Using TB 38.5 for travel

[BretMan]

Hello,

I use TB on my desktop PC which I recently upgraded the OS to Windows 10 Pro. I have a laptop also running Windows 10 Pro which has TB and Firefox installed as well as an Android v5.1 tablet but both are not set up like my desktop is intentionally, because I wanted to be sure my planned use of them is as streamlined and problem free as possible. That planned use for the laptop and Android tablet is to use when I travel.

The desktop TB includes 11 email accounts and when I travel I want to check all those accounts and use them as I normally would with the desktop by sending and receiving email and attachments. What I don't want to do is create a situation of having all the accumulated TB messages in my laptop and tablet waiting as duplicates in my desktop when I get home, thereby making me have to go though a tedious deletion and organization process in my desktop. I have the following work flow in mind to avoid this situation but I'm not sure about it since I've never done this before:

1- Use MozBackup or KLS Mail Backup to backup just the profile to TB in my desktop.
2- With the laptop and tablet disconnected from the internet, use MozBackup or KLS Mail Backup to transfer the profile of the desktop into the TB in the laptop and tablet. This will create all the email accounts I have in the desktop into the laptop and tablet as well as configure the settings for each account. Then set each email account not to download emails from the ISP.
3- Just before I leave for a trip and the latest emails have been checked in the desktop, set each email not to download email from the ISP.
4- When I've left for the trip, in the laptop and tablet, set each email account to download messages. Collect whatever amount of messages are accumulated in the laptop and tablet during the trip.
5- When I get back from the trip, use Mozbackup or KLS to copy all the messages in the laptop and tablet and transfer them to the desktop. In the laptop and tablet, turn off downloading from the ISP and delete all the messages in them.

I think there is a TB sync feature but as I understand syncs, they match everything on both connections, so everything in my desktop would be transferred to the laptop and tablet and vise-versa. I don't want to do that, I want to keep the laptop and tablet as clean as possible so in case they are ever stolen, the least amount of information in them the better.

Please let me know if the above is the correct way to do this and if not, which is the best way.

Thank you.

[DanRaisch]

How are those 11 accounts set up in Thunderbird on the desktop, as POP or IMAP type accounts? What about on the laptop? If they are IMAP on both systems the laptop would be showing the same data as the desktop because both would be showing what is on the server. No need for syncing anything at all, at least in regard to messages. New contacts added to the address book while traveling or new additions/edits to the user dictionary would have to be account for when you return home.

If you have POP type accounts, you might be better off copying the entire desktop profile to a flash drive and using Thunderbird Portable on that drive. Once back from the trip you could copy the profile data back to the desktop and have all changes to message stores, dictionaries and address books accounted for.

Also see this article -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Synchronizing ... derbird%29

[BretMan]

I never received the email notification you replied ...?

I checked my TB and it says "Server type: POP". I think you have a great idea to use the port TB. The app site states "Mozilla Thunderbird®, Portable Edition is the popular Mozilla Thunderbird email client bundled with a PortableApps.com launcher as a portable app, so you can take your email, address book and account settings with you. You can also add in GPG and Enigmail to encrypt and sign your email. " It seems it could get complicated.

Will the portable TB work without the portableapps platform? How does it work - do I open the app from the drive the thumbdrive is designated to then just run it - then import the profile somehow? Also, to do this, I should turn off to download messages from the server to TB before I leave - corrent? , then when I want to check emails, turn on the download from server via the portable app? Then migrate whatever messages I've collected with the portable app to the home TB?

[DanRaisch]

Will the portable TB work without the portableapps platform?

Yes, it will.

How does it work - do I open the app from the drive the thumbdrive is designated to then just run it - then import the profile somehow?

You just use Explorer to access the thumb drive and launch the .exe for Portable TB.

I should turn off to download messages from the server to TB before I leave - corrent? , then when I want to check emails, turn on the download from server via the portable app? Then migrate whatever messages I've collected with the portable app to the home TB?

No, you don't need to turn anything off. The program won't/can't download any messages if it's not running so just remove the thumb drive when you aren't using TB or skip launching the program.

Then migrate whatever messages I've collected with the portable app to the home TB?

No, the point was to avoid migrating anything. Use the Portable TB both on the road and at home.

[BretMan]

Ok, I think I've got it now. So my ISP email sever downloads my emails only once, so when TB is closed they stay on the server but as soon as I torn TB on, regardless from what device, the emails will download to there. Two remaining things:

1)How do I copy my TB destop profile into the portable TB and
2) Yes I do want to transfer my collected messages during travel into my existing collection in my desktop. How do I do that?
I then will delete the travel messages in the thumbdrive as I don't want to have all my emails in the thumbdrive due to security issues if it gets lost.

[DanRaisch]

1. See the instructions on the Portable Thunderbird page for that -- http://portableapps.com/support/thunder ... al_profile

2. The messages received during your travels would not be stored separately from messages transferred onto the flash drive from the desktop before the start of the trip. All messages would be in the same messages files. You would copy the message files from the flash drive (after your travel) back to the profile on the desktop, replacing the older versions of those files. That would leave both the flash drive and the hard drive with the same data. After confirming that all message data, including that from your recent trip, was accessibnle on the desktop, you could delete the files from the flash drive until your next trip, eliminating any security issues should that drive be lost.

On the other hand, because flash drives are now inexpensive even at 32GB capacities ($12USD or more on Amazon) why not buy a new flash drive exclusively for use with Thunderbird portable and keep that drive with the desktop when not traveling. That would prevent it from being lost between uses and your wouldn't have to delete anything purely for security reasons.

[BretMan]

Thank you. I finally found the time to circle back to this and I read the instructions again but they are still a bit confusing. If they included screenshots they would be much better.

TB Portable is now installed in the thumbdrive and I found my profile in my local drive. I backed up the thumbdrive first then closed both my local and TB portable, then copied everything in the local profile folder to the profile folder in TB portable. I launched TB portable, expecting it to open and look just like my local copy asking for my master password and showing all my sub-accounts, messages, settings, etc. and instead I got a "Mail Account Setup" window with what looks like a default set-up for email accounts. It asks for "Your name:", "Email address:", "Password:" and "Get new account" button on bottom left. I don't want to do anything more until I hear from you first.

I'd post the screenshot of it here but I don't see how. What could be wrong?

[DanRaisch]

It sounds like you didn't paste the profile data to the correct directory on the thumb drive. It should be Data\profile directory.

[BretMan]

I just double checked and that's where it is.

[DanRaisch]

Then perhaps the opposite is the issue, you didn't copy from the right level in the old profile.

[BretMan]

I copied all the files and folders in this path, found by entering "%AppData%" into the Start>Run box: ComputerOwner>AppData>Roaming>Thunderbird>Profiles>"profilename".default>(all files and folders) I just copied the files and folders in the " ".default folder, not the folder itself, as per the instructions.

I tried it again, this time into my laptop's TB, also v38.5.0 but not yet set up. It seems to have worked and it's all there and also asking for my master password. What I did differently was to fist delete the current contents of the profile folder, then paste the preferred profile contents into it. The instructions I read said to just copy into it and whatever needs to be replaced or overwritten I will be prompted about, which I was, which didn't work out.

I tried again with TB portable and at same path: Portableapps>ThunderbirdPortable>App>DefaultData>profile , but I added a folder "new.default", which my other two working versions of TB have such a folder, and pasted all the files and folders into that folder. Ran TB portable and the same fail as before happens.

[DanRaisch]

OK, you have the correct directory copies. It may be time to raise this question on the forum for the Portable version. Perhaps they can identify what's going on here.

[BretMan]

I looked in the board index and didn't see such a forum. Which is it?

Regarding your post of Aug. 03:
"2. The messages received during your travels would not be stored separately from messages transferred onto the flash drive from the desktop before the start of the trip. All messages would be in the same messages files. You would copy the message files from the flash drive (after your travel) back to the profile on the desktop, replacing the older versions of those files. That would leave both the flash drive and the hard drive with the same data. After confirming that all message data, including that from your recent trip, was accessibnle on the desktop, you could delete the files from the flash drive until your next trip, eliminating any security issues should that drive be lost. " - I'd still much prefer to start travel, say with my laptop and/or thumbdrive, without any of my old TB messages in it, then accumulate however many new messages are accumulated during my travels, then copy/move/migrate just those new ones to my home desktop to add to all my existing old messages. Are you saying this can't be done then? If it can, how is it done?

[DanRaisch]

1. Not on the MozillaZine forums but on the Portable Apps forums -- http://portableapps.com/forums/support/ ... d_portable

2. It can be done but it adds a level of complexity to the process. Because the files on the two computers would have the same names, you can't simply copy files from the laptop or flash drive back to the desktop as that would overwrite your previous messages stored on that system. You could import the messages from the laptop or flash drive using this extension -- https://freeshell.de/~kaosmos/mboximport-en.html

Alternatively, you could, before copying things from the travel source to the home system, rename the files to be copied. That is, you could create folders on the desktop system named TravelInbox and TravelSent. On the flash drive or laptop those files would be called Inbox and Sent. Renaming them to the Travel* version and pasting the renamed files into the desktop profile would replace only the empty folder, leaving the desktop Inbox and Sent folders intact. Once in the desktop profile under the Travel* names, you could (in Thunderbird) copy the messages from those files to the standard Inbox and Sent folders of the desktop installation.

[BretMan]

I like that idea I don't completely understand it yet but it doesn't sound too complicated. So, in my desktop I create TravelIn and TravelOut folders for each sub-account, then from the travel device, copy the In and Out box's contents from each of the sub-accounts into the designated empty folders in the desktop. If so, how to I "copy" them over? Will I find the associated folders via Windows Explorer and just copy/paste them - transferred via thumbdrive or SD card or is it done some other way?