Emergency!

[Restorm]

I just changed web host/email providers and created a new profile. I
copied over everything I thought I should, but have two problems: 1) my
inbox folders are missing, even though I copied the huge Inbox.sbd
folder, and 2) all my settings and name of the account have reverted to
those of the old profile, so I apparently copied something I should
have. Help!

[Big_Al]

Restorm said this on 2/1/2012 12:02 PM:

Try mozbackup. It makes it rather simplistic to backup/restore.

[Beauregard T. Shagnasty]

I think you should not have created a *new* profile, but simply added new
accounts for the new email address(es) in the current profile. Leave the
existing account(s) intact.

Do you have a complete backup of the profile folders/directories? If so,
restore them.

--
-bts
-This space for rent, but the price is high

[Restorm]

Yeah, everything is backed up. I created a new profile because the old
one is ancient, and I've heard it's good to start with a fresh one every
now and then. My real questions, so I don't make the mistake again, were
these: 1) what missing file kept my Inbox folders from appearing, and 2)
what file did I copy that I shouldn't have, which changed all my server
settings back to the old ones?

[Greywolf]

On 01/02/2012 1:57 PM, Restorm wrote:
> On 2/1/2012 12:52 PM, Beauregard T. Shagnasty wrote:

[snip]

>> Do you have a complete backup of the profile folders/directories? If so,
>> restore them.
>>
> Yeah, everything is backed up. I created a new profile because the old
> one is ancient, and I've heard it's good to start with a fresh one every
> now and then. My real questions, so I don't make the mistake again, were
> these: 1) what missing file kept my Inbox folders from appearing, and 2)
> what file did I copy that I shouldn't have, which changed all my server
> settings back to the old ones?

There's no problem with using old profiles. Whoever told you that may
have some confused ideas about old passwords.

Anyhow, just copy the contents of the old profile into the new one. If
you didn't back up the old profiles.ini, edit it to make sure it points
to correct *.default folder.

HTH
Wolf K.

[Restorm]

It's not a matter of just copying the contents, apparently. There are
certain contents that shouldn't be copied, which caused the problem I
encountered. That's fixed now.

[The Real Bev]

On 02/01/2012 02:59 PM, Restorm wrote:

> On 2/1/2012 4:11 PM, Greywolf wrote:
>>
>> There's no problem with using old profiles. Whoever told you that may
>> have some confused ideas about old passwords.
>>
>> Anyhow, just copy the contents of the old profile into the new one. If
>> you didn't back up the old profiles.ini, edit it to make sure it points
>> to correct *.default folder.
>>

> It's not a matter of just copying the contents, apparently. There are
> certain contents that shouldn't be copied, which caused the problem I
> encountered. That's fixed now.

Which contents shouldn't be copied?


--
Cheers, Bev
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"The language of victimization is infinitely extensible." -- Me

[Restorm]

On 2/1/2012 6:19 PM, The Real Bev wrote:
> On 02/01/2012 02:59 PM, Restorm wrote:
>
>> On 2/1/2012 4:11 PM, Greywolf wrote:
>>>
>>> There's no problem with using old profiles. Whoever told you that may
>>> have some confused ideas about old passwords.
>>>
>>> Anyhow, just copy the contents of the old profile into the new one. If
>>> you didn't back up the old profiles.ini, edit it to make sure it points
>>> to correct *.default folder.
>>>
>> It's not a matter of just copying the contents, apparently. There are
>> certain contents that shouldn't be copied, which caused the problem I
>> encountered. That's fixed now.
>
> Which contents shouldn't be copied?
>
>

I never actually figured out which was the offending file: I just
reduced the number of files I was copying. One of them apparently
overroad the server settings and account name I had set up during the
creation of the new profile.

[Greywolf]

On 01/02/2012 5:59 PM, Restorm wrote:
> On 2/1/2012 4:11 PM, Greywolf wrote:

[...]

>> Anyhow, just copy the contents of the old profile into the new one. If
>> you didn't back up the old profiles.ini, edit it to make sure it points
>> to correct *.default folder.
>>
>> HTH
>> Wolf K.
> It's not a matter of just copying the contents, apparently. There are
> certain contents that shouldn't be copied, which caused the problem I
> encountered. That's fixed now.

This is a new one on me. What contents are you refrring to?

Wolf K.

[Greywolf]

Well, of course. Copying the contents of the old profile is supposed to
do that. As I said, there's no issue whatever in using the old profile.
In fact, as you discovered, moving the data you want from the old
profile to the new one is a bit of hassle, That's why I don't recommend it.

Wolf K.
verted,

[Cy Burnot]

Greywolf has written on 2/1/2012 7:33 PM:

I'll bet that the OP copied the profiles folder instead of the contents
of a specific profile.

[Restorm]

Answered earlier in string.

[Man-wai Chang]

> copied over everything I thought I should, but have two problems: 1) my
> inbox folders are missing, even though I copied the huge Inbox.sbd

There should be a "Inbox" file (and its index Inbox.msf) in the mailer
folder in addition to "Inbox.sbd"!

> folder, and 2) all my settings and name of the account have reverted to
> those of the old profile, so I apparently copied something I should
> have. Help!

You better make sure which profile you are working on. I suggest you
back up everything in c:\users\yourname\appdata first.

--
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[g]

On 02/01/2012 05:02 PM, Restorm wrote:

> I just changed web host/email providers and created a new profile.

-=-

hello storm,

creating a new profile was not needed. all you needed to do was
create the new accounts and either delete old accounts or deactivate
them.

> I copied over everything I thought I should, but have two problems:
> 1) my inbox folders are missing, even though I copied the huge
> Inbox.sbd folder,

-=-

excuse me for getting back on my 'soap box' again, but it is something
that is difficult for a lot of thunderbird users to get set in their
thinking.

*do not build folders below an Inbox folder*.

granted, there are a lot of users who do so and have no problems,
but there are a lot of problems caused by doing such.

it is your system and you can run it as you wish. if wish to increase
potential of problems, continue building folders under an Inbox.

the 'Inbox' folders are the 'busiest' email folder and should not have
sub folders.


when you copied old profile files, did you copy 'panacea.dat' or did
you delete and let thunderbird build a new file?

building a new 'panacea.dat' is way to have gone. doing such, thunderbird
would go thru all folder files and rebuild indexing.

> and 2) all my settings and name of the account have reverted to
> those of the old profile, so I apparently copied something I should
> have. Help!

-=-

accounts and settings are maintained in prefs.js. therefore, if you
copied old file, all accounts and settings will revert to old.


my suggestion is this. return to old profile, add new accounts, disable
or delete old accounts.

hth.
--

peace out.

tc.hago,

g
.

*please reply "plain text" only. "html text" are deleted*

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[Kaimbridge M. GoldChild]

On Feb 3, 8:25 am, g <gel...@bellsouth.net> wrote:

> excuse me for getting back on my 'soap box' again, but it
> is something that is difficult for a lot of thunderbird
> users to get set in their thinking.
>
> *do not build folders below an Inbox folder*.
>
> granted, there are a lot of users who do so and have no
> problems, but there are a lot of problems caused by
> doing such.
>
> it is your system and you can run it as you wish. if
> wish to increase potential of problems, continue
> building folders under an Inbox.

I presume you mean don’t create subfolders within the Inbox
(*all* other folders are below the Inbox! P=), which I agree with.
What I have is an “Old Mail” folder with all of the subfolders
there. If, for whatever reason, you want it specifically in an
“Inbox”, just create an “Inbox, Sorted” or “Inbox-S” folder, and
put the subfolders there.

~Kaimbridge~

-----
Wikipedia—Contributor Home Page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Kaimbridge

***** Void Where Permitted; Limit 0 Per Customer. *****

[Axel Grude]

On 03/02/12 13:44, Kaimbridge M. GoldChild wrote:
> On Feb 3, 8:25 am, g <gel...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> > excuse me for getting back on my 'soap box' again, but it
> > is something that is difficult for a lot of thunderbird
> > users to get set in their thinking.
> >
> > *do not build folders below an Inbox folder*.
> >
> > granted, there are a lot of users who do so and have no
> > problems, but there are a lot of problems caused by
> > doing such.
> >
> > it is your system and you can run it as you wish. if
> > wish to increase potential of problems, continue
> > building folders under an Inbox.
>
> I presume you mean don’t create subfolders within the Inbox (*all* other folders are
> below the Inbox! P=), which I agree with.

But why not? Inbox is just another folder with some special properties. I would agree
that it's not a good idea to create subfolders within Trash or Junk, but Inbox? Are
there any technical / or system-related reasons not to do this?

I work a lot with folders, partly because I am in a lot of work groups and have a lot
of legacy mail boxes and partly because it's easy with my Extension QuickFolders. Also
somebody mentioned problems about creating complicated filters, that's why I added a
function that creates these from a drag'n drop operation; this will hopefully hit the
public (and 26,000 users) around February 12th.

Axel

[Restorm]

Thanks. That's the file name I needed to know. I've gone back to my old
profile and made the changes, and everything's fine now.

[Anthony Buckland]

On 03/02/2012 5:44 AM, Kaimbridge M. GoldChild wrote:
> On Feb 3, 8:25 am, g <gel...@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> > excuse me for getting back on my 'soap box' again, but it
> > is something that is difficult for a lot of thunderbird
> > users to get set in their thinking.
> >
> > *do not build folders below an Inbox folder*.
> >
> > granted, there are a lot of users who do so and have no
> > problems, but there are a lot of problems caused by
> > doing such.
> >
> > it is your system and you can run it as you wish. if
> > wish to increase potential of problems, continue
> > building folders under an Inbox.
>
> I presume you mean don’t create subfolders within the Inbox (*all* other
> folders are below the Inbox! P=), which I agree with.

> ...

It may depend on _where_ your Inbox is. In my case, Inbox lives
in the limited space provided on their system by my service
provider. To create subfolders there, instead of on my terabyte
drive, would be a foolish use of a very limited resource.

[g]

On 02/04/2012 11:40 AM, Restorm wrote:
<>

> Thanks.
-=-

welcome.

> That's the file name I needed to know. I've gone back to my old
> profile and made the changes, and everything's fine now.

-=-

great.

have a look at this page to see what directories and files are in your
profile directory and how they are used;

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folder_-_Thunderbird

also, have a look at links shown in "See also" and "External links".

because you mentioned that you have email folders below your 'Inbox'
folders, i suggest you move them. they are a potential problem. even
tho you do not mention any problems with old profile restored, it is
obvious that problems can occur as shown by what you went thru with
new profile.


fyi. if you move email folders under thunderbird, thunderbird will make
proper changes to 'panacea.dat' and to any filters you may have pointing
to those email folders.

anytime you make any changes to positions of where email files are
located, external of thunderbird, by using a file browser, you should
delete 'panacea.dat'. if you make changes to the email files themselves,
delete 'panacea.dat' and the '.msf' file for the email file you modify.


one last point to remember, cyoa, 'cover your own ass'. anytime you plan
on making any changes to any program data files, make a complete backup.
then, if you mess up something, nothing is lost.

[Restorm]

Nope: I just made the mistake of copying the "prefs" file.

[Restorm]

Thanks for that. I'm a bit confused when you say I shouldn't have
folders under my Inbox, though. That's always been the default location.
Where should they be, under the Local folder? Also, everyone keeps
talking about backup, but I only copy (not cut) the data files out of
the old profiles, so that automatically leaves be a complete backup, no?
Or are they at risk in some way I don't know about?

[Christian Riechers]

On 02/05/2012 11:07 AM, Restorm wrote:

> Also, everyone keeps
> talking about backup, but I only copy (not cut) the data files out of
> the old profiles, so that automatically leaves be a complete backup, no?
> Or are they at risk in some way I don't know about?

Best is to copy the entire profile. Some people prefer MozBackup, but
just copying the profile will do as well.

--
Christian

[g]

On 02/05/2012 10:07 AM, Restorm wrote:
<>

> Thanks for that. I'm a bit confused when you say I shouldn't have
> folders under my Inbox, though. That's always been the default location.
> Where should they be, under the Local folder?

-=-

anywhere but under an Inbox, Unsent, Junk, Trash, email folders.

the Inbox is where all email transactions happen and is why people have
problems. if you where to go back thru past post, you will find that most
all problems with corrupt email folders happens when Inbox email folder
has sub folders. easiest cure, move email subfolders away from beneath
Inbox.

create email folders under their original email account or under
"Local Folders".

> Also, everyone keeps talking about backup, but I only copy (not cut) the
> data files out of the old profiles, so that automatically leaves be a
> complete backup, no?

-=-

a *complete* backup is and should be made from the "*.default" directory.
this way, you have a backup of both configuration settings and all emails.

selecting data files to backup is safe only if you backup newly changed
files, and have a 'backup history' of other files.

if you are not concerned about emails, then you do not need to backup
"ImapMail", "Mail", "News", directories.

> Or are they at risk in some way I don't know about?

-=-

not knowing what you know, i will answer that with;

if you are using a computer, all is at risk. 8-D

[Jay Garcia]

On 05.02.2012 04:07, Restorm wrote:

--- Original Message ---

> Thanks for that. I'm a bit confused when you say I shouldn't have
> folders under my Inbox, though. That's always been the default location.
> Where should they be, under the Local folder? Also, everyone keeps
> talking about backup, but I only copy (not cut) the data files out of
> the old profiles, so that automatically leaves be a complete backup, no?
> Or are they at risk in some way I don't know about?

The default location is under your account name, not under the Inbox. To
add a folder, right-click on your "account name" and add the folder.

--
Jay Garcia - www.ufaq.org - Netscape - Firefox - SeaMonkey - Thunderbird
Mozilla Contribute Coordinator Team - www.mozilla.org/contribute/
Mozilla Mozillian Member - www.mozillians.org
Mozilla Contributor Member - www.mozilla.org/credits/

[Cy Burnot]

Restorm has written on 2/5/2012 5:07 AM:

<snip>

> Thanks for that. I'm a bit confused when you say I shouldn't have
> folders under my Inbox, though. That's always been the default location.
> Where should they be, under the Local folder?

Under the account itself! Right-click the name of the account and select
New Folder.

> Also, everyone keeps talking about backup, but I only copy (not cut) the data files out of
> the old profiles, so that automatically leaves be a complete backup, no?

Data files? Which are they?

I copy (with XXcopy) the entire contents of my profile folder to an
external HD. Takes less than 3 minutes for 12 accounts.