[jln1983]

Hi there,
I went away last night and forgot to turn my computer off. The power must have gone out and when I turned it on, everything was fine until I opened my mail program (I use Microsoft Entourage) and everything is gone - all my emails, address book, everything. It asks me when I open the program up to set up a new email account.

I have an iMac Leopard and I'm using Office for Mac 2008. I don't have a backup system as I haven't got around to getting one yet. I will certainly be getting one now.

I NEED to get my mail account back to how it was. I have no way of getting all my email addresses back otherwise and I have a number of very important emails in there.

I really hope someone can help - I'm flipping out here!

Thank you.

[jcw]

Have a look in the folder at: Documents->Microsoft User Data->Office 2008 Identities->Main Identity. If there is a Database file of significant size there, then you may not have lost all the data. Duplicate this file - move the copy to the desktop or somewhere else convenient and then try launching Entourage from the dock or Finder while holding the OPTION key down.
More info here: Rebuild Your Database
here: Your Entourage Identity
and here: How to rebuild your identity database in Entourage
It may be that rebuilding the database using the Entourage dbase utility might get some of your data back for you. I have a vague recollection that this happened to my wife once and, while we got her email back the contacts were lost (or improperly synced, or something). Not a 100% happy result, but better than nothing!
Good luck

[jln1983]

Thanks for your reply.

I've tried all your suggestions and nothing is happening. I don't know why this has happened. Do you think there is any chance I can get any of it back? All my Word documents are still there.

Thanks again.

Jess

[jcw]

The Word documents are going to be fine - they'd be stored as individual files, rather than pooled in the massive database file that Entourage uses for its data.
Another suggestion: a little searching uncovered this tip: Recovering email from a corrupt Entourage Database file
If the database file is still there (at the location I indicated earlier) and the problem is just that it is corrupt, you might be able to move the contents out using Emailchemy (demo available at http://www.weirdkid.com/products/ema...emy-MacOSX.tgz). Or you could try moving it the desktop, creating a new User Identity in Entourage then attempting an Import operation using the original database file as the source.
It is probably advisable to work on a copy of the file until you get a positive outcome.
Cheers

[jcw]

One other thing: here is an old (2004!) blog entry that describes the use of a text editor like BBEdit to suck out the contents of an Entourage database file and then reimport - Corrupt Database Fixes
As well as that, the post also identifies some preference files that might have become corrupted. If deleting those to force a rewrite is all it takes, that'd be fantastic!

[jln1983]

There is a Database there but when I did what you said the same empty thing just opened up - it's only 22 MB or something. Does that mean it's not the right one?

Originally Posted by jcw

The Word documents are going to be fine - they'd be stored as individual files, rather than pooled in the massive database file that Entourage uses for its data.
Another suggestion: a little searching uncovered this tip: Recovering email from a corrupt Entourage Database file
If the database file is still there (at the location I indicated earlier) and the problem is just that it is corrupt, you might be able to move the contents out using Emailchemy (demo available at http://www.weirdkid.com/products/ema...emy-MacOSX.tgz). Or you could try moving it the desktop, creating a new User Identity in Entourage then attempting an Import operation using the original database file as the source.
It is probably advisable to work on a copy of the file until you get a positive outcome.
Cheers

[jln1983]

All this is a bit technological for me! I might have to take it to someone who can have a look at it.

[jcw]

I fear that won't be your messages - 20MB is about the size of a brand-new database. It means your old one has probably been replaced/overwritten.
Is there anything in the AutoRecovery folder? (long shot) Otherwise, I think I'm out of ideas...

[jln1983]

No nothing in there. Why would this have happened?? The power has gone out on me before and nothing has been wiped. Damn it this is so inconvenient.

Originally Posted by jcw

I fear that won't be your messages - 20MB is about the size of a brand-new database. It means your old one has probably been replaced/overwritten.
Is there anything in the AutoRecovery folder? (long shot) Otherwise, I think I'm out of ideas...

[The_Hawk]

Just grab and restore your last backup...

If you don't have one and can't do that this time round I bet you do and can next time.

[jln1983]

Hmm back up? I don't have one - I mentioned earlier I haven't done anything like that yet. Silly I know.

Originally Posted by The_Hawk

Just grab and restore your last backup...

If you don't have one and can't do that this time round I bet you do and can next time.