Transferring TB to a new PC

[edmiller]

Hi, what is the best way to transfer a TB setup to a new PC?

[DanRaisch]

See this link for guidance -=- http://kb.mozillazine.org/Transferring_ ... hunderbird
For a concise, less detailed version of the process, see this thread --
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... 5#p7251375

For an alternative approach, see tanstaafl's posts in this thread -- http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic ... #p14209121

[edmiller]

Well, that first link is way over my head.
Wouldn't it be the easiest to Export the three profile folders and Import them into the new PC? Would that even work?

[edmiller]

I tried to export but that does not work. I'm getting an error message the export failed unexpectedly, several times.

[edmiller]

I tried to export but that does not work. I'm getting an error message the export failed unexpectedly, several times.

[DanRaisch]

What menu path are you using to perform that export?

[edmiller]

Tools --> Export

[Gone Postal]

What has worked for me in the past is this process:

1) On the existing system, close Thunderbird then navigate to your profile folder.
2) Copy the contents of that folder (files and sub-folders) to USB stick.
3) Install Thunderbird on the new system.
4) Open Thunderbird and cancel the "Create Account" dialogue that comes up.
5) Close Thunderbird and navigate to the newly created profile folder.
6) Delete the contents of that folder and copy in the files and sub-folders on the USB stick (i.e. the contents of your previous profile folder).
7) Re-start Thunderbird and things should look just like the old system.

YMMV!

[edmiller]

I did try that before and there was an error message that TB could not be loaded, the profile was inaccessible. I'm sure I screwed something up.

[Gone Postal]

What versions are you transferring from and to? If the existing installation has not been updated for a while and the new installation is the latest version there may be a mismatch in the way that Thunderbird handles some of the files like the calendar and address book.

On the long shot that this is what is happening here, you could uninstall the new version, go to https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/, download the installer for the old set-up and install that on the new system. If you can copy over from the old profile and open Thunderbird you can then install the latest version over the top of the installation on the new system and that should update the mis-matched files during the over-writing process.

[edmiller]

Both versions are up-to-date.

[Gone Postal]

Another good idea bites the dust, then

[edmiller]

I can't believe it's such a hassle to transfer TB from one PC to another. Is that poor design or what?

[Gone Postal]

I can't believe it's such a hassle to transfer TB from one PC to another. Is that poor design or what?

If other people manage it successfully how is it a design issue? I've have made the transfer a number of times over the years without any problems whatsoever.

[edmiller]

Good for you! Apparently, it doesn't work for everybody. It should be a lot easier to transfer to another PC.