Special account
Peter Lawson
that others have had the same experience, but I was unable to find a
solution. Perhaps there isn't one :-(
On a friend's computer, the 'special account' has appeared - she does
not know why. For a screenshot see
http://tinypic.com/r/jrb7kl/7
I used Mozbackup to back up her profile, and on my own computer Profile
Manager to create an extra profile, then Mozbackup to load her data into
the new profile. I cannot understand why some subscribers here denigrate
this great utility which makes a job like this so easy, plus one can be
selective about which elements one wishes to back up and restore.
Now I'm just hoping that someone out there can tell me how to
remove/combine the 'special account' and clean up the mess. I'll be
content with a link if that does lead to a readily comprehensible answer.
TB 2.0.0.24 (friend was running 2.0.0.9)
XP SP3
--
Peter Lawson
Cape Town: 021-797-4493
France 06 18 28 96 43
wtwjgc
Is it possible one is a POP3 account and the other an IMAP account (both
in same name)?
--
wtwjgc (Joe)
<http://welcometowakefield.org.uk>
Greywolf
> I have tried to find the answer in various fora. All that told me was
> that others have had the same experience, but I was unable to find a
> solution. Perhaps there isn't one :-(
It may be malware, as suggested by another poster. Get a couple of the
free anti-malware programs, and run them. Spybot Search & Destroy and
Malwarebytes Antimalware (MBAM) are both good, and will catch things
that other programs miss. A scan with these will take some time, so have
a cuppa and cookies. ;-) If you are still using the AV program that came
with the computer, get a replacement. I use Vipre, and highly recommend it.
> On a friend's computer, the 'special account' has appeared - she does
> not know why. For a screenshot see
> http://tinypic.com/r/jrb7kl/7
>
> I used Mozbackup to back up her profile, and on my own computer Profile
> Manager to create an extra profile, then Mozbackup to load her data into
> the new profile. I cannot understand why some subscribers here denigrate
> this great utility which makes a job like this so easy, plus one can be
> selective about which elements one wishes to back up and restore.
Mozbackup is excellent if all you need to do is back up the profile.
Which is all you need, 95%+ of the time. But sometimes you need to dig
around inside Thunderbird. You'll need to know how to navigate to the
hidden Application Data folder, and select file(s) to delete or modify.
It's a bonus that you can backup the profile using the same knowledge.
> Now I'm just hoping that someone out there can tell me how to
> remove/combine the 'special account' and clean up the mess. I'll be
> content with a link if that does lead to a readily comprehensible answer.
>
> TB 2.0.0.24 (friend was running 2.0.0.9)
> XP SP3
As for the "special account": I gather from your image that there are
two accounts with the same name. You should be able to get rid of the
bad one by:
Account settings > highlight account > Remove Account.
If that doesn't do it, you'll have to dig around inside Thunderbird. You
will have to examine the profile's contents, figure out which folder
inside /Mail is the errant one, and delete it (1). You should check the
Inbox etc of the errant account first, just in case.
TB2.0.0.4 needs this kind of "help" more than newer versions, so I
recommend updating to 3.1.7 (works with no major issues here on XP-Pro/SP3.)
HTH
Wolf K.
Footnotes, ignore if not needed:
(1) First, shut down Tbird. If you haven't done so, then Settings >
Control Panel > Folder Options > View > check "Show hidden files and
folders" will reveal Documents and Settings .... \Application Data.
Inside \Application Data you will find \Thunderbird...\Mail and
ImapMail. Inside \Mail you should find two folders named
pop.[Domain.Name]and pop.[Domain-1.Name], where [Domain.Name] is a
fairly obvious version of your ISP's domain. Look inside the Inbox
inside each of those, that will tell you which of these folders is the
bad one. Delete it. Look inside ImapMail, too: if the errant account is
there, delete it. If it won't delete, reboot into Windows Safe Mode, and
try again. If that still doesn't work, you'll need a complete uninstall
and reinstall of Tbird.
(2) Complete uninstall and reinstall (3):
First copy all the \Mail Folders into a safe place. This will
preserve the messages. Do not attempt to save the profile or use
mozbackup, you will merely transfer the errant mail into the new Tbird.
Second, download the version of Thunderbird that you want to install.
Third, make sure you have all the e-mail etc information from your
ISP that you need for recreating your mail account(s) within TBbird.
Fourth, get Revo Uninstaller or Your Uninstaller (free versions),
and install them.
Fifth, use the uninstaller program to uninstall Tbird. It will
remove all traces, including registry entries.
Sixth, install Tbird, and recreate the e-mail account(s). Shut down
Tbird. Warning: if you chose 3.1.7, you will have yo be vigilant to make
the correct choice for installing a POP account. 3.1.7 defaults to
creating an IMAP account. (Here is deleted a rant. ;-) )
Seventh, navigate to where you stored the old \Mail folder, open
it, and rename Inbox, etc (eg, Inbox-old). Copy these renamed folders
into the new \Mail\[account] folder. Ignore the associated *.msf files.
Eighth, restart Tbird. You should see the old Inbox etc as
"Inbox-old" etc.
(3) If you've never done so, delete junk files and clean up the registry
before reinstalling. Piriform's CCleaner (free) will clean up 90% of
redundant and junk files, and also has a registry cleaner which works
very well (it's not as aggressive as some, so it's safe). I'd also
recommend a defrag session (which can take a very long time).
Peter Lawson
> On 08/01/2011 1:19 AM, Peter Lawson wrote:
> > > On a friend's computer, the 'special account' has appeared - she
> does
> > > not know why. For a screenshot see
> > > http://tinypic.com/r/jrb7kl/7
> > >
> > > remove/combine the 'special account' and clean up the mess. I'll
> be
> > > content with a link if that does lead to a readily comprehensible
> answer.
> > >
> > > TB 2.0.0.24 (friend was running 2.0.0.9)
> > > XP SP3
>
> As for the "special account": I gather from your image that there are
> two accounts with the same name. You should be able to get rid of the
> bad one by:
>
> Account settings > highlight account > Remove Account.
>
> If that doesn't do it, you'll have to dig around inside Thunderbird.
> You
> will have to examine the profile's contents, figure out which folder
> inside /Mail is the errant one, and delete it (1). You should check
> the
> Inbox etc of the errant account first, just in case.
>
research, I find that this is because it is really Local Folders, which
has somehow become renamed with the same name as the other account. I
named it back to Local Folders, dragged all the mails from the other
account into it, and configured the other account to post everything
into Local Folders. I could have dragged the mails from Local Folders to
the other account, also.
While playing about with all this on my computer, I got into a situation
where I could not return to 'my' profile, getting a message that TB
was already running. No sign of parent.lock. Deleted test profile but
problem persisted. Restored my Mozbackup made of my own profile -
problem resolved :-)
Thanks, Greywolf and Joe for suggestions (not IMAP, Joe).
Greywolf
Interesting. I would advise against using Local Folders for anything. I
don't see any use for it, IMO it's a hangover from the Olden days when
diskpsace wasprecious and forcing all accounts to use one Inbox etc
saved precious sectors. I've set every account (address) as a "top
level" account by
...Account Settings > Copies and Folders > select the account name/address.
> While playing about with all this on my computer, I got into a situation
> where I could not return to 'my' profile, getting a message that TB was
> already running. No sign of parent.lock. Deleted test profile but
> problem persisted. Restored my Mozbackup made of my own profile -
> problem resolved :-)
Good for you. That "already running" AFAIK always means that there are
conflicting registry entries, usually the side effect of the ineffective
Windows uninstall applet. It was very common with Firefox, less so with
TB, seems to be resolved with the latest versions.
> Thanks, Greywolf and Joe for suggestions (not IMAP, Joe).
>
You're welcome
Wolf k.
Ron Hunter
Some people with multiple accounts DO like to have all their mail going
to one place, so local folders is convenient for them. It's not for me,
but everyone has a bit different point of view on just about anything
you could name, and having options is always a good thing, in my opinion.