1. You are viewing our forum as a guest. For full access please Register. WindowsBBS.com is completely free, paid for by advertisers and donations.

Lost Mail In Thunderbird

Discussion in 'Firefox, Thunderbird & SeaMonkey' started by The Old Chief, 2006/12/16.

  1. 2006/12/16
    The Old Chief Lifetime Subscription

    The Old Chief Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2004/03/09
    Messages:
    233
    Likes Received:
    6
    I explained in my last post that I was helping an old high school buddy with his computer and dog gone I done did it again and stumped once more.

    LogMeIn.com is a web site and remote control program which I'm using it to remotely run his computer and I was in the process of installing Thunderbird.

    I never use the default settings for the Profile Locations and therefore prior to installing Thunderbird I had created a path of C:\PROFILES\LEE-2007\MAIL\ and then four different folders for four different mail boxes. (addresses)

    I plugged in the normal incoming/outgoing server and other stuff and was moving along and got to a point that it down loaded several messages from his main mail box and then I remembered I had not yet changed the "local directory" to the new profile folders I had created.

    Well there I was, I now had a 30 new messages in Thunderbird's default folder which I wasn't going to use.

    Not a problem I thought, I will go ahead and make the change to the other folders and then go find the default folder and copy the mail over to the profile folders I created.

    I did take note that the Local Directory said C:\documents and settings\sumin sumin or it may have been C:\program files\mozilla\summ summ -- I wasn't too concerned because I knew where it was kept or thought I did and figured it to be on the hard drive some place - RIGHT!!.

    Well!, I dumped Thunderbird and cranked up Windows Explorer to go find the Thunderbird's default mail folder and low and behold the folders were not to be found.

    I resorted to "search" and searched for every word I thought would be in the default path or mail file names and all to no avail.

    So, I am asking for someone to tell me what happened, Personally I'm thinking, when the mail downloaded, it went into memory but, not on the hard drive itself and I'm guessing but, apparently with Thunderbird the mail is not saved until you unload (dump) Thunderbird from memory and then is saves everything to the H/D.

    Therefore in this case during the installation, when I changed the mail folder location with out first unloading Thunderbird, the mail was lost because the default folder had not yet been created nor the mail saved to the H/D

    Does anyone agree with my assumption or know what happened to the mail.

    Thanks -- Ray
     
  2. 2006/12/16
    Westside

    Westside Inactive Alumni

    Joined:
    2003/03/30
    Messages:
    4,506
    Likes Received:
    14
    It is a long post, and I can see a lot of possible problems, as things were handled. But, before I can start, I should have a confirmation that WinXP is being used. Otherwise, why looking in C:\documents and settings?
    Also new profiles should have all the components, and not just Mail, or I don't understand what:C:\PROFILES\LEE-2007\MAIL\
    It seems that Profiles and Accounts are being mixed up. I have seen plenty of it, and it leads nowhere.
     

  3. to hide this advert.

  4. 2006/12/16
    The Old Chief Lifetime Subscription

    The Old Chief Inactive Thread Starter

    Joined:
    2004/03/09
    Messages:
    233
    Likes Received:
    6
    Westside thanks for the response. I have now figured it out for myself. My friend has Win-XP on his computer and I was aware the normal path to Thunderbird mail is something like:....... C:\Documents and Settings\RAY\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\0xf2xezs.default\Mail\mail.smyth1.net and that was what I went looking for to copy the mail to the new folder and couldn't find it.

    I was so use to using my own computer which I always keep set to show the hidden files that I never gave any thought to the files being hidden.

    Of course when I went looking for the files they were not there and then when I did the search, I searched the whole computer but never did a search for the hidden files.

    It is hard to concerate while talking on the phone explaining to some one what your doing to their computer. But, I expect the real problem had something to do with senility.

    As soon as I got my head on straight and unhide the files they were right there where they were suppose to be.

    For the record, I wasn't mixing profiles and mail accounts but, I do have Netscape, Seamonkey and Thunderbird all use the same profiles and mail accounts and have done so for over a year now with no problems.

    Ramona has advised against doing this and I myself wouldn't recommend it for everybody but, thus far it has caused me no problems.

    In regards to the path of C:\PROFILES\LEE-2007\MAIL\ --- I don't like wading through a whole mess of paths to get to certain files and I have found with the "Local Directory" setting that the mozilla mail can be directed to most any folder desired without problems. Even C:\MAIL would work

    Thanks for your response and I apoligize for not listing the OS I know better then that. (senility struck again) Ray
     
    Last edited: 2006/12/16
  5. 2006/12/16
    Westside

    Westside Inactive Alumni

    Joined:
    2003/03/30
    Messages:
    4,506
    Likes Received:
    14
    Ray,
    your explanation was quite good, and don't blame senility for your issues. I have seen a lot of clueless young people who almost pride themselves of their cluelessness. You are all right on all counts.
    As for the profiles, you can't use them in rotation, so they are different the moment that you started. And, although you can use one profile for both NS and SM, I would do it just to see how long it would take to mess things up. TB creates its own profile, although the data originates from NS and/or SM.
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.