inter1973

[lvprott]

OK I followed this pattern. I have already Mozbackup from your earlier advice and it peridoically compacts. I have now added to the Addons x-punge which I can used for instant compacting. So, I saved my profile again without compacting, deleted the msf files, restarted Thunderbird, compacted and am still missing all my emails between 26 September and 10 August as well as the folder from my Local Folders which went missing 2 days ago.

Any other suggestions? I can of course, if I have to, live with these losses. What really concerns me is that it seems to be a continuing problem tand I may lose more. I had had 2 experiences of this with Outlook Express before coming to Thunderbird, but it does not seem that I am going to be able to cure the problem.

By the way, this has been a really torrid learning experience. I have to print everything out, since I cannot always keep this screen open while I'm doing other things and sometimes I have to have several goes at a process before I can actually manage to do it. Great education but takes hours. Thanks for your patience.

[DanRaisch]

MozBackup has nothing to do with compacting. It does use ZIP compression when it creates the backup file of your profile but it does NOT compact message files. See this article to better understand compacting -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Thunderbird_: ... ng_Folders

From what folder are these messages (between 26 September and 10 August) missing?
How many messages are currently stored in your Inbox folder in Thunderbird?
If you close Thunderbird and navigate to the profile folder using Windows Explorer, can you find files that have the same name as the folders that are missing from Local Folders?

[lvprott]

This is the third time I have drafted a reply. Twice the response has disappeared before I could send it.
I installed automatic compacting following your earlier advice through Thunderbird-Tools-Options-Advanced-Network and Disk space-Compact folder when it will save over 100 kBs - ok" . However, poring over these websites again I find that if compacting starts and isn't noticed, it could cause loss of data if working on the Inbox. So I would like to customize to ask my permission before compacting. However I cannot find the Config Editor which does not show up in my Tools - Options - Advanced - General" tab.
The messages 26 sep to 10 October were lost from my Inbox.
This morning more of my local folders are missing, including my Drafts folder (disaster!). I am reluctant to archive any more, since that does not seem to prevent these messages disappearing.
I have about 100 messages in my Inbox. I have previously had several hundred before I started substantial archiving.
I do not understand how to navigate to my profile folder. I usually do this through the Windows start programme (Roaming-Thunderbird).

[DanRaisch]

You can find the profile folder at C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>\

The AppData folder is folder is a hidden folder; to show hidden folders, open a Windows Explorer window and choose "Organize → Folder and Search Options → Folder Options → View (tab) → Show hidden files and folders".

[lvprott]

Thanks got into the folder that way. following msf files are there:
List of local files in Profiles/yoo108vO.default/Mail/Local Folders
*Drafts.msf Family history.msf Inbox.msf McAfee Anti-Spam.msf Sent.msf *Test.msf *Trash.msf *Unsent.msf Uqstudents.msf
The 4 folders with asterisks do NOT currently appear in my Local Folders. The others do. There are still other local folders which do not show in either, even though if I try to create a folder under the same name it tells me that such a folder already exists. Two of these folders were INTERCOM and DAAD and I cannot locate them.

I have another 9 local folders which so far have not disappeared.

[DanRaisch]

With Thunderbird closed, delete all of those .msf files. Then restart Thunderbird and see if any folders reappear.

[lvprott]

If I do that, won't I lose the folders which are now in my Local folders but which do not show up in the profile? That would mean that I would lose more folders than I restore (albeit different ones).

[DanRaisch]

No, it won't mean that at all.

First backup your profile -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup but do not compact folders as recommended in that link.
The MSF files do NOT contain your messages. They are a type of index file and will be recreated by Thunderbird as required.

If this procedure provides no improvement, see this link -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Recover_messa ... upt_folder

Also see this URL - http://kb.mozillazine.org/Keep_it_worki ... derbird%29

[lvprott]

I tried this process but did not get back any of the missing messages or folders. I looked at the the other two sources you recommended, but I'm afraid they are too complicated for me to follow. I don't always understand the directions or terminology, and several times the recommended screen does not appear when I follow the instructions.

So, as I cannot monopolise your help while trying to educate myself in nerdspeak, I have resigned myself to these losses.

However, I desperately need to have a "Drafts" file where drafts I am working on are automatically kept when I press "save" until I come back to complete them, as was the case before the folder disappeared from my local folders. I cannot make a new one because I keep getting the message that it already exists. So how can I reconstruct that folder?

[DanRaisch]

What is selected as the target for Drafts under menu path Tools->Account Settings->Copies & Folders->Keep message drafts in...?
How many email accounts are defined in this Thunderbird profile?

[lvprott]

Under Account settings the target is "Keep message drafts in Drafts Folder in local folders". there is only one email account in this Thunderbird profile.

[DanRaisch]

In the left hand pane, is there a separate Inbox for that account or are new messages stored in the Inbox under Local Folders?

[lvprott]

There is no separate Inbox for that account in the left hand pane. New messages come direct into the Inbox under Local Folders

[DanRaisch]

Close Thunderbird and navigate to the profile folder. In the same folder in which you found the file Drafts.msf, is there also a file named Drafts, with no filename extension? If there is, rename that file OldDrafts.
Restart Thunderbird and see if the Drafts folder is visible in the left hand pane under Local Folders.
If not, try to compose a message and save a copy to draft before sending that message. Does Thunderbird create a new Drafts folder at that point?

[lvprott]

I did all this, found the Drafts folder with no extensn, renamed it OldDrafts, restarted Thunderbird but no new drafts folder appeared.

I then created a new message, saved as Draft, but still no new drafts folder in left hand pane.