Resolved Can't find profile

A few days ago I got a new computer that runs Windows 10 and I've been busy getting it set up. I installed SeaMonkey and wanted to copy some of the contents of my old SeaMonkey profile into the SM program I'd just installed in the new computer, and I opened a thread here to learn how to do that. Along the way I tried to connect my printer to the new computer and somehow corrupted the Registry and I ended up having to do a complete Reset. So then I downloaded and installed the latest version.of SM again, and it occurred to me this would be a good time to copy the entire old profile to the new computer. That brings us up to why I now have to open this new thread.

When I looked for the SM profile in the new computer, I couldn't find it. So I uninstalled SM and downloaded it again. Same problem. Must have uninstalled and reinstalled SM half a dozen times. SM will load, I can get on-line and some Bookmarks I'd created earlier will automatically appear, and they work (I'm using it now). But I still can't find the new profile anywhere. I need it so I can transfer my old SM profile into it. One other thing, for some reason the e-mail portion of SM won't let me connect to my ISP now.

I mainly want to know how to get access to my SM profile. There's no appdata folder, no Mozilla folder. Any ideas?

(The signature below shows the details of my old computer, not the new one.)

LATER: i found the source of the e-mail connection failure and fixed it -- a port ID was incorrect. The other problems still remain.

 

Profile migration - SeaMonkey - MozillaZine Knowledge Base
Did you follow this process in the beginning?

 

Hi again. I didn't actually do anything other than study several websites that dealt with different angles of my initial inquiry. Once I had my Registry get corrupted and I wound up having to do a complete Reset, I've been busy struggling with getting my whole system sorted out. Last night I got my e-mail connection established and all my old e-mails came down and my Inbox got rebuilt. When I clicked on Address Book this morning it was empty and I've been rebuilding some of it today so I can contact certain people. So there are components of my SM profile somewhere in this machine but I still can't find it.

 

LATER: i found the profile. But now I can't. I copied down the profile's name and I can remember the path to it was unusual, but everything I try now doesn't work. Originally I had no Users folder and now I do, but what's in it won't get me to anything useful. All other paths I try don't succeed, either.

What I did that briefly did work was to type "appdata" (without the quotes) in the Start search window. That showed something that looked promising and it quickly led to the desired new SM profile. I was distracted by some family e-mails and now when I type "appdata" in the same place, about 15 instances of that term appear but most prove empty and none works as before. Can a SM profile move around on its own? Does its name change whenever SM is used?

All along the way, everything has appeared to be so close to working out successfully, but then something comes up that fouls it up. Really frustrating! I gather that I won't be able to get my SM profile the way it was in my old computer until I can at least find the new one and get it to hold still. I appreciate the help so far. And I'm hoping to get some more.

 

SeaMonkey 2.49.2 Release Notes
SeaMonkey: Profiles
http://kb.mozillazine.org/Move_to_a_new_PC
This last link mentions a profile trick - may help you.

 

When I clicked on your last link I got this:

404 - File or directory not found.
The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

When I copied that link into a Google search, I got the same error message again. The name of the link sounds promising. I haven't tried your other 2 links yet.

EDIT: I was able to open your second link OK, but when I clicked on the link in it about moving a profile, that same error message popped up.

Your first link opens OK and deals with SM v 2.49.2 and how upgrading to it from prior versions may cause issues. The version I've been downloading and installing has been 2.49.3, and they've been fresh installs, not upgrading from an existing version.

 

Sorry BOBBO, it is a dead link and I can't find it again.

 

Well, we both know how that sort of thing feels, don't we?

Since I can't find the SM profile in the new computer anymore, I can't do anything to fix it or change it now. Doesn't that lead to the realistic conclusion that I need to give up trying to work on that profile and should proceed to completely uninstall SM from the new computer and download another copy of SM 2.49.3 and install it? Would that be your recommendation?

How do I make sure I've completely uninstalled SM? The half-dozen or so times I've already attempted to do that recently (through Control Panel's uninstall process), I've discovered some parts of it (my Bookmarks Toolbar, for example) are still there somewhere and they show themselves in the newly installed copy. How do I avoid that -- how do I make sure I wind up with a fresh new installation?

When I download and install a new copy of SM, I expect it will ask me where I want it installed and will display a proposed path. Among those half-dozen or so recent new installations, the offered paths differed, some of them in seemingly strange ways. I'd like to specify at that point where I want SM installed and the path I want for it. My preference is the customary path. It goes something like C:\Users\myname\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\SeaMonkey\Profiles\profilexxx. Can I be assured that's something I can do and it will work? If some elements of that path won't already exist (like my Users folder wasn't present in some of those several recent installations), will my specifying my desired path put them there?

Looking forward to getting past all these surprises.

 

I would Download and Save to (your choice) a fresh SM copy.
I would use CCcleaner or AWD cleaner to uninstall and get rid of any trace of the 'old' SM.
Then the Run of the fresh copy will allow you to choose your path.

 

I did most of that. I used Control Panel to uninstall SM and then manually checked for any remaining traces of it. I didn't use CCleaner because I use Internet Explorer at times to get on-line with my bank, and I suspect my Address Book and Bookmarks and probably other files are shared between the two browsers and e-mail clients. My wife and I share the same e-mail address, and our ISP uses a yahoo.mail configuration. That may explain some of the complications I've been experiencing and why some features reappear when I install a new version of SM. One odd discovery: Sometime during the recent operations my original and complete Address Book got picked up from some invisible place and reappeared. I'd had to cobble up a new one from a few recent e-mails, and it was missing a lot of names, but I worked with it for a few days before the magic reappearance of the complete one. My original Personal Dictionary is still not functioning, nor are my Bookmarks (they're why I got started in this epic).

Anyway, I downloaded a copy of the latest SM again, and I hoped to set up an installation path that would enable me to get at and work with the new profile. When I had the choice of a customary or custom location for SM, I first opted for the usual customary one. I wound up with much the same problem as I'd been having all along. Couldn't find my new profile. Some of the folders I expected to use to lead me to the profile either didn't exist or were empty.

I reconsidered that custom option, but before doing anything about it I did some experimenting. I suspect that much of my trouble stems from Windows 10 being so different from the Windows 7 I'm so accustomed to. They set up different paths to a profile. So I fiddled around with trying to construct a path of my own choosing. I learned the trick to creating a new folder in Windows 10 is to press Ctrl + Shift + N. A New Folder appears, and when I rename it to AppData, I get asked if I want to merge the old folder with this new one. If I say no, the operation disappears. If I say yes, I get an error message about the old one not being found. Failure, in other words. Then I thought that if I couldn't build up a path from that end, I'd build it backwards, starting with the profile. One problem, I can't find the new profile. Failure again.

Somehow in doing all those things, I messed up something that made a lot of existing folders either move or disappear. That made any further efforts impossible, so I wound up doing a Restore back to a July 4 state. I now have SM working, with a complete Address Book but no Bookmarks or Personal Dictionary, and during some operations the Back button doesn't work, and I still can't find my SM profile.

Is "choosing my path" still the solution, and if it is, how do I do it?

 

I found it! Turned out to be pretty simple. I just needed to enable viewing hidden files and folders in Windows Folder Options. Once i did that I was able to drill down through the sequence I was already familiar with, and there it was. Problem solved.