New Account Setup---Why!

Hi All,

After following Microsoft's direction of downloading and installing their User Profile Hive Cleanup file, Thunderbird is now asking me to establish a New Account. All this started by fixing a warning always showing in the Application portion of Event Viewer. After turning off the computer and restarting, then opening Thunderbird, version 2.0.0 the Account Wizard and New Account screen came on. My TB profile, Mail folder, Addresses, etc. are all there in the Thunderbird folder. I can't use them. Must I build a new account and move all the files into It or is there an easier way?

 

Hi derfsch,

Do this, and see if it helps:

Close Thunderbird
Open Windows Explorer and open the Thunderbird folder, located here:
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Thunderbird

Open the profiles.ini file, using Wordpad. It will look similar to this:

Code:

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=[B]derfsch[/B]
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/[B]1a2b3c456.derfsch[/B]
Default=1

Ensure that the profile name is correct in both of the bolded locations. If not, then edit, and then save the file. Now open Thunderbird and see if this helped.

If this wasn't your problem, start TB in "Safe Mode" and ensure that an extension isn't causing the problem.

Let us know if any of the above solved your problem. If not we will do some more troubleshooting.

 

Ramona,

There are two differences in the profile.ini files of your reply and mine. The first is the name, "derfsch" is not there. Instead I have been using a name that I "Created" when the TB account was first established, long before TB version 2.0. The second difference is the inclusion of Default=1 below the "Path=" line.

I had thought about using Profile Manager to create a derfsch profile name making the profile.ini file the same as that of your reply but I wasn't sure if that would solve my problem. That plus the Default=1 line held me back. Any further recommendations? Thank you for your interest.

 

derfsch,

I used "derfsch" as an example, so whatever you named your Profile should be there, i.e., Name=yourprofilename. That also applies to the line:
Path=Profiles/xxxxxxxx.yourprofilename

Close TB
Make a backup copy of the profiles.ini file

Next:
Change the above two lines so that they are identical to your Profile name
Add, as the last line in the file: Default=1
Now open TB and see if this makes a difference.

 

Hi Ramona,

In my previous reply I neglected to tell you that using Safe Mode made no difference. My Thunderbird profile.ini file corresponds exactly with the bold portions of you latest post. And as I said before, all the information needed for the mail system is in the Thunderbird folder. The annoyance starts when I try to open TB, that's when the Account Wizard screen appears asking for a New Account Setup.

So far, based on your suggestions it appears that the profile.ini is OK, but something is preventing the mail system from opening. More help is needed and will be appreciated.

 

O.K., thanks for the info. Below are several more solutions to try, the last one being to create a new Profile:

1. Check your profile folder and see if a duplicate of the Mail Account folder exists. Example: for a single POP3 account in the "Mail" folder, if the folder for the account is called mail.myISP.com, is there also a folder called mail.myISP-1.com. If so, see which folder is actually holding your mail. You can then either restart Thunderbird and point it to the correct folder, by editing the path in the "Local folder" setting: Tools | Account Settings | Server Settings. If successful, you can go back to your profile folder and manually delete or rename the unused folder.

NOTE: do not edit any files/folders before making a backup copy of your entire Profiles folder.

2. Delete all MSF files in the Mail Account folder

3. You might be able to launch Thunderbird with your old profile by using the Profile Manager.

4. If this doesn't work, exit Thunderbird and browse to your profile folder. You might be able to get Thunderbird to "find" your profile again by opening the profiles.ini file with a text editor such as Notepad and correcting the line for "Path" if it seems to be incorrect.
(Already corrected to add Default=1 as the last line in the file.)

5. It's highly likely that your prefs.js file is corrupt. If you have a recent backup of your Profiles folder, then do this:

Close Thunderbird
Open Windows Explorer
In the xxxxxxxx.profilename folder, rename the existing prefs.js file to Xprefs.js.
Now copy the backup of the prefs.js to the folder, then open TB
Did this work? If not then:

6. If your profile exists and seems to be intact but cannot be "found" by the Profile Manager, and if editing "profiles.ini" as mentioned above did not work, exit Thunderbird and launch the Profile Manager. Make a new profile and migrate everything over from your old profile folder to the new one.

66093062.s - Passwords
abook.mab - Address Book
abook-1.mab - additional user created address books
abook-2.mab - additional user created address books
cert8.db - Certificates
cookies.txt - cookies
key3.db - Password Database - Important!
persdict.dat - Dictionary
training.dat - Junk Mail training
user.js - If created

From the Mail Account folder, all files WITHOUT MSF EXTENSIONS
ALL SBD folders - Subfolders in the Mail Account
popstate.dat - Mail Filters
rules.dat - Server Mail Filter Rules

Good luck!

 

Hi All,

Nothing is easy with these computers. I finally had to make a new Thunderbird account, something I was trying to avoid. And, for me, a new account is always an adventure. Today required two TB removals, two downloads, and two installs before getting TB right. Fortunately my profile backup held up well. That, and Ramona's support got me to a usable Thunderbird. Thank you young lady, once again you came through for me.

 

derfsch,

"Young lady" WOW, you are definitely my new best friend, derfsch!

Glad to know that you are up and running again. I guess you tried all the workarounds, and they didn't work... So you now know that your Profile was corrupt, and no doubt your Windows problem contributed.