emails disappeared

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mtwine
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Joined: February 6th, 2010, 11:21 am

emails disappeared

Post by mtwine »

When I opened my emails, one download froze the whole screen. I tried escape and contol/alt/del with no success. So I manually turned the computer off, waited a minute and turned it back on. All of the new emails had disappeared. How do I get them back? tx.
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DanRaisch
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Re: emails disappeared

Post by DanRaisch »

How is the account set up in SeaMonkey, as POP or IMAP?
mtwine
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Joined: February 6th, 2010, 11:21 am

Re: emails disappeared

Post by mtwine »

Looking under Server Settings I see POP - is that what you're looking for? tx
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DanRaisch
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Re: emails disappeared

Post by DanRaisch »

Yes, it is.

See if this article is helpful -- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Disappearing_mail
mtwine
Posts: 144
Joined: February 6th, 2010, 11:21 am

Re: emails disappeared

Post by mtwine »

I looked at this earlier but it doesn't seem to address this issue. Is there a way to find emails deleted by mistake. This link seems to address everything but that. tx.
mtwine
Posts: 144
Joined: February 6th, 2010, 11:21 am

Re: emails disappeared

Post by mtwine »

i.e., deleted files that are not in the trash or any other files. tx
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DanRaisch
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Re: emails disappeared

Post by DanRaisch »

Messages are not stored as individual files, one per message. All messages in a given folder are stored in one file that has the name of the folder.

Try to manually recover the message:

* - Turn off Thunderbird and do not compact
* - Locate the file containing the message (same name as the folder in Thunderbird, no extension) in your profile
* - Delete the file with the same name and the extension .msf
* - Open the file without extension with Notepad (or another text editor)
* - Locate the messages that were unintentionally deleted
* - Change the status (X-Mozilla-Status) to all zero
* - Save that file
* - Restart Thunderbird
mtwine
Posts: 144
Joined: February 6th, 2010, 11:21 am

Re: emails disappeared

Post by mtwine »

OK, I understand about half of this so you'll have to describe basics: where do I find my profile? Delete what file with the same name and extension - these emails were in my Inbox - delete that? I use Word - will that work for opening the file and how do I do that? Change the status? Also, I'm using SeaMonkey - does that matter? Sorry to be so ignorant! tx.
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DanRaisch
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Re: emails disappeared

Post by DanRaisch »

Find the Profile Folder
DanRaisch wrote:Locate the file containing the message (same name as the folder in Thunderbird, no extension) in your profile
That would be the file with the same name as the folder from which the messages disappeared, in this case apparently the name would be Inbox. It would have no file name extension.

NO, do NOT use Word. Use Notepad instead. Using Word would cause unwanted HTML code to be added when you finished editing and saved the file.
Look for the lost messages in the file. You will be able to read the text but there will also be what looks something like code but is header data. There will be a line that starts with "X-Mozilla-Status" and has numbers after it. Change those numbers to all zeros. So it might read X-Mozilla-Status: 0080. Change that to X-Mozilla-Status: 0000
mtwine
Posts: 144
Joined: February 6th, 2010, 11:21 am

Re: emails disappeared

Post by mtwine »

Well, I did all of the above and recouped all the emails - except at least one I know was there in the new group, so I'm not sure if others were lost. I guess they're just in cyberspace somewhere. Thanks again for your help.
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DanRaisch
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Re: emails disappeared

Post by DanRaisch »

You're welcome.
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