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deeply confused

why? first know the following: I have only 9 GIGS free out of my so called 60 Gig Hard Drive. I am a Logic Pro user and need to score a friend's short film early this week. I copied the film onto the computer - and it starts and stops... I think my email may be the problem...

I have 4 GIGS of email that I want to archive and get off my laptop... because I need to free up the space, and a local mac guru suggested my computer may be acting funny (which it is) because of it.

I've been trying to solve this problem for about a month. First I was missing emails since upgrading to Tiger (see below if you got time):

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=373411&tstart=0

Now, I seem to have back the missing emails... thanks to Ernie Stamper. So, now I want to copy them, or archive them first (save as rich text documents) to CD. Then get everything off my laptop.

I'm not sure which archive program to use... one suggested MailSteward, another on this board suggested the Mail Scripts. Either way, I want to save the archived versions, and the original mboxes - or whatever I'd have to save, in case I need to import at a later date... just extra protection from losing email.

Not to mention - it seems CD's only hold about 700 MB... how can I save more over 2 CD's??

I'm deeply confused how to proceed.

Thanks in advance.

1 Ghz PowerBook G4, Mac OS X (10.4.5), 1.5 GB DDR SDRAM. I also have 40 gig iPod.

Posted on Apr 3, 2006 9:58 AM

60 replies

Apr 4, 2006 2:23 PM in response to Ernie Stamper

Hi,

My main concern about moving messages - was because I have about six months worth of large 'attachments'. I was working on a project with a graphic designer and wanted to keep track of the correspondence and the large Illustrator files. This is the bulk of the stuff I need to archive and get off my computer. Remember - 4 GIGs of email. Sounds like a lot to me. However, your experience with a 600 MB mailbox is pretty big too!

Regarding keeping the Panther mailboxes... I guess it was just in case anything got left behind in the conversion process. However, that's probably insecurity on my part - as I do have the whole Mail folder backed up on the Ext. HD... and you and I have gone over everything - and the conversion of the so called 'missing emails' are now back. So - I guess I'm cool!

Ok -

At this point - what does it matter what I do first? Should I now delete the files mentioned in the article via the Finder (incidently - I don't understand one thing... when we imported - didn't we want the mbox file? Now, the article says, after conversion - I can delete it!? What would I 'import' in Tiger if I thought I was missing an email or two?)

Anyhow - delete files or move messages first? does order matter? Then - once messages are in new mailboxes - shouldn't I delete with in application Mail - the old 'import' mailboxes?

Thanks for bearing with me...

Apr 4, 2006 2:33 PM in response to misterioso270

You only need the mbox files, UNTIL the conversion is complete. Later, if you have xxxx.mbox folder structured for Tiger, you do not need the mbox file, but rather the Messages folder. In such a case you import the xxxx.mbox as type OSX.

If you think you are missing some messages, you import the mbox again, and search for the missing messages. You would do this by creating a folder xxxx on your Desktop, and then placing the mbox within the xxxx folder. Next you would rename the xxxx folder to be xxxx.mbox, and then Import that into Mail, as type Other.

I am now going to post some general info, some of which may repeat some things I have already told you:

In a pre-conversion to Tiger mailbox, the only file that really mattered, in regard to message content, was the file "mbox". In a mailbox properly created and established in Tiger, the only thing that really matters is the folder named Messages.

Thus, if you are able to compare the size of both the mbox file and the Messages folder, at the time of conversion (a mailbox trying to have it both ways), and they are approximately the same size, then you can reasonably conclude everything was converted. There are some very minor exceptions to this comparative analysis, but it basically holds.

If you have a copy of a xxxxx.mbox folder with only a mbox file, or if any mbox file it contains is much larger than any Messages folder present, then it may worth trying an import command to check. If you make a new folder on your Desktop, for example, and then place the mbox file from a copy of the original mailbox into the folder, subsequently rename the folder to have the extension, .mbox, you can then import it into Mail 2.0, by targeting it, and saying it is a mailbox of type "Other" rather than type "OSX". If you do this, one at a time to avoid confusion, you can then access the imported mailbox, examine the messages, and transfer any you believe you need. At the same time, if you maintain the currently in-use mailbox, now altered to only have a Messages folder, you will have that to access as well.

If mailboxes in account folders do not convert properly during the upgrade to Tiger, then you don't use Import to recreate any mailboxes found in account folders, but rather only import to be added as On My Mac mailboxes.

I hope this is somewhat clear.

Ernie

Apr 4, 2006 2:49 PM in response to Ernie Stamper

hi,

ok. just checked some email. I am pretty sure everything converted... from a few weeks ago. Besides, I have the Mail folder on my Ext. HD just in case.

So - I'm ready - right? I feel confident all email is now converted.

Back to the main question - delete files first? Or move messages into better organized new Mailboxes?

Apr 4, 2006 3:05 PM in response to misterioso270

Delete files first -- otherwise indexing problem may arise as you move things around.

Apr 4, 2006 7:23 PM in response to Ernie Stamper

am in the process of putting files in the trash.

question:

I am slightly confused by terminology... the Apple Article you linked - about deleting mailbox files - I'm slightly confused about which Info.plist file I can delete safely...

When I open my Mailboxes folder - I see the 12 imports (mailboxes). When I go into one - I find about 4 .mbox folders (Drafts.mbox, INBOX.mbox, etc...) and an Info.plist file. I assume THAT'S THE ONE I SHOULD NOT TOUCH. However, when I go into, let's say the INBOX.mbox folder and find yet another Info.plist file - this one - the one within a given xxx.mbox is the one to trash.

Is that correct??? Thanks.

Apr 4, 2006 7:47 PM in response to misterioso270

I have not actually found the Info.plist that it says not to delete, but in fact you do not have to delete any of the Info.plist files. However, as you have discerned, it is safe to delete any Info.plist within a xxxx.mbox folder.

All the best.

Ernie

Apr 4, 2006 7:59 PM in response to Ernie Stamper

wow - your prompt reply is so appreciated!

I see. Yeah, in that article, #7 down the list it says:

Info.plist (but not Info.plist that's in the Mailboxes folder)

Hmmm. Perhaps I'll just whimp out and not touch any of the Info.plist's for now.

Couple of odd loose ends have popped up. Perhaps you can comment:

In Mailboxes/Import/ I come across the normal Deleted Messages.mbox, Dravfts OLD.mbox, etc... but also this:

Inbox.mbox - it seems to be a file... and it's 235.6 MB. It also says it is a Microsoft Entourage mailbox. Yet, I can't get inside it. Any idea what to do with that? Re-import??

Also have come up with files like:

content_index, content_index-(null)-261, content_index-(null)-263, etc..

Get rid of those too??

Thanks, I realize it's getting late. I have emptied already 1 Gig of Panther files I didn't need!! Thanks!

Apr 5, 2006 4:15 AM in response to misterioso270

As I understood your visit to the Apple Store, the Entourage mailbox was one attempt at importing? I would presume it is duplicative of the other info? Why not "park it" on your external, but remove from your Mail folder?

Get rid of "content_index, content_index-(null)-261, content_index-(null)-263, etc.." The last two were some incomplete pass at indexing, and all are of no use in Tiger.

Ernie

Apr 5, 2006 7:57 AM in response to Ernie Stamper

Ok - getting somewhere! Very exciting! Thank you!

Last night I also started phase 2 - MOVING all the messages (from the Imported Mailboxes - remember... 12 of them), while within the application Mail.

A couple of questions have come up...

First of all - you should know, I have probably close to 35 thousand pieces of email! At some point, I can go through some of it (it will take a long time) and really get rid of what I don't need. However, it's pretty interesting via email to see what was going on in one's life at the time. Anyhow, a few of those will probably be duplicates, as some of the Imports had to be redone... and I don't know what's what yet.

This is what I've done so far - I don't know if I've already messed up and will have to start over with the saved Mail folder on my External Hard Drive:

I created 4 new mailboxes: Old Delete Recovered, Old Inbox Recovered, Old Drafts Recovered and Old Sent Recovered.

Even though all my email was sent and arrived from/to 3 different addresses (accounts) - I figure I'll organize subfolders of the accounts after I get all the email in their new mailboxes. (from the new mailboxes I can do a search for a specific account, and then move all that email to the subfolder). Sound like a plan?

Now, what I ran into last night - was when moving email - let's say 4,000 pieces of email: when I selected more than let's say 30 or so pieces of email - the computer would say it could not move that amount. So, I just selected small amounts - which took some time - moved for instance old imported inbox email to the new mailbox. Then I'd 'select all' - in the new mailbox - mark the mail as 'unread' - so I could see how many pieces of email is in the new Inbox... and then hit 'rebuild' for the new mailbox - as I thought that's a good thing to do (this is what I'm unsure about - maybe I shouldn't have).

I better ask now: can I fill the new mailbox "Old Inbox Recovered" with 20,000 pieces of email??? Without knowing anything about computers, it makes me nervous to hear the computer moving files, etc... the computer sounds like it's working... wouldn't want to lose any of the email now that I have it!

My new mailboxes, Old Inbox Recovered and Old Sent Recovered are going to be huge by the end of this - like I said, could be as much as 15,000 to 20,000 pieces each because of duplicates...

Thanks for sticking with me!

Apr 5, 2006 8:03 AM in response to misterioso270

The limit suggested is not number of messages, but around 2 GB per mailbox. I would suggest resolving and eliminating duplicates as soon as possible, particularly if large attachments are involved.

If you sort a new mailbox on Subject, it would seem duplicates would be quite easy to spot.

I would not expect 30 messages to cause any message that it could not be done, unless short of disk space for temporary files -- how much do you now have free?

Ernie

Apr 5, 2006 8:11 AM in response to Ernie Stamper

I have 10.3 Gig free.

Is there a way to see how large a mailbox is? As in, do I just go into Finder and get info on the Messages portion of a mailbox? I'm pretty sure that the duplicates I'm concerned about are not the huge old attatchment files.

Apr 5, 2006 8:18 AM in response to misterioso270

Using the Finder and Get Info is the only way to check mailbox size in Tiger.

You may be needing to re-index everything, with all this moving of messages, and refusal of Mail to move large groups of Messages.

Quit Mail, and in the Finder, open Home/Library/Mail and locate the Envelope Index file -- delete it, or drag it to the Desktop. The launch Mail, which will inform you that it is ready to import all mailboxes -- allow this to continue, until Done. In your situation, it is really only re-indexing all the mailboxes, but not a bad idea with all your changes.

Ernie

Apr 5, 2006 8:25 AM in response to fu

If you use toast 7 it will auotmatically partion your data.
Data Spanning Backup Anything
Span files, folders and even applications across multiple CDs and DVDs. Now you can safely backup files of any size and easily retrieve them with the included Restore tool. Toast 7 breaks through the size limitations that the Mac OS and all other burning software has.

Apr 5, 2006 8:57 AM in response to Mitch Monyak

Thanks... good to know.

Apr 5, 2006 9:03 AM in response to Ernie Stamper

Hi Ernie,

Did the re-indexing... working like a charm now! I can move 3000 + messages - no prob!

Any suggestions for checking duplicates of emails? I have 52,000 emails!!! As you know, the whole point is to archive and get all this off my computer. Should I seriously deal with duplicates now as you've suggested?

many thanks.

deeply confused