Netscape Mail 7.2 Files Vanished

A few days ago my Netscape Mail 7.2 would not download emails. I exited NM and I made a new directory and moved all my Inbox mail files to the new directory to see if a clean NM would work.

I restarted the NM and nothing; it was still not downloading emails. So I then moved all my Inbox files back to the original Inbox.sbd folder. I read that some java in emails is causing lockups and figured rebooting the machine might help.

When I rebooted and started my NM again it was empty. None of my folders were there. I went to the Inbox.sbd folder and that was gone and all the other files in it have vanished. I searched my drive and found nothing anywhere. Even the new directory I made to temporarily hold the mail files is gone.

I've tried some recovery programs but none of them find NM files. There are many email recovery programs out there but they are all mostly for Outlook.

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas on how to get my email files back? Any help will be greatly appreciated. How can I recover files that have mysteriously vanished and that don't have an extension?

Has anyone been able to recover these mail files?

 

Welcome to the Forum, oaguila4!

How did you create the new directory? Did you mean that you created a new Profile and then moved your Inbox to the new Profile?

If you copied your Inbox files into the Inbox.sbd folder, then I'm not clear on how you did that? You opened the Inbox and copied the contents into the Inbox.sbd folder?

The SBD folders are the subfolders of your Mail Account, and the Inbox shouldn't be included in the Inbox.sbd folder.

Please give us more details as to exactly how you did what you describe so we can get to the bottom of this problem.

Thanks!

 

How did you create the new directory? Did you mean that you created a new Profile and then moved your Inbox to the new Profile?

No. I had just created a temp folder called Inbox.sbd in another location and moved the files to clear the real Inbox.sbd folder. It was a temp situation to see if one of the emails had corrupted something.
If you copied your Inbox files into the Inbox.sbd folder, then I'm not clear on how you did that? You opened the Inbox and copied the contents into the Inbox.sbd folder?

Yes but another Inbox.sbd folder I created temporarily. It could have been called TEMP... I just happened to call it Inbox.sbd because that is where they were originating from to make things easier.
The SBD folders are the subfolders of your Mail Account, and the Inbox shouldn't be included in the Inbox.sbd folder.

Please give us more details as to exactly how you did what you describe so we can get to the bottom of this problem.

I found my files and I am replacing them now. I just have no idea if the program itself recovered them or what... I found them in 'Application Data' in a hidden folder called 'Move Networks'. Something must have crashed during the file moving and they must have been dumped in that folder. I just started NM and it worked fine. Thanks for your help.

All is well with my email world.

 

Good to hear!

 

However maybe you could help me... with why was it not downloading emails. It would just freeze and not download anything. Deleting the Inbox and starting over solved the problem but is that the way to solve it? Or is there a way to disable the java in emails that is causing the problem?

 

Yes, you not only can, but should disable the Java in Mail & Newsgroups. The setting is here: Edit | Preferences | Advanced | Scripts & Plugins

As to the cause of the problem, I would say that your Inbox was corrupt, since creating a new file solved your problem.

I would urge you to leave Netscape, which is obsolete, full of bugs, which you have experienced, and insecure. If you prefer the suite, then move to SeaMonkey 1.1.9. This suite is identical to Netscape 7.x settings, etc., but it is current and much more secure.

If having a suite isn't important to you, then move to my personal preference, Firefox 3.0 and Thunderbird 2.0.0.14. These two independent applications are excellent, with more features, much faster, definitely cutting edge. When installing, they will automatically pick up your Netscape Profile, and Netscape Mail.

We will be happy to help you with the migration.

 

I didn't know Firefox had Mail... I thought it was just a browser... tell me more. I have Safari on my computer now... and Firefox.. but I have not been completely sold on those browsers.. I still use the Netscape browser. I just want something that lets me play with my mail like Netscape did. I can't figure out why such a great program became obsolete. I still love my Netscape Mail.

 

Firefox is a standalone browser, no mail. Thunderbird is a standalone Mail Client, and the two compliment each other.

Let me show you the security vulnerabilities that affect Netscape:

They start here:
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/older-vulnerabilities.html#mozilla1.6

To current date:
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/known-vulnerabilities.html#Mozilla

 

So is Thunderbird like Netscape? Is that what you are using for mail?

 

In a way, yes. The difference is that Netscape is a Suite of browser, mail, and more while Thunderbird is a standalone mail program equivalent to Netscape mail.

 

Short of installing another email program what should I do so NM downloads my emails. It keeps getting stuck on receiving the first email and locks up. I have deleted the Inbox and still nothing... I have it downloading bellsouth and gmail and gmail is not having any problems... only the bellsouth inbox.

 

Have you checked your Mail on the BellSouth Web Mail portal? It could be you have spam which could be causing a problem.

Create a new Profile, for test purposes only. Set up one Mail Account and see if your Mail hangs on the first message. Let us know if this works...

Also do some routine maintenance for the entire browser, as described here:
Preventive Browser Maintenance Once you clean up everything, perhaps your Mail will work as it should. If this doesn't do the trick, please let us know, and we will do some more troubleshooting.

Thunderbird operates the same as Netscape Mail, although the settings are arranged differently. There is only a slight learning curve to adjust to the new settings.

 

Although I have never experienced your problems, I would have not deleted the Inbox file, but, rather the Inbox.msf file. I may have missed this, but each Inbox file produces an Inbox.msf file, or the header file. What would happen if there is a corrupted .msf file, which is not deleted, and a new Inbox file would be produced? Would the old Inbox.msf file be replaced, or would you have a good Inbox, but a lousy .msf file?

 

The error I get says 'This folder is being processed. Please wait until processing is complete to get messages'. I have no idea which folder. I delete all the folders except the subfolders in my Inbox and it doesn't help. However the gmail folders work fine...

 

Now it gets even weirder... if I go into webmail and delete the first message that it's trying to download then all the rest download just fine... the message was all text had no images or anything else in it. (no java, nothing)

 

I am not sure. But I typically transfer all my inbox files over to another folder I created just for that purpose (inbox2) and then I delete all the folders (both the inbox and the inbox.msf) and start clean. I thought it would be the inbox file that has the problem because of the error I was getting that says it is still processing and it says that even after I reboot my machine and totally disconnect from my mail server. Deleting the first message worked this time but it doesn't always work and it's random and erratic. Annoying to say the least. Thunderbird sounds good but I would love to hear some more users that are just as happy with it. Can I run both?

 

Thunderbird, and other mail programs are, completely, independent. I gave up on NS7.2 over a year ago, and, have used in its place Seamonkey, which is, also a suite. But, I have had Thunderbird 2.0.0.14 as my default mail program.
I have never had any problem with Thunderbird. However, shortly after my change to Seamonkey, using the Netscape profile, I had to create a new profile for it (Seamonkey). I have had no problem since then.
If I ever do anything with a profile, I rename the old Inbox to Inbox2, copy/paste in the new profile. A new Inbox is created in the new profile, and I have, also, an Inbox2 file. This is a good idea for anyone who keeps all mail in the Inbox. It gets saturated, at the 1GB level, more or less, and won't do a thing.

 

If you will delete all MSF files from your Mail Account folder, this should correct your Problem. These files easily corrupt, and thus the error you received. Even though you deleted both Inbox and Inbox.msf earlier, try deleting ONLY the msf files and see what happens, if anything.

Did you check the Mail using your ISP's webmail interface? If not check there, and look for any spam, or messages from "unknown "...