Hi Jack,

Maybe.

It seems that you are not trying to make an archive, but you are trying to copy your profile from your desktop computer to your laptop computer. Is that right?

What exactly have you done so far?

I don't know how to word it other than as above but the key issue is not the laptop computer. The major issue is that the profile on the desktop computer has been wiped ..... No passwords, no address book, no sent folders, no archives. The laptop has been forgotten. I need to get back in business before I worry about what was to be a "backup laptop.

Two problems The copying of the profile went sorta OK

1. When I copied the profile from the desktop, everything seemed to go OK except. No passwords and no address book. I manually entered all of the passwords via a screenshot of the desktop. Didn't get around to copying the address book over. Not on my radar right now

2. In no rush to get the laptop done, busy with work demands, I went into desktop to check emails. And everything was gone.... a folder that was 53 GB was now (profile only was 11.2) Profile was stored in T:\Mozilla\Thunderbird\Defaults ... and now is just 432 MB.

Again, Desktop is using 115.18.0 (64-bit)

How is it thru no action of my own Thunderbird apparently decided to delete 20+ years of data ?

Have not opened Thunderbird on laptop again fearing that what I have there will be also wiped.

I have a network backup of the T: drive, I was going to try a restore from that backup but I have a vague memory of that not working in the past. After Mozbackup stopped being supported (loved that app) I backed up the folder to a network drive.

I have had to turn our backups off fearing that it would write over the last backup file of the Mozilla folder ... it likely happened already as I discovered the the desktop was wiped after the usual 7:00 am backup was run. However, the file is still large but that could be because it didn't write over the data but just the links to nowhere. Wanted to get advice here before trying.

Also have a zip file of the folder that I made before i found the directions to create individual files no greater than 2 GB.

Before doing anything wanted to get some advice here ... time is of the essence as my business is essentially dead to the world at this point.

It would help to know exactly what you did. You referred to "moving the profile over" and a "usual transfer protocol (copy /paste)". That's not clear.

Did you copy something or did you move something? What did you copy or move? How did you copy of move it? Where did you copy or move it to?

The evidence suggests that you moved your current profile, so Thunderbird started up with an older profile.

On your desktop computer, please select the Help menu, then "Troubleshooting info". Look for "about:profiles". Click on it. How many profiles are shown? Is there an inactive profile that might be the one you need? Would you please post a screenshot of the about:profiles page?

If you see the profile that you need on that page, make it the default profile. You may have to close and re-open Thunderbird to see the change. I don't recall if one must do that.

If you do not see the profile that you need, let's look for it somewhere else. Back to the first questions: What exactly did you move or copy and to where? Is it on your laptop? If it is, if you moved it to the right location on the laptop, then you should be able to do the same thing that you just did on your desktop computer (Help > Troubleshooting info > et cet.) and make that profile active on your laptop computer.

But I have a suspicion that you did not copy the whole profile and/or did not put it in the right location because after one copies a profile, one does not have to re-enter information from that profile. You only have to tell Thunderbird to use that profile.

For now, can you do business over webmail?

Or restore your profile from your latest back-up?

Again... I can't think of any other words to describe this. The same information, *that is relevant* is in each message. It would appear your asking about what I did with the copy of the profile ... that's not the problem. The focus here is on the original, not the copy, let's call it Part 1 ... Can we forget about Part 2 (the copy) until Part 1... what happened to the original is addressed ?

Part 1, this is it .... exactly:

1. I have / had a profile on a desktop (Desktop is using 115.18.0 (64-bit)). I copied it to a 1 TB thumb drive.

2. After doing more research, read here that I should have created a compressed file, or better said a set of files no larger than 2 GB.

3 I then created a set of files smaller than 2 GB

That's it, the end no other activity took place on the desktop at least none initiated by me. I spent parts of 5 days installing programs and setting up the laptop ... still using my desktop for work and personal activity email. All was fine with the world. Then on the 6th day .....

a) All Archived Folders gone b) All sent folders are gone c) All trash folders are empty. b) May main account, all inbox emails that I haven NOT archive are still on the ISP's server, Drafts Sent, Trash whatever gone. c) Old Compuserve account... kept for archival purposes uses to store info that I reference now and then ... all folders gone or empty d) Training Account .. This I used for online courses and had records and certificates for all the people for which provided training and certificates for... stopped doing no recent usage but I need the records. all folders gone or empty e) Professional Society Account - I served as an officer in the National and state societies for my profession all official correspondence is in there. Indox had just shy of 3 years emails in inbox ... rest of folders gone or empty f) Municipality Account - I served as a municipal official for a decade, all emails regarding my pension, activities are in there ...all gone

Still at 15.18.0 (64-bit)

So questions remain ...

1. What happened ? Copying a file should not affect anything.

2. If I did something, when I made the copies,that defies reality ... otherwise why was everything "right with the world" until 6 days later ?

I feel it's important to find out how this happened because any attempts to resolve this will go for naught if whatever caused this to happen occurs again. It's as if it was a Microsoft thing cause they know better what's good for us and it detected I had a laptop w/ TB and decided to sync w/it before I made any attempt to add the copied profile.

My desktop backs up daily to a network every morning at 7:00 am ... on the day I noticed everything was gone, if it ran as scheduled, than would the new profile have over written the original one w/ all the records ? Hesitant to try it.

Hi Jack. I thought of you yesterday, wondered how things were going, and hoped to hear from you again.

My questions were indeed about understanding what happened to your profile and how you could find or recover a good profile. If you are convinced that your actions did not cause the problem and you really just want answers to your questions: I don't know. You are right, of course, that just copying would not have caused this problem. Do you know if you were using 115.18.0 (64-bit) before this problem occurred or if Thunderbird was updated recently? Were the missing folders on the server or in local folders on your computer or both? Is/are your account(s) POP or IMAP?

It's as if it was a Microsoft thing cause they know better what's good for us and it detected I had a laptop w/ TB and decided to sync w/it before I made any attempt to add the copied profile.

And you had not set up accounts on your laptop computer and accessed your server from there before this problem occurred?

My desktop backs up daily to a network every morning at 7:00 am ... on the day I noticed everything was gone, if it ran as scheduled, than would the new profile have over written the original one w/ all the records ?

If that is how you have set up your back-up regimen. Can you tell by looking at the back-up copy of your profile to check size and dates? It's better to keep multiple generations of back-ups, not just the last back-up, if you're not doing that already.

It might still be helpful to know: On your desktop computer, please select the Help menu, then "Troubleshooting info". Look for "about:profiles". Click on it. How many profiles are shown? Is there an inactive profile that might be the one you need? Would you please post a screenshot of the about:profiles page?

I do not understand yet how you copied your profile and how you tested it. You say that the problem occurred before you used Thunderbird on your new laptop computer. But you tested the copied profile somewhere. Was that on your laptop? Did you put an incomplete profile (missing passwords and address book) on your laptop computer? And then accessed your server from the laptop? If you had/have gigabytes of messages on the server, some problems may not have appeared for days because of the time needed to sync. But you are confident that the laptop has not contributed to the problem in any way?

When you copy a profile manually, you must copy only one folder. You don't have to worry about a size limitation or compression. The size limitation and compression are relevant when you use Thunderbird's back-up function.

What is the state of the copy of your profile? If it is a good copy (some evidence suggests that it is not), the worst case should be that you restore that copy. In your place, I would make a copy of all my profiles on both computers before trying such a restore.

1. Yes, I knew I was using 115.18.0 which is the ESR or "safe" version on Thunderbird. Don't want to be bothered

2. I didn't keep the profile in it's normal location. I was on a separate drive which is backed up every morning

3. I installed TB on the laptop, then copied the profile over to the laptop. All seemed to work fine except that the passwords were lost. With the desktop still working. I opened the file that stored them and copied them over... all was working fine... other than my address book was gone. Didn't have time to finish so put it off for another day.

4. 6 days later the desktop profile disappeared. Today when I opened the laptop.... same thing happened all the archive folders gone, all the passwords gone. Desktop https://i.postimg.cc/MpRdjSMS/Desktop.jpg

Again, don't understand how something is detecting that I have two computers and destroying my history.

5. I have one backup on a network drive dated 07-28; I have another dated 03-25. I have one somewhere on a thumb drive which I can't seem to find atm. The 07-28 of 54 GB, the 03-25 is 53.5. The locatoon of the folder is attached. There is only 1 profile

6. I copied the profile from desktop DT to laptop LT. As above, I copied all the passwords over and everything worked on the laptop. I wasn't finished setting up the LT and didn't have time to go back at it again. As previously addressed, I continued to use the desktop for regular email as if the LT did not exist.On Day 6 it was gone. I hadn't touched the LT at all for anything except a few web searches and to check for updates.

7. I copied the profile twice both according to the directions here on this forum for "How to transfer your profile to a new computer". a) make a backup of the of the "contents" of the profile folder b) made a 2nd copy per the more detailed instructions using compressed files < 2 GB. c) Installed TB .... found the new profile folder ... copied the profile to the new profile folder. I opened it, it worked, could see all my archives, passwords didn't transfer, copied each one over and manually typed in. Sent an email, sent an email to my account ... all was good with the world. Today when I went back to it ... all was wiped.

Again... the DT profile was fine for 6 days AFTER the laptop was set up.

8. Time needed to Sync ... ? Who told TB to sync.... I didn't set up "synching"  ? ?? ?

9. I only have one folder

10. If you don't have to worry about the size, then why do the instructions on this forum say to make compressed files no bigger than 2 GB ?

As of today, neither LT nor DT is functional. Idea was once LT was set up, idea was to abandon the 13 year old DT.

I still have the two backups on the network.... I was going to restore the folder but that wouldn't work, I would just restore the "contents" ... but don't want to do that if this thing is going to sync again.

So....

1. If that is what is going on ...how the begeezes do I turn it off.

2. Once done, are you sure the copy / paste contents works w/ < 2 GB. I printed out the instructions ... wife cleaned my desk :(

Hi Jack. I'm sorry to hear that the same thing happened with your laptop installation. I do not know why and I do not believe that I can help much, so I am hoping that someonen else can.

In case they help, some responses to what you wrote:

Again, don't understand how something is detecting that I have two computers and destroying my history.

I don't think that's what is happening.

Time needed to Sync ... ? Who told TB to sync.... I didn't set up "synching"  ? ?? ?

I am referring to syncing with the server. If your accounts are IMAP, they sync with the server. One tells Thunderbird to sync with the server by setting up IMAP accounts in Thunderbird.

If you don't have to worry about the size, then why do the instructions on this forum say to make compressed files no bigger than 2 GB ?

Two GB is a cut-off point to decide which export/copy method to use. If the size of your profile is less than 2 GB, use Thunderbird's export function. If it is larger than 2 GB, copy/move the profile yourself. Thunderbird compresses its exported files. You do not have to compress your copied profile. I suppose that you can if you want to use Thunderbird's import function. I have not tried that and don't know if there are any issues. But all you have to do is put the profile where you want it and tell Thunderbird where it is.

It would still be good to know: Were the missing folders on the server or in local folders on your computer or both? Is/are your account(s) POP or IMAP?

I keep seeing posts with "Sync all your devices" ... i have never had any interest in doing that . Just lookimg thru the setting before and i see options to turn that on. That's the only think I can fathom is occurring.