Thunderbird Accounts

Trying to help a neighbor and becoming very frustrated. They have changed ISP from Earthlink.net to Gulftel.com DSL (a local). A new account for Gulftel.com (non-global) was created in Thunderbird. Tried to transfer email using "Import" but there is no menu item to transfer mail for Thunderbird to Thinderbird, so physically transferred mail using drag and drop. Before deleting Earthlink.net account the SMTP was changed to smtp.gulftel.com to keep both accounts available but only Gulftel.com to be active. Upon system reboot the SMTP reverts back to mail.earthlink.net and obviously mail can't be sent because smtp. gulftel.com is active. Tried to reset accounts several times. In frustration, the Earthlink.net account was removed. Upon system reboot the Gulftel.com account had disapeared, only the removed Earthlink.net account was present (???). Checked and verified the new Gulftel.com profile is available under Application Data/Thunderbird and will try the MozillaZine Knowledge Base "Combining two profiles" instructions. However, why does a "removed" account reappear ...?

 

This is one of those posts which tells me that, either something was done in a completely wrong way, or I don't understand what is going on. So, I will make a few comments, and lead you out of this mess.

1. Import which file to what, and how? I would assume that it is File|Import, which is used to get settings from an existing mail client.
2. Why creating an account from Thunderbird to Thunderbird? Do you have two different profiles, i.e. with different names? Never mind the mail account, which is a different beast, and drag and drop where?
3. You can set up as many account that you want in Thunderbird, and after you have all the all old mail into the new account, you can remove the old one, and drag and drop is dangerous, I have missed once the location, and never recover a file.

I have a dozen accounts in my TB, and a couple of them are as dead as a doornail, but if I do anything, I go to the hard drive, locate the profile|Mail|account name, with TB closed, rename the key files, i.e. Inbox and Sent, because If I drag and drop or copy and paste, the old files will overwrite the new ones. The name of the files are identical in each POP mail account, renaming the Inbox, just to EarthlinkI (for Inbox), will allow a new folder to be created. I think that Ramona's Netscape Solutions work as well. Only thing that you look in the Thunderbird folder.
But no matter, you must create a viable account for the new account. Get it going with the new mail, if any. Then do the renaming, copying and pasting and, on opening TB you will have not only the Inbox with the Gulftel mail, but also the Earthlink mail in the EarthlinkI folder.
As for SMTP, it should be set up from Tools|mail accounts, like the incoming mail, except that you will do this from the Outgoing mail (SMTP) line of the wizard. Click on Advanced, and enter the desired SMTP. Then, go you Gulftel account server settings, and select again the Advanced button|SMTP tab and the correct SMTP from the dropdown list.
So, is anything which you did comparable to what I said?
I have no answer for the why, other that I detected at least half a dozen of incorrect steps.
And, most of all mail accounts and Profiles are entirely different things.

 

Westside - Thanks for your response. I will tackle the problem today and let you know if I was able to get the two accounts straitened out. I will use your comments and Ramona's Solutions as a guide.

 

All is well. Discovered the "Local Directory" was incorrect. Once corrected the accounts fell into place. Thanks again for your assistance.

 

The Local Directory is the first place to look at. I should have told you. It is related to the accounts, and their location in the profiles.