March 11, 2011

How to get help

We appreciate your comments on our articles, but if you are having a problem with Entourage or have general questions about installing Office for Mac, leaving a comment is not the best way to get individual help. Select the best option to get the individual help you need.

Continue reading "How to get help" »

June 17, 2009

Poll: How big is your database?

Want to know how the size of your database compares to other users? Take our poll and check back to compare.

If you follow us on twitter, you will will be able to easily participate in any future polls.

Don't know how to check for the size of your database?

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June 15, 2009

Script: AutoArchive Exchange Account to folders "On My Computer"

script_icon.gifThe AutoArchive script that moves mail from your Exchange account folders to archive folders within the "On My Computer" folder tree has been broken for Leopard. You can download this beta version and see if it works for you.

Before using the script, open in the Script Editor and select the version of Entourage you are using. Change this line to 2004 if you have not upgraded yet:

set ArchiveVersion to 2008

For more info on customizing and using this script see the Entourage Help Page AutoArchive Exchange Account to "On My Computer"

Updates to the script provided by Entourage user, Michael K. Please report back if it works for you. If you do have problems, try to give details.

June 12, 2009

Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.5 Update

Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.5 Update was released June 09, 2009. Finally a combo updater that includes all previous updaters. Available on Mactopia or via Microsoft AutoUpdater.

The updater includes security updates and for users of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), this update now ignores backup copies of Office that were created by the Time Machine backup tool. For a full description of the updater, see Microsoft KB 969661.

Download Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.5.5 Update

June 9, 2009

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.9 Update

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.9 Update is now available on Mactopia downloads or via Microsoft AutoUpdater.

You must have Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.0 Update or later installed before you install the Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.9 Update. This is a combo updater including 12.1.7.

Along with the usual security updates, it mentions this update readies Office 2008 for Mac for the installation of Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition, and must be installed before Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition is installed. For more information about this update, please visit the Microsoft Web site.

Follow these steps for a successful upgrade:

Continue reading "Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.9 Update" »

May 25, 2009

Entourage 2008 & Spotlight

images.jpegSpotlight search in Entourage 2008 is so fast, this one feature makes the upgrade to Entourage 2008 worthwhile. If you've been disappointed with Spotlight in the Finder, you'll find using Spotlight within Entourage 2008 to be easy and blazingly fast. You don't get results from other file types and there is no setting for kind or type. You can search by a folder, but searching "all messages" is so fast you don't have to worry about a message lost in some subfolder not showing up in the results.

This article is going to focus on the following:

  • Spotlight Basics
  • Location of your Spotlight cache files
  • Saving a Spotlight search as a custom mail view
  • Troubleshooting problems with Spotlight search in Entourage

Continue reading "Entourage 2008 & Spotlight" »

May 19, 2009

Are you a top or bottom poster?

That is, when you reply to a mail, do you quote the original in your reply, and do you like your answer to go above the quoted text or after it?

Well, Entourage can do it either way, but the available options can be a little limiting for some people. This article explains the options and presents some alternatives.

Continue reading "Are you a top or bottom poster?" »

May 17, 2009

Connect Entourage 2008 to Apple's Mobile Me


Mobile Me logo Having a MobileMe account doesn't mean having to use Apple's Mail application. Any E-mail application can connect to MobileMe since it is just a standard mail service.

When Apple converted its .Mac service to MobileMe, it also made some changes to its servers as well. Some users of their service have noticed they are receiving certificate errors or are having connection problems. Following are the basic setup instructions for Entourage users to reconnect to their old .Mac or connect their new MobileMe E-mail accounts.

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May 9, 2009

Microsoft AutoUpdater

MAU.gif The Microsoft Autoupdater (MAU) for Office 2008 is now tucked out of view of Spotlight. In the past the Microsoft AutoUpdater could be found at the root level of the Application folder. If you are using both Office 2004 and Office 2008 you will need both updaters. Neither will be able to see the other's updates.

You can find the MAU for Office 2008 by following this path:

Yourstartupdrive/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/MAU2.0

Currently, the MAU should be version 2.2.0 if you have 12.1.7 installed. View image

If your version is not fully updated or you are wondering what happens to the download file, continue reading...

Continue reading "Microsoft AutoUpdater" »

Using Quick Look in Entourage

quicklook.jpgOne of the features introduced in Mac OS X 10.5, or Leopard, is Quick Look, which allows you to view the contents of a file without actually opening it. Apple has made sure that Quick Look works with a variety of file formats, including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations. For more information, check Apple's website.

Quick Look is prominently featured in the Finder, but as a feature at the level of the operating system, it is also available to other applications. For example, Apple has built the feature into its own e-mail software, called Mail; as a result, you can use Quick Look to preview your attachments instantaneously, without having to open any supplementary application.

The question that must be on your mind right now is: can I use Quick Look in Entourage as well?

Continue reading "Using Quick Look in Entourage" »

May 2, 2009

Easily open Windows UNC paths in Entourage using WinShortcutter

WinShortcutter logoWindows users can sometimes be a little blind to the fact that not everything acts like Windows. A perfect example of this is when they send Windows UNC (Universal Naming Convention) paths to Mac users. They expect the Mac folks to be able to click the link in an E-mail message and go straight to a folder on a file server.

What are UNC paths? Those are sometimes short but often long links that look like this:

\\server\Projects\Remodeling\

A UNC path starts of with a set of two backslashes (often called whack-whack), which means "everything after this is on the network, not on my computer". The whack-whack is followed by a server name followed by another whack followed by one or more folder names separated by even more whacks.

Unlike what the name implies, these paths are hardly "universal". WinShortcutter from Lobotomo Software, however, will enable Mac users who work in a Windows world to follow these whack-whack style links.

Continue reading "Easily open Windows UNC paths in Entourage using WinShortcutter" »

April 30, 2009

Follow us on Twitter

twitter_32.png You might have noticed that the Entourage Help Blog is now on twitter from our sidebar twitter updates.

If you are suffering from twitter overload, don't worry. You'll get announcements for blog posts as well as tidbits related to Entourage but we don't use it as a social medium for chatting. Because of the limitations to message size, it's obviously not a good medium to ask questions and get any type of meaningful reply, but hopefully you'll enjoy our tweets.

Follow us on twitter

Extend & Enhance Entourage using scripts & third party products

We can use AppleScripts and third party applications to extend and enhance Entourage. I encourage you to check out these links for suggestions. Most scripts are free and many of the applications are freeware or donationware.

For example, Sync Entourage & AB Groups to help with syncing your Entourage cell phone category to the Apple Address Book Groups to be used by your iPhone. If you are a switcher, several applications are listed that help with the transition like KeyCue, xCuts and DoubleCommand. Travel often? Check out these scripts and Location X...Location X allows you to, with a single click, change network, time zone, email settings and more all at once. Includes AutoLocate - the ability to have Location X automatically determine where you are based on what AirPort network you are connected to. These are just a few of listed products to hopefully encourage you to check out the listings.

I encourage you to leave comments about your favorite script or application to share with other users. Please feel free to share a favorite that isn't listed. Please note, I am not affiliated with the products and receive no reimbursement.

April 25, 2009

Create individual files for contacts and events

Have you ever wanted to create a file with all of your contacts as .vcf files, or your calendar events as .ics files to share or as a simple, non-automatic back-up? Here is an easy way to accomplish this task.

Continue reading "Create individual files for contacts and events" »

April 23, 2009

Backup Entourage with SuperDuper!

SuperDuper! for backup and recovery is highly recommended by regular Mac users. It's easy to use and the directions are clear and friendly. I like to describe Time Machine as an Ooops fixer and SuperDuper! as an OMG! fixer.

Backup Options



Using SuperDuper!

You can download SuperDuper! right now and back up and clone your drives for free -- forever! When you purchase SuperDuper! you can unlock scheduling, Smart Update (which saves a lot of time), Sandboxes, scripting and more! $27.95

Previously, we've focused only on backing up your Entourage Identity, but today we're going to also include the importance of backing up your Office for Mac folder in Applications, recovery from a bad system update and backup on the fly using SuperDuper!

Continue reading "Backup Entourage with SuperDuper!" »

Warning about updating while away from home

If you update Office for Mac while you are away from home and don't have access to your CD and things go wrong, you will be out of luck until you can re-install Office.

Updates do not include an uninstall feature. To restore your application to its original state, delete it from your hard disk, reinstall Office from your original installation disk, and then install ALL updates

For this reason I suggest you do not apply updaters while traveling unless you archive (zip) your Office folder prior to updating so you can easily revert to the archive copy if needed.

For added protection, I would also backup your Main Identity folder. Updates are not supposed to touch your data, but something things just go wrong.

How to replace, upgrade or update your Office for Mac product

When you purchase Office for Mac, I highly advise you to store your CD in a safe place and keep a copy of your CD Key in a password keeper like 1Password. Getting a replacement is not easy, quick or free.

  • I lost my CD Key. How do I get a replacement?
  • I purchased the Home & Student Version. How can I upgrade?
  • I can't find my install CD

Continue reading "How to replace, upgrade or update your Office for Mac product" »

Quit all Microsoft applications before backing up

This article adds new information that is necessary for a good backup of your Identity. Anything that interacts with the Entourage database needs to be quit in order to back-up the database. This means all Office applications and helper applications.

Backup Entourage



Quit all Microsoft apps!

In previous articles on backup, we have had Entourage users quit Entourage and the Microsoft Database daemon. However, while I was testing a shell script to quit Entourage and the daemon to be used in my SuperDuper! nightly backup, I discovered in Entourage 2008 quitting the daemon does not quit Office Reminders. I queried my contacts in the MacBU for clarification. The following advice is a result of my conversation with developers.

To successfully backup your Entourage 2008 database:

  • Quit All Microsoft applications (Entourage, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, My Day, Office Reminders, Messenger)
  • Quit the Microsoft Database daemon

Continue reading "Quit all Microsoft applications before backing up" »

April 16, 2009

"Try & Buy" Office 2008

If you've been waiting for a trial version for Office for Mac 2008, you can now download a copy from Mactopia. More information on international launches will be provided as they are launched. box.jpg

The Office 2008 for Mac Trial is a downloadable, fully functional 30-day trial of Office 2008 for Mac. Unlike the Office 2004 Test Drive, all functionality will be enabled, and reminder pop-ups about the trial will only appear when an application is launched.

To meet customer expectations, the trial is also convertible to a full version of the product, either Home & Student, or Standard Edition (and Standard Upgrade). Previous demo versions were not convertible.

Continue reading ""Try & Buy" Office 2008" »

April 14, 2009

Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.7 update

The Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.7 update is now available for download via Microsoft Auto Updater (MAU) or directly from Mactopia. The 12.1.7 updater is a combo updater. It requires that 12.1.0 be installed. The previous combo 12.1.5 was rolled into the 12.1.7 combo. The original release DVD for Office came with 12.0.0. Newer DVDs came with 12.1.0. update 12.1.7.gif

Some users are reporting similar problems as past updaters:

"You cannot install Office 2008 12.1.7 Update on this volume. A version of the software required to install this update was not found on this volume."

For best results:

Continue reading "Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.7 update" »

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