database file back, and got the errors. Then I started to remove files in the Sent Mail folder, and isolated a particular message to the "Mail error" error.

So, I have a problem file, but I can't select it to remove it (I get the "Mail error" in a permanent loop).

My friend needs his copy of Entourage to work, but we can't get rid of this file. Is there any way I can get Entourage to delete this file if I can't select it? Alternatively, can I delete the whole Sent Mail folder (taking thie problem file with it?).

Real problem here, hope somebody can help.

Chas

[-Q-]

Have you tried to rebuild the Entourage DB (hold down the option key when launching Entourage)? That may help with the problem. But be sure to back up the database before you try it, just in case.

And in order to delete the sent items folder contents, you'll have to select the folder, select one message and then try command-A and see if you can select all the messages that way. If it works, just hit the delete key and the messages should be moved to the deleted items folder (where you'll have to empty that folder to actually get rid of the bad message).

[Macola]

I've seen similar issues with several of my clients who use Entourage, and rebuilding the database fixes it in >90% of the cases. You can also try creating a new identity, but you'd have to import all the mail from the previous one if you wanted to use it permanently.

[chasg]

Excellent, well considered replies, thanks very much!

No, I haven't tried to rebuild the database yet (in my defense, I looked around for a way to do so, I just didn't find it :-/. I'll let my friend know and we'll see how it goes.

Backing up the database is of course a good suggestion (first thing I did :-)

-Q-, your idea of how to try to delete the problem message is a good one, but when I tried something like it I got the endless error message loop (to be safe, I moved all the other message in the Sent Items folder into another folder and then generated a throwaway message to accompany the problem message and then tried to select all, but I got stuck in the loop).

Macola, I did try creating a new identity (that's how I realised that Entourage was actually still working, as all functions under the new identity worked just fine). What I couldn't figure out was how to import mail and contacts into the new identity (moving the actual database file just brought the problem file over). Any tips?

Thanks to both of you, here's hoping that the option key rebuild works!

Chas

[Macola]

Originally posted by chasg:

Macola, I did try creating a new identity (that's how I realised that Entourage was actually still working, as all functions under the new identity worked just fine). What I couldn't figure out was how to import mail and contacts into the new identity (moving the actual database file just brought the problem file over). Any tips?

It's actually somewhat painful. You have to drag each mail folder onto the desktop (or a Finder window) to create an .mbox file. Then open the new identity, and drag the .mbox files back over. The catch is that it only works for top-level folders (anything nested within a folder won't show up). I think there may be a shareware tool on Versiontracker to do this more easily, but I haven't tried it. Good luck!

Edit: Here's the app I mentioned:
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15279

[chasg]

Success on the database rebuild!

Of course, this has ruined my "guru" status (my friend knows I had to come here for help ;-)

<phew> Macola, that one-by-one mbox transfer, what a pain! At least I know it's an option for the future (ever deal with the non-standard mbox's that Mail produces? Also a pain...)

Thanks again all!

Chas