new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

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maya90
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Joined: May 4th, 2009, 11:42 am

new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by maya90 »

hi... I have a new computer, MacBook Pro..
the most critical thing to me about switching computers is transfering the TB profiles..
I wrote down a plan of how I think it should be done.. make sense?

BEFORE INSTALLING TB:

MAKE SURE YOU'RE OFFLINE!! (turn off AirPort (wifi))
(so emails DON'T GET DOWNLOADED WHEN YOU FIRST OPEN TB
(I think I remember it defaults to start downloading emails upon open -- DO NOT WANT THAT!!!))

******* email has to be downloaded AFTER HAVING TRANSFERRED THE PROFILES FROM OLD COMPUTER!!! *********

my only question is: do I create the accounts (I have four accounts in my TB) BEFORE transferring the profiles or after having transfered the profiles? (I don't know if the accounts will be automatically created upon transfering the profiles, I mean the profles include the account info and configs, right? not sure if accts get created automatially upon transfering profiles..) I think that's the only question I have.. I really need to get this right...

issue might be both my old computer AND my TB are SO OLD, I hope TB profiles from very old version of TB can be successfully transferred to new computer..

thank you very much..
Last edited by DanRaisch on October 1st, 2022, 4:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: (Mac) added to Subject line.
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DanRaisch
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Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles..

Post by DanRaisch »

How are the accounts set up on the old computer, as POP or IMAP? How is the account set up in Thunderbird, as POP or IMAP? Find out using menu path Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings->Server Type at the top right of the dialogue.
maya90
Posts: 225
Joined: May 4th, 2009, 11:42 am

Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles..

Post by maya90 »

DanRaisch wrote:How are the accounts set up on the old computer, as POP or IMAP? How is the account set up in Thunderbird, as POP or IMAP? Find out using menu path Tools->Account Settings->Server Settings->Server Type at the top right of the dialogue.
all accounts are POP... I mean in old computer..
in new one, I haven't even unpacked TB yet.. it's still in Downloads folder, as a .dmg
(question: to unpack it, do I need to move it to Apps folder first, or will it get moved there automatically once I unpack it? I know this is a general question.. but well, hopefully I can get an answer here.. because obviously it applies to any app I download..)

thank you for your response... am very tired.. have been dealing with new comp issues all day.. to be continued tomorrow.. thank you again...
maya90
Posts: 225
Joined: May 4th, 2009, 11:42 am

Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by maya90 »

hmmm.... no answers? I don't dare do anything until I get an answer here..

basically only question I have:
DO I CREATE ACCOUNTS BEFORE OR AFTER TRANSFERRING ACCOUNT PROFILES?

thank you..
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tanstaafl
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Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by tanstaafl »

Neither. A profile contains one or more accounts, your address books etc. You want to migrate your existing profile to the new machine.

A). One way to move your profile is to start Thunderbird on the new machine, and when it automatically runs the new account wizard abort it. It will have created a profiles.ini file that points to a legitimate profile, that has no useful information (because you aborted the new account wizard). In help -> more troubleshooting information click on the about:profiles link. It will list the existing profiles.

You want to copy the contents of your existing profile over the contents of the existing one. Its confusing as it lists both a root and a local directory for the new profile. Copy the contents of your old profile over the contents of the "root" directory. Ignore the "local directory", it has nothing you care about.

When you restart Thunderbird it should automatically find and use the profile you copied. If your old profile was in a xyz.dir directory and there is a xyz.dir subdirectory in the new profile you made a mistake, you only want to copy the contents of the old profile, not the old profile directory. You're trying to copy prefs.js over the existing prefs.js, abook.sqlite over the existing abook.sqlite etc.

B). Another solution would be to use tools -> import to import your old profile onto your new machine. That would require you to either mount a file share to access the old profile, copy it to a USB drive, or copy it to somewhere on your new machine before importing it.

The potential problem with that is the "dedicated profile per installation" feature. If you install Thunderbird in the exact same location as you did on the other machine that shouldn't be an issue. However tools -> import of a profile is a new feature added in 102, that hasn't had much testing. Its very promising but a little risky as we haven't learned the hard way yet what assumptions they made.

My suggestion is that you backup your existing profile, export all of your address books as .ldif or .csv files, and then try method A. Its a little more complicated but more reliable. If that fails then delete the existing profiles.ini file for Thunderbird on your new machine and try the second method.

Thunderbird already transitioned from *.mab files to *.sqlite files for the address books. Version 102 will probably ignore any *.mab address books as that transition wasn't recent. You can import them (as .csv or .ldap files) using tools -> import -> address books.

I'm assuming you did not modify the local directory setting for any of your accounts in your old profile to store the accounts data outside of your profile. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, then you probably didn't do that (which makes things easier as all of your data is either on the server or in the profile).
maya90
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Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by maya90 »

oh brother.. I still haven't done this..

this long response is actually a bit complicated..
I HAVE done this before, when purchased my previous MBP 12 years ago..

the only thing I don't remember is whether or not to create accounts before or after transferring the profiles..

thank you..


EDIT, 12/7:
I take this back.. I understand it a lot better now.. def. going with option A
the weird thing is, even though I have four accounts in my old TB, profile.ini doesn't list any of them.. it just has one profile in there, and it's just default stuff.. weird..

what I don't know is what you mean by "local" path.. actually, I do know what that means, but here, the path to the profile in the TB config dialog is listed as an absolute path..
in profile.ini it just lists "path", but not a local path...

ok.. thank you very much for your help...
Last edited by maya90 on December 7th, 2022, 1:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
maya90
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Joined: May 4th, 2009, 11:42 am

Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by maya90 »

ok, just installed TB, set up one account... according to the settings, profile is here..
/Users/<myName>/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/9u7m7qyg.default-release/Mail/pop.googlemail.com

only problem is, I can find no dir "Library" under Users/<myName>/...

?????

(this is on a Mac, Monterrey 12.6..)

thank you..

(PS: there is a Library dir under Macintosh HD, but I see no dir Thunderbird in there..)

I also searched for "9u7m7qyg.default-release" in entire computer, not found...
also searched for "Thunderbird", not found.....
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tanstaafl
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Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by tanstaafl »

According to http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_folde ... d#Mac_OS_X the default profile location is ~/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/<Profile name>/ which agrees with what you are saying. But perhaps Library is a hidden folder. See https://support.native-instruments.com/ ... ary-macOS-
maya90
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Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by maya90 »

gosh, I hate this hidden folders thing..

ok, I guess first I have to find out if
/Users/<myName>/Library/ is a hidden folder.. oh brother..

thank you for your response..
maya90
Posts: 225
Joined: May 4th, 2009, 11:42 am

Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by maya90 »

ok, it is indeed a hidden folder (man, I hate that.. I need to find way to change this, so that BY DEFAULT is shows all files.. this is ok for folks who are not computer-savvy, otherwise there's no reason for it.. I also find it incredible that you can't find hidden folders even if you search for them.. oh well..)

ok, so what do I do now:

paths:

old:
/Users/<ME>/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/xzx3dmis.default/Mail/pop.gmail.com/

new:
/Users/<ME>/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/9u7m7qyg.default-release/Mail/pop.googlemail.com/

so I just copy this folder
/Users/<ME>/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/xzx3dmis.default/
from old computer

to

/Users/<ME>/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/
in new computer, and override the one that's there?

man, I'm scared.. as mentioned earlier, I did this 12 years ago, on my previous MBP, had no problem.. but it's been a while..

ALSO:

I have lots of subfolders in my TB, that I created myself (under main account, at same level/location as INBOX, DRAFTS, SENT, etc.) and have lots of emails there..
I haven't been able to find the profiles for those subfolders..

**** edit: this question is moot, of course.. please disregard.. of course those folders are all under the account..


ok, that's it for now.. eagerly awaiting a response... and thank you very much for your help..
Last edited by maya90 on December 7th, 2022, 8:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tanstaafl
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Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by tanstaafl »

You should copy the contents of /Users/<ME>/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/xzx3dmis.default/ over whatever profile you have in the new PC.

The difference is that if you just copy the old profile to the Profiles directory it will be ignored (as its not listed as a known profile), if you copy its contents to an existing known profile (replacing its existing files) Thunderbird will display the contents. It will do that because all that it cares about is that it understands the format of the profile, and that the profile is listed by profiles.ini.
maya90
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Joined: May 4th, 2009, 11:42 am

Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by maya90 »

ok, I see what you mean..
now I already created an email account in the new TB..
so what you mean is copy THE CONTENTS OF
/Users/<ME>/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/xzx3dmis.default/
in old computer, to
/Users/<ME>/Library/Thunderbird/Profiles/9u7m7qyg.default-release/
(the profile for the acct I created in new TB)

yes?

ok... if you answer just YES, I will take the plunge....

(it's silly to be so nervous, though, what a jerk.... after all I have all the profiles in old computer.. and can always start over with TB in new computer...)
maya90
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Joined: May 4th, 2009, 11:42 am

Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by maya90 »

ok.. it worked... KINDA...

1) can only see email headers, no content in main body of emails
(in old computer I was able to see all email content, even if I was offline)
when I go to get emails, it stays in stuck on "Host contacted, sending login information" for a long time.. then nothing happens..
(and yes, I do have correct password, of course..)
every time I try I have to type password again, and always turn on "use pswd manager to remember this password", but just looked in saved passwords, they're not there.. I don't like this.. :-(

2) the profile I transferred included two old accounts I had deleted years ago (???)
one of them a usenet account.. lol..
I can't find how to remove accounts.. I looked it up, but I don't see a "remove account" button anywhere...

3) Local Folders stuff is ON TOP, not at the bottom, after all accounts, like I had it in old one..
can Local Folders "account" be moved to the bottom?

thank you..

PS: wanted to include screenshot of empty SAVED PASSWORDS window, but can't find where to attach files.. ???
Last edited by maya90 on December 9th, 2022, 10:09 am, edited 3 times in total.
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tanstaafl
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Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by tanstaafl »

Sorry, didn't mean to ignore you but I'm been distracted.
maya90
Posts: 225
Joined: May 4th, 2009, 11:42 am

Re: new computer.. q re transferring TB profiles.. (Mac)

Post by maya90 »

ok.. I managed to remove accts...

why is "set as default" disabled for all accounts?

another weird thing, the profile (the contents thereof) that I transferred was only for my main email account.. but it brought in another, minor email act, that in my old computer is in a different profile altogether.. (but it didn't transfer the emails.. weird.. these other accounts are not important and I can always create those anew, but anyway, strange..)

weird...

ok.. thank you...
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