Moving firefox and T bird folders

I have just purchased a new HP Pavillion 5000 series laptop computer with all the whistles and bells I need. I've installed the latest versions of Firefox and Tbird and have set up one mail account on TBIRD. I want to move everything that is on my old computer for both programs over to the HP and enter them into the programs. I have an external hard drive and can copy files from my old computer to the external hard drive and from the external hard drive to the new HP.

I want to bring all mail folders, sub folders and their contents from each account plus my address books etc. over. The question is what files to copy by name? Also, I'd like to bring my bookmarks over to Firefox.

Suggestions? Thanks

 

I don't use the default locations for the Tbird/FF program and profile folders; instead, they're located in a dedicated (Mozilla) folder on my E: drive. I would just copy all files and folders from one Tbird installation to the other. Then, I'd run the Tbird Profile Manager to tell the program where to look for the profile folder, just to be sure. (Ramona or Westside may have other ideas, of course. )

To move your FF bookmarks, just copy the bookmarks.html file in the FF profile.

 

lgbest,

Thunderbird
On the old PC, copy the Thunderbird folder which is a subfolder in the Applications Data folder.

On the new PC, remove the Thunderbird folder from the Applications Data folder.
Next:
Paste the Thunderbird folder from the old PC into the Applications Data folder on the new PC.

Now: from the Thunderbird folder that you removed, rename the Inbox and all other folders which have mail in them. Then copy these files to the Thunderbird folder you copied to the new PC. You know, Inbox2, Sent2, etc. Once copied to the new TB folder, you can then move the messages into the Inbox, etc., then you can delete the renamed folders.

That should do it.

Firefox
Copy the Mozilla Folder on the old PC, same location, and replace the Mozilla folder on the new PC. This is assuming that you have no other Mozilla application installed, other than Firefox.

This will move everything you need for both applications.

Let us know if you have further questions.

 

I now have the Mozilla file from the old computer on my new desktop and it also contains Tbird stuff I think. Also using MS XP there is no longer a WINDOWS/Application Data folder. When I search, there are several application data folders showing up under Documents and Settings. Application Data/Mozilla contains Profiles, Users 50, pluginreg and registry. It is over 1 giga so it must be the correct folder. I haven't erased anything from the old C drive or my E drive so everything is somewhere. When I remove the new Tbird folder form the new C drive I assume you mean cut and paste it to the desktop, correct?

I had downloaded TBird and set up one account (same name as on the old computer) so I could send and recieve email. Will this make a difference?

 

The Thunderbird Profile isn't in the Mozilla folder, it now has its own folder "Thunderbird" as a subfolder of Applications Data.

Your Profile is located here:
Firefox
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles

Thunderbird
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles

NOTE: These files are hidden by default.
To see hidden files:
1. On the Tools menu in Windows Explorer, click Folder Options
2. Click the View tab
3. Under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders
4. Disable "Hide File Extensions for Known Files. "
5. Click OK.

To search for files in the Application Data folder, go to Start | Search.
Under More Advanced Options select Search system folders, Search
Hidden Files and folders, and Search subfolders.

You can move the new Profile to the Desktop, or create a folder on the HD.

Read my first post carefully, as I explained in detail what to do about the account you already created.

 

Graham,

I almost overlooked that you still have a Users50 folder. As we have discussed in previous threads, the users50 subfolder is the name used by Netscape 6.0/6.01. Just a heads up for you...

 

Ramona "“ I removed the thunderbird folder from the new computer as you told me to do and put it into My Documents. I had already moved the Tbird folder from my old computer to the desktop of the new computer. I then pasted that folder into the applications data folder on the new computer. When I opened the Tbird folder now in "my documents" it contains Profiles folder, profiles.ini and registry.dat. When I open the profiles folder it contains another called mr8jcsh.default. When I open that folder there are no inbox, sent etc. folders "“ in fact there are no sub folders in that folder to rename. Where are they?

 

I may have not received a response to the above or cannot locate it in this thread. Anyway, I have done the above. When I open the profiles folder on my new computer there are 4 folders:
jorxc71f.default 1/31/06 from the old computer
jorxc71f.defaultC 2/2/06 - this seems to be a partial of the above
gkzlvimh.slt 1/31/06 No clue what this is contains cache and chrome folders
w3wrgiog.default 2/4/06 No clue about this but it has no info in any folder

The original profiles folder from my new computer is stored in "My Documents" but has no mail folders within. After moving that folder I could not send or receive email. In order to receive or send mail I had to create another account which I'm now using. What I would like to do is to take the folders that I copied over from my old computer plus the folders from the new computer and get them to open on my new computer within Tbird as a consolidted account. I'm stuck!

 

Graham,

Is this the Profile you wish to use: orxc71f.default 1/31/06 from the old computer? If so, then I would delete these two:

gkzlvimh.slt 1/31/06 No clue what this is contains cache and chrome folders
w3wrgiog.default 2/4/06 No clue about this but it has no info in any folder

The gkzlvimh.slt 1/31/06, was most likely created when you installed Thunderbird. It should have been renamed/deleted and replaced with orxc71f.default 1/31/06.

Rename this Profile to: ZZjorxc71f.default
Then copy the Profile data from the ZZjorxc71f.default Profile
To : orxc71f.default 1/31/06

That should fix your problems. Remember to copy only the Mail files without the MSF extension.

Let us know if you have further questions.

 

Hi - I did the above. The mail files copied over did not include any .msf files. However, now when I try to open Tbird Windows XP tells me Tbird is already running but not responding and that I need to shut the program down/restart. This doesn't work because I keep getting the same message. Any thoughts?
Graham

 

Graham,

Close Thunderbird
Navigate to the Thunderbird Folder in ~\Applications Data
Open the profiles.ini file

Ensure that it points to the correct Profile, which I assume is: orxc71f.default

The file should look like this:

Code:

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=ramona
IsRelative=0
Path=Profiles/oc62rx71.default
Default=1

You might also want to read the new information I have posted in the Sticky at the top of the page, which refers to: Keep it Working (Thunderbird)

 

Hi - I did the above and it looks like:
[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=graham
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/jorxc71f.default
Default=1

However i still get the same message that Tbird is running in the background but I can't find it anywhere. Your thoughts?

Graham

 

Graham,

Change the: IsRelative=1

to: IsRelative=0

Does that fix the error?

 

Hi Ramona - Maybe. I can now open the Tbird program on the new computer. However, it wants me to set up a new account with setup wizard, which is what I had to do before. I don't know where that one went. I want to open the old lgbest account with all the folders mail etc. I copied over. So I am at this point now.
Thanks.

Graham

 

Graham,

Have you pointed Thunderbird to the old Profile? In profile.ini, is this the correct name of the profile you want to use:

[Profile0]
Name=graham
IsRelative=0
Path=Profiles/jorxc71f.default
Default=1

 

Hi Ramona - I opened the Profiles.ini file and this is what is there now:
[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/4ngrxxk9.default

I don't know where it came from. What was there was:
[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=graham
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/jorxc71f.default
Default=1

I had changed Name from default to Graham. Maybe that was wrong? And you had me change IsRelative from 1 to 0. that allowed me to open the program but not my profile, so when I opened the program it must have wiped what was in there and started a new profile. What's next?

Graham

 

Graham,

Change the profile.ini file to this:

Code:

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
[B]Path=Profiles/jorxc71f.default[/B]

When you changed the Name=default to Name=graham, that is what caused the last problem.

Once you have changed the target to the "default" profile, which is the old 1/31/06, then remove/delete all other profiles from the Thunderbird\Profiles folder. You should then have only the jorxc71f.default folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\jorxc71f.default

Note: in the future you should not use "default" as your profile name. Please read this KB Article which I referenced earlier: Kept It Working (Thunderbird)

Don't change anything now, but if you ever need to create a new Profile, give it a unique name...

 

Hi Ramona - I did the above but now I get the old error message that Tbird is running in the background. Could not get rid of it. I then changed IsRelative to 0 (Aa before). Now it opens Tbird program but assigns a new profile. So I wiped that but still cannot open my jorxc71f.default folder.

Graham

 

Graham,

Open the Thunderbird Profile Manager, and tell me what you have listed there.

So I can assume this is the only Profile in the Thunderbird folder:
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Thunderbird\Profiles\jorxc71f.default

 

Hi Ramona - In Application Data > Tbird>Profiles >j0rxc71f.default

In Profiles.ini>
[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/jorxc71f.default

P.S. the profiles folder you have me remove when I downloaded Tbird to the new computer is in the My Documents folder. I haven't done anything about that, however there are no mail or any of the sub folders present.

Graham