backup disaster

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Wayne9999
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Joined: December 31st, 2010, 5:42 pm

backup disaster

Post by Wayne9999 »

Before upgrading a couple days ago I did a backup with mozbackup. After upgrading I accidentally deleted an old pop account. There is no "undo delete" function (why not?!) so I ran a restore with mozbackup. I got back the account I had deleted, but now I am missing my main account, also pop, with numerous essential business emails. The whole account is entirely gone-no inbox, outbox, nothing, zip zilch nada. Is there anything I can do to recover it?
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tanstaafl
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Re: backup disaster

Post by tanstaafl »

Thunderbird doesn't delete the accounts files when you delete it. If you add the account again using the same mail server and username it will automatically reuse the same "local directory" (meaning it will find and use the mail folders and message filters from before you deleted the account). See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Recovering_de ... l_accounts
Wayne9999
Posts: 62
Joined: December 31st, 2010, 5:42 pm

Re: backup disaster

Post by Wayne9999 »

Ok, but the one I deleted came back when I restored it. The one I really REALLY need back wasn't deleted-it disappeared when I did the restore. Will this method restore that one?
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tanstaafl
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Re: backup disaster

Post by tanstaafl »

Use help -> troubleshooting information -> "show folder" to open windows explorer at your profile. Navigate to the ..\Mail directory and see if you have a subdirectory named after the mail server of the account you want to restore. If it has a "inbox." and "inbox.msf" file in that subdirectory you should be able to restore it by adding it again. Otherwise the one you wanted wasn't saved in the Mozbackup *.pcv file you restored.
Wayne9999
Posts: 62
Joined: December 31st, 2010, 5:42 pm

Re: backup disaster

Post by Wayne9999 »

I should mention that my backup was a backup of Tbird 2.0.19 or thereabouts, in case that ancient version stored things a bit differently. I wonder if I uninstalled Tbird and reinstalled the old version if I could restore it? Maybe there is too much difference between these versions after 7 years? Wishful thinking maybe...

Problem #1. I have multiple accounts (5-6 actually) that use the same mail server, although all of the others except the one I want back are set up for IMAP.

With that in mind, I do see a folder with the server name in the profile folder but the inbox.msf file properties show it was modified today, so I'm doubting its the right one.
Wayne9999
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Joined: December 31st, 2010, 5:42 pm

Re: backup disaster

Post by Wayne9999 »

I tried. Didn't work. :( I'll be out back slashing my wrists...
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tanstaafl
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Re: backup disaster

Post by tanstaafl »

Thunderbird 2.0.19 used the same format for the important files (mail, settings, address book) that the current version of Thunderbird uses. That should not be an issue.

The *.pcv file created by Mozbackup is actually just a renamed .zip file. You could rename and unzip it, and then use the ImportExportTools add-on to import the mail folders. They're stored as mbox files - a text file named after the folder with no file extension. "inbox." is the mbox file for the inbox folder (it has the messages), "inbox.msf" its index file (don't need, its just a cache of the folder listing) and "inbox.sbd" a subdirectory used to help organize the mail into a folder hierarchy (don't need). http://kb.mozillazine.org/Importing_folders explains how to install and use that add-on.

See if your email provider will restore a backup from tape of the contents of your mailbox on the POP mail server for you. If they're a free email provider you're probably out of luck but I'd expect a commercial provider to do that. Usually the main issue is whether or not you what you care about is on a recent backup (which they would still have locally).

"Problem #1. I have multiple accounts (5-6 actually) that use the same mail server, although all of the others except the one I want back are set up for IMAP. "

By default, Thunderbird sets the synchronization & storage settings for IMAP accounts to create offline folders that contain a copy of the corresponding remote folder. They're stored as mbox files. If they exist, you can import them into Local Folders (ImportExportTools will not let you import directly to a IMAP account).

Good luck.
Wayne9999
Posts: 62
Joined: December 31st, 2010, 5:42 pm

Re: backup disaster

Post by Wayne9999 »

Yeah I tried but apparently mozbackup didn't back up the most important mailbox I have. It skipped several others too, but those wee imap accounts. I imported everything I could find from a copy of the backup and none of them were the right inbox.

I was looking at the restore options from the server but I doubt they have anything more than a week or two old if its been deleted by pop...
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tanstaafl
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Re: backup disaster

Post by tanstaafl »

In the future I suggest you use the beta version of Mozbackup mentioned in the news section on its web page. Several people have had problems with the normal download of Mozbackup not backing up everything (when told to backup the entire profile), but I have not heard of a similar problem for the beta.
Wayne9999
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Joined: December 31st, 2010, 5:42 pm

Re: backup disaster

Post by Wayne9999 »

I used Mozbackup 1.5.1, which they call the latest stable version
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tanstaafl
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Re: backup disaster

Post by tanstaafl »

That is the one with the bug.
Wayne9999
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Joined: December 31st, 2010, 5:42 pm

Re: backup disaster

Post by Wayne9999 »

Tell me about it. :( I would never have used it if it didn't say "most stable version", but I guess I wrongly interpreted that as "most safe version".
Wayne9999
Posts: 62
Joined: December 31st, 2010, 5:42 pm

Re: backup disaster

Post by Wayne9999 »

tanstaafl wrote:That is the one with the bug.
Coming back to this because a couple of the emails I lost may be helpful in a legal case.

Can you point me toward some other references or examples of this "bug" as you call it, so I can research whether I have any options? I can't find anything on it.
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tanstaafl
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Re: backup disaster

Post by tanstaafl »

You'd have to search the forum for examples of the bug. The bug is that it does not always backup everything that it is supposed to. If you use the default settings it may omit some accounts, but will usually backup everything for any account that it backs up. If you use custom settings its less clear what it will omit.

The *.pcv file is just a renamed .zip file so you can rename it and unzip it with something like 7-zip. Then you can manually copy the files over an existing good profile, or if you just want to restore some missing mail import them using the ImportExportTools add-on. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Importing_folders for how to import mail folders (they're stored as mbox files).
Wayne9999
Posts: 62
Joined: December 31st, 2010, 5:42 pm

Re: backup disaster

Post by Wayne9999 »

Yup, thats the suggestion I already tried 2 years ago, and apparently the mailbox just wasnt backed up. I'm looking for other options. I may need to do some sort of file recovery operation but I've never done that. Even though Mozbackup didn't back up the mailbox it should still be on the disk somewhere unless it was written over.
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