(Resolved) A damaged Thunderbird

[PETER A]

Dear Thunderbird lovers,

Having returned from the USA where I had to attend a funeral, I was greeted by my colleague to whom I had confided my HP-Mini who ashamedly told me that he had encountered (or created) some problems with the HP Mini and had to format drive C! Oi vey!
He downloaded several programs that had gone with the wind in the hope of not disappointing me too much. One of those programs was my long-used Thunderbird, with its add-ons and hierarchical user accounts along with a huge catalog of Local Accounts for storing my email correspondence. Well intentioned, but desperately inadequate for catching up on my correspondence.

I am now faced with the following situation:
1) a brand new Thunderbird program (Version 17.0.8) to which he added two user accounts: a) Administrator and b) my personal (email removed) account.
2) a slightly outdated Thunderbird profile (e.g. flsxb5cl.default) which was fortunately backed up on an external drive some time ago. Eventually, I know how I can update that particular profile's contents.
3) The new Thunderbird program's Administrator account has its own profile (e.g. lxs29oco.default) which has no accounts at all, but proposes to create one. Its Local Folders has nothing but empty Trash and Outbox icons.
4) The new Thunderbird program's Personal account similarly has its own profile (e.g. vlfaudtf.default) and was used to download to its Inbox approximately 270 emails from Gmail. Its Local Folders has nothing but empty Trash and Outbox icons too.

That’s what I have to work with at this time and my question(s) are

1) How can I make the backed-up profile (flsxb5cl.default) the basic building block for restoring my Thunderbird program to the state it was before I went to the funeral?
2) How can I move my personal account’s Inbox and its contents from the vlfaudtf.default into the basic flsxb5cl.default profile?
3) How do I delete the Administrator’s account completely as it serves no purpose that I can see?
4) What should the new profiles.ini file look like to complete the reconstruction of my beloved Thunderbird?

Would appreciate your detailed assistance in this matter.

Peter in Thailand

[edit]email removed. No email support is available here but heaps of hungry harvesting robots. LIMPET235 (Moderator)[/edit]

[tanstaafl]

See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Importing_folders and http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_addres ... n_profiles for how to move folders (mail) and address books between profiles. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_p ... hunderbird for how to tell Thunderbird to use a profile (such as your backed up profile) that it doesn't know about. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_Manager for how to use the profile manager to safely delete a profile once you've moved whatever you want from it.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Thunderbird program's Administrator account " as Thunderbird doesn't require one. You can use tools -> account settings -> account actions -> remove account to delete a selected account within a profile.

Thunderbird 17.0.8 is pretty old. The latest version is 52.6.0 but no longer supports XP SP3. See https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/ge ... s-xp-vista for how to get the last version that will work on your PC.

[PETER A]

Referring to "Administrator Account" was something my colleague did to the WIN XP OS. In the new OS he dowloaded and installed there appeared an "Administrator" account and a "Personal" account. In each of those two Windows accounts, there was the same version of the old Thunderbird he installed i.e. 17.0.8

For starters, I have updated that old version 17.0.8 to 38.6 to 45.8 to 52.6 and will now go to your many references you've provided. It surely is a good start. Many thanks for getting moving along.

[tanstaafl]

I re-read https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbi ... uirements/ . My mistake, "Thunderbird 52 is the last release to support Windows XP".

Let me know if you have problems merging the profiles.

[PalChiangsaen]

Please pardon my lapse of communication. I've been hospitalized for a
while and have just been allowed to return home. Having updated my
Thunderbird, before entering the hospital, to version 52.6, I decided to
check its profile located at C:\Documments and Settings\Peter\
Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\vfaud1f.default.

That profile, which I'll identify as #1, had the following folders:
calendar-data
+crashes
datareporting
+extensions
+gmp
+Mail
Local Folderss
Trash
Trash.msf
Unsent Messages
Unsent Messages.msf
pop.mail.com
Drafts
Drafts.msf
Inbox
Inbox.msf
msgFilterRules (Video CD Movie)
popstate (Video CD Movie)
Sent
Sent.msf
Trash
Trash.msf
minidumps
TestPilotExperimentFiles
webapps

and the following properties:
Size 77.7 MB
Size on disk 78.0 MB
Contains 153 files, 20 folders

But a Windows search for the file "vfaud1f.default" also located a second copy
at C:\Documments and Settings\Peter\Local Settings\Application Data\Thunderbird\
Profiles\vfaud1f.default. But, lo and behold, this second profile, which I'll
identify as #2, had a different set of folders, i.e.:
+Cache
+cache2
safebrowsing
startupCache
_CACHE_CLEAN_File

and the following properties:
Size 60.1 MB
Size on disk 60.7 MB
Contains 273 files, 40 folders

Can you please explain which profile version Thunderbird version 52.6 is really using -- #1 or #2?

Why is there a second instance of the profile "vfaud1f.default" located in
C:\Documments and Settings\Peter\Local Settings\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\vfaud1f.default.
What is its intended purpose?

And finally, I include the descrition of my backed-up Thunderbird Profile, i.e. flsxb5cl.default,
which came from the Thunderbird version that got itself wiped out by my colleague. This particular
profile is more important to me because it contains my email correspondence up to mid-2016 all
properly categorized and filed away. I will refer to it as #3.

This #3 backed-up profile has the following folders:
calendar-data
crashes
extensions
Mail
minidumps
Simple Timer
TestPilotExperimentFiles

N.B. The Mail folder itself is HUGE and has these properties:
Size 1.73 GB
Size on disk 1.73 GB
Contains 600 files, 39 folders

and the complete backed-up profile has these properties:

Size 1.84 GB
Size on disk 1.85 GB
Contains 759 files, 54 folders

Given the size and contents of the backed-up profile (flsxb5cl.default),
I would like to use it as the main and basic profile of the new Thunderbird
download, i.e. version 52.6, instead of the existing profile which exists
in the presently installed Thunderbird version 52.6 in my HP_Mini since it
has 98% of my historical correspondence already categorized and ready to go
and get updated with items from profiles #1 and #2. To use a simile, I guess
that I am talking about doing a 'heart transplant' on the latest Tbird
version (52.6); is such a thing possible?

I welcome your comments on this proposal. If it's possible, how should I
go about making this proposed exchange. Can other folders and files from
profiles #1 and #2 be transferred at a later time as needed to update my
newest Thunderbird to this present day?

Your experience will guide me before I move ahead.


Regards,
Peter in Thailand

[tanstaafl]

"Can you please explain which profile version Thunderbird version 52.6 is really using -- #1 or #2?"

In Thunderbird goto help -> troubleshooting information -> open folder and it will open windows explorer at the current profile. Looking at what directory windows explorer says it is at will answer the question.

If you want to import folders from the other profile you can do that using the ImportExportTools add-on. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Importing_folders (it also describes how to install the add-on). If you have adddress books you want to import see http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_addres ... n_profiles . It's quite common to merge several profiles into one profile. Sometimes you need to use the new account wizard (tools -> account settings -> account actions) to add an account before merging profiles, if the profile that you want to keep doesn't have that account.

See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_p ... hunderbird if you want to either move a profile and/or tell it to use a backup of one.

[PalChiangsaen]

Hello! Tbird is now using the profile vfaud1f.default -- I thought that was quite clear already. It's basically a new profile it created when my colleague installed Tbird during my absence.

[PalChiangsaen]

My intention is to replace #1 with my backed-up #3, i.e flsxb5cl.default PERMANENTLY and then make additions to it from #1 as needed.

[tanstaafl]

So you have two copies of a vfaud1f.default directory (both with the same name) at the same location. Your post had so much info I didn't catch that.

My first reaction would be that either something is wrong with the file system (see https://www.lifewire.com/chkdsk-command-2625838 ) , its due to a virus or its a temporary problem that can be fixed by rebooting. Some unlikely possibilities are that somebody edited a registry key to make files not case-sensitive or that you're using a library or some type of symlink/junction point. "Folders of the same name can appear in a library because they are stored in different actual location but just displayed in one place (library)."

While anything is possible I doubt Thunderbird caused this problem. It might also occur with other directories, and you just haven't noticed it yet.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/win ... b=5&auth=1

https://www.tenforums.com/general-suppo ... older.html

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/ask ... s-folders/

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/ ... 45630.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-27 ... ction.html

[PalChiangsaen]

Yes, there are 2 vlfaudtf.default profiles, but they are not at the same location:
C:\Documments and Settings\Peter\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\vfaud1f.default.
and
C:\Documments and Settings\Peter\[color=#FF(4040]Local Settings[/color]\Application Data\ Thunderbird\Profiles\vfaud1f.default.

And the profile in LOCAL SETTINGS (the second one) is not the same as the one in the normal location for Thunderbird's profiles.

[allande]

A Thunderbird profile made in the default way normally has those two folders. The second one under local settings - is only "temporary files" like safebrowsing and cache - it does not need to be backed up.
https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1174885

It sounds like you want to combine your old backup profile with parts of your current profile with your newer emails. I wonder if a different method might work instead.
Many people - if there email server provides generous storage - leave emails on the server, instead of having them automatically delete when they are downloaded to a computer. If you have always done this, your emails may all still be on the server. If this is not the case, do NOT follow the following instructions.
If it is, you could:
1. Close Thunderbird
2. Copy your backup profile to the C drive. C:\Documents and Settings\Peter\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\flsxb5cl.default
Follow the above instructional link: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_p ... hunderbird The part about editing profiles.ini to point to your backup profile.

Then, when you run Thunderbird with the backup profile, it should get all the new emails again if they had always been left on the server.

If your XP computer now has an administrator account and a user account, do not attempt to delete the administrator account without first changing your user account to be an administrator type account. It is safer to leave things as is.

[PalChiangsaen]

Hello allande!

You seem to have caught the gist of what I am hoping to accomplish. That is, make my backed-up profile (flsxb5cl.default) the permanent core for the latest version of Tbird now on my laptop, i.e. 52.6; for the simple reason that the backed-up profile will have the bulk of my earlier emails (both sent and received) all properly kept and filtered into the categorized "Local Folders" like a filing cabinet.

Regarding your above "Follow the above instructional link: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_p ... hunderbird The part about editing profiles.ini to point to your backup profile.", do I understand correctly that the profiles.ini should state somewhere that "Path=Profiles/flsxb5cl.default" as noted in your #2 above?

There is light at the end of the tunnel thanks to the good folks like you...

[allande]

Yes, that's right - after copying the backed-up folder into place, change profiles.ini to point to flsxb5cl.default. When run it should then start using that profile. If it does not work for some reason, there are some debugging steps listed at the same link http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_p ... hunderbird

[PalChiangsaen]

Dear Friends who have responded. Thanks for your input which has allowed me to resolve my original problem. My Thunderbird is now upgraded and working well. I appreciate your inputs very much. I'm also sorry for this late reply as I have been concerned with a number of other matters which have now been taken care of.

We can consider the issue of "A damaged Thunderbird" as solved/closed.

Regards,
PAL in Chiangsaen