Eudora and Win 7 missing mailboxes

[DAW]

My 10 year old system suffered a slow death but I was able to save most of
the data.

I did a fresh install of Eudora 7.x.x paid on a new windows 7 machine and it
runs fine. I CAN NOT, however find the mailboxes using any search method.

In contrast, my wife's machine had problems a month or so ago and I bought a
new Win 7 machine for her. Eudora works fine for here AND I can see the
mailboxes and other active files.

I need to find the location of these on my system so I can copy in the
messages and mailboses I have parked on the new machine.

Ghosts?

Thanks,

DAW

[John H Meyers]

On 1/6/2012 10:11 PM, DAW wrote:

> I did a fresh install of Eudora 7.x.x paid on a new windows 7 machine.

> I CAN NOT, however find the mailboxes using any search method.

[perhaps because you didn't search "hidden" files and folders?]

If "fresh install" means that you ran the original "InstallShield" installer,
provided by Qualcomm, then that installer first presented to you a
"Choose Destination Location" screen, for the "Destination Program Folder,"
suggesting a suitable default place
where Windows normally keeps and protects application program files.

The installer next gave you a second
"Choose Data Folder" screen, offering you two choices:

o User's Application Data Folder [your own path is displayed here]

o Custom Data Folder [the program files folder is displayed
as an initial suggestion, which you can change]

If you took the first choice (the default), everything is fine,
and that's where the default data folder is for each different Windows user,
at the following symbolic path, which Windows Explorer can resolve to
a specific path for each user and open: %AppData%\Qualcomm\Eudora

If you took the second choice and changed the "Custom Data Folder"
to a specific folder on a different drive, for example,
then everything is also fine, and the specific path _you specified_
is the default data path for _every_ Windows user.

If you took the second choice and left unaltered the path to the _protected_
program files folder within Windows, then the Devil chortles with glee,
because whenever Eudora, while running, tries to write anything
to that path, the devil intercepts the request and writes the file
to somewhere else that you would not likely guess, without even telling Eudora,
and this will likely cause you many upsetting problems in the future
(this is why user data should not be kept in the same folders as programs!)

Your original answer to the installer is meanwhile saved for posterity
(and consulted every time that you subsequently launch Eudora),
in one line of a file named "DEUdora.ini" (note the initial "D")
which resides in the _programs_ folder, and that line is:

UseAppData=1 [if you chose "User's Application Data Folder"]
-or-
DataFolder=YourChoice [if you chose a "Custom Data Folder"]

When the "Application Data" path is chosen,
Eudora even leaves a visible "shortcut" to the [hidden] data folder,
in your main Windows "Profile" folder, to help you find your data,
and that shortcut is itself named "Eudora"!

Whenever Eudora is running,
you can also click "Help" > "About Eudora"
to show an information window in which your "Data:" path
and "Application:" (program files) path
are each displayed in full, and in version 7.1,
if you move your mouse pointer to either of these paths,
it becomes an "active link" that you can click,
upon which Windows Explorer will even open that folder for you!

Is this enough help for you to now find your data folder?

> In contrast, my wife's machine had problems a month or so ago

> and I bought a a new Win 7 machine for her.

> Eudora works fine for her

> AND I can see the mailboxes and other active files.

_Where_ do you see them?

Did you install Eudora in some different way for her than for yourself?

Are these not the most obvious things to immediately ask?

> I need to find the location of these on my system so I can copy

> the messages and mailboxes I have parked on the new machine.

I won't ask _which_ new machine,
because I don't even really want to know :)

> Ghosts?

Yes, there are aliens running around, erasing people's entire memory
of how they installed Eudora, and that there is a "Readme.txt" file
which comes with it and tells you how to find your data
if you forgot where you told Eudora to keep it, etc.

But as a last resort, there's this newsgroup,
where people afflicted with "obsessive helper syndrome"
stay up nights to fight off the Devil and all his Ghostly cohorts.

It's not a pretty job, but someone has to do it :)

--

[whit...@verizon.net]

Right click the Eudora shortcut on the desktop. Select the "Compatibility" tab. Check "Run this program in compatibility mode for:". Select "XP (Service Pack 3)". Press OK. Run Eudora from the shortcut. If mailboxes still do not appear, select Tools->Mailboxes. You may have to drag the window and dock it on the left (where I usually keep it). I hope this helps.

My conclusion is that Windows has has abandoned the idea of backwards compatibility. Without any support for Eudora, Eurdora will become harder and harder to maintain in the future. What a shame. It's the best email program that I ever found. I intend to keep it going as long as possible. Good luck.

[dar...@gmail.com]

I have exactly the same problem as DAW, and it is a pain in the you know where. The problem is I suspect that DAW and I have been using computers for too long. I don't know about him, but in my case since DOS 3.0, and I do things my way. I have my system, it works for me, I know where I want to store my documents, and images, and music, and I don't use ANY of the "MY FOLDERS" (or Libraries as we now have to call them) that Windows wants me to use.

In his very detailed response John H Meyers said:

"If you took the second choice and left unaltered the path to the _protected_ program files folder within Windows, then the Devil chortles with glee, because whenever Eudora, while running, tries to write anything to that path, the devil intercepts the request and writes the file to somewhere else that you would not likely guess, without even telling Eudora."

Well it would seem that I must have taken the second path etc. because it is many years since I installed Eudora on this Win 7 machine. I did what I'd always done since Windows 3.0, I decided where I wanted the mailboxes, and that's where they were put. I had no idea that Win 7 was going to **** around with my choices. So now under Help > About I see: "Data: C\:Program Files\Eudora\Data. And Application: "C\:Program Files\Eudora\"

Unfortunately, as DAW has found that's not where the data is (are?). In Eudora\Data there is an "In" with a .mbx & .toc, and an "Out" with .mbx & .toc, but all are 0 byte files. And if they are in plain sight in Explorer why do neither appear in a search for *.mbx?

I guess it's me, but I do not understand why these mailboxes should be so difficult to locate. Why is anyone in Redmond concerned with where I put my e-mails?

David (Old David)

[dar...@gmail.com]

One thing I forgot to add is that I tried the compatibility mode option, but then I get to a setup page to start an all new copy of Eudora.

David

[Rich Greenberg]

In article <c2c6fa92-179a-421b...@googlegroups.com>,

They are trying to protect you from yourself by not allowing you to
write to the "Program Files" directory.



--
Rich Greenberg Sarasota, FL, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 941 378 2097
Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67
Canines: Val,Red,Shasta,Zero,Casey & Cinnar (At the bridge) Owner:Chinook-L
Canines: Red & Max (Siberians) Retired at the beach Asst Owner:Sibernet-L

[dar...@gmail.com]

Thanks for your input Rich, but you know I've been writing what I want, where I want, since Windows 3.0, with no ill effects. I have never had a problem with Eudora data in Program Files\Eudora\Data\. So I for one would like MS to butt out of what I store on my machine and where I store it. If someone in Redmond doesn't think it's a good idea then a pop-up warning would suffice. But supposing, just supposing that's there's some ever so important reason for not using the Data folder for Data, I still cannot imagine why there would EVER be a need to hide mailboxes. Why can't Explorer find *.mbx? Not even the ones in Eudora\Data. It just doesn't make any sense.

David

[dar...@gmail.com]

Thanks very much for the time you took to explain why I cannot have mailboxes in Program Files, I never saw that explanation before, surely my own fault. However, it begs the question, "Where is this ghost location?" How can I find and copy the old e-mails to some safe location of my choosing, outside of the Program Files? If I can do that I can re-install and reset everything.

David

[Ajo Wissink]

On Mon, 31 Mar 2014 14:00:48 -0700 (PDT), dar...@gmail.com wrote:

>Why can't Explorer find *.mbx? Not even the ones in Eudora\Data. It just doesn't make any sense.

Make sure that in Folder Options > View you have enabled "Show hidden
files and folders" and disabled "hide extensions for known file
types".

You will probably find your "ghost" data in
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files

Switch to another location of your choice, provided that it is not in
Program Files.

When searching don't use the search window at the bottom left when you
click on the Windows logo. Use the search function at the top of the
drive where you have your data. Usually the C:\ drive.

[dar...@gmail.com]

Ajo you are dead right, that was brilliant!!! And what a place to store illicit e-mails. If I ever have an affair I'll know just where to stash the messages, I doubt if even the NSA would find them.

I get it that Windows 7 wants to keep Program Files as read only (mainly). But why in heaven's name would ANYONE think that:

C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Eudora\Data

is a good place to store e-mails? I mean come on, this isn't saving me from viruses, this is folder madness.

Thank you very much, you have made my day, week, month!

David