Migrating Moz TBird from XP to Vista, How?

Hi folks.
Board newbie and seasoned Vista antagonist - OK, been running Vista one day, but it feels like years...

I have everything working that I needed to get working, EXCEPT my email.
I used Mozilla Thunderbird under XP with never a fault, but I need to transfer my emails and setup to Vista.
I've installed ThunderBird on Vista so I know it works....
I've tried copying the directory from program files; the directory from application data, but Vista messes with the locations of the original files and now I'm stuck.

Just how do I get thouasands of emails in a dozen email accounts into Vista without putting my foot through the monitor in frustration? I thought backing up Outlook was bad, but this...? ERK...!!!

Any help gratefully received.
TIA
Susi

 

Welcome to the board SusiBiker!

I don't use Thunderbird but do have it installed so I had a look at it. Have you tried using tools >import in Thunderbird.

I'm not quite sure just what your problem is. I take it you're trying to copy the folder that contains the emails from the XP setup to the Vista setup but don't know where to put them in Vista. Is this correct?

 

Hi Zander, thanks for the reply.

You are correct in what you say about my trying to transfer the files from XP to Vista.

It's not as easy as importing from say OE to TBird using the import option in the menu.
Putting it in other words- I am trying to get all my emails and settings off a PC running XP onto one running Vista.
To move between XP machines, normally, you copy the installed Program Files > Mozilla Thunderbird from one machine to another, and you copy the "Profile" directory from one machine to another placing the profile directory in the same place on the new machine. Problem solved.
Vista however messes with the locations of these folders so they are not in the same location as to that on XP so this migration fails.
I'm trying to find if there is a way around this daft situation.

Regards and thanks,
Susi

 

Well, I'm not sure about this. I would think that if you start Thunderbird in Vista, it would create the profiles folder where Vista wanted it to be. So, if you've already ran Thunderbird in Vista, maybe you could just use the search function and try to find it that way? My guess is that it would have the same name as the folder in XP.

I think what I'll do is move this to the Netscape and Mozilla forum. I don't know how often Ramona looks at this forum and she'll be more apt to see it there. Don't know if she's familiar with Vista or not but she may know the answer to your question anyway. There's also a chance that somebody else that's running Thunderbird on Vista will see this there. I'll keep an eye on this and make sure you get some help one way or another.

 

I agree with the first paragraph. I don't have Vista, and hope that I don't have to put up with more changes, but I will look into this. I know that some people have Vista, and its profiles should be detectable. Can they be hidden even more thatn in XP? No answer, but any hint from it? . Also, from PC World

 

SusiBiker,

If you have installed Thunderbird on the Vista PC, rename the "Thunderbird" folder to "XThunderbird ". To get to the Thunderbird folder:

Start > Run
Then enter: %AppData%\Thunderbird


Next: copy the Thunderbird folder on the XP PC to backup media (CD/DVD/Zip Disk) etc. If you burn to CD, first zip the folder with WinZip, or whatever zip utility you use.

Now copy the XP PC Thunderbird folder to the Applications Data folder. Open Thunderbird, and all your Mail should be intact.

Don't copy anything from the Program Files.

For the existing Mail in the Thunderbird Mail Account(s):
Rename the files with NO MSF extensions, e.g.,
Inbox2, Drafts2, Sent2, etc.
Copy the renamed files to the Thunderbird | Mail | Mail Account folder, which you copied from the XP machine.
Ensure that Thunderbird is closed before editing.