Netscape 7.1 lost mail & abook on reinstall

After repeatedly getting the "please wait while your folder is being processed" error, I finally called what's left of Netscape's customer support and paid their fee. They walked me through deleting msf files, etc. and eventually instructed me to save "old Mozilla'" to my desktop, then uninstall Netscape. When I reinstalled it I no longer had my address book or my saved mail folders. I was able to import an older version of my address book but but not the most current one. Also, while I got some of my saved mail folders back, I did not get at least one folder that contained jpgs that had been emailed to me over a period of time.

I tried importing them to Internet Explorer as well as Netscape but the import window wouldn't display the jpg file at all and the address book shown was the older .na2 version but it wouldn't display the newer .mab version--so I couldn't import them. I know these files are still in the computer because I can see the icons displayed and they do have content (1410 KB and 186 KB respectively).

Today I tried two of the solutions found on this forum with the address book. I backed it up to Notepad but did not see any corrupt data lines or those specific lines of code at the end of the 25 lines of header info.

Can you tell me how to get these two things back into usable form?
Also, should I upgrade to Netscape 7.2 or will I be jumping from the frying pan into the fire? Should I switch to Mozilla Thunderbird, or even Maxthon which someone recommended recently? Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

Welcome to the Forum, xiowaguy!

Hi xiowaguy,

If you should get the "folder being processed" error again, the solution is to go to your ISP Mail web interface and delete any unusual looking messages. Often it is the last message received, and always spam.

Now, to get you up and running: Close Netscape and Quick Launch
Open Windows Explorer and navigate to your Profiles folder located here:
<path> \Applications Data\Mozilla\Profiles
How many Profiles do you see listed, and which is the current Profile?

Since all that was wrong is a corrupt email, you should be able to use the original Profile. Have you tried opening Netscape with your original Profile?

Ramona

 

Thanks, Romona, for your reply. I looked in applications data/mozilla/profiles and I found a folder with my name (then only folder under profiles). It contained the folder xc9ogpbf.slt which contained folders "chrome, mail, abook.mab, cache, etc. I am presuming that this means only one profile?

 

xiowaguy,

Are you copying the Mail, Address Book, and Bookmarks from the "OldMozilla" folder that Netscape Tech. Help had you save to your Desktop? That's where your current information will be located.

In the OldMozilla\Profiles\ProfileName\*.slt\Mail\pop.isp.net folder, rename the files with NO MSF extensions to OldInbox, OldDrafts, OldSent, etc. Also copy all SBD folders as they contain your Mail subfolders. Do not copy any files with the MSF extension.

Next: Copy the renamed files to your current Mail Account folder. By renaming the files, they won't overwrite your existing mail.

Copy from the OldMozilla folder the abook.mab, which is the Address Book
Copy from the OldMozilla folder the bookmarks.html files which is the Bookmarks file, etc.

Ramona

 

Romona, thanks for your reply. I'm trying to follow your instructions but I need a little help. I can't find the current Mail Account folder that needs to receive the copied files. I assumed that I'd find it in C:\program files\netscape\defaults\profile. However, all that yields is shortcuts. Then, after I locate the file (in Windows Explorer?), I presume I should right click on each file I want to tranfer and choose "copy" then paste it into the corresponding new file, like "inbox" and so on--again in Windows Explorer. Is this right?
Jim

 

Jim,

Your current Profile which contains the Mail Account Folder will be located here, if you are using Windows XP/2000:
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles

Here, if you are using Windows 98:
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles

Yes, you are correct in how to copy the files, but first you must rename them, in order not to overwrite your existing Mail. To help you along I have a step by step guideline for manually copying Mail files: http://home.att.net/~cherokee67/ns7mailtrnsfr.html

Let us know if you have more questions.

Ramona

 

Okay, a few more questions before I jump in again. First, I can see the result of my previous attempts (with no assistance available) when this first happened back in July. I tried copying folders to my mail account and as a result I have several duplications--most of them in the wrong place and therefore not presently usable. I'd eventually like to clean all that up but meanwhile, here's what I found and didn't find.

Under Mozilla\profiles\(my name)\xc9ogpbf.slt\mail\local folders I have old Communicator 4x mail.sbd (which contains "inbox" with 50,000 KB), "sent," etc. and saved mail with 26,000 KB Under that another saved mail.sbd folder with much of the stuff I've been looking for.

Another folder under --.slt\Mail is "mail.attbi.com" which was my old ISP (now Comcast.net) This contains a few folders that are almost empty but the inbox has 853,000 KB By the way, this and some of the others have .msf files. Should I delete them or just leave them alone??

Then within that attbi.com folder I have another "saved mail\inbox.sbd" It contains the same bunch of desired folders, though the file sizes are slightly different. Then there is what ought to be the current mail folder --.slt\mail\mail.comcast.net It should have my latest stuff but the inbox, sent, etc. files are empty. However, a sub folder of that is "copy of inbox" and there are those same saved files again, the ones I've been trying to import. Below that is another "saved mail" file and again it has those same files I wanted, again with slightly different file sizes. But what I can't find is the inbox, etc. that I'm currently using where I want to place all these copies.

Since I've been rambling on, here's a summary of my questons:

1. Should I first delete the .msf files or leave them?
2. Where do I find the new mail folder that I'm actually using? The one I thought it should be has no data in it.
3. Should I copy each of those presumably duplicate files into the new mail folder (assuming I can find it) and then weed out the duplicated messages afterward? Or is there some easier way?
4. Should I just copy them (like just dump them all) into the same "Mail" folder and they'll still appear individually? Or shoud I make new folders in my current profile for each folder I am transferring?
5. I can't locate my address book in the file tree in Windows Explorer. Under which folder would it be located?

Thanks for your advice as well as your patience!!!
Xiowaguy

 

1.The .msf files are the header files, they will recreated anyway, so don't bother with them.
2. I never copied entire folders, although the contents of the Inbox.sbd could be copied/pasted. But you must have a place to put the stuff. If you have a pristine profile, it would have empty folders, or only the recent stuff. I always set up my accounts first(I have 12 of them), and with the program open, I may select a new folder or a subfolder(.sbd) of the Inbox. All the transferred stuff should be renamed, or it would overwrite the present one. But, before launching into a wholesale transfer, make sure that the new mail works. Give names which are easy to remember to the folders for the old stuff. This have been done with Netscape open. Now close it, and get into your hard drive.
You will want to find the Inbox and Sent file( no attachment) and rename them. So, if you create another folder or Inbox subfolder for your mail, called Oldinbox or Archive, you should rename one of the files to that. These will be inactive files, i.e. no new mail comes in from the outside world, but they must be tied to an account. If I care only for Inbox contents, I would use a subfolder, otherwise another folder of the account. And, although you will copy and paste files like Archive,etc. they will create header files, so that you can get to the mail. So you can rename to attbi the old Inbox, and copy and then paste it in a attbi folder which you already prepared.
These things are obvious to me, but I prefer to copy the file that you want to move, and rename the copy, just in case.
This takes care of questions 2-4. As for the last question, my preference is to have exported the address book(s) as .ldif file(s), but it should work to copy the abook.mab, and impab.mab files if present. These files are in the .slt folder, but outside the mail accounts. And, I would rename these files if you have more than one of the same name.

 

Jim,

Westside has answered all your questions, so I will just give you a short synopsis:

1. Delete all .msf files

2. See Profiles folder location

3.& 4. For the duplicate Mail files, a suggestion for renaming would be: Inbox2, Inbox3, Inbox4, etc. You can then copy the mail in each box into the existing default Inbox. Do your weeding one step at a time. Once you have determined which Mail to keep, and all is in place, then you can remove the renamed folders to a backup folder for safe keep. Better safe than sorry.

Ensure that you copy all SBD folders, as they contain the Mail subfolders in your account. Also delete the MSF files in the SBD folders.

5. The abook.mab, and subsequent folders will be located in the *.slt folder
abook.mab = Personal Address Book
history.mab = Collected Addresses
abook-1.mab = additional user created Address Book
impab.mab = imported Address Book
impab-1.mab = additional imported Address Book

Ramona

 

Thanks to both of you for your thoughtful replies. I'll look forward to attempting these solutions on Wednesday or Thurday, when I have a day off. Later...
Xiowaguy

 

There is a simple answer to this problem, which requires no deletion of files or other tinkering.

Basically when Mozilla shows the "File being processed" error message, it is choking on something in an email which it doesn't like. To unjam Mozilla, leave it running, then open up Outlook Express. Use OE to fetch the mail from the server (usuing the usual account). Then shut down OE and you'll find that Mozilla is magically unjammed. Then use the Import function to get the mail you fetched with OE.

That's it. My Mozilla 1.5 jams about once a month (I get a lot of email) and this technique has worked every time.

Terrie

 

Welcome to the Forum, Terrie!

Hi Terrie,

That is a solution which isn't an option for many of us, as many Windows 98 users have uninstall OE, or XP users have locked down IE. That is why I suggested using the webmail interface, which is much safer than using IE/OE:

Ramona