Archiving Older Emails

Hi again,

I recently posted a reply to the "Unofficial Poll on Database Size" wherein
I mentioned my database is at 7.89 GB.

How can I archive this information so that I may put the older stuff on to a
CD? I'm using Tiger 10.4.10 with Office 11.3.6.

I spent days pulling all these former Outlook 2003 messages into Entourage
and I don't want to lose them. At least then I have a backup to access as
required.

Guidance on how best to get this older stuff out of my main database and
onto CD/DVD much appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Lynn

Michel
Tue Jul 24 12:11:35 CDT 2007

Here's what I would do:

Create a custom view (File>New>Custom View). You will need to modify this
custom view according to your preferences; do you want to backup mail
messages only, or do you need to backup other types of Entourage data as
well? For the criteria, in the case of e-mail messages only, specify a "date
sent" or a "date received" that is greater than [xx] days. Let's say you
wanted to backup every message that was sent to you before July 2007; in
that case, you'd specify that the "date sent/received" is greater than 24
days. Once you've created the custom view and regrouped all the relevant
messages in a custom view (you will need to select it in the lower left
corner of the folder list in Entourage's mail section), you can simply drag
that custom view from the folder list to the desktop, and you'll get a
standard mbox file which can be read by most major e-mail clients on the
Mac. Now burn this mbox file to a CD or DVD.

Alternatively, you can also use Entourage 2004's Export feature, which does
something very similar to the custom view/.mbox export I mentioned above,
the difference being that you cannot be as specific with regards to the
export criteria, and the resulting Entourage archive can only be read by
Entourage 2004. Again, burn this file to a CD or DVD.

Nevertheless, it can't hurt to use both these methods; you can never have
enough backup copies of important files. After you've exported the messages
through a custom view, you can select all the items inside that custom view
(Edit>Select All) and then delete them. Empty Entourage's trash folder, then
quit Entourage. Now hold down the Option (alt) key and relaunch Entourage.
The Database Utility will start up, and you can then compact your database
to reclaim some disk space by, well, compacting your database.

I hope this helps; post back if you need further advice.


On 24/07/2007 15:05, in article C2CB7172.4524B%manxcatq@msn.com, "Lynn Q"
<manxcatq@msn.com> wrote:

> Hi again,
>
> I recently posted a reply to the "Unofficial Poll on Database Size" wherein
> I mentioned my database is at 7.89 GB.
>
> How can I archive this information so that I may put the older stuff on to a
> CD? I'm using Tiger 10.4.10 with Office 11.3.6.
>
> I spent days pulling all these former Outlook 2003 messages into Entourage
> and I don't want to lose them. At least then I have a backup to access as
> required.
>
> Guidance on how best to get this older stuff out of my main database and
> onto CD/DVD much appreciated.
>
> Thanks so much!
>
> Lynn
>

--
Michel Bintener
Microsoft MVP
Office:Mac (Entourage & Word)

***Always reply to the newsgroup.***

Diane
Tue Jul 24 16:40:41 CDT 2007

On 7/24/07 6:05 AM, in article C2CB7172.4524B%manxcatq@msn.com, "Lynn Q"
<manxcatq@msn.com> wrote:

> I recently posted a reply to the "Unofficial Poll on Database Size" wherein
> I mentioned my database is at 7.89 GB.
>
> How can I archive this information so that I may put the older stuff on to a
> CD? I'm using Tiger 10.4.10 with Office 11.3.6.

That's a lot to put on a CD. You would need to segment the file. Stuffit has
segmenting. Not sure if you have to buy the Deluxe version to get this.
There are probably other free alternatives out there.
>
> I spent days pulling all these former Outlook 2003 messages into Entourage
> and I don't want to lose them. At least then I have a backup to access as
> required.
>
> Guidance on how best to get this older stuff out of my main database and
> onto CD/DVD much appreciated.

Adding to what Michel wrote....I would duplicate the Identity and rename the
copy as "Archive". I would then create a custom view in the main Identity
and remove all of the older files. Perhaps everything pre 2007.

This would give you a backup that's only used for searching and safe. (Make
a duplicate of this for CD or another drive.) You would then have all of
your 2007 data which is probably all you need for 99% of the time and a much
reduced database.

--
Diane Ross, Microsoft Mac MVP
Entourage Help Page <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>