Major gaps in info after transfer of 7.2

I had a major system crash with windows XP home media and had to resort to the restore windows cd. I kept a copy of my Netscape 7.2 profiles in a seperate folder and it survived. I had a hard time reinstalling Netscape, but the forums really helped. However, after finally getting the proper profiles into 7.2, upon opening the mail I found that all my saved important mail has major gaps in the mail. It retained mail from 2000-2003, but all current mail is gone! I have old mail ending in 2003 and just the newest downloaded emails. The address book is also very old address's. Is there any way to get back the current email? I have a saved profile that was current right up to the crash. Thanks for any help as this is very important to me.

 

Welcome to the Forum, JOEMASTRO6!

Joe,

Try this:
Close Netscape
Open Windows Explorer and browse to the *.slt folder, located here:

C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\*.slt

Rename the existing Mail folder to: XMail
Next:
Copy the Mail folder from your saved Profile, and place it in the *.slt folder

Open Netscape Mail & Newsgroups
Click on: Edit | Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings
Click on: Server Settings
Scroll to the bottom of the page to the "Local directory" field
Ensure this path points to the correct location of the Mail Account folder
This would be the same location as the Mail folder you just copied from the saved Profile.

Let us know when you have recovered all your Mail, and then we can help you copy your current Mail to the recovered Mail folder.

For the Address Book:
With Netscape closed, browse to the *.slt folder
Rename the abook.mab file to Xabook.mab
From the saved Profile, copy the abook.mab file
Paste this copy into the *.slt folder

 

I tried as you said, it made multiple duplicates of the mail folders, all containing the same 2000-2003 mail, none of the newer mail. I searched my computer and found several other saved profiles and tried your trick...again all contained 5 yr gaps. I do not understand it. I did get her address book current enough to be usable. thanks. I have XP professional, the saved profile was saved just the day before the crash, so it is not 5 yrs old...

 

Joe,

With Netscape closed, open Windows Explorer

Rename the Inbox file from the saved profile, to Inbox2
Copy the renamed Inbox2 file from the saved profile, and paste it into the Mail Account folder located here:

C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\*.slt\Mail\pop.yourisp.net

Do NOT copy the Inbox.msf file from the saved profile. Let Netscape create a new MSF files for the renamed Inbox2 file.

Open Netscape, and then copy the messages in the Inbox2 folder to the old Inbox file, or do the reverse.

 

The impoprtant thing is how the Mail folders are set up. If there is only one Inbox file, I can't vouch for any of the mail. However, if the old mail was saved in individual folders, let's say yearly, or according to people or subjects, it is another story. Large Inbox files have been a problem for a lot of people, but I have yet to yet a case of selective loss.
Recent mail, still on server, would be downloaded.
Ramona's suggestion may not help, if the Inbox was overcrowded, but it would not hurt.

On rereading Joe's post, it appears that the old mail was saved in separate folders, so would have different file names.

 

Joe,

When you checked the "Local Directory" field, did the path point to the correct location of your Mail Account folder (pop.yourisp.net)?

To clarify, are you referring to the Inbox, with a 5-year gap? Or is the in Mail you refer to stored in multiple folders, as Westside suggests?

 

The inbox is but one of the many subfolders the mail was separated into. In the "mail" folder, it contains the inbox and perhaps 10 other folders with separate mail. The inbox itself held perhaps 150 emails, most a month or so old, but some much longer. All folders have the 5 yr gap.

 

Joe,

Let's do this:

Ensure that Netscape & Quick Launch are closed

Move the existing Profiles folder from the Mozilla folder to a backup folder, or temporary location.

The Profiles folder is located here:
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles

Replace the existing Profiles folder with a copy of the saved Profiles folder

Next, open the Profile Manager:
Start | Programs | Netscape 7.2 | Profile Manager
Click on: Create new profile
Use the exact Profile name as the saved Profile you have copied to the Mozilla folder

Start Netscape, and all Profile data should be intact.


Alternative method:

Exit Netscape
Create a new profile
Replace the contents of the new SLT folder with the contents of the saved SLT folder.
Do not change the name of the new SLT folder

Netscape will recognize that the files do not exist in the original location, and will use relative paths to determine the new location.

Start Netscape, and all Profile data should be intact.

 

I had a sound card issue and have been busy with that. I cut and paste your newest suggestion into a word doc and printed it out for tomorrow to try, will let you know...

 

Joe,
if you have subfolders, your old mail would not be in the Inbox file, but , rather, in the Inbox.sbd folder. Why would you have some very old mail, though? In my case, it would be possible if some mail was saved in subfolders, and other mail in folders independent of the Inbox.

 

I do not have any .sbd files, I have .snm files. In the folder "mail" there are sub folders like SAVE with no extensions, then another one SAVE.snm, and then another one SAVE.msf
There is no sbd files anywhere.

 

As I said, you don't have to have a .sbd folder. That happens if you create a New Folder of the Inbox. If you create a New Folder of your account, you will get separate folders. For instance, if you create a subfolder of the Inbox, you will get Save, and Save.msf in the .sbd folder. If you selected to create folders of the account, you would have Save and Save.msf files, right alongside Inbox and Inbox.msf.
However, what in the world is an .snm file doing there? The .snm files are the summary files of Netscape4.x mail, and don't belong in NS7.2 profile.
At the very least all files with .snm and .msf extention should be deleted, with NS7.2 closed. Then you can copy/paste the Save file, only, in the NS7.2 account folder.
I am quite confused by this. Now, I am not sure that I am confident in anything which was done to the backup. What was saved? Also where were the copy/pasted file file. You say in Mail. That's not right. Inside the mail folder there should be account folders as well as Local Folders, no "loose" files.

 

I tried the last two sugestions and and took 2 hours to get back to nearly where I was yesterday. Currently she has an old address book which works, old bookmarks which are good enough and all her folders minus 5 yrs. Everything works and I am gonna quit while I am ahead. This is so frustrating I have spent nearly all my spare time including being late for work etc, it has manopilized my total time for days, and I give up. My wife is ****** and now I am going to work on retrieving lost applications, reservations etc lost during this turmoil. I belive nothing is going to get it back. The old files from 4.xx are still there probably from updating netscape over the years. THANK YOU EVEYONE FOR THEIR EFFORTS! I am officially done.
JM

 

Joe,

I hate to see you give up on retrieving your Mail. The last bit of information you gave us concerning SNM files disclosed that you may have Communicator mail files as well as Netscape 7 Mail files. If you want to pursue this, I certainly would be willing to help you sort out the problem.

 

I was able to open up the inbox etc by using word pad a scroll through the endless jargon and read most of the messeges. The last 5 yrs ia simply gone! I checked every saved profile that I had and apparently when I mad a copy and paste of these folders not all the stuff went with it. All are short the last 5 yrs. Everytime I moved stuff etc now I lose the newest mail/addresses so before I get divorced I am not touching it again. I took 4-5 hours and remade all her folders, painfully reinstalling most of her addresses, setting and filters. I am not gonna mess with it again. However for the future how do I save a copy of the profiles without losing half of it? A simple copy and paste of the profile used to be sufficient, now Netscape must use the info differently or something. Any help appreciated.

 

Joe,

Saving the entire Mozilla folder is the best, but saving just the Profiles folder works also. There's nothing wrong with the way you saved your Profiles folder.

If your System crashed, and you had no backup up to that point, then that is no doubt what happened to your Mail.

I say this because you state that ALL backups only have mail up to 2003, which brings me to the conclusion that the crash wiped out your current Mail. If you made a backup of the Profile after the crash, I'm afraid that's the problem.

You can also save your Mail to CD, and access it through Mail & Newsgroups. This process also allows you to reply to the mail, but of course you can't receive mail. This is the page:
http://home.att.net/~cherokee67/archivemailcd.html

Ensure that you follow the directions precisely, or it won't work.