Moving profile location

[garyfritz]

I store my profile in a non-standard location (C:\Users\fritz\Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\GaryProfile). I've copied that data directory to a new computer several times over the years. It always takes a while to get it figured out, but it's always worked.

Well it's taking me longer to figure it out this time. I followed the instructions at http://kb.mozillazine.org/Moving_your_p ... hunderbird: I copied the data to the new system, ran "thunderbird -profilemanager", created a new profile and selected my GaryProfile dir. It seems to have connected to my old settings, since the old password works. But it didn't pop me into my usual folders &etc view. Instead, I'm in the "Account Setup" page. It wants me to enter my name and email, and then it'll try to drive my server info.

That's not what I want. I want to point it at my old settings and then it should know everything it knew before. Any guesses what I did wrong??

[tanstaafl]

Many of the KB articles need updating but the wiki is frozen due to the admin disappearing. We have a potential replacement admin but there are issues in how to grant him that power, that time to deal with.

I'm assuming you're using version 78.*. I recommend you do not use 91.* yet, though it is usable. Its still really a pre-release build despite being on the thunderbird.net web page.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... =1&vwsrc=0 (google cache of a KB article on where to find old setup programs) if http://kb.mozillazine.org/Go_back_to_an ... hunderbird times out.

Go to help -> troubleshooting information, click on about:profiles , find your old profile and click the associated "set as default profile" button. Exit and restart TB. If that doesn't solve the problem try adding the command line argument --allow-downgrade to the shortcuts properties in the tab where it specifies the command line to launch Thunderbird.

Another solution would be to delete the profiles.ini file for thunderbird (its usually 2 directories up from the default location for TB profiles) , run Thunderbird , abort the new account wizard that it will automatically run, use help -> troubleshooting information to find where it created a profile (legitimate but useless as it has no account information), write that location down, exit Thunderbird, and copy the contents of your old profile over that profile. i.e. replace prefs.js with prefs.js etc. Don't copy the old directory, just copy its contents. When you start Thunderbird it should use your old profile as it doesn't know nor care that the directory contents changed.

[tanstaafl]

Thunderbird 78 modifies the contents of profiles.ini by expecting each profile entry to have a Lock= statement that has a hash code that points to where Thunderbird is installed. If it can't find the corresponding location (or a Lock= statement) it complains that you're using the wrong version of TB. This new "feature" breaks the old procedure for moving profiles because it wants to tie a profile to a specific version/instance of Thunderbird.

[garyfritz]

Hm. No, I figured I should install the latest-greatest. 91 is what I downloaded. Could that be the cause of my issues? Trying to pick up a 78 profile with 91? Should I uninstall, and install 78.13.0 instead?

[tanstaafl]

You can use a profile created using 78 with 91. You just need to deal with the Lock= hash code somehow. My first post had two different ways to do that.

[garyfritz]

OK, trying 91 ... TB created a default profile at C:\Users\fritz\AppData\{Local,Roaming}\Thunderbird\Profiles\j7e407ea.default. I store my profile at C:\Users\fritz\Stuff\Data\Thunderbird\Profiles, have for many years and several laptops, and I'd like to keep it there.

about:profiles did not find my old profile (only default and and default-release) so I couldn't set it as default that way. I created a new profile and pointed it at my old profile folder, setting it as the default. I restarted TB, and it did not load up my old defaults. Is this because of the mismatching-profile.ini issue you mentioned? Is it now impossible to store my profile somewhere else, and I have to copy my old profile over whatever location TB picked for me?

I added --allow-downgrade to the shortcut -- no change. (shortcut is "C:\Program Files\utils\Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" --allow-downgrade)

about:profiles shows my new profile as the default. But I looked in C:\Users\fritz\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\profiles.ini and it has "default=1" under the "default" profile, NOT my profile. It doesn't have ANY lock= hashes -- closest thing is "Locked=1" on a "[Install59F6A51AD68C5492]" profile that points to my old profile folder ??

Code: Select all

[Profile2]
Name=fritz
IsRelative=0
Path=C:\Users\fritz\Stuff\Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\GaryProfile

[Profile1]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/j7e407ea.default
Default=1

[Profile0]
Name=default-release
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/720jll0x.default-release

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1
Version=2

[Install59F6A51AD68C5492]
Default=C:\Users\fritz\Stuff\Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\GaryProfile
Locked=1

[tanstaafl]

1. Backup your old profile (the one you want to use).

2. Delete the profiles.ini file for Thunderbird

3. Click on about:profiles in help -> more troubleshooting information

4. Create a new profile where you want it using "create new profile" (upper left corner)

5. Set it as your default profile.

6. Exit and restart Thunderbird. See if it used your old profile. It shouldn't delete what was in that directory, it should only modify profiles.ini . If it runs the new account wizard abort it and exit Thunderbird.

7. If it wiped the profile's contents exit Thunderbird, copy the contents of your backup (just the files, not the actual directory) over the existing profile. Start Thunderbird.

[garyfritz]

2. Delete the profiles.ini file for Thunderbird
3. Click on about:profiles in help -> more troubleshooting information

I exited TB and deleted the profiles.ini. Restarting TB creates a new profiles.ini.

4. Create a new profile where you want it using "create new profile" (upper left corner)

Selecting my desired old-profile folder, I assume.

6. Exit and restart Thunderbird. See if it used your old profile.

about:profiles says it's my default, but it didn't use the old values (server configs, etc). It's still prompting with the new-account wizard.

I think I'm pointing at the right folder? It contains prefs.js among many other files & folders.

7. If it wiped the profile's contents exit Thunderbird, copy the contents of your backup (just the files, not the actual directory) over the existing profile. Start Thunderbird.

I don't think it wiped anything. Copying my backup (old profile) over the existing (TB-created) profile might work, and I'll try that if we run out of options. But I'd really rather use my preferred location if it's possible.

[tanstaafl]

"about:profiles says it's my default, but it didn't use the old values (server configs, etc). It's still prompting with the new-account wizard."

That means either there is no profiles.ini or the current profile has no accounts defined. The latter is most likely. Open the prefs.js file in your old profile using Notepad (not a word processor) and see if you see account specific information such as email addresses and mail servers.

[garyfritz]

There was definitely a profiles.ini -- it was created as soon as I restarted TB.

I don't see any email address or servers in prefs.js. But this is the profile I've been using for years!

[tanstaafl]

I think you need to verify that profile is still valid. Try using a -profile "<path>" command line argument with Thunderbird in a console window (aka Command Prompt) to specify the location of the profile. That bypasses profiles.ini. The cmd.exe program creates a console window. The double quotes are needed due to embedded spaces.

i.e. something like "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Thunderbird\thunderbird.exe" -profile "C:\Users\fritz\Stuff\Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\"

https://www.howtogeek.com/235101/10-way ... indows-10/

[garyfritz]

Ugh. No, that didn't work either. I tried both Thunderbird\Profiles and Thunderbird\Profiles\GaryProfile (the dir with prefs.js in it) and neither worked -- it just displays the new-account page.

Gack. I haven't had to do this in several years, and I don't remember the magic process. Which may have changed, I dunno. But I've NEVER had THIS much trouble getting things running again... It may be time to give up, and copy the GaryProfile contents into the folder that TB creates. Bleahhh.

[garyfritz]

@%$@!!! I tried copying GaryProfile\* into the default profile created by TB -- tried copying to both AppData\Local and AppData\Roaming -- and it **STILL** doesn't work.

I think I have tried every option you have suggested, several times. No luck. Should I uninstall TB and try installing 78?

[tanstaafl]

How did it fail when you copied the contents of garyprofile into the new profile created by TB?

Did the prefs.js file contain account information (such as email addresses) after you copied the files?

I don't think it makes a difference whether you are using 78 or 91 in this case.

[garyfritz]

It failed the same way it has failed every time: it displays the new-account page and has no knowledge of the configs or email history in the profile. It's like a fresh install with no awareness of my copied profile, except it DOES require the same master password it required before.

prefs.js has no account info that I can see. It's in C:\users\fritz\Stuff\Data\Thunderbird (and in C:\users\fritz\Stuff\Data\Thunderbird\Profiles ??), not in a profile, so it doesn't get touched when I copy Thunderbird\Profiles\GaryProfile\* somewhere else.

I just tried to reset and try again. I was using my GaryProfile. I exited TB, then I deleted the TB-created profiles so it would re-create them when I ran TB -- I thought that's what it would do, what it had been doing!? But now when I start TB, it does NOT create them. It shows the default and default-release profiles in the about:profiles page, but if I try to launch them, it says "Your Thunderbird profile cannot be loaded. It may be missing or inaccessible."

So now all I have is the old saved Profile, and no profile folders in my actual Thunderbird tree. I can create a profile using the old GaryProfile, but it doesn't work (new-account page, no config or history).