Installed tb on new win10 laptop, copied old profile to usb to appdata folder, but .wdseml files wouldn't copy because too long names and no inbox or accounts
Bought a new laptop with windows 10 and installed TB. Exited from install without setting up accounts. Copied profile from appdata to flash drive. Was unable to copy some .png files, but skipped them.
Found appdata/roaming/Thunderbird/profiles and copied contents of flash folder to that location. A large number of .wdseml files failed to copy because file name was too long. I counted one file name as 77 chars, including dots and a %.
Since old TB installation is still intact, I can go back and get those files later so I finished file copy without .wdseml files and fired up TB. I wants me to set up accounts and there's no inbox or folders of any kind. I have calendar though.
I'm not sure if I should have gone further into TB setup on initial install. Would I use Profile Manager to setup profile in a shorter path to overcome filename length issues? Is there a way to salvage all the time spent copying files and pasting files from slow usb, can I save the install or should I uninstall and start again, manually setting up duplicate accounts first?
Chosen solution
appdata/roaming/Thunderbird has a profiles.ini file that tells Thunderbird were the profile is. try copying that from the old machine as the paths are normally relative to the files location.
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I wouldn't be too concerned about preserving wdseml files. They are a kind of digest which makes it possible for Windows' native search to look through your email store. I'd suspect that they would be rebuilt as needed if the settings are configured to permit searching.
Thunderbird itself doesn't need or use these files.
It's comforting to know I don't need the wdseml files for anything and they are not the reason for TB to fail to display an inbox or have configured email accounts. The TB installation I am trying to move has 3 accounts all consolidated into a single inbox. When I start up TB there is no inbox. If I click Write a Message, it takes me to account setup.
I thought if I copied profile to new computer that when I started TB, it would display Inbox, all 3 accounts with account settings, and all mails, address book etc. Why am I not getting any of this?
Chosen Solution
appdata/roaming/Thunderbird has a profiles.ini file that tells Thunderbird were the profile is. try copying that from the old machine as the paths are normally relative to the files location.