NS 7.0 New Profile Issues

Ramona:

Well, here I am again recovering from another profile corruption! I have had to create a new profile upon start-up each of the past three days. Does this happen frequently to others or do I have something unusual going on here?

I followed the instructions from your website to create the profiles. I ran into a few problems:

1. I did not understand the instructions regarding "somenumber s" and "somenumber w" at the end of the page. Where are the files they are to be added to and how do you add them?

2. I also did not understand how to edit the user.js or prefs.js file as defined in your instructions.

3. I copied all of the addressbook files ending in .mab from the back-up to the new profile. When I call-up Address Book, only two address books appear: Personal and Collected. The addresses appearing under Personal are from another address book (the first adress book by alphabetical name), and none of the other 8 address books appear at all. Did I miss something? How do I get the address books to appear again?


Sorry to keep bugging you with this stuff.

 

1. the files 'somenumber.s' and 'somenumber.w' are your password data and formfill data, respectively. They should be in your profile directory. Of course, they are important only if you use the password and formfill data features in netscape...

http://gemal.dk/mozilla/files.html

2. The user.js and prefs.js files can be edited with notepad or any other plain text editor. Beware of typo's, and disable wordwrap...

HTH a bit...

tranquilo

 

BirdieBob

Can you please give us a list of .mab files that you have in your current GOOD profile directory.

e.g.
abook.mab
abook-1.mab
history.mab
impab.mab
impab-1.mab
etc.

Also are you able to open GOOD back-up profile that has all of your 8 address books ?

Post back and let us know.

regards:

 

captjlddavis:

The .mab files in my current profile were copied in from the back-up copy of the prior (now corrupted and unuseable) profile. I see now there are 14 .mab files in the current profile as follows:

abook.mab
CL.mab
ExigenGroup.mab
Family.mab
Friends.mab
history.mab
infospace.mab
MarinCountryClub.mab
netcenter.mab
OlympicClub.mab
Portera.mab
Services.mab
verisign.mab
WebEx.mab

The prior (corrupted) profile can no longer be opened in NS. I had originally hoped I could do that so that the .mab files could be exported to another drive as .ldif files and imported into the new profile, but no luck. The back-up copies of profiles I have are:

1. The last good profile before the series of 3 corruptions.
2. The last corrupted profile.
3. The current profile.

I've looked at the .mab files in the current profile using notepad and all of the data appears to be there and intact. I guess the issue is how to convert these .mab files to .ldif, right?

I will appreciate any help you folks can provde.

Thanks.

 

BirdieBob,

Very strange. First off let's make sure that we are looking in the correct profile.

In Address Book, create a new card with
a unique Name (eg First name: abcxyz -
Last name: zyxcba)

Do a search for *.mab containing the unique text 'abcxyz" without quotes.

Is this the same .slt folder that has all the addressbooks ?

Post back and let me know.

regards:

 

captjlddavis:

I created the new card within the Personal Address Book as you defined.

1. When I do a search that contains "*.mab ", I receive no matches.

2. When I do a search that contains "abcxyz ", I find the card I created.

3. When I do a search that contains "*.mab abcxyz ", I recieve no matches.

I'm receiving nothing relateds to the .slt file.

I don't know if this is pertinent or not, but when I tried to read the .mab files, I specified notepad to use in readin them. Thereafter, the .mab files in the current and all back-up files appear with the Notepad icon and withour the ".mab" sufffix. If I look at the file properties, the files are described as "(name).mab ".

Still lost out here.

 

BirdieBob,

I am not sure exactly what you did.

Are you saying that what used to be:

abook.mab is now

just abook with no extension ?

post back.

regards:

 

captjlddavis:

Yes. Here's what has taken place to-date:

1. Created a new profile.

2. Copied in the address books from the back-up profile, overwriting those created in the new profile.

At this point, all addess books carried the ".mab" suffix, but only the Personal and Collected address books appeared under Address Book.

3. I then wanted to see if the address book files contained the address data itself. When I right-clicked an .mab file, the "Open With" dialogue box appeared. I selected Notepad to use in opening the file.

From that point forward, all .mab files appear carrying the Notepad icon and without the .mab suffix in the display name. (I believe these files originally appeared as Windows files before Notepad was selected). The properties of each file show the same information as follows:

Type: MAB File
MS-Dos Name: (name, i.e. abook).MAB

I assume the lack of .mab suffix in the display name is a function of having selected Notepad to read the file. Is that correct?

If so, how and where can I specify the application to be used in opening these files; and what application should be designated (to get back to where we were and get rid of the notepad association)?

It still seems to me that the basic question is how to convert back-up address book files to the correct format (.ldif?), and then import them into the current profile. Do you agree?

Lacking any other viable options, I suppose we will be down to re-entering all addresses, or beginning to work with the Communicator 4.7x User file address book as a starting point, right?

Lemme know and I appreciate the help. Thanks,

 

BirdieBob,

YES, Apparently you had the "Alway use this program" box checked when you opened the file. ALWAY uncheck that box...........

Now on to trying to salvage this.

PLEASE ONLY DO WHAT I SEGGEST.

WITH NS CLOSED

Rename abook
to
abook.mab

Now OPEN NS

Do you have your "personal Addressbook" ?

Please post back

regards;

 

captjlddavis:

I closed NS and renamed abook to abook.mab. Opened NS and looked at the addressbook. 2 addressbooks are shown: Personal and Collected. Both are empty and contain no entries. (My preferences are set not to collect addresses).

Prior to renaming abook, the Personal addressbook contained 18 entries. These were the addresses from one of my addressbooks, Apple, that was also the first of the prior addressbook names in alphabetical order.

Also, how do I correct the Notepad designation for these files: i.e., where and how do I remove the check mark for "always use this application... "?

 

captjlddavis:

From your earlier message:

"Very strange. First off let's make sure that we are looking in the correct profile.

In Address Book, create a new card with a unique Name (eg First name: abcxyz -Last name: zyxcba)

Do a search for *.mab containing the unique text 'abcxyz" without quotes.

Is this the same .slt folder that has all the addressbooks ? "

I went through this process again with these results:

1. Using Find for "*.mab" returns all of the addressbooks within the current profile.

2. Using Find for "*.mab" containing the text "abcxyz" (without quotes) returns nothing.

 

captjlddavis:

I now understand that the application used to view an MAB file can be designated under My Computer < View < Folder Options. It is now set to Notepad by my earlier action.

How do I change from Notepad and to what?

Thanks.

 

BirdieBob,

With regards to the File associations, that is a Windows issue and I can't help you with that. Perhaps someone more into Windows can assist.

With regards to the other abook problems, something else is going on as I have used this method before with success.

If you still have 4.7x on your machine and it has good address books, I would suggest that you export them as LDIF and then import them into 7.x

Otherwise I recommend remove ALL traces of NS and do a clean install.

Sorry that I could not be of more help

regards:

 

Hi BirdieBob,

I concur 100% with what captjlddavis recommends. You obviously have something very wrong in Netscape 7.02, or your Profiles would not become corrupt with such frequency. I have been using the same Profiles since August 2002.

The Notepad File Type Association should have no effect on your problem.

Ramona

 

Hi Ramona:

First, thanks to captjlddavis for your effort and advice. I appreciate your having taken the time to give it a shot.

Ramona, I understand the concerns about the frequency of corruption and the potential need for a clean install. If you agree, I'd like to ry 2 other options first before going that route as a last option.

1. I have back-up copies of the Commnunicator 4.7x User files from the time that I last had a Profile working correctly and displaying all address books. I assume we can try exporting as .ldif files and importing into the current profile to see if that makes a difference.

2. If it doesn't, then I can try creating another profile, copying in the .mab files from the last good profile, and see if that is successfull.

If neither makes a difference, then I'm down to the clean install option.

Questions:

1. Does that approach make sense to try?

2. If so, I need some help regarding the first option on these points:

2a. Is the pab file the only one to be exported from Commuinicator? I see the pab file as well as 7 other NA2 files there that correspond to the missing address books. Should all 8 be exported?

2b. How do I export the pab (and other files if necessary) from Communicator? I know there are Export and Import commands within Address Book in NS. but I don't know where the commands are to use with the Communicator files for exporting.

2c. I will back-up the current profile before starting. Should I then delete the existing .mab files from the profile before importing the .ldif files exported from Communicator?

3. I understand that the Notepad association is not part of the issue. Is there, however, a means of changing that association back to what it was and if so, how?

I'll wait for your response before going further. Thanks.

 

Hi Bob,

I think your current Profile is trashed, so forget about trying to Import an Address Book into it.

FIRST and FOREMOST:
back up the Communicator Users Folder
back up the Netscape 7 Profiles folder

Create a new Profile, give it a name that you have not used previously.
Follow my Create a New Profile guidelines
EXCEPT THE ADDRESS BOOK
I'm emphasizing, because you don't want to copy anything into the new, pristine, Address Books yet.

Once you are set up and have opened Netscape. Confirm that you have:
Personal Address Book
Collected Addresses
and that they are empty.

If so, then proceed to this step:

Close Netscape 7.02

Open Communicator 4.xx
Open Address Book
Highlight the first of the 8 Address Books you wish to Export
Click on Edit | Export
Save each Address Book to the folder of your choice. (You might want to set up this folder ahead of time).

Close Communicator 4.xx
Open the selected folder where you have saved the 8 Address Books.
Ensure that they do contain Addresses.

Open Netscape 7:
Open Address Book
Click on Tools
Select: IMPORT
Select: Text file ( LDIF, .tab, .csv, .txt)
Browse to the folder containing the 8 EXPORTED Address Books
IMport them one by one

Once this is done, open each Address Book to ensure your addresses can be viewed.

I understand that the Notepad association is not part of the issue. Is there, however, a means of changing that association back to what it was and if so, how?

That is definitely a Windows issue, and I wouldn't touch it with a 10' pole. It would require a Registry edit, and I don't want to take you there.

If this doesn't work, then you really should consider deleting all vestiges of Netscape 7 from your system. then starting with a clean slate.

Ramona

 

On the "MAB-Notepad " file association,
you may be able to simply remove the "MABfile" filetype you created by using View < Folder Options
[Select (highlight) the "MABfile" in the list, then use the Remove button]
since there IS no "normal" Windows association for the .mab file extension . You will be better off posting the question in the Windows bbs forum for your version of Windows since this is NOT a Netscape issue and you will get more help in the Windows forums.

 

Thanks Alice,

Leaving .mab files associated with Notepad shouldn't cause any problems at all, since there is no external app that opens it (other than netscape.exe with the -addressbook switch).

I thought editing the registry, or Registered File Types, would be a bit much for Bob, and not wanting to compound his problem further, is why I suggest leaving it as it is. He has a full plate now with his Profile problem, thus, my statement of not wanting to go there with him.

You are correct: the Netscape Address Book (*.mab) files have no file association with them by default. They are only opened from within Netscape itself. I really don't think it will harm anything to just let the text association stand.

It's his call, however.

Ramona

 

Hi Ramona

I was thinking the exact same thing, after I posted.

Bob's call, whether to leave well enough alone (my personal preference) or to "tidy up ".

 

Hello Ramona:

Thanks for laying out the roadmap. I followed it EXPLICITLY and I am now back in motion with a new profile and a full set of addressbooks. Wonders will never cease.

I want to also thank Alice for her input. As I understand it, the .mab files are used only by NS so the Notepad association will have no impact outside of NS. If that's the case, I'm going to take Ramona's advice and leave sleeping dogs lie as is.

I'm going to continue with 7.0 for now, mainly to see if the profile corruption issue surfaces again. If it does, I'll move to 7.2 with a clean install.

I did notice something interesting in going through this process. The addressbook file names in 4.7x carried the name of each addressbook, i.e., "Services" for example. Also, when I created new addressbooks under previous profiles, they also carried the assigned name ( "Services ") as their file name. Following the export/import process into the new profile, the addressbook files were created with names of "abook-1 ". "abook-2 ", etc., rather than the name asigned to the book.

That doesn't create any problem but it peaked my interest. So I created a new addressbook under the new profile. It's file name was assigned as "abook-9" rather than "test" as the book was named. Since there's no problem as is, I just thought you wizards might be interested in knowing about this.

Would any problems be created if these files were renamed to the addressbook name? "abook-8" to "services" for example. If so, I'll leave them alone. If not, I'll change them to simplify file identification. Lemmeno.

Again, thanks to everyone for your comments and input. It is very much appreciated!