Close TB, start Profile Manager from Windowskey+R, type thunderbird.exe -p

Do you see a profile named default in the list, and can you select it and start TB with your previous data?

Thank you for your response and suggestions. I did try using Profile Manager after upgrade to V68.5 with TB closed and selected my current profile. When I restarted TB the left hand window where all my user accounts (5) normally appear was blank. When I clicked on that window all the user names showed up but I could not access any messages for any account. At that point I panicked and restored my previous V60.9.1 from a backup drive. I have a lot of mail stored and would hate to lose any of it. With version 68.5 installed I'm loath to start reinstalling user accounts in case I mess things up further. What I need to know is what to check in my configuration that may be incorrect before trying V68.5 , or how to positively force V68.5 to use my current profile. Or to better understand the changes that V68.5 uses for profiles...

When the upgrade goes bad, it sometimes helps to delete the global search index from the profile folder, while TB is closed. The profile is located at

C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\8charstring.default AppData is hidden by default.

Delete global-messages-db.sqlite, then start TB with the default profile as before.

Thank you again for your response and help. I only get to try TB fixes on weekends (when my nerves have settled...) so will try your suggestion next weekend and advise on results. I know where my two profiles are the current one in use was not the default. I even made a copy of my profile on another HD partition then renamed it with the default profile name and copied all the files back to my main drive. TB V68.5 still didn't use that profile when installed. As you suggest I'll try deleting global-messages-db.sqlite before trying again next time.

The methods I proposed are just the simplest ways to recover after a faulty update, but there are other ways if needed. You shouldn't lose any data, just have to make TB recognize it. Another approach is to empty the contents of the currently used profile and copy in the contents of the profile folder that contains your data.

Thank you. I'll keep working on my problem carefully.

sfhowes said When the upgrade goes bad, it sometimes helps to delete the global search index from the profile folder, while TB is closed. The profile is located at C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\8charstring.default AppData is hidden by default. Delete global-messages-db.sqlite, then start TB with the default profile as before.

After checking my profile (I did say I had a lot of mail saved) I found that my "global-messages-db.sqlite" file is 748 Mbytes in size... Could that be part of my problem? When installing the new version 68.5 of TB does it have to create a new global messages db and could that take quite a while? Are you sure it's OK to delete that file ? Still worried.

It's not the size of the sqlite file that matters but rather if it is corrupted, which happens fairly often. Rebuilding it could take a while if you have a lot of mail, but you can follow the progress in Tools/Activity Manager.

Thank you for your ongoing responses. I'll do that on my present V60 installation profile and recreate the current sqlite file. Then try a new installation of 68.5 and even though it doesn't appear to work straight away, see if I can direct it to the correct profile.

sfhowes said

It's not the size of the sqlite file that matters but rather if it is corrupted, which happens fairly often.

Thank you heaps, that was promising. I deleted my huge 748 Mbyte sqlite file and my 32Bit V60.9.1 TB has created a new sqlite file just over 1 Mbyte in size, and current TB works fine ;) Now to gird up my loins, grit my teeth and try a new installation of 32 Bit TB V68.5. If it is still faulty I hope there is a way to point it at my current profile. I read that 64 Bit TB V68.5 works great installing over the 32 Bit version, in a mad moment I considered doing that but worried that I may not be able to reinstall my 32 Bit TB 60.9.1 if that also goes wrong... Such a major change may be a bridge too far. One final question would a 64 Bit TB V68.5 work with a 32 Bit V60.9.1 profile ???

I don't think the 64-bit installs over the 32-bit, as the latter is in Program Files (x86) and the former is in Program Files. I would just update from 60 to 68 from Help/About TB.

sfhowes said

I don't think the 64-bit installs over the 32-bit, as the latter is in Program Files (x86) and the former is in Program Files. I would just update from 60 to 68 from Help/About TB.

I'm aware of the different installation directories but when you search the Web there are quite a few reports of people installing 64 bit TB and having it replace 32 Bit. Perhaps the current 64 Bit installation removes the 32 bit [?] But I'll take your advice and just try a 32 bit upgrade again and see what happens. Thank you again for taking the time to respond with your helpful comments. There are so many files in TB and it's profiles it's impossible for mortals like me to work out what they all do.

Thunderdownunder said

How to fix?

Well at last I managed to update 32 Bit TB V60.9.1 to TB V68.5... Many thanks to sfhowes for his help. Three things may have given me success. [1] sfhowes suggestion to delete Delete: global-messages-db.sqlite which I did and reduced my possibly corrupt sqlite file size from 700 Mb to 1.7 Mb... [2] Also when I tried my update this time I had all my (5) profiles closed. [3] Perhaps the current TB 68.5 update has fixed some bugs (?)

Anyway my updated TB is working now and using my correct profile.

However using profile manager"thunderbird.exe -p" gives some odd results. Even though I only have 1 profile at present PF shows me 4 profiles.

One named 'initial' point to a old non existing profile DIR xxyyy99y.default

And three other profiles named 'incomplete', 'olddefault' and 'default ALL point to my correct current profile DIR name yyyxxxz1.previousd

The first part of the above profile DIR names posted here are just nonsense letters . The second part is my real profile DIR name which PF manager doesn't show fully...

What I'd like to know is why does the profile manager show a non-existing profile and why doesn't it show the correct name as per the profile DIRs for three different profiles? Has my system ended up in a buggy/faulty, non-standard state?

If you deleted a profile folder through Explorer instead of with Profile Manager, you might have leftover references in profiles.ini, which appear in Profile Manager. You could probably clean up the structure, but if you have a working profile, the extra ones can be ignored.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Profile_manager

Thanks for the umpteenth time sfhowes. I had some bad experiences with PF in the early days, so am going to leave well enough alone.

At least now I'm not getting the insecure update warnings ;) I really do appreciate all your concise and helpful assistance. What a nightmare this U/G was for an oldztimer...

Best regards, Thunderdownunder back in business.