how do i import mail from a previous installation of windows

avacado · Post by **avacado** » January 19th, 2004, 12:02 pm

Hello...

I recently re-installed win2k and set everything up again. before wiping the disk to install i backed up my "application data" folder to another drive. now how do i get that mail back in my new install? also this time i am not the same user name as i was on the previous install.. does this matter?

to complicate things, i have also already re-set up one of my accounts and received some mail between reinstaling win2k and getting around to trying to import the old mail. can i integrate this too, or is it one or the other?

thank you for your help

Dunderklumpen · Post by **Dunderklumpen** » January 19th, 2004, 12:05 pm

We, basically you just copy the files and the mail/news folder back to you new profile.

avacado · Post by **avacado** » January 19th, 2004, 12:35 pm

i tried that. the only files i saw were under Thunderbird>Profiles>Defualt in some weird named folder. I copied them but it still asks me to set up a new account when i start.

avacado · Post by **avacado** » January 19th, 2004, 5:03 pm

is there something i'm missing? it's just not working any way i try it.. which files contain the actual mail and where are they SUPPOSED to go (in case i've screwed something up royally)

please help!

R4F · Post by **R4F** » January 19th, 2004, 5:08 pm

You have a .slt folder. That's the profile folder. The mail subfolder contains your e-mails and most settings. That's the important one. In the .slt folder itself is a file called prefs.js .
Open the one in your new profile. Make sure the random characters that make up the .slt file <b>name</b> are the same as the one in your new profile.

avacado · Post by **avacado** » January 20th, 2004, 11:17 am

i must be really stupid or something (a possibility) because i can't make this work, and now i've kinda screwed it up.

so let's start at the beginning.

say i start thunderbird for the first time as a new user, and create a profile.. do i just copy all the files in under the profile name folder in profiles? what is that weird dir with the random name? does it have to be the NEW name or the old name?

i have tried just copying it in but it is NOT seeing my old mail, or at least acting like it. i have several mail servers set up under my old profile.

so far this really sucks.. someone mailed me and i wasn't able to reply, now i've screwed it up and i can't mail them back and i don't know if they will bother to mail again. id on't even remember their address because i only got to see it once. i really need to make this work and it is not as simple as i thought it would be.

i am sorry if i am trying your patience but please try to explain again in terms that a doofus could understand

R4F · Post by **R4F** » January 20th, 2004, 2:36 pm

You say you have a newly formatted machine. Delete all trace of Tb on this drive. Do not delete your old profile on the backup partition. Extract the zip file again. Go to a comand prompt. Type 'thunderbird.exe -p' [sans quotes].
The profile manager will come up. Set a name and location for your profile. Mine is in d:\ so I can get to it easily.
Quit Tb.

In your new profile location (xxxxxxxx.slt) is a sub directory called mail. Overwrite it with your backup.
In the xxxxxxxx.slt dir is a file called prefs.js. Overwirte it with the one from your backup. Edit it to make sure the xxxxxxxx are the same as the ones in your new profile name.
Start Tb. Get your mail.

avacado · Post by **avacado** » January 20th, 2004, 4:33 pm

thanks!

igor222 · Post by **igor222** » February 15th, 2004, 2:59 pm

Hello,

I've read all the threads about it but it's too late, I only did a backup of the /Mail directory instead of the entire profile. I thought it was enough but it doesn't work. How do i get that mail back anyway?
I really suck, I didn't know http://backup.jasnapaka.com/ when I did the backup...

I'm running win2k with Thunderbird 0.5

R4F · Post by **R4F** » February 15th, 2004, 3:03 pm

igor222 wrote:Hello,

I've read all the threads about it but it's too late, I only did a backup of the /Mail directory instead of the entire profile. I thought it was enough but it doesn't work. How do i get that mail back anyway?
I really suck, I didn't know http://backup.jasnapaka.com/ when I did the backup...

I'm running win2k with Thunderbird 0.5

No problem.
What I did a while back (you may get different answers here) was re-create all accounts while off line. Just the accounts. If re-creating the accounts goes well, you should have the same sub directories under each mail directory. After checking this, over-write the entire new mail sub directory with your old one.

igor222 · Post by **igor222** » February 15th, 2004, 3:09 pm

Thanks R4F, It works :o))

Red_Dwarf · Post by **Red_Dwarf** » February 15th, 2004, 4:34 pm

Why isn't there an import option for Thunderbird mail? This is silly, In Outlook Express it is easy to backup and restore mail and doesn't require all this messing about.

couldabeen · Post by **couldabeen** » February 15th, 2004, 5:51 pm

Red_Dwarf wrote:Why isn't there an import option for Thunderbird mail? This is silly, In Outlook Express it is easy to backup and restore mail and doesn't require all this messing about.

Tools>Import>Mail should work.

But there isn't an 'export' function.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » February 16th, 2004, 5:23 pm

There is no option to import Thunderbird mail that has been backed up only Outlook/Express, Eudora and Netscape. Your right there is no export option but Outlook express doesn't have that either.