weird netscape profile and mail problem

I ran into this problem while trying to move mail and abook from a W95 rig and netscape communicator 4.75 to a newer rig which has XP and netscape 7.2 installed over 6. I am the only user of this rig and have admin rights.
I'll get to the moving and importing problems after I solve this mystery;
My netscape mail icon target points to:
"C:\programfiles\netscape\netscape6\netscp.exe" -mail
When I click on it, the profile manager opens and shows 2 profiles:
"welderjeffo" and "jeff ".
Selecting "welderjeffo" works, while "jeff" gives me an error, "netscape 7.2 cannot use the profile "jeff" because the directory containing the profile cannot be found.......please choose another profile or create a new one "
Using windows explorer to see profiles in:
"C:\documents+settings\dori\application data\mozilla\profiles"
I find "default "(empty) and "jeff" with subfolder (269xpt74.slt)-and all it's subfolders and other neccesary files.
Where is my "welderjeffo" profile folders and files? I've done a thorough search and find nothing.
From the profile manager, I deleted profile "jeff" and my (269xpt74.slt) folder went bye-bye.
So I created a new "jeff" profile and a new ('number'.slt) file shows up in:
"C:\documents+settings\dori\application data\mozilla\profiles"
After that, netscape mail wouldn't work.....so I pasted a copy of the contents of my (269xpt74.slt) into the new ('number'.slt) folder in explorer, and mail still wouldn't work. (I'm assuming because the copied "prefs.js" file lists the (269xpt74.slt) folder?)
So then I renamed the ('number'.slt) folder to (269xpt74.slt). And now netscape mail works again, but only if I select the profile "welderjeffo ".........profile "jeff" gives me the error message again.
I haven't tried to create a new "welderjeffo" profile and delete the current one, since I can't locate it or figure out why it works and the "jeff" doesn't, even though the folder "jeff" appears under C:\\\\mozilla\profiles.

Any light in this area would be extremely helpful !

 

Welcome to the Forum, Welderjeffo!

Welderjeffo,

First mistake was installing 7.2 over 6. First thing I suggest is to uninstall Netscape 7.2. The 7.2 files are incompatible with the 6.x files, and as you can see, you have already encountered problems. Uninstalling will not have any effect on your Profiles.

Uninstall 7.2 through Add/Remove
Delete the Netscape folder located here:
C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape folder
If you have plugins in your plugins folder, then backup the folder. You can past it back in, after the reinstall.

Delete the GRE folder located here:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\mozilla.org\GRE folder
(This is assuming you have no other Netscape or Mozilla browsers installed.)

Reboot your PC. Very important.

Now install Netscape 7.2.

There's a problem, as it should point to:
C:\Program Files\Netscape\Netscape\Netscp.exe
Not, netscape6...

Do you want to use both Profiles? If so, open the Netscape 7.2 Profile Manager and highlight the "jeff" profile. Click on the Delete Profile tab
A window will open which gives you these options: Don't Delete Files and Delete Files files. Select: Don't Delete Files

In the Profile Manager, click on: Create Profile
Use the profile name you just deleted: jeff
Ensure that it is spelled, and the case is exactly what you just deleted. Hopefully this will work.

Hopefully deleting and recreating the jeff profile will eliminate this problem. One thing, however, and that is, did you see the "default" profile listed in the Profile Manager? It should be there.

Let's see what happens after you uninstall/reinstall and delete and recreate the jeff Profile. If this doesn't fix the problem, then you may have to create a new Profile and copy the jeff data to this Profile. When you deleted the welderjeffo Profile, if you selected: Delete Files, then you can kiss that Profile goodbye! Let's don't go there yet, however.

Post back with your results.

Ramona

 

Ramona, Thanks for the reply.
Several things don't make sense, and maybe I didn't give enough details. I use netscape 7.2 only for mail. Firefox is my browser.(no problems there!)
Prior to 7.2 + FF, I was using IE 6 + netscape6 mail. Then I picked up some spyware that I fought with for about a week with no luck, and everything got messed up, so I formatted the HD and reinstalled everything, along with netscape6...and to get away from IE, I installed FF. A few months later, I downloaded and installed netscape 7.2.
Other than having the profile manager pop up every time I start netscape 7.2 mail, it has been working fine since I installed it last year.
The netscape 7.2 install went smooth, it was all automatic, I only had to click a few boxes, and it was done in about 15 minutes, without the need to set up any accounts, profiles, or re-do any network connection settings. (I'm on a home network, router, cable modem, on-line 24-7)
After the install, I noticed some of the netscape6 file names turned blue, same as some windows files did after I installed SP1,2,+3. I assume this means they are no longer used, but they're there for backup?
I never took notice to this profile problem, as I only check mail once or twice a day and the profile manager popping up wasn't really a bother for me.
Then just last week, I decided to dig out my old compaq W95 rig and attempt to salvage some files from it...I had accidently formatted the slave drive a couple years ago. I used "PC Inspector-File Recovery ", a freeware that works very well, I might add, although the documentation and help is terrible.
The salvage and transfer operation went smooth, and I was able to save about 95%, including old e-mail and address books from netscape 4.75.
Now here's where the fun started; I put the pertinent netscape 4.75 files in a temp folder on the new rig (wXP), opened 7.2 mail, and started the import utility. The abook went smooth, but when I tried for the old messages, I was faced with an empty "select the profile you want to import from" box.
Hmmmm......no profiles! Ok, so I thought maybe netscape just didn't see anything to import in my "welderjeffo" profile folder....so I went looking for it, thinking I would just copy the files into that folder.
Using windows explorer, the only profiles I could find were "default" and "jeff ".....no "welderjeffo" profile. I thought it had to be there somewhere, I've been selecting it for months!
Using the profile manager, 2 listings, "welderjeffo" and "jeff ".....no "default ".
At that point, I used explorer and copied the old mail files into the "jeff\269xpt74.slt" folder, reopened netscape mail and ran the import utility again with the same result. Then I closed netscape, and used explorer to copy the entire "269xpt74.slt" with new + old mail into the "default" folder, which was empty (but I figured I'd give it a try).
Reopened netscape mail and got the same empty selection box. So it's not a matter of netscape not seeing anything to import, it doesn't see any profiles!
So for the time being, I've put the import job on the back burner until I get this profile thing figured out. I haven't done anything after my first post, and I just got home from work, (3 AM)so I won't be doing anything more until later today, but I'm thinking that a clean install of 7.2 will need to be done. I want to try thunderbird, but it doesn't work with the netscape webmail account that I love so much.(I hate bringing e-mail to my HD) Speaking of webmail, another thought just popped into my head......is it possible that the profile "welderjeffo" resides on the webmail server and only a small UN + PW file is stored on my HD?.......But that wouldn't explain the contents of my "prefs.js" file, or would it? "welderjeffo" is mentioned several times, but not one instance of "jeff "....it just doesn't make any sense.

Thanks again for your time.

Jeff O.

 

Also should've mentioned that I only need 1 profile, I don't care which one.
I know that deleting one should resolve the manager popping up every time.

I already deleted the profile "jeff ", and I obviously didn't select "don't delete files" because the files disappeared. (but I had made a backup beforehand) The funny thing is the mail wouldn't work atall after that.

I didn't want to fool around with the other profile "welderjeffo" because it is the only one that works and I don't know what files it's using, or where they are.

 

I am trying a short explanation, as Ramona was very thorough. Are you saying that NS7.2 works with "welderjeffo ", but you don't know where it is located in WinXP? Try this trick from Ramona's website , entering welderjeffo in place of username.
You, probably, ended up importing the NS4.7 setting, but I am, otherwise, totally confused. Let's try to take one thing at a time. I have been getting lost in your long post.

 

I already did that, and I tried a few other variations as well, but the profile manager comes up everytime anyway.
The only way it works properly is if I set the netscape mail icon target to:
"C:\programfiles\netscape\netscape6\netscp.exe" -mail
And it only works if I select "welderjeffo" from the manager.

I'm confused as well, I only moved 3 files from the old computer;
"abook.na2 "(28kb), "inbox "(64.5mb) and "sent "(47.5mb)
Nothing atall changed after I moved the abook and messages from the old computer, but I successfully imported the address book, "Abook.na2" and have full access to it. I guess it was automatically renamed "impab.mab" and is several files down below "Abook.mab" in the "C:\\\profiles\jeff\269xpt74.slt" folder.
I still haven't been able to import the old messages. netscape import manager doesn't see any profiles to import from.
I have 2 files, 'inbox' + 'sent' from the old rig, I renamed them 'oldinbox' + 'oldsent', and copied them to a temp folder and the .slt folder.
The only thing is that I don't have any local mail folders, I never set any up on this computer......maybe I need to?

 

"C:\programfiles\netscape\netscape6\netscp.exe" . This part tells me that you still have NS6 of some kind installed, or, may be, that if you installed NS7.x on top of 6.x, and did not selected a different folder, you may have everything in one place. I have occasion once to install an old version of Netscape, without paying attention of its location, and I ended up with a mess.
The Inbox and Sent file, or, actually, the renamed files should not be placed them somewhere in the .slt folder. You must place them in the Mail|accountname folder. I usually pay little attention to the local mail folders, which normally contain miscellaneous Sent mail (like from newsgroups, or other rogue programs. If you import Outlook Express or Netscape Messenger, i.e.4.x you should find that mail in Local Folders. Are you saying that there are no Local folders in your program? Or on the hard drive? You don't have to set up Local folders. They just happen.
As for the address books, the format "abook.na2" is NS4.x, and they would not do a thing in 7.x, any more than a "bookmark.htm" file copied from NS4.x.
impab.mab is the imported version of abook.na2.
The best way to save and import Address Bookls is by exporting, and saving them as .ldif file, and then importing them. I don't understand the oldinbox+oldsent, etc. Did you combine, somehow the Inbox and Sent files?

 

Westside and Ramona,
OK...here's an update of my progress so far;
I Made a new folder called "welderjeffo" under profiles.
I copied "269xpt74.slt" from "jeff" and pasted it into "welderjeffo ".
I opened the profile manager and deleted both profiles.
(chose "don't delete files ")
I created a new profile called "welderjeffo ".
Closed the manager and clicked my icon.
When the window for "welcome to netscape" opened, I clicked cancel.
Netscape then opened itself into my usual account.
I clicked everything in there to verify it works.
Closed netscape and then clicked the icon again.
Netscape mail then started normally with no profile manager.
All my address books, and mail work fine.
Windows explorer now shows "default "-(empty) and "welderjeffo "-(complete).
I never rebooted through the whole process.

Yes, I do have 7.2 installed over 6, and it is rather messy, but I can deal with that part. The netscape6 folders are mostly filled with 'overlays', and I never need to go there. It was the different profile name and folder name that was confusing me. Also, after I did some reading today, I remembered that netscape 6 is REQUIRED to use netscape webmail.

I have no mail folder on this HD. I now remember deleting my local folders after I installed 7.2. I did because I don't keep mail on my HD's anymore, I use webmail, and anything I want to keep goes to a floppy. (most folks don't know it, but after it's deleted-deleted, it's still on the HD, the snm file just ignores it)
I just wasn't sure where to make the mail folder due to the inconsistency of the profile and folder name, so I thought I'd just put my old files nearby.

I've got that part done, I just transferred the abook file from the old PC on a floppy and imported it with no problem.

No, they are separate files. I renamed them 'old*, so they wouldn't conflict with current files, but it turns out that I don't have any(yet). I still need to import them, so I guess I need to create some local folders, so that I have a mail folder under my profile. I'm going to work on that tonight.....I hope it will go smooth, now that I have the profile issue solved. Hopefully, the import manager will now see a profile to import from.
After this, I want to import the trash file(over 200mb) from the old PC, so I can review everything. I think I figured out to cut it in half, move it and put it back together, but do you know exactly how to manually edit the file, to make the messages readable again? That's what I need to do. I'm not sure if each message will have a small common marker, or a unique line of script.
Any Ideas?

Thankyou for your time,
Jeff O.

 

Jeff,

Netscape, any version, is all that's required to use AOL Webmail, as it is not owned by Netscape, but by AOL... So Netscape 6 isn't required. Uninstalling and reinstalling Netscape, any version, has no effect at all on your Profile, as it is in WINDOWS, or Documents and Settings, depending on your OS.

To read your old Trash file, and wow that's a huge file, you can drop it into your current Mail Account, first renaming it OldTrash. Don't copy the SNM file, only the Trash file with no extension.

Ramona

 

Hmmm. If webmail doesn't require n6, then I should be able to uninstall both versions and install 7.2 only.......which is nice, to clean up the HD.
I wish Thunderbird would work with webmail......I'd ditch netscape.
OK, another update;
I created a new inbox in my local folder, closed netscape and checked in my profile folder and I now have a "mail" folder to put the old files into.
Funny thing, I only made an inbox, but now I have several files in my new mail folder....sent, unsent, trash, etc.
Anyway, I already know about how the snm files work, so I didn't bother copying and moving them.
I noticed 7.2 uses an .msf instead of .snm in 4.75, So I tried a little test;
I sent a message to myself and used notepad to view the file from explorer.
I compared the format to a mail file from the old PC. They're totally different.
File from windows XP and N 7.2 is easy to read in plain text.
File from windows 95 and N 4.75 is very hard to read.
I thought that if I don't import it then 7.2 won't read it, like the import feature converts the file somehow.
But after I dropped the files into the mail folder, I was surprised to see the file names when I opened netscape, and I was able to read everything!
I haven't moved the trash file yet....tomorrow job. I hope it works.
Sorry for such long posts....too many simple problems at once.
Thanks again,
Jeff O.

 

Jeff,

Glad to hear you can read those messages in 7.2, and very glad to hear that you got rid of Netscape 6! Nothing like a clean install!

Post back with any further problems...

Ramona

 

Maybe a tip for others, I don't know.....I never read this anywhere.

I had to make some deleted messages readable again.
Shut down netscape.
Using wordpad, open the "trash" file containing the deleted messages.
In each message, there's a line that reads;
X-MOZILLA-STATUS: 8019
Change the 9 to a 1 in every message, save changes.
Then delete the snm file, and open netscape mail.
The messages are readable again.

Note:
in "inbox" and "sent" files, the number is 8009, just change the 9 to 1.

 

Welderjeffo,

For a little more detail on deleted mail...

regards:captjlddavis

 

Jeez....I wish I had found your article before I spent 3 hours trying to figure it out for myself.
Nice article!
Thankyou.