Lost Emails with automatic Netscape Upgrade

I have read through several other threads and can't seem to find answers applicable to my situation. I turned my computer off prior to a business trip and upon returning yesterday and turning it on, I was prompted by Netscape to re-fill all email settings that had been "disappeared" during this unwanted automatic upgradeto 7.0!

I operate on Windows XP and use Netscape for email only for my comcast email. I did not uninstall earlier Netscape versions (none appears in the add/remove on control panel) as the upgrade was automatic. I have seen reference to a "GRE" folder in earlier posts, but I have no idea what that is. I do not use mozilla on this computer (though maybe I should!). All I need to do is to recover all the old settings and emails/folders from the earlier Netscape email version I had before this incident. I woud also like to know how I can avoid this intrusion into my email in the future.

Thanks!!

 

Welcome to the Forum, reychango!

What version were you using prior to 7.0? If you don't want this to happen again, then change the settings in Edit | Preferences | Advanced | Software Installation. Disable both settings.

Did you go ahead and set up new Mail Accounts? If so, then open Windows Explorer, and navigate to your Mail Account folder. You will probably see that you now have two subfolders in your Mail folder:
1. C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\*.slt\Mail\pop.comcast.net
and
2. C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\*.slt\Mail\pop.comcast-1.net

If this is the case, then in your Mail and Newsgroups Account Settings | Server Settings, scroll down to the "Local directory" field. If the path is exactly like 1. above, then change the path to that of 2. above. All you will have to do is add the -1.

This will point Netscape to the correct location on your HDD for the Mail Account Folder.


Ramona

 

I was using a 6.0 version of Netscape. I did set-up new accounts, one for my wife and one for myself, but not all the sub-folders that we’d created in the old version.

My Mail files appear as follows in Windows Explorer:

mail.comcast-1.net
Coop.sbd (a folder)
Inbox.sbd
mail.comcast-2.net
mail.comcast-3.net
mail.comcast-4.net
mail.comcast-5.net
mail.comcast.net
Inbox.sbd
mail.comcast
mail.comcast

Does this help clarify some specifics of my situation? Thank you!

Also, if I do want latest upgrades, but don't wish to have old settings and e-mails/folders, etc. misplaced, but rather integrated into the new version, how is that done?

 

I does not clear things up, completely.
But, I can tell you what all that list means to me. Having your own abd your wife's account, you should have one mail.comcast.net and also a mail.comcast-1.net for the original setup, and, if you tried to set up both, you should also have -2 and -3. Any -4 and -5 would belong to, either two other accounts, or, if you removed, and then added back the same usernames, or use three usernames.
Inbox.sbd means a subfolder of some of the Inboxes. Coop is a subfolder of an account either imported, or a newly named subset.
I have no idea why there would two folders with no .net.
I had only one occasion of being informed that I had upgraded, while I had not, and one can check in Help|About Netscape for the version which you are using.
This happened to be when I did not follow the proper installation procedure, and, basically, the link to the previous profile or account was broken. If it is the mail account, it should be easy to redirexct the local directory in the server settings, if you know which file is which.
I right click on the Inbox file of the account in question, and open with Wordpad. I will have a good idea from the date and the subject of a few accounts, which account the file refers to, and an old Inbox can bve renamed to, let's say Oldinbox, and copied to a new account.
I am just concerned about the fact that you say that you are using the ancient and insufferable 6.0 (all decimal points count). I would leaved checked to enable software installations, but uncheck the lower set. I don't trust it, and, unless you got 6.0 very recently, you have gone through several upgrades since 6.0, two years ago, I would say.
Please, provide info about how this happened

 

reychango,

Since Version 7.0 did overwrite Version 6.0, then I would remove Netscape, using Add/Remove Programs. If you don't use the Netscape browser for anything except Mail, then I would recommend Thunderbird, which is a standalone Mail Client, based on the Mozilla source code. You can read more about Thunderbird here: http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird/

Since you did set up two new accounts, my guess would be that they are:
mail.comcast-4.net
mail.comcast-5.net

The folders with the SBD extension are subfolders of your mail accounts. I can't tell you which folders contain your Mail. You will need to open each folder for you and your wife and look at the contents, in order to determine which of them contains your Mail. The telling detail will be the size of each file, without the MSF extension. Those are the folders which contain your Mail, i.e., Inbox, Drafts, Templates, Sent, etc.

Once you determine which of the folders actually contain your Mail, then yes, you can copy that Mail to a new install of whichever application you want to use. I will be happy to give you any assistance you need.

Ramona

 

Under Properties in Windows Explorer the creation date for the program is Thursday, April 25, 2002, 1:02:15 PM. I also believe that at that time I also ran into a similar situation of losing files, but a friend helped me recover them (he is no longer available to help me). I did make a mistake in cutting and pasting the info as it appears in the directory and the last two without the dot net do not appear in Explorer! My goof!

I do not know if there is any other place I can look to see if there were other upgrades since the one listed above other than program files under Netscape. Any advice?

When opening the mail.comcast-1.net for instance, there are two folders: Coop.sbd & Inbox.sbd with 30 files including some named sent, sent.msf, templates, templates.msf, trash, trash.msf and others with the same names as my former e-mail folders.

Each one of the -2.net, -3.net, -4.net and -5.net contain: Draft, Inbox, Sent, Templates, etc.

The mail.comcast.net has the Inbox folder and many other files that also are named as former e-mail folders (38 total, including Inbox, Trash and .msf) were.

So, that's what I have been able to discern up until now!

Thanks again!!

 

reychango,

The Mail files without the MSF extension are simple text files, and can be opened in WordPad. Open the Inbox files to determine which contains your current Mail.

Ramona

 

Raychango, or whatever,
don't worry about new updates now. You to correct the present mess, first.
I think that Ramona and I are in pretty good agreement. You most recent accounts are -4 and -5, while -2 and -3 is the ealier pair, and now it is clear that you had an ealier episode, so the one nothing extra and -1 are the original accounts. Don't ask med why, but your Updates checking is done every week or every month, so the date does not tell me much. I don't trust this automatic stuff, and I have it unchecked.
Anyway, just look at the files with no extention, like Inbox or Sent to determine, whichg is which.
Sorry if I have more typos than usual, I got bandaids on two fingers!
Again, I would like to know which version you have, now.
Help|About Netscape

 

Alrighty...

The Netscape version I was asked to set-up yesterday says 7.0 at the top. The Nestscape version in Add/Remove says it is 7.02. When I click change/remove it begins launching set-up and then tells me 7.0 is running and that I will need to close it first. Could following this procedure make a difference??

As I said before, there are no other Netscape versions appearing in the add/remove area.

I do think I am beginning (only slightly!) to understand how this process seems to function!!!!!

Thanks!

 

I was referring to Help|about Netscape, which gives you the version number. If the version there is 7.02, then you have 7.02. That's the only way to be sure.
Do you see the Netscape N in the system taskbar (bottom right)? If so, you must have Quick Launch enabled (from Prefs|Advanced). Quick launch is, definitely more trouble than useful, and should always be disabled when you do any operation.
If everything else is ok, 7.02 is quite adequate.

 

Lost Emails with automatic Netscape Upgrade Reply to Thread

Greetings!

I have determined which folders contain what appears to be the vast majority of all saved e-mails for myself and my wife: mail.comcast.net & mail.comcast-1.net.

How can I import these folders into the 7.02 version I currently have installed?

Thank you!!!

 

reychange,

In Mail & Newsgroups Accounts | Server settings, change the "Local directory" path for your account to either mail.comcast.net or mail.comcast-1.net, whichever folder contains your Mail. Do the same for your wife.

Ask away if you have more questions.

Ramona

 

Lost Emails with automatic Netscape Upgrade Reply to Thread

I have finally integrated the old with the new! It was a bit of a surprise as it did not happen directly after I made the suggested changes and rebooted. However, it all seems to be intact!

Thanks so much for your collective assistance!!

Steven

 

Steven,

Good news indeed to hear that your Mail is not accessible to you! I'm sure Westside will be along shortly to add his comments!

Happy browsing,

Ramona