Outlook Rebuild error [-18000]. Tried everything (?)

At first Outlook just crashed when I Quit.
A few days later it refused to open "There is a problem with the office database..." and it offered a rebuild... which fell over on step 4 [-18000]
So using MS Database Util I created a new identity, set it to be default.
Copied the previous identity folders to the new.
Rebuild... which fell over on step 4 [-18000]
And so it has gone. No matter what I try.
I even copied each database folder over one at a time and rebuilt after each copy. Which had limited success. Contacts, Events, Mail Accounts, Notes and Signatures all now appear in the new identity within Outlook. But add say Folders, and it fails.

It may be that Folders relies upon one of the other mail folders (Messages, Message Sources, Message Attachments) but how would I know? Does anyone?

It's serious stuff for me - a decade+ of my life hangs in the balance and after 10 years of using MS Windows based products without having a calamity like this I am unimpressed with the OS X offering.

Having delved into the file system of Outlook 2011 it reminds me of the un-lamented Outlook Express which had a poor reputation for reliability which I would attribute to having (way fewer) folders and many files containing different parts of the whole. The single .PST file of Windows Outlook hasn't missed a beat on my ancient WinTel box for years. This is a new Mac with new software.

I'll dismount (or should that be eject) myself from my horse and see if anyone can offer any sage advice.

It's serious stuff for me - a decade+ of my life hangs in the balance and after 10 years of using MS Windows based products without having a calamity like this I am unimpressed with the OS X offering.

Click to expand...

Keep in mind that Outlook for OS X (part of Mac Office 2011) is a version one application and in no way reflects the stability and robustness of Outlook for Windows which has been around for more than 15 years.

Place your blame squarely where it belongs - on MS not your Mac. Now that we have gotten that out of the way and since you tried a rebuild of its data base which it seems did not work, your only recourse is to restore from backup. Have you tried that?

In googling your error, I came across this link. Seemed to fix problems with the rebuild. I assume that you googled your error?

https://discussions.apple.com/message/23726703

Plenty of other links but this one seems to have had success with Office 2011.

Bill

chscag said:

Keep in mind that Outlook for OS X (part of Mac Office 2011) is a version one application and in no way reflects the stability and robustness of Outlook for Windows which has been around for more than 15 years.

Click to expand...

I can't argue with that. I'm no developer but something about re-inventing the wheel comes to mind.

Place your blame squarely where it belongs - on MS not your Mac. Now that we have gotten that out of the way and since you tried a rebuild of its data base which it seems did not work, your only recourse is to restore from backup. Have you tried that?

Click to expand...

Fair comment. Yes I restored the identity and sub-folders using Time Machine going back to when OL still 'worked'.

In my meanderings through the web in search of an answer I note that there is a question about whether to delete the database file from the new identity before copying the data folders from the old identity and doing a rebuild. Can anyone throw any light onto this please?

bboggess said:

In googling your error, I came across this link. Seemed to fix problems with the rebuild. I assume that you googled your error?

https://discussions.apple.com/message/23726703

Plenty of other links but this one seems to have had success with Office 2011.

Bill

Click to expand...

Thank you very much for this. A lot of 'advice' pops up when googling for answers and this one slipped under my radar. I'm going to give it a bash - it is extraordinarily complicated (but if it works I'll be happy) and when Rob88 (author) points out that the official MS solution is junk I wonder about hanging in there with MS Outlook. Maybe head for the cloud or look to Thunderbird. That's a decision I need to look at post-crisis.

I'll post the (hopefully successful) results.

I wonder about hanging in there with MS Outlook. Maybe head for the cloud or look to Thunderbird. That's a decision I need to look at post-crisis.

Click to expand...

MS has promised us that Office 2014 for the Mac (which includes a new version of Outlook) will be released sometime this Fall. As you probably surmised from my previous reply, I'm not a fan of Outlook for the Mac. I'm currently not using my copy - I've stuck with Mac Mail and Thunderbird instead. However, I'm willing to give it another try when Office 2014 is released.

Just thought you might be interested.

OL 2014 eh? I really, really hope they've taken the time to look for inspiration and lessons from the Windows team.

I've had a stab at rebuilding using the post boggess pointed me to (Rob88's post) and have had no joy. I think the problem is that Rob88's post assumes OL's version is 14.0.0 and talks about eventually getting to 14.1.4. My Office 365 starts out with 14.3.8 and offers an upgrade to 14.4.3. The post is quite specific about versions which is why I am pointing the finger there for my ongoing 18000 rebuild fails. I've got bags of disc space and 32GB of RAM with a relatively small db.

Plan B is to try his Folders <--> Categories swap. Messy (if it works) but better than downloading a squillion emails from the gmail IMAP inbox.

Sigh....

Plan B worked. It was also a LOT of work. A list of 805 'Recovered' folders appeared. They are a single level (no subs) and pretty much in the same order as they were when they had names. The sub-folders were given their own folders too. The email contents indicated what they were about, but very fortunately I used to copy my Windows .PST file to my Windows laptop when travelling. I was able to get a good approximation of the original folder names by running OL on the laptop and searching for emails when I got lost.

Still, everything is back to normal. IMAP shoved an extra couple of hundred emails my way once I'd managed to manually send-receive.

But that is another story and another post. Why does OL apparently ignore the Send/Receive (All) button now?

Many thanks for everyones contributions.