lost old emails and contacts Thunderbird

[harecanada]

Can anyone help me out. I was partitioning one of my hard drives with the help of a friend and we ran into some problems. We handled those but when I opened Thunderbird, it needed to be re setup. I lost my old e-mails and contacts. I went to there help site and it says I didn't lose them they are in a profile somewhere. However, I don't understand how to get them back. Can I get some help on this , please?
harecanada

[Qqmike]

Re: lost old emails and contacts Thunderbird

Konqueror
Home
Your user name (folder)
View > Show Hidden files
.mozilla-thunderbird
XXXXXXXX.default

whee XXXXXXXX is a string of random characters.
THAT is your entire T-Bird Profile folder (including existing emails, sent, drafts, etc., and contacts are in there).

[harecanada]

Re: lost old emails and contacts Thunderbird

Thanks a lot.
How do I get them back into Thunderbird?
harecanada

[Qqmike]

Re: lost old emails and contacts Thunderbird

I can't recall, exactly. (I've actually had some success with drag-and-drop, but, well, that doesn't always work for everyone.)
The formal procedures are here:
http://www.mozilla.org/support/thunderbird/faq
(look under General, about the Profile)
I'm sure someone here is a T-Bird expert or has done it recently.


In the meantime, just hang on to your profile folder!
(=> back up a copy on a flash drive or some such)

[harecanada]

Re: lost old emails and contacts Thunderbird

Good idea on the backup. I'll do that now. Thanks
harecanada

[BobI]

Re: lost old emails and contacts Thunderbird

I'm hardly a T-bird expert, but I have dealt with this problem several times, and found the process for restoring my profiles rather straightforward, once I learned it. The key to doing this is the "profiles.ini" file in the profiles folder. As mentioned above, this is a hidden folder, and you will have to make Konqueror show it. It is a text file and can be viewed with Kate. Just click on it and Kate will open it up and you can read the contents. The last line will be something like this:

Path=lqxs8olv.default

That string of random numbers and letters is the pointer to the "default" folder of the same name that has all your information in it. When I do a back-up, say to a thumb drive, I save the whole "mozilla-thunderbird" folder to the backup medium. Then when restoring the information to a "new" T-bird, I open Konqueror in a split screen mode - "view->split screen->right-left" - and point one side to the storage medium and the other to the "mozilla-thunderbird" folder. First I rename the "new" profiles.ini to profilesbak.ini, so as not to loose it. Then it is a matter of drag and drop from one window to the other. Be sure to move both the "profiles.ini" and the "xxxxxx.default" folder over to the new installation. Then T-bird will act just like it did before you did the backup.
I hope this helps.
Bob I

[Qqmike]

Re: lost old emails and contacts Thunderbird

Nice post, BobI. Thanks for the help here! That's it--now I recall, and that .ini thing is a key, as you say. Saved your post in my "new setup notes folder."

After setting up a new profile, if you have an old Folder you want in your new Profile (and email setup), and if it's not already there, then I've simply dragged it from the old profile to the new profile and it works. (All in: home > .mozill-thunderbird > the profile folder > Mail > Local Folders). But, that's a different issue than what you and he are addressing here.

[BobI]

Re: lost old emails and contacts Thunderbird

BTW, FWIW Firefox saves data the same way T-bird does, and the same actions work to save and restore data.
Bob I