Lost archive folders. (resolved)

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ledfoot
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Joined: November 6th, 2016, 5:39 pm

Lost archive folders. (resolved)

Post by ledfoot »

i had archive folders, listed 2012/2017. i cant find them any more. i dont think i deleted them, though i did delete old ask leo folders. how can i recover them? if so i can. //Ed ](*,)
Last edited by ledfoot on November 30th, 2017, 9:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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DanRaisch
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Re: lost arceive folders

Post by DanRaisch »

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.
ledfoot
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Joined: November 6th, 2016, 5:39 pm

Re: lost arceive folders

Post by ledfoot »

DanRaisch wrote: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.
its a pop account. TB version 52.2.1. 32 bit, on xp. the folders that disappeared were dated 2012 to 2016 and were a sub folder under archives, under an e-mail name of the person, i correspond with.
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DanRaisch
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Re: lost arceive folders

Post by DanRaisch »

First backup your profile -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_backup
Close Thunderbird and navigate to your Profile Folder ( http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Folder ). Find the files with the extension msf, and the same name as that of the missing folders, such as 2012.msf. Note that there will be sets of two files with the name but only one of these will have the MSF extension. Delete the files with the MSF extension. Restart Thunderbird, compact all folders, and see if things are back to normal. Note that the MSF files do NOT contain your messages. They are, for lack of a better term, an 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
ledfoot
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Re: lost arceive folders

Post by ledfoot »

can i copy my profile, paste it on desktop, rename it, in case when i delete fileswith MSF extention in profile i mess up. then i can switch files. renameing is involved, i know how to do this. i am working with windows xp, but the concept is the same. //Ed
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DanRaisch
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Re: lost arceive folders

Post by DanRaisch »

Yes, you can do that.
ledfoot
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Re: lost arceive folders

Post by ledfoot »

i cant find the archive 2012.msf or the other archive 2014.msf. i might have deleted or lost them when trying to transfer to a different folder outside of Thunderbird. i think i might need a file recovery program..
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DanRaisch
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Re: lost arceive folders

Post by DanRaisch »

Your messages are not in files with the .msf extension. Those are only message summary files and contain only small amounts of message data to improve performance of the message list display and similar elements. The files that contain the full message data have no file name extension, thus "archive 2012" or "archive 2014".
ledfoot
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Re: lost arceive folders

Post by ledfoot »

then they are lost. the only archive folder i have is one i started this year, archive2017. i will look up free file recovery programs. thanks for your input. if you have a recommendation it would be appreciated.
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LIMPET235
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Re: Lost archive folders.

Post by LIMPET235 »

Hi,
I believe that if any great length of time has passed & with any "normal" use of the PC, then recovering some files might be a bit of a stretch.
They have most probably have been over-written by now, but you can try these...
Recuva from Piriform. Free. > http://www.piriform.com/recuva
&, Filesaver. NOT free, but apparently they have it as a, "Special Offer". > http://www.file-saver.com/undelete/

Good luck.
[Ancient Amateur Astronomer.]
Win-10-H/64 bit/500G SSD/16 Gig Ram/450Watt PSU/350WattUPS/Firefox-115.0.2/T-bird-115.3.2./SnagIt-v10.0.1/MWP-7.12.125.

(Always choose the "Custom" Install.)
ledfoot
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Re: Lost archive folders.

Post by ledfoot »

thanks.. i give it a try, and let you know. it will be a stretch an then more.
ledfoot
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Joined: November 6th, 2016, 5:39 pm

Re: Lost archive folders.

Post by ledfoot »

LIMPET235 wrote:Hi,
I believe that if any great length of time has passed & with any "normal" use of the PC, then recovering some files might be a bit of a stretch.
They have most probably have been over-written by now, but you can try these...
Recuva from Piriform. Free. > http://www.piriform.com/recuva
&, Filesaver. NOT free, but apparently they have it as a, "Special Offer". > http://www.file-saver.com/undelete/

Good luck.
Bloody Gremlins; they got nothing better to do since ww2. they hang around me. Anyway,,, i used recuva. it worked. it wanted me to put the results in a different hard drive, so i used a thumb drive. 1st hard drive is C windows. 2nd hard drive is linux. i didnt want to disturb linux. thumb drive F worked out great. i much appreciate the help guys. :wink:
PS the folder it was found in was a zip.folder. i have no ideal how it got there.
ledfoot
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Re: Lost archive folders.

Post by ledfoot »

i dont remember again how to mark this thread solved. sorry.
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DanRaisch
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Re: Lost archive folders.

Post by DanRaisch »

Editing your first post and adding the term "(Resolved)" to the subject would do the trick.
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LIMPET235
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Re: Lost archive folders.

Post by LIMPET235 »

Hi ledfoot,
You mentioned...
Anyway,,, i used recuva. it worked. it wanted me to put the results in a different hard drive, so i used a thumb drive...
That's good, because there's a possibility that restoring to the same drive/directory may corrupt those files. or so I am lead to believe. :)

&, You're welcome for the assist...

Image
[Ancient Amateur Astronomer.]
Win-10-H/64 bit/500G SSD/16 Gig Ram/450Watt PSU/350WattUPS/Firefox-115.0.2/T-bird-115.3.2./SnagIt-v10.0.1/MWP-7.12.125.

(Always choose the "Custom" Install.)
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