HELP! Deleted important folder - how to pull from laptop?

[love10001212]

Ok - I am getting somewhere! So, apparently the laptops imapmail folders (in this case trash - saved) do NOT actually contain the actual mail files, even though it looks visually fine on my non connected tb there, and the folders and msf files all correspond correctly. There are ONLY msf files there.

I decided to go back to the desktop, and search the entire backup external hard drive for ALL "trash" named folders - and a few different sbd ones came up -- I selected a recent one from the right account, looked inside and that DOES include the actual 'trash' file not just the msf files like the one from the laptop did!

So, went back to the desktop and imported that new trash.sbd folder and a version of the folders popped up - not exactly the correct version, but we are getting there. I copied ONE folder into the connected desktop folder on my imap accout and they all synced correctly to my other devices so thats good!

Is there any way to "force create" a NEW correct trash.sbd folder from the laptop, that will have exactly what I am seeing (which is 100% correct) - and then use that folder instead of one of the old backups I'm using now?

Thanks!!!

[tanstaafl]

"Is there any way to "force create" a NEW correct trash.sbd folder from the laptop, that will have exactly what I am seeing (which is 100% correct) - and then use that folder instead of one of the old backups I'm using now?"

No.

"There are ONLY msf files there. "

If there are only *.msf files that means you don't have any offline folders. Check tools -> account settings -> account_name -> synchronization & storage to see if you were supposed to have some.

[love10001212]

Ahh - only inbox and sent were checked there! That explains it. I was able to combine a few old backups into one current set, and now all is back to normal. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HELP!!!!!!

Now, to make sure this does not happen again - what settings exactly should I have within TB or elsewhere to keep things current and somewhere safe if I should mess some folders up again?

[tanstaafl]

You're welcome.

See http://kb.mozillazine.org/IMAP_backup

I suggest you configure "synchronization & storage" to save every folder as a offline folder, and use a less well known feature of the ImportExportTools add-on to periodically automatically backup your entire profile. Select the add-on in Tools -> Add-ons -> Options, press the Backup Scheduling tab, and then configure what should be backed up. Don't confuse this feature with the more familiar import/export of mail. The main downside is it doesn't compress/zip the backup. On the other hand it works well, is totally automated, and due to its popularity this add-on is likely to be actively maintained as the APIs Thunderbird supports change.