Reinstall with existing mail folders
I have been using Messenger/Thunderbird for the last 25 years, and have (had) a pretty significant set of inbox folders. Because of the size of these (and of course the need to move them every few years to a new PC), they were on a separate drive, and have been continuously updated as new versions of Windows and Thunderbird are installed. They appeared as a series of SBD folders in a folder called "Mail". This time I only needed to reinstall Windows on an existing PC, so I was able to backup the profile in the AppData folder and only needed to reinstall Thunderbird and have it point to the "Mail" folder. Unfortunately, despite the Thunderbird installation process continually saying "Upgrading" during the process, as soon as I pointed Thunderbird to "Mail", it just deleted the last 25 years of mail. Not sent to recycle bin but deleted outright. The client briefly showed all my inbox folders in a column on the left as it always has, then that listing collapsed to only Inbox, Drafts, Sent, Spam & Trash. All the SBD folders are gone. Is there a different sequence which would have saved my mail folders - perhaps pointing to a different folder and then copying all the SBDs into that? In the past, I have just updated the "Local Directory" location in the Server Settings, but that has not worked in this case. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
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I was able to backup the profile in the AppData folder and only needed to reinstall Thunderbird and have it point to the "Mail" folder.
Please explain all the steps you did in more detail.
Unfortunately, despite the Thunderbird installation process continually saying "Upgrading" during the process,
I don't understand what you did here.
as soon as I pointed Thunderbird to "Mail"
Messing with the "Local Directory" setting usually is a bad idea. It's recommended to move the entire Thunderbird profile instead.
Thanks for taking the time. I've always just changed the Local Directory settings - I suspect Thunderbird has developed and modernised with more complex operating systems and I haven't kept up... Live and learn. I made a copy of my entire AppData folder from the broken Windows installation. Wiped out Windows and reinstalled, which obviously created a new AppData folder under the same local account name. I then dropped back the Thunderbird folders into AppData Local and AppData Roaming from the old installation into the new User folders. Thunderbird has always been installed on a separate volume from Windows (when SSD drives first came out space was a premium so I kept everything off C drive wherever possible), so when I installed Thunderbird on the new Windows installation, I specified the same installation folder as previous. Thus the new Thunderbird was installing over the top of the existing program files. I don't know how much Thunderbird uses the Windows Registry as opposed to Prefs.js, but the Prefs.js would have been there from previous, but obviously nothing in the registry. The installation process continued with dialog boxes popping up from time to time saying "Upgrading" or "Updating". Thunderbird started OK, but knew nothing of my profile (that hadn't happened in previous upgrades or migrations), so I filled in the basics of email, servers etc and it started downloading mail from the POP3 server. That's when I changed the "Local Directory" setting. As I said, it all looked correct initially - all the old mail folders showed up in the tree on the left, and then... gone. If I don't use the Local Directory setting, what is the best way to "merge" the folders created when setting up a profile with all the existing SBD mail folders (assuming they still existed :-( ) Thanks again.
I then dropped back the Thunderbird folders into AppData Local and AppData Roaming from the old installation into the new User folders.
That sounds reasonable. So you essentially copied over your your Thunderbird profile among other stuff to the new installation.
when I installed Thunderbird on the new Windows installation, I specified the same installation folder as previous.
So that means Thunderbird was installed on a different drive then C: ?
Thus the new Thunderbird was installing over the top of the existing program files.
I don't understand this. Did you install Thunderbird twice on the new Windows installation?
I don't know how much Thunderbird uses the Windows Registry as opposed to Prefs.js, but the Prefs.js would have been there from previous, but obviously nothing in the registry.
All the config is inside the profile, not in the Windows registry.
The installation process continued with dialog boxes popping up from time to time saying "Upgrading" or "Updating".
This sounds odd. I don't know how those popups are related to Thunderbird. Are there any more detail you can provide?
Thunderbird started OK, but knew nothing of my profile (that hadn't happened in previous upgrades or migrations),
This sounds odd again. Since you copied over the entire profile Thunderbird should start with the existing profile.
so I filled in the basics of email, servers etc and it started downloading mail from the POP3 server.
So you do leave all messages on the server?
That's when I changed the "Local Directory" setting. As I said, it all looked correct initially - all the old mail folders showed up in the tree on the left, and then... gone.
First, you must not change the "Local Directory" setting while Thunderbird is running. Second, since you recreated your account, Thunderbird downloaded your mail and stored it inside the profile. Then you told it to look elsewhere outside the profile. From your description above you haven't mentioned that you restored the mail from the previous installation at that customized location on the new installation.
If I don't use the Local Directory setting, what is the best way to "merge" the folders created when setting up a profile with all the existing SBD mail folders (assuming they still existed :-( )
They should still exist if you did back them up in the first place and did restore them on the new Windows installation. In any case, you may understand now that storing mail outside of the profile isn't necessarily a good idea.
have lost fire fox and thunder bird overnight which I have used for 12yrs will not send codes to my phone SKYPE WILL not recognize passwords or phone numbers, WHATS GOING ON!!!