Retrieving Mail After Reinstalling Netscape

On Friday, March 26, I turned on my computer and tried to open Netscape Navigator 7.1 and it would not open. I tried a few different ways and then again later in the day with the same result. This had never happened to me before and I use NN several times daily, it worked fine the day before.

I contacted a couple of much more knowledgeable associates and the best either could come up with was to reinstall Netscape which I did yesterday. But before I did, I found my emails and folders for same and saved them to another file name for safekeeping.

When I reinstalled Navigator 7.1, my bookmarks and address book came through fine, but the emails did not. The first time I went to Netscape Mail / Communicator, it prompted me as if I was a new account.

My question is, how can I import the file containing my emails and folders for same that I had in my previous version of NN 7.1's Mail into the 7.1 I just installed.?

I think the answer was in the thread entitled, "I cannot import mail from 7.0 to 7.1 ", but I didn't understand the instructions therein 100%. I need it spelled out for me like it was Netscape for Dummies.

Hopefully someone can help me out here as I need to reference a lot of the emails for business purposes and would hate to lost them permanently. Thanks in advance.

Larry

 

Welcome to the Forum, sheltone!

Hi Larry,

First, reinstalling does nothing, as Mail is part of the Profile, which is located separately from Program Files. No harm done, however.

The thread you referenced: I cannot import mail from 7.0 to 7.1, is more for merging two separate accounts.

I need some information from you, and then we can certainly retrieve your mail. When you open Windows Explorer to your Mail Account Folder location:
C:\.........\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\xxxxxxxx.slt\Mail
How many mail accounts do you see listed? Which account contains your elusive messages? You can open the Inbox with a text editor, i.e., Notepad, Wordpad, etc. Post them here, if you would, please. You might want to fill in the actual info with XXX's for security purposes. I'm mainly interested in the file name that contains your mail. E.G., mail.xxxx.net, mail.xxxx-1.net, mail.xxxx-2.net.

Did you create a new Profile when you determined that your Mail was gone?

What you can do, after determining which folder contains your current mail:

Open Netscape Mail & Newsgroups
File | Mail & Newsgroups Account Settings | Server Settings
Scroll to the bottom of the right pane to the "Local directory" field
Change the existing path to the location of the original Mail Account.

If the path now points to:
C:\.........\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\xxxxxxxx.slt\Mail\mail.account-1.net
and you find your mail actually resides in:
C:\.........\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\xxxxxxxx.slt\Mail\mail.account.net

Then change the path accordingly. Close Netscape, then reopen Netscape, and your Mail will be intact.

I know this might sound complicated, but it really isn't, once you've accomplished the small edit.

Please post back with any further questions.

Ramona

 

Hello Ramona,
I'm a little more lost than I thought here. I went into Windows Explorer but I'm not exactly sure how to find the Mail Account Folder location. When I open WE, everything is displayed as folders. It does show the folder I saved entitled NNMail which contains two folders entitled "Local Folders" and "mail.comcast.net ". The latter one contains all the folders with my emails.

I did not create a new profile when I reinstalled Navigator 7.1 but I did have to reenter all my info when I attempted to open the mail program for the first time as it treated me as a new user.

One question, if I am able to to restore these folders into the mail program, will I lose all the new mail I've received in the past few days?

I'll see if I can get someone to help me sort this out. Thanks for your help.

Larry

 

Hi Larry,

You won't lose the current Mail, when you copy the Mail from your backup.

First: Make a backup, or copy your current Mail folder, just for insurance.

If you have Windows XP, your Mail Account folder is located here:
C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\xxxxxxxx.slt\Mail\mail.comcast.net

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

If you are using Windows 95/98/ME:
C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\profilename\xxxxxxxx.slt\Mail\mail.comcast.net

Close Netscape and Quick Launch
Open the backup folder containing your previous Mail Account Folder (NNMail)
Open the mail.comcast.net folder
Rename the Inbox file without the MSF extension to OldInbox

Now, copy the renamed OldInbox file
(right click the file, and select "copy" from the menu)
Paste the OldInbox file into the new Mail Account Folder
(right click the new Mail Account Folder and select "paste" from the menu)

Follow the same procedure for the other folders which contain Mail, i.e., Sent, Drafts, etc.

When you open Netscape Mail & Newsgroups, the renamed folders will be listed in the left panel.

I hope this helps.

Ramona

 

Giving Thanks

Thank you Ramona! A friend talked me through it over the phone and using your instructions, I was able to retrieve all my mail folders and everything that was in my IN box before I reinstalled Navigator. I wish I'd know of this Board previously. I appreciate all your advice!

Larry

 

Hi Larry,

That's terrific! Glad to hear that you have all your Mail in place.

Ramona