Unable to do backup- corrupt files?

[Elmtreedental]

I have had a problem for a few months backing up my Thunderbird profile.

I used to use Syncback to back up the changes to the profile but it started reporting errors. At first it was just a couple of errors, now it finds numerous ones and takes hours to back up or hangs.

I tried a direct Windows copy, and that had to skip files due to errors.
I can still do a full profile backup with Mozbackup, and Thunderbird seems to be working properly for me. I can’t seem to ID any particular bad files.

I have email going back to the mid 90s, so there may be something corrupt in a folder somewhere. Over the years I split large folders, and have repaired the folders fairly recently.

Windows can’t find errors on the disk.

Any suggestion for a tool to find and fix corrupted files or mailboxes?

Thanks in advance.

[DanRaisch]

Doesn't Syncback report the problem files in those error messages? Or doesn't Windows report the problem files that you have to skip when making the direct Windows copy?
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.

[tanstaafl]

Can you give a couple of examples of the errors that Syncback returns? Its not clear whether the problem is with whats it backing up, or due to problems in saving a backup.

[Elmtreedental]

I'm running a Syncback backup right now,with Thunderbird shut down. It's been going for nearly half an hour, and has slowed down as it encounters errors. 188 errors so far, and they all seem to be in one folder.

The structure seems odd to me. I have a folder called Canaden, but it doesn't have many messages in it. There shouldn't be any subfolders there. The .sbd file seems to have a surprising number of entries, including the subfolder DrE.mozmsgs with 21,000 entries, and also seems to be where the errors are coming from.

I do have a different mailbox called DrE which is my main one.

D:\Thunderbird\Thunderbird Data\Profiles\0uq7gi47.default\Mail\Local Folders\Canaden.sbd\DrE.mozmsgs

Any thoughts?

[Elmtreedental]

I aborted after an hour and 480 errors, all in the same folder.

I found how to see the errors:

Here's an example - The file is named
"\0uq7gi47.default\Mail\Local Folders\Canaden.sbd\DrE.mozmsgs\4D346AFA.90700%40sentex.ca.wdseml"

This is the message attached to one of the error files:
"Failed to copy from Source : Safe copy failed. Failed to rename temp file: Cannot move file (82): The directory or file cannot be created"

Is there a way to attach an image to a posting? if so I can copy a page of the errors.

[Elmtreedental]

Now that you have me looking, there seems to be a subfolder in the Canaden folder called DrE with 21,000 or so messages. I think it's an old copy of my main DrE mailbox, and it shouldn't be there.

Think I'm OK to delete it, or is there a chance it somehow will delete the other DrE folder in the main folders?

[LIMPET235]

Hi,
Here is how to post an image here...
> http://kb.mozillazine.org/Posting_a_scr ... _the_forum

[tanstaafl]

A .mozmsgs subdirectory contains *.wdseml files. "Each file is a partial copy (up to 49KB) of a message in the mail folder, stored in a .mozmsgs subdirectory. It is used by Windows Search Integration (requires Vista or a later version of Windows). They're actually renamed .eml files. You can disable this feature by unchecking Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General -> System Integration -> "Allow Windows Search to search messages"."

They are NOT used by Thunderbird to store your mail. Thunderbird (unless you configured maildir support) stores ALL of the messages for each folder in a "mbox". file named after the folder, with no file extension. For example, "inbox." contains all of the messages for a inbox folder.

I suggest you disable that feature, delete the .mozmsgs directories and try again. if you're nervous about deleting those subdirectories see if you can configure SyncBackup to ignore *.wdseml files instead.

[Elmtreedental]

Am I safe to delete all .mozmsgs subdirectories?
I tried getting Syncback to ignore .wdseml files, but it's still stuck on them, so I'd best delete the .mozmsgs folders.

[tanstaafl]

Yes. Just be careful not to delete anything else.

[Elmtreedental]

I played with the syntax of the filters and got Syncback to ignore the .wdseml files now, which is good.

I would still like to delete the files if it's safe to do so.

[tanstaafl]

Yes, it is. How to do it depends upon what you're comfortable with. If you are used to issuing commands in a console window (enter cmd at the windows run box) you could use something like del /S/Q *.wdseml from the top directory of the profile. Help -> troubleshooting information -> open folder will open windows/file explorer there. Otherwise deleting them via windows/file explorer might be a better choice.

C:\Users\Eric>del /?
Deletes one or more files.

DEL [/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q] [/A[[:]attributes]] names
ERASE [/P] [/F] [/S] [/Q] [/A[[:]attributes]] names

names Specifies a list of one or more files or directories.
Wildcards may be used to delete multiple files. If a
directory is specified, all files within the directory
will be deleted.

/P Prompts for confirmation before deleting each file.
/F Force deleting of read-only files.
/S Delete specified files from all subdirectories.
/Q Quiet mode, do not ask if ok to delete on global wildcard
/A Selects files to delete based on attributes
attributes R Read-only files S System files
H Hidden files A Files ready for archiving
I Not content indexed Files L Reparse Points
- Prefix meaning not

If Command Extensions are enabled DEL and ERASE change as follows:

The display semantics of the /S switch are reversed in that it shows
you only the files that are deleted, not the ones it could not find.

[Elmtreedental]

OK, done. Just did a search for *.wdseml, then deleted all 61,000 of them. Encountered all sorts of errors deleting them- had to skip numerous files. No doubt that's where the problem was.

Thanks for helping me solve this. Windows Search indexing is now off.

[tanstaafl]

Great. I suggest you do a scan disk in case the deletion errors were due to problems with your hard disk. See https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001118.htm