Migrating Mail from Navigator 4.7x to Thunderbird?

Folks,

My father's recently done some upgrades to his computer, and I've gotten an opportunity to move him away from Netscape Navigator 4.7ish to Firefox and Thunderbird. However, the mail data is on a now-secondary drive and I need to A) get it out of there and B) get it where Thunderbird will detect/import it so that my father doesn't lose his several years' correspondence.

However, I'm completely ignorant of Thunderbird, and I'd like to know what kind of troubles I could run into in this migration process. The bottom line, for my dad, is data integrity. He's not the most computer-literate in the world, and doesn't get involved---despite my best efforts---in the software side of things.

I've got an installation of Navigator 4.79 sitting on the primary drive now if it becomes necessary, but I'd appreciate any advice that y'all can offer. Thanks in advance.

 

Fenris,

To import your Dad's Mail from 4.7x to Thunderbird 1.0:

Open Thunderbird
Click on Tools | Import
Select: "Mail "
Highlight: "Communicator 4.x "
Choose the Profile from which you wish to import the Mail

The Communicator 4.x Mail will be imported into the "Local Folders" folder. It will not overwrite the existing Mail.

Let us know if you have further questions.

Ramona

 

So Far So Good

Ramona:

I got the mail imported---needed a few extra steps---but now I need to figure out how to import his address book from Navigator. How do I do that?

 

The best way to deal with address books, and very important for backups is to Export from the Address Book as a .ldif file. I am using several address books, and each one should be highlighted, and exported with its name. So, If I am dealing with a "friends" address book, I will highlight it, and export it as friends.ldif (.ldif is the format) and stored in any place you like. Then, you can import the address book into your other program. It is really fast.

 

Thanks for the assistance; my dad's mail has been transferred along with the address book, and lo, he likes Thunderbird so far. Hooray.