I can't restore the Thunderbird back-up from my separate hard drive to my laptop

What you should have backed up is the Thunderbird profile. Assuming that's what you're trying to restore, what exactly prevents you from doing so?

I have checked the forums, but the suggestions don't match what I can see on my laptop.

What forums, and what suggestions? Please post links so that we know what you're talking about.

What do you actually see on your laptop?

I always back up the profile. What I don't understand is why, having reformatted my Windows 10 laptop and downloaded Thunderbird again, it seems impossible to import the back-up into it. The Thunderbird profile on my laptop on now different from what it was before and nothing I do can will change it so that it is recognised by Thunderbird.

I moved from Windows 7 to 10 a few months ago. The profile swapped from old computer to new with no problems. I'm not aware of any changes to the profile.

Tell us where you are seeing differences. Name some files or folders which seem to be different.

Zenos, I also moved from Windows 7 to 10 some months back without any problems with Thunderbird. The problem this time is that my laptop had to be reformatted and this was followed by a download of the latest Thunderbird with an entirely different profile ID. My backed-up profile seems incompatible with the latest Thunderbird. This means I can't access the address and folder files that I had before the Windows reformatting. Very frustrating.

this was followed by a download of the latest Thunderbird with an entirely different profile ID.

There is no profile ID when you download Thunderbird. If no profile exists, an empty profile is created though the first time you start Thunderbird.

My backed-up profile seems incompatible with the latest Thunderbird.

I'm pretty sure it's not.

This means I can't access the address and folder files that I had before the Windows reformatting.

It would certainly help if you could answer the questions above. Please be precise. https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/1179575#answer-1016504

I see no point in continuing any discussion with someone who isn't as well informed as he claims to be and who, with a user name of Christ1, has a personal problem about his status.

Unless someone less patronising and rude than you comes up with an easy solution, it is with great regret that I will have to abandon Thunderbird after many happy years. I have to transfer everything to a new computer early next year and I need to know that I can do so without going through all this malarky.

Good luck.

If the profile had changed as you claim it has, we'd be inundated with others having your problems.

I don't believe there has been any relevant change to the profile, unless you have just updated from a really ancient version. But you have said nothing to indicate this is the case. Actually, you have said very little about your problem.

I repeat my previous request. Tell us where you are seeing differences. Name some files or folders which seem to be different.

This is the default I had before my laptop was reformatted: v8az354r.default And this is now the profile: dgng0n8e.default

That's just the name of the container folder in which your profile information is stored. So you have two profiles, each with a unique name. Use the profile manager to select which one you want Thunderbird to use.

https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/using-multiple-profiles

If for some reason you envisage routinely swapping between profiles, look for the profile switcher addon.

Thanks you for your advice, Zenos, but I am having to give up in defeat. My computer skills are above average, but this is giving me a blinding headache and I can't waste any more time on it. No matter what I do, I cannot access my old files from the backup hard drive.

I really think Thunderbird is seriously missing a trick by not having the ability to import old files into a new download of the Thunderbird software. That's what I am be able to do with ease with other programs.

But thanks for your help, anyway.

I have had just one more try and it came up with an error message that the file is "not accessible". I assume this means it is not compatible with the new Thunderbird version.

I preume Thunderbird was closed during the process. When you installed Thunderbird it created a new default profile called v8az354r.default

quote "And this is now the profile: dgng0n8e.default"

Please provide following info: Q1 : Is 'dgng0n8e.default' the name of the backed up old profile ?

Q2 :Do you have two profiles listed in the 'Profiles' folder or only 'dgng0n8e.default' ?

Q3 :Did you delete the 'v8az354r.default' profile name and then paste in the 'dgng0n8e.default' profile name from backup?

Q4 :Did you then modify the 'profiles.ini' file? It would be looking for the original default one 'v8az354r.default'. Did you modify the profiles.ini file to look for 'dgng0n8e.default'?

Hi Toad-Hall,

This is the back-up profile: 'v8az354r.default'

The profile after the Thunderbird was download to my Windows 10 laptop after it had been reformatted: dgng0n8e.default

My computer skills are above average, but I don't claim to be an expert so I didn't look for profiles.ini file. Not would I be confident enough to tamper with it.

Ok try this.

You are going to use the new default profile as Thunderbird understands where it is, but you need to give it all the backup files/folders to use.

Do this. Close Thunderbird. Open the backup profile 'v8az354r.default' It will contain a load of files and folders that look similar to the image below. It will contain a folder called 'Mail'. Please select/highlight all the contents of the 'v8az354r.default' profile name folder. Right click on the highlighted files and folders and select 'Copy'.

Access the new profile name folder called 'dgng0n8e.default'. It should be in this location: C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles\<Profile name>

In the 'dgng0n8e.default' profile name folder you will see a similar set of files and folders created by default, you need to right click in that folder and select 'Paste'. This should overwrite all the files and folders with all the copied backup files and folders. End result is the 'dgng0n8e.default' profile name folder now has everything that was in the backup 'v8az354r.default' folder.

Finally, start up Thunderbird and report back on results.

Thank you, Toad Hall. Will give that a try and let you know the result.

Hoorah! It worked. Thank you Toad Hall.

I hope that I won't have to go through the same trouble when I transfer everything to a new computer in the New Year.