After restore of Windows 11 unable to configure Thunderbird with correct profile
My Windows 11 laptop became corrupted and the os had to be reinstalled with Microsoft's help. In the midst of all this I did not think of backups sadly. After the restore I started to put my apps back on and without thinking, I installed Thunderbird. I realized immediately my mistake when I saw only new email and no local folders.
The Windows restore created a windows.old directory and I see my profile and configuration files in it. I want to use those old files but I don't know where to copy them exactly. There is some confusion on my part about where the startup is happening for Thunderbird. I really need to have access to all my old mail and local folders.
I'd appreciate any help in this matter. Thanks, Sue
Всички отговори (6)
First, is this an IMAP account or POP? If IMAP, it's easy. If POP, not so, but doable.
Hi David, because my account is an older one, it's POP. I wouldn't mind IMAP but I've been too nervous to try to convert it so periodically I go to gmail and clean out stuff.
After writing this morning, I was tempted to remove Thunderbird and try a fresh install as though it were a brand new computer (which it sort of is...). Any thoughts?
Thanks..
If it was a POP account, there are many old incoming messages and sent messages that may be lost if you replace the POP account with no forethought. DO NOT reinstall unless you are prepared to lose data. If the emails you did since the crash are unimportant, then a restore is easy. Do this: - exit thunderbird if running - enter %appdata% into the search box on windows task bar and press enter - this should take you to the appdata\roaming folder = paste the recovered appdata\roaming\thunderbird folder to overwrite the existing appdata\roaming\thunderbird folder - restart thunderbird and all should be there.
When I first installed TB after the OS restore there was no ..AppData/Roaming/Thunderbird folder as expected so I created one and copied the folder (dsadcjfi.default) and profile file that was saved under the Windows.old folder.
This is not the what TB is pointing to now, it's another set of folders and files. So, I'm not exactly sure what you are suggesting to do. I thought my problem was TB needed to be redirected to my old mail file and profile.
Thanks, Sue
My guess is you may have installed from Microsoft. The official site is at thunderbird.net. The microsoft version installs to a differen place and some functions do not work. I suggest uninstalling and downloading from https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/thunderbird/all/ reminder: there are two versions - the ESR and the Monthly
I uninstalled Thunderbird and reinstalled from the official site. I took the Monthly version. I am still at the same point as before - I just the new email but nothing from before and no local folders.
Is it possible to edit the profiles.ini to point to what appears to be my original profile name to get my mail back? Or am I completely out of luck now?
Thanks again... Sue
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